The Office (UK): Ipswich Town edition

[2015]

Can't stand the bloke. He's horrible

[Son of Fred]

3 hours ago, Pezo said:

It's the same old thing he said when he was here, "we look at international markets", "we work hard" ect ect - it's all things fans want to hear. At no point is MA ever going to say I know the fans want me to do X but we're actually going to do Y, here is the reason why everyone else does X and here's why we think that's a worse idea than Y. The guy lacks depth of knowledge - or certainly doesn't show any in interviews.

Abridged version; bullshitter.

[BigTone]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

He hasn’t changed the record at all………..same old same old waffle and hot air.

If I was a Tractor Boy I’d find those comments reassuring but I’m not and our experience of Smarmy Ashton tells us that he’s a charming fraud who talks a good game - a bluffer.

The Ipswich fans think he’s the best thing since sliced bread - I doubt they’ll have the same view in 18/12 or 2 years from now.

Who cares ? Move on.

[BigTone]

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

The big problem is that he costs clubs a lot of money - both in salary and in some of the clunkers he buys as "punts". There is always the suspicion of the old pocketing of brown envelopes as well.

If he was just smarmy and talked a lot of rollocks that wouldn't be so bad. Lots of people in football suffer from verbal diarrhoea. 

Go careful with the accusations old chap.

[Midred]

To be hoped that he's wearing his bib!

[Malago]

FFS everyone.  Let it go.

[Red-Robbo]

25 minutes ago, BigTone said:

Go careful with the accusations old chap.

 

"Suspicion of". I certainly have no knowledge of illegality. 

[Midred]

2 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

"Suspicion of". I certainly have no knowledge of illegality. 

Do you ever write for Private Eye? 

[Bazooka Joe]

43 minutes ago, Malago said:

FFS everyone.  Let it go.

Careful, your account may be frozen.

[maxjak]

Could only watch 5 minutes, as i started becoming nauseous.  Surely he only needs to answer one question?.................ie  Why are you such a smarmy C*NT?, is it Hereditary or have you had to work at it?

Edited May 26, 2022 by maxjak

[Unan]

54 minutes ago, Malago said:

FFS everyone.  Let it go.

 

9 minutes ago, Bazooka Joe said:

Careful, your account may be frozen.

It may be a good idea, as I don’t think he’ll voluntarily iceolate.

[Bazooka Joe]

Perhaps someone should send Ashton a pack of incontinence pads.

Such a terrible stain on his good character. I bet he's pee'd off.

1 minute ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

 

It may be a good idea, as I don’t think he’ll voluntarily iceolate.

Cool !

[maxjak]

3 minutes ago, Marcus Aurelius said:

 

It may be a good idea, as I don’t think he’ll voluntarily iceolate.

Is that frozen chocolate?

[Riaz]

Our fans obsession with him is weird.

Wasting time finding and watching his videos..... havent people got better things to do? clearly not.

[Barrs Court Red]

9 minutes ago, Riaz said:

Our fans obsession with him is weird.

Wasting time finding and watching his videos..... havent people got better things to do? clearly not.

Well, I’d say it’s a better use of time than adding a post that adds absolutely nothing to the subject either way.  
 

But hey, if nasal gazing is your thing, fill your boots. 

[Midred]

Does nasal gazing make you cross eyed?

[The Gasbuster]

Let's see what they say about him in 12 months time.

If they don't get play offs at least, then he will be in trouble.

[CodeRed]

1 hour ago, Bazooka Joe said:

Careful, your account may be frozen.

Skating on thin ice for sure, could be a meltdown as there's not a snowballs chance in hell of pinning anything on Ashton.

Edited May 26, 2022 by CodeRed

[petehinton]

8 hours ago, Tomo said:

https://youtu.be/aTss9ms8-30

 

Quantity over quality and “we knew not all of them would work” is some admission over last summers transfer window. Basically admitting he’s getting bungs. 

[Gazred]

22 minutes ago, petehinton said:

Quantity over quality and “we knew not all of them would work” is some admission over last summers transfer window. Basically admitting he’s getting bungs. 

Quite literally signing players for the sake of it.

Can anyone think of a reason why? Ask yourselves that Ipswich fans.

[Rich]

3 hours ago, maxjak said:

Could only watch 5 minutes, as i started becoming nauseous.  Surely he only needs to answer one question?.................ie  Why are you such a smarmy C*NT?, is it Hereditary or have you had to work at it?

That's three questions.

[Davefevs]

27 minutes ago, petehinton said:

Quantity over quality and “we knew not all of them would work” is some admission over last summers transfer window. Basically admitting he’s getting bungs. 

Just watching:

Unbelievable comment isn’t it Pete.  Don’t get rid of 20 to bring 19 in…maybe take a bit more time to see what you’ve actually got.  Those players brought in, that didn’t work out, won’t be easy to move on either.

For an admission that he joined with a transfer window (or at least the planning, early discussions) already underway, why did he then have to intervene so heavily with his “trusted agents” (his own words from last seasons interview).  Sounds to be like he stopped Cook for his own signings in a number of cases.

Some of it was fine though, not everything he says is bad.

[1960maaan]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Just watching:

Unbelievable comment isn’t it Pete.  Don’t get rid of 20 to bring 19 in…maybe take a bit more time to see what you’ve actually got.  Those players brought in, that didn’t work out, won’t be easy to move on either.

For an admission that he joined with a transfer window (or at least the planning, early discussions) already underway, why did he then have to intervene so heavily with his “trusted agents” (his own words from last seasons interview).  Sounds to be like he stopped Cook for his own signings in a number of cases.

Some of it was fine though, not everything he says is bad.

I would have been happy to have Cook here, my first choice at one stage. Good record of spotting players high on his CV. So why do you get him in and then force your players on him, crazy. What a megalomaniac he really seems to be. Struggles to reign himself in. 

[reddoh]

12 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Who? 

Doctor ?

[Southend Blue]

The season has been a failure for me.    It's bizarre I have to make the admission on a neutral fans forum rather than my own as reason being I'd run the risk of being shouted down by the majority of my own teams fan base and accused of being an improper fan / pessimistic / expecting too much (delete as appropriate) 

Ashton has to take a share of responsibility for this.    After all the hype and expectation of last summer, bringing in 20 new players and big things expected - new owners and everything - I look at it now and we haven't even finished in the Top Ten of the Third Division.    Maybe I speak in the minority of our support base but really, I find that somewhat unacceptable if not slight embarrassment.      Top Six would have been something but we finished not even close to the final promotion places.

This weeks news at Portman Road in terms of encouragement :  One of our players gets an international call-up and we've brought in some goalkeeper from Manchester United that don't believe even recognise to add another coaching capacity to our club that isn't in all necessary.   

It's hard sometimes to see where the positives come from.    Derby in League One next August will be two tough games and there's already enough teams remaining where I can see us struggling against or be hard to get three points from if we're not 100 per cent committed.      I never really took to Ashton from the moment he arrived but his continued involvement may reap dividends at some time in the future.       We're not a one-man club, it'll take a collective effort from the players, manager and owners themselves to make it work.     Ashton is just one piece of a jigsaw that as of yet, remains uncompleted.  

 

[Kid in the Riot]

31 minutes ago, Southend Blue said:

The season has been a failure for me.    It's bizarre I have to make the admission on a neutral fans forum rather than my own as reason being I'd run the risk of being shouted down by the majority of my own teams fan base and accused of being an improper fan / pessimistic / expecting too much (delete as appropriate) 

Ashton has to take a share of responsibility for this.    After all the hype and expectation of last summer, bringing in 20 new players and big things expected - new owners and everything - I look at it now and we haven't even finished in the Top Ten of the Third Division.    Maybe I speak in the minority of our support base but really, I find that somewhat unacceptable if not slight embarrassment.      Top Six would have been something but we finished not even close to the final promotion places.

This weeks news at Portman Road in terms of encouragement :  One of our players gets an international call-up and we've brought in some goalkeeper from Manchester United that don't believe even recognise to add another coaching capacity to our club that isn't in all necessary.   

It's hard sometimes to see where the positives come from.    Derby in League One next August will be two tough games and there's already enough teams remaining where I can see us struggling against or be hard to get three points from if we're not 100 per cent committed.      I never really took to Ashton from the moment he arrived but his continued involvement may reap dividends at some time in the future.       We're not a one-man club, it'll take a collective effort from the players, manager and owners themselves to make it work.     Ashton is just one piece of a jigsaw that as of yet, remains uncompleted.  

I expected you to win promotion last season. Paul Cook has an unbelievable record of delivering the goods, and with serious financial backing, I thought it was a near certainty. 

But you made a complete mess of it, and Ashton's relationship with the manager is, like it was at City, a big concern. Ashton is the power broker, and uses his contacts to recommend and sign players for the club that fit HIS criteria.  It was no surprise to see a head coach appointed who will be subservient to Ashton. If Paul Cook can't get a tune out of a v good L1 squad, then I'd suggest there are significant problems. 

Big season coming up, one in which you really need to win promotion. Not convinced that'll happen based on what I've seen  so far. 

[1960maaan]

Ashton seems to have done the same job at Ipswich, all be it condensed into a season, as he did here. 
Lots of signings 
Large squad       
Lots of difficult to get rid of players 
High profile at good times 
Invisible when going gets tough 
Self promotion videos. 
Ultimately underachieving 
Manager goes   
He keeps job.   

I would love to know the story of ALL those signings we made over the Johnson/Ashton years. Who actually signed the players and did LJ really have that much control over who and when we brought players in. Johnson will never have an opportunity to build a squad like he had here, ever again. Time is a rare thing and few managers get it. Over that time the relationship between all the working parts, from spotting talent right the way through to signing them, should have improved and become more streamlined . It actually seemed to get worse.

You can't say all the blame lies in one place, but as the same thing seems to have happened at Ipswich, you can't help but point fingers. 

[chinapig]

14 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

Ashton seems to have done the same job at Ipswich, all be it condensed into a season, as he did here. 
Lots of signings 
Large squad       
Lots of difficult to get rid of players 
High profile at good times 
Invisible when going gets tough 
Self promotion videos. 
Ultimately underachieving 
Manager goes   
He keeps job.   

I would love to know the story of ALL those signings we made over the Johnson/Ashton years. Who actually signed the players and did LJ really have that much control over who and when we brought players in. Johnson will never have an opportunity to build a squad like he had here, ever again. Time is a rare thing and few managers get it. Over that time the relationship between all the working parts, from spotting talent right the way through to signing them, should have improved and become more streamlined . It actually seemed to get worse.

You can't say all the blame lies in one place, but as the same thing seems to have happened at Ipswich, you can't help but point fingers. 

He described Paul Cook as part of his recruitment team. That tells you all you need to know about where the power lies when it comes to recruitment.

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, chinapig said:

He described Paul Cook as part of his recruitment team. That tells you all you need to know about where the power lies when it comes to recruitment.

Was that his words?

If he’d said Paul Cook is a key player in the recruitment process, that would be better phrasing.

Hes a bit disingenuous when he says there were no Recruitment Dept when he arrived.

I screenshotted the set up when he joined.

Bowman was McCarthy’s Recruitment / Chief Scout person.  Alex Hood is still there…under the new guy Sam Williams.

Spin, lies, spin.

Bowman might not have been who he wanted, but there was definitely something in place.

[RedZepperin]

9 hours ago, Southend Blue said:

and we've brought in some goalkeeper from Manchester United that don't believe even recognise to add another coaching capacity to our club that isn't in all necessary.   

Getting his face known at Man Utd; sniffing around for future job opportunities.

I didn't get very far into the video but I enjoyed how he blamed this season's debacle on the fact that he had underestimated how big Ipswich are. Shame nobody asked him to substantiate that excuse.