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Mark Ashton Leaving (Merged)


Harry

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It really is a summer of sink or swim for the club and it really could Lansdown's last roll of the dice. As he said, he's not getting any younger and the talk of welcoming external investors is the first signs that I've seen that he is thinking of the future of Bristol City with less of an involvement from the Lansdown family. 

The club has become a lot more corporate since Ashton has been involved with many negative sides to this but I don't think him moving on is the panacea for City. We need to bring in someone who is highly regarded in the football community and hopefully have more segregation between the football operations/recruitment and the commercial side of the club. Although we shouldn't necessarily build the club around him, Lansdown should welcome the view of Pearson when restructuring the club as he's been in the game for a long time and at the top level. The flaws within our recruitment and medical departments will be glaringly obvious to him and its key we get it right.  

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Just now, Red Exile said:

Fair enough. All I can say is that I've been involved in hundreds of interviews and appointments. I can't recall a single occasion in which we gave a job to someone we knew to be incapable simply because they spoke well on the day.

I know it sits badly with some posters on here but the reality is that Lee Johnson, Mark Ashton and Dean Holden were all controversial appointments for a reason. Many doubted their talents. Many were proved right. It must be tough to have been proved wrong! It feels to me that the stables are swept. An era of overselling and overconfidence is gone, an era in which supporters were patronised and often treated like ignorant fools. The big question is what comes next. There we are in the hands of SL, whose track record is, sadly, poor.

 

I never said he was "known to be incapable". no one could know that for sure at the time. I suggested it was appointing someone without experience who seemed to know what was required and appeared to have a good plan to do so based upon having been at the club and knowing better than any external candidate what the problems were. Not denying it was a gamble, it wasn't my choice and it didn't work - I'm just not taking the side of conspiracy in his appointment.

I'm not sure anyone was proved right about their doubts appointing LJ. he kept us up, went on to take us to a cup semi-final (beating the holders and several prem clubs on the way) and established our place in the Championship for one of the longest stays in our history. He "failed" on getting us promoted, but he still achieved something here that no one else could other than his Dad in the last 30 years that I've been supporting City.

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Just had a quick look on the Ipswich forum & they seem to be dismissing the majority of opinions on Ashton from this site, which they are more than entitled to do......however the bit that struck me was how some of their fans believe he will be making mega bucks from player sells - not fully sure how they think they are going to achieve that when they are muddling in League 1 with no good players to sell on at a profit.

 

The likes of Flint, Bobby Reid, Kodjia & Joe Bryan were already at the club before he arrived (fair enough to him on Webster & Brownhill - who even then i don’t think we got enough for) so it’s not like he unlocked hidden gems, but he did some savvy business on some deals, would of rather they tried holding out for more on Webster especially when £8 million of that went on a rather underwhelming Kalas.

 

They are certainly welcome to him!

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1 minute ago, One Team said:

I found his statement interesting in that he thanks the Lansdown family and the staff but not the fans. Maybe the feeling is mutual?! ?

Agreed. Says it all IMO. Ashton really did take us all as “punters”.
He had absolutely no connection with the fans, infact I got the impression he saw us all as a bit of a nuisance. 

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17 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

He’s not.  He’s the Chairman (and holds Director status).

Out of interest, how much do you think he contributes to the day to day running of the football club....as opposed to other roles he performs for Bristol Sport.  He most definitely errs towards “kit” and “branding”.

His LinkedIn profile says he’s the MD. No major surprise he can’t get that right either then. 
 

I personally think he has very little contribution to anything at the club. He has a senior role to justify a high salary, for tax purposes. SL knows how to play that game that’s for sure 

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7 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

I never said he was "known to be incapable". no one could know that for sure at the time. I suggested it was appointing someone without experience who seemed to know what was required and appeared to have a good plan to do so based upon having been at the club and knowing better than any external candidate what the problems were. Not denying it was a gamble, it wasn't my choice and it didn't work - I'm just not taking the side of conspiracy in his appointment.

I'm not sure anyone was proved right about their doubts appointing LJ. he kept us up, went on to take us to a cup semi-final (beating the holders and several prem clubs on the way) and established our place in the Championship for one of the longest stays in our history. He "failed" on getting us promoted, but he still achieved something here that no one else could other than his Dad in the last 30 years that I've been supporting City.

I fear we completely disagree - which is fine on a football forum! I knew Dean Holden wasn't the man for the job. I was 100% certain. I wasn't alone. I knew Lee Johnson had outstayed his welcome long before he went. I was 100% certain we were never going to get promoted under him. I wasn't alone in that either. I'd have sacked him after that losing streak that followed the cup run.

It's frustrating that it takes time for Steve Lansdown to catch up....but there we go!

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12 minutes ago, One Team said:

I found his statement interesting in that he thanks the Lansdown family and the staff but not the fans. Maybe the feeling is mutual?! ?

I mean... I don't blame him really. We have been quite bitter I must admit. Goodbye! 

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23 minutes ago, eardun said:

My only concern is the timing of this. We have a load of contract negotiations to sort out (be they current out of contract players or new recruits) and no one to do this as far as I can see.

If Walsh is going to replace Ashton (see the other thread), I only hope that we can get him in earlier than 31 May. If Walsh isn't available, I have a concern that Pearson may not commit until he knows who is going to be Ashton’s replacement. 

Certainly needs sorting pronto, doesn't it. We can only hope wheels have been in motion for a while. A few comments on here in the last couple of weeks suggesting this is the case - fingers crossed. 

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11 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Can you blame him?

That’s not the point, is it?

You know if you take this sort of job you have to say things like that.

I manage a pretty large team, when anyone on it leaves, whether I liked them or not, if I thought they were good or not, I send a public acknowledgment to the whole team thanking them for their time.

It’s what you do.

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Just now, Red Exile said:

I fear we completely disagree - which is fine on a football forum! I knew Dean Holden wasn't the man for the job. I was 100% certain. I wasn't alone. I knew Lee Johnson had outstayed his welcome long before he went. I was 100% certain we were never going to get promoted under him. I wasn't alone in that either. I'd have sacked him after that losing streak that followed the cup run.

It's frustrating that it takes time for Steve Lansdown to catch up....but there we go!

No worries, would be a boring place if we all agreed. I never thought he was the "right" man (or certainly not the best on paper/experience) either and certainly not who I wanted but I was willing to give him a chance.

As I said I just don't buy into the conspiracy of "yes men", outside interfence and such like. I think he started well, had a huge challenge with injuries, clearly issues behind the scenes with the comments about players unhappy with medical treatment and never had his best 11 to pick from. That is all kind of backed up by the way Pearson has struggled since coming in. 

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4 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

I fear we completely disagree - which is fine on a football forum! I knew Dean Holden wasn't the man for the job. I was 100% certain. I wasn't alone. I knew Lee Johnson had outstayed his welcome long before he went. I was 100% certain we were never going to get promoted under him. I wasn't alone in that either. I'd have sacked him after that losing streak that followed the cup run.

It's frustrating that it takes time for Steve Lansdown to catch up....but there we go!

This all day long. Lansdown nowhere near ruthless enough with managers. Which is why we’ll never achieve anything of note whilst he holds power.

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1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

That’s not the point, is it?

You know if you take this sort of job you have to say things like that.

I manage a pretty large team, when anyone on it leaves, whether I liked them or not, if I thought they were good or not, I send a public acknowledgment to the whole team thanking them for their time.

It’s what you do.

But if you left, and 90% of the team had turned on you calling for your head for months would you go out of your way to thank them for their support? The answer's probably yes as I assume you're a professional but you couldn't be blamed if you didn't.

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17 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Can you blame him?

No but it would be the norm to do so irrespective.

17 minutes ago, GasDestroyer said:

Agreed. Says it all IMO. Ashton really did take us all as “punters”.
He had absolutely no connection with the fans, infact I got the impression he saw us all as a bit of a nuisance. 

Out of like mate completely agree!

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21 minutes ago, One Team said:

I found his statement interesting in that he thanks the Lansdown family and the staff but not the fans. Maybe the feeling is mutual?! ?

TBH, his role wasn't "fan facing" - he's not part of football affairs, so why would he thank the fans?

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8 minutes ago, Top Robin said:

Pearson to replace Ashton and Robbins or another comes in as manager? 

Just a thought.

Nope. What people on here forget is that Ashton was CEO - Pearson wouldn't have a clue how to run the wider football club. DoF, perhaps. 

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