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[Football] Dan Ashworth **Sacked by Man U 08/12/24**



Guinness Boy

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Jul 23, 2003
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Pretty damning stuff in The Athletic. Looks like his ideas on “new manager” were actually “people I’ve worked with or know the name of”.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/59...ited-exit-reasons/?source=user_shared_articleInside Dan Ashworth’s shock Man United exit: What irritated Ratcliffe and how it ended

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Triggaaar

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Oct 24, 2005
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Would you be happy to receive the same money in your job for half the responsibility? I would

But Cashworh already has plenty of money, so I'd guess the bit he'll miss is the prestige. Only a guess obviously.
 


jcdenton08

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Oct 17, 2008
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Pretty damning stuff in The Athletic. Looks like his ideas on “new manager” were actually “people I’ve worked with or know the name of”.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/59...ited-exit-reasons/?source=user_shared_articleInside Dan Ashworth’s shock Man United exit: What irritated Ratcliffe and how it ended

View attachment 193529
Thomas Frank out of those would’ve been a decent shout. I think it’s very clear though, as so often happens when people leave the machine we have become, that taking a cog out fulfilling a specific purpose within a heavily structured environment and expecting them to carry a process alone simply isn’t going to happen.
 


Brovion

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Jul 6, 2003
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I’d say, based on what we’ve seen from the summer splurge on players, it’s a bit jump to suggest Weir’s an upgrade.
If I was being facetious after yesterday I'd say you have a point! But no, I would still maintain that we're in a better place now than we were when Ashworth left, and I would still maintain that part of that is because Weir has proved to be an able and more loyal successor to his higher-profile predecessor.
 


jcdenton08

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I’d say, based on what we’ve seen from the summer splurge on players, it’s a bit jump to suggest Weir’s an upgrade.
The spend was to bring the squad back up to the current level as well as invest in the future. That was a maintenance spend, not a Chelsea style £1.2bn attempt to buy the league spend.

We had to replace Caicedo, Mac Allister, Mwepu, Undav and others going back to Trossard who hadn’t really been truly replaced (RDZ’s big peeve) as well as the next development signings.

If we look at the signings we’ve made,

Cozier-Duberry (19) - free, loaned, prospect
Yalcouyé (18) - €7m, loaned, prospect
Osman (19) - €19.5m, loaned, prospect
O’Riley (23) - €29.5m, just returned from injury
Kadioglu (24) - €30m, injured
Gruda (20) - €31.5m
Wieffer (24) - €32m
Minteh (19) - €35m
Georginio (22) - €45.7m

Average age of the players we signed is 20.89 years old. Three signings worth €26.5m went out on loan immediately.

It is extremely clear to me that the (relatively, for a club our size) big spend was about investing in the next batch of young players to develop and improve with time and first team experience with us.

We weren’t buying a European campaign or title challenge (lol), we were signing what was absolutely necessary to a) try and maintain our position in the top half of the league and try for Europe and b) give these young players a platform to shine and hopefully be the next big money sale out of the door in order for the club to be self-sufficient financially.

I think it was an excellent window of superb business, but one which many people won’t recognise until like - as in the past with Mac Allister, Bissouma, Caicedo, Baleba and the rest - the players come good due to first team exposure and hard work on the training ground.
 
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Herr Tubthumper

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Jul 11, 2003
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If I was being facetious after yesterday I'd say you have a point! But no, I would still maintain that we're in a better place now than we were when Ashworth left, and I would still maintain that part of that is because Weir has proved to be an able and more loyal successor to his higher-profile predecessor.
Ashworth was very good at setting up the structure of the Albion, the hub-and-spoke management setup he often spoke about; this was his true worth to Brighton. Once this was in place his role was sitting in the middle, the hub, and more that of a routine director of sports…. a role others can fill. I feel we got the best out of Ashworth and his skill set.
 


Mancgull

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Nov 28, 2011
5,638
Astley, Manchester
Ashworth was very good at setting up the structure of the Albion, the hub-and-spoke management setup he often spoke about; this was his true worth to Brighton. Once this was in place his role was sitting in the middle, the hub, and more that of a routine director of sports…. a role others can fill. I feel we got the best out of Ashworth and his skill set.
Setting up structures and providing value over time. Also think he was pivotal in bringing in Welbeck, Lallana and Lamptey who have all served us well. Recommended Potter who adapted our playing style over time. All gains made over time.
Seems as if Ratcliffe wants instant success and has little to no patience. Compare to Tony where he gives people time to show worth, and his loyalty to Hyypia before eventually accepting his resignation.
We are light years apart.
Ratcliffe sounds a right @@@t to me.
For all his redundancies to save costs he then spends £3m on paying Newcastle for Ashworth and then sacks him after 5 months.
If he wasn’t happy with Ashworth perhaps he should have looked first at the person who recommended him ( Brailsworth I’d expect)
Long may United struggle.
 


Uh_huh_him

Well-known member
Sep 28, 2011
12,441
The spend was to bring the squad back up to the current level as well as invest in the future. That was a maintenance spend, not a Chelsea style £1.2bn attempt to buy the league spend.

We had to replace Caicedo, Mac Allister, Mwepu, Undav and others going back to Trossard who hadn’t really been truly replaced (RDZ’s big peeve) as well as the next development signings.

If we look at the signings we’ve made,

Cozier-Duberry (19) - free, loaned, prospect
Yalcouyé (18) - €7m, loaned, prospect
Osman (19) - €19.5m, loaned, prospect
O’Riley (23) - €29.5m, just returned from injury
Kadioglu (24) - €30m, injured
Gruda (20) - €31.5m
Wieffer (24) - €32m
Minteh (19) - €35m
Georginio (22) - €45.7m

Average age of the players we signed is 20.89 years old. Three signings worth €26.5m went out on loan immediately.

It is extremely clear to me that the (relatively, for a club our size) big spend was about investing in the next batch of young players to develop and improve with time and first team experience with us.

We weren’t buying a European campaign or title challenge (lol), we were signing what was absolutely necessary to a) try and maintain our position in the top half of the league and try for Europe and b) give these young players a platform to shine and hopefully be the next big money sale out of the door in order for the club to be self-sufficient financially.

I think it was an excellent window of superb business, but one which many people won’t recognise until like - as in the past with Mac Allister, Bissouma, Caicedo, Baleba and the rest - the players come good due to first time exposure and hard work on the training ground.
It was also a case of Tony playing 4D chess.

We were one of the few clubs with money to spend.
The surplus we had built up was about to become less use with the changes to PSR about to come in.
Tony purchased young prospects, which other Premier League clubs were looking at, but couldn't afford in the summer window.
 




jcdenton08

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It was also a case of Tony playing 4D chess.

We were one of the few clubs with money to spend.
The surplus we had built up was about to become less use with the changes to PSR about to come in.
Tony purchased young prospects, which other Premier League clubs were looking at, but couldn't afford in the summer window.
Excellent point, this was definitely a factor in getting Minteh and probably several of the others.
 










Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo

I believe in Joe Hendry
Oct 4, 2003
12,220
Pretty damning stuff in The Athletic. Looks like his ideas on “new manager” were actually “people I’ve worked with or know the name of”.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/59...ited-exit-reasons/?source=user_shared_articleInside Dan Ashworth’s shock Man United exit: What irritated Ratcliffe and how it ended

View attachment 193529

I can't access The Athletic but I've also seen it reported elsewhere that Radcliffe saw Ashworth as the main driving force behind keeping Ten Hag and giving him a new contract in the summer (a move that cost them around £20m in compensation to get Amorim and pay off Ten Hag) and he also wasn't happy with their summer recruitment.
 






Professor Plum

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Jul 27, 2024
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I think it's probably the fundamental requirement to win football games.
Yet another glib, hilarious, and useless retort. I’ve never been keen on pile-ons, and am simply saying I wouldn’t mind understanding what led to this decision. Ashworth is very obviously not being sacked because he hasn’t, after 5 months, turned Man Utd into a ruthless, peak-Pep, winning machine. The decisions made by a good sporting director can take years to bear fruit. There’s more to this than a lack of instant success on the pitch.

On the surface, Ratcliffe seems to me to be the weaker link. You’ve only to look at other INEOS sporting ventures in F1, cycling, sailing, to wonder what it is he’s supposed to offer, apart from bags of cash. His wealth comes from success in business and certainly not in sport where his judgement is constantly being questioned. There’s all this penny-pinching terrible PR stuff like the redundancies of long-serving staff and the £66 tickets, balanced with the incredible waste of paying off Ashworth's Newcastle contract, and renewing Ten Haag's contract only to sack him a few months later. I'm curious about where Ashworth stood on Ten Haag, and if the strategy over ticket prices and sackings has created rifts at senior management level.
 


dazzer6666

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Mar 27, 2013
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Yet another glib, hilarious, and useless retort. I’ve never been keen on pile-ons, and am simply saying I wouldn’t mind understanding what led to this decision. Ashworth is very obviously not being sacked because he hasn’t, after 5 months, turned Man Utd into a ruthless, peak-Pep, winning machine. The decisions made by a good sporting director can take years to bear fruit. There’s more to this than a lack of instant success on the pitch.

On the surface, Ratcliffe seems to me to be the weaker link. You’ve only to look at other INEOS sporting ventures in F1, cycling, sailing, to wonder what it is he’s supposed to offer, apart from bags of cash. His wealth comes from success in business and certainly not in sport where his judgement is constantly being questioned. There’s all this penny-pinching terrible PR stuff like the redundancies of long-serving staff and the £66 tickets, balanced with the incredible waste of paying off Ashworth's Newcastle contract, and renewing Ten Haag's contract only to sack him a few months later. I'm curious about where Ashworth stood on Ten Haag, and if the strategy over ticket prices and sackings has created rifts at senior management level.
Tend to agree. It smacks a bit of ‘my way or highway’ on the part of Ratcliffe, with Ashworth (a proven operator) maybe not entirely agreeing with Ratcliffe’s plans/suggestions. Ashworth would have to be given time - very much a ‘project’. He’s better off out of it if Ratcliffe wants instant results (he won’t get them)
 


Nobby Cybergoat

Well-known member
Jul 19, 2021
8,771
The spend was to bring the squad back up to the current level as well as invest in the future. That was a maintenance spend, not a Chelsea style £1.2bn attempt to buy the league spend.

We had to replace Caicedo, Mac Allister, Mwepu, Undav and others going back to Trossard who hadn’t really been truly replaced (RDZ’s big peeve) as well as the next development signings.

If we look at the signings we’ve made,

Cozier-Duberry (19) - free, loaned, prospect
Yalcouyé (18) - €7m, loaned, prospect
Osman (19) - €19.5m, loaned, prospect
O’Riley (23) - €29.5m, just returned from injury
Kadioglu (24) - €30m, injured
Gruda (20) - €31.5m
Wieffer (24) - €32m
Minteh (19) - €35m
Georginio (22) - €45.7m

Average age of the players we signed is 20.89 years old. Three signings worth €26.5m went out on loan immediately.

It is extremely clear to me that the (relatively, for a club our size) big spend was about investing in the next batch of young players to develop and improve with time and first team experience with us.

We weren’t buying a European campaign or title challenge (lol), we were signing what was absolutely necessary to a) try and maintain our position in the top half of the league and try for Europe and b) give these young players a platform to shine and hopefully be the next big money sale out of the door in order for the club to be self-sufficient financially.

I think it was an excellent window of superb business, but one which many people won’t recognise until like - as in the past with Mac Allister, Bissouma, Caicedo, Baleba and the rest - the players come good due to first time exposure and hard work on the training ground.
Very sensible post
 


Couldn't Be Hyypia

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Nov 12, 2006
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You need Bloom's algorithms to make the process work.

Something tells me that the rubric's big picture exists only in Tony's head.

Which was pretty obvious, frankly.

A man whose private betting company employs people who understand only their part in the machine, and are paid so it stays that way (articles passim).

:shrug:
Had to look that up. Thank you HWT
 




jcdenton08

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Oct 17, 2008
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Very sensible post
It just strikes me that some fans understandably only think about the Albion, but perhaps don’t appreciate what everyone else is doing. That seems like a big spend, but drill down a little and it really isn’t, given our outgoings and the profile of player we’ve signed, their wages and expectations of them.

For example, a poster here said the other day about Wieffer, that for £30m he should really be dominating midfields, forgetting (or not knowing) that £30m is the going rate for an average PL central midfielder nowadays, and Enzo Fernandez cost £100m or whatever and is regularly outplayed.
 


5Ways Gull

È quello che è
Feb 2, 2009
1,239
Fiveways, Brighton
Yet another glib, hilarious, and useless retort. I’ve never been keen on pile-ons, and am simply saying I wouldn’t mind understanding what led to this decision. Ashworth is very obviously not being sacked because he hasn’t, after 5 months, turned Man Utd into a ruthless, peak-Pep, winning machine. The decisions made by a good sporting director can take years to bear fruit. There’s more to this than a lack of instant success on the pitch.

On the surface, Ratcliffe seems to me to be the weaker link. You’ve only to look at other INEOS sporting ventures in F1, cycling, sailing, to wonder what it is he’s supposed to offer, apart from bags of cash. His wealth comes from success in business and certainly not in sport where his judgement is constantly being questioned. There’s all this penny-pinching terrible PR stuff like the redundancies of long-serving staff and the £66 tickets, balanced with the incredible waste of paying off Ashworth's Newcastle contract, and renewing Ten Haag's contract only to sack him a few months later. I'm curious about where Ashworth stood on Ten Haag, and if the strategy over ticket prices and sackings has created rifts at senior management level.
I do apologise. My "glib", "useless", "hilarious", response was very much underpinned by the fact that I actually couldn't give a flying f*ck about Man Utd.
 


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