Ashton's Neglect

[Kid in the Riot]

Interested to learn that it wasn't just the men's team that Ashton neglected during his tenure at the club, but that it also extended to Bristol City WFC. Apparently he paid little or no interest in the WFC, which contributed significantly to their decline and ultimately relegation at the end of last season.

I was told by someone that would certainly know that, and I paraphrase, "the WFC is in need of a complete rebuild outside of the Super League and it is likely to take 2-3 years to get back into the top flight and sort the entire structure of the club out". Now, where have I heard similar to that before? He wrecked the women's team as he wrecked the men's team.

Now some people may have cynically seen those pictures of Pearson at the WFC game a few weeks back and thought he'd attended the game either for a photo op and good bit of PR, or because he was bored.

Not so, he has in fact been quite instrumental in helping out and providing advice to the WFC. So much so in fact that he recommended the new Head of Operations Grace Williams to the WFC, with whom he had worked with at Watford. He considers the WFC to be part of the Bristol City FC team and project, just like he considers everyone that works at the football club to be part of the project, from the ticketing team, to the media team, to the changing room cleaners to the bus driver. 

How encouraging and refreshing to have somebody in charge that takes such a keen interest in all aspects of the club. A far-cry from the previous regime.

[Davefevs]

That’s brilliant to hear (about Nige, not the bit about Ashton).

[Lrrr]

Honest question, how much would/should Ashton have really overseen of the women’s team? In the sense with the men’s team where he integrated himself into everything like recruitment etc the women’s team had their own general manager. 

[gamon]

1 hour ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Interested to learn that it wasn't just the men's team that Ashton neglected during his tenure at the club, but that it also extended to Bristol City WFC. Apparently he paid little or no interest in the WFC, which contributed significantly to their decline and ultimately relegation at the end of last season.

I was told by someone that would certainly know that, and I paraphrase, "the WFC is in need of a complete rebuild outside of the Super League and it is likely to take 2-3 years to get back into the top flight and sort the entire structure of the club out". Now, where have I heard similar to that before? He wrecked the women's team as he wrecked the men's team.

Now some people may have cynically seen those pictures of Pearson at the WFC game a few weeks back and thought he'd attended the game either for a photo op and good bit of PR, or because he was bored.

Not so, he has in fact been quite instrumental in helping out and providing advice to the WFC. So much so in fact that he recommended the new Head of Operations Grace Williams to the WFC, with whom he had worked with at Watford. He considers the WFC to be part of the Bristol City FC team and project, just like he considers everyone that works at the football club to be part of the project, from the ticketing team, to the media team, to the changing room cleaners to the bus driver. 

How encouraging and refreshing to have somebody in charge that takes such a keen interest in all aspects of the club. A far-cry from the previous regime.

What was interesting is SL still rated Ashton following his departure and had kind words to say.

He destroyed everything good following our promotion season but the owner is unable or unwilling to acknowledge that.

You are right about Pearson. I like how he is going about this season which is a big improvement on last year's disaster.

[CyderInACan]

8 minutes ago, gamon said:

What was interesting is SL still rated Ashton following his departure and had kind words to say.

I'd imagine that what he says publicly is somewhat poles apart from his private view. 

[Calculus]

... now doing the same job for poor old Ipswich. Mind you, it will be Cook that takes the fall.

[shahanshahan]

Surprised I didn't see this post in the City Women thread, but thank you sharing @Kid in the Riot.

Completely forgot about Grace Williams & Nigel Pearson's previous connection at Watford!

[shahanshahan]

Also, it's interesting that Ashton was previously the chairman of the City Women board, however he was not so public with any statements compared to whenever he talked about the men's team

[Hampshire Red]

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

[bearded_red]

2 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Another genuinely atrocious post, keeping up your 100% record.

[Northern Red]

2 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Oddball.

[LondonBristolian]

26 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

Honest question, how much would/should Ashton have really overseen of the women’s team? In the sense with the men’s team where he integrated himself into everything like recruitment etc the women’s team had their own general manager. 

As I understand it, Ashton was the CEO of the entire club - including the women's team - and ultimately he should have been overseeing everything. A CEO might choose to delegate things (indeed Ashton probably should have delegated many aspects recruitment on the men's side) but still needs to have oversight of those things and be ready to proactively intervene if those things are not working. 

[Kid in the Riot]

28 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

Honest question, how much would/should Ashton have really overseen of the women’s team? In the sense with the men’s team where he integrated himself into everything like recruitment etc the women’s team had their own general manager. 

He was chairman of the WFC board! So it was absolutely his remit to oversee it.

Richard Gould has now taken on that role, and is unsurprisingly bringing much-needed enthusiasm to the job. 

[cityloyal473]

14 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Thanks, Mark.

[Lrrr]

4 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

He was chairman of the WFC board! So it was absolutely his remit to oversee it.

Richard Gould has now taken on that role, and is unsurprisingly bringing much-needed enthusiasm to the job. 

I don't mind a spot of Ashton bashing as much as the next person, just trying to look at it with a balanced view, have we not criticised our chairmen before for being too hands on? I'm not saying he was doing a good job or even adequate (hell or even a rubbish job as that still sounds better) but feel the nature of the set up of the womens team makes it a different style to that of the mens team in that if we had a director of football or sporting director etc and Ashton was going over/around them would probably get criticised for doing the job of someone else (I mean he'd probably love it). Obviously relegation shines a spotlight on failures but for someone with (probable) limited knowledge of the womens game (insert joke of in addition to the mens game) I can at least see why he left things to people with a better understanding of the womens game.  

[CyderInACan]

12 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

I don't mind a spot of Ashton bashing as much as the next person, just trying to look at it with a balanced view, have we not criticised our chairmen before for being too hands on?

Massive difference between being Chairman and and being CEO. 

[exAtyeoMax]

26 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

By that reckoning we should be mid table premier league… MA and SL’s strategy was not sustainable, and has been discussed at length on this forum. It’s not all about money…

[CyderInACan]

33 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Which Hampshire are you in? It can't be the one in the UK, surely? 

Mark Ashton single handedly gaslit our entire club. 

Edited September 15, 2021 by CyderInACan

[Super]

32 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Why is it every time i read one of your posts i find myself shaking my head?!

[GreedyHarry]

34 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Why would we see you tonight? We’re not playing Ipswich are we Mark?

[gamon]

46 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

I'd imagine that what he says publicly is somewhat poles apart from his private view. 

I'd hope his private view is different to his public view. There was no need to share that opinion with us and I found it interesting that he chose to defend Ashton.

I think from reading your posts you share a similar opinion to me on Ashton. Good man!

[Robbored]

1 hour ago, CyderInACan said:

I'd imagine that what he says publicly is somewhat poles apart from his private view. 

Exactly right - any negative public comments regarding Ashton would reflect badly on SL himself who appointed him.

Point is - SL and many of us were conned by the smooth fraud Ashton and he then carried on conning others particularly his current employers.

How long will it be before the Tractor Boys see through him? 

[BigTone]

Move on

[Rudolf Hucker]

5 minutes ago, TomF said:

I'm still confused by the two posters. 

Aren't we all? 

[TomThumb84]

1 hour ago, Hampshire Red said:

Gamon has a very short memory or is very young. Do you remeber the Cup run, beating Man U, giving Man C a harder game than most prem clubs do and LJ taking us to the heights of the Championship when we expected to win every game? We have gone downhill since then and no single coach, player (nor MA) is to'blame' for that. We all know SL found MA to be the first person in football he could really trust and in your personal world one should think about that.

Most people on here seem happy to criticise MAand for some reason are happy to ignore and forget the good players he brought in and the great deals he did selling players for good money to fit the business model. Complaining about an ex boss at the club has become one of the biggest yawns on here. Let's get this terrible home run under NP sorted out before forgetting where we were at pressing the top of the Championshi

See you tonight? CoYRS

Extending your astounding run of catastrophic posts with a belter here my friend!

Edited September 15, 2021 by TomThumb84

[Bernard Lerring]

1 hour ago, CyderInACan said:

I'd imagine that what he says publicly is somewhat poles apart from his private view. 

I find this curious too -  i do realise SL might have to be seen to not publicly slate Ashton.

But if an employee of mine had been exposed (eventually) as performing so badly, I'd choose to say nothing at all about them publicly, not positive opinions which I don't genuinely hold.

SL must be way more understanding / tactile than me obviously!

[Merrick's Marvels]

46 minutes ago, Super said:

Why is it every time i read one of your posts i find myself shaking my head?!

Because they're a moron? Or perhaps a massive WUM, which is moronic behaviour by another name. A moron it is then. 

[headhunter]

1 hour ago, gamon said:

What was interesting is SL still rated Ashton following his departure and had kind words to say.

He destroyed everything good following our promotion season but the owner is unable or unwilling to acknowledge that.

You are right about Pearson. I like how he is going about this season which is a big improvement on last year's disaster.

To do so is a sign of not wanting to lose face IMHO

[Tinmans Love Child]

1 hour ago, gamon said:

What was interesting is SL still rated Ashton following his departure and had kind words to say.

He destroyed everything good following our promotion season but the owner is unable or unwilling to acknowledge that.

You are right about Pearson. I like how he is going about this season which is a big improvement on last year's disaster.

He’s hardly going to start slagging Ashton off in public is he!

[Phileas Fogg]

1 hour ago, bearded_red said:

Another genuinely atrocious post, keeping up your 100% record.

They both need a permanent transfer to the CITY TILL I DIE Facebook site