[Albion] Dan Ashworth joins Newcastle

[Javeaseagull]

Well at least I can stop worrying that Aidy Bothroyd is going to rock up at our club. It’s been an underlying fear ever since he was appointed given their previous together. I think they are in-laws. Sure he can find a position for Aidy at Newcastle now.

 

[The Wizard]

It’s a shame but that’s life, same as any industry, money talks and always will, if someone offers to double your salary then can’t really blame him for moving, circle of business.

However on a more childish note, I’d LOVE to see Newcastle relegated even more now, it would be deliciously funny.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

The moral argument is all very well but how many of us make moral decisions whilst going about our everyday life. I don't check everything I buy at the supermarket in case I am lining the pockets of some morally corrupt regime. I don't think its Dan Ashworth's job to make a stand against the Saudi regime when others have allowed this situation to come about

 

[Hamilton]

The moral argument is all very well but how many of us make moral decisions whilst going about our everyday life. I don't check everything I buy at the supermarket in case I am lining the pockets of some morally corrupt regime. I don't think its Dan Ashworth's job to make a stand against the Saudi regime when others have allowed this situation to come about

I disagree. If you know 100% that something is bad, I think you have a duty to do something about it. And state sponsored terrorism and denial of human rights is bad.

If true, then Ashworth has left a very well paid job to work for a club owned by Saudi Arabia. It's not as if he was unemployed and forced to get any job just to pay the bills.

 

[bhanutz]

Should I speak to my Ipswich supporting mate?

Yes... Please do..

 

[amexer]

Just a thought. Always clear he had close relationship with Tony Bloom but I wonder how Ashworth enjoyed working with/for Paul Barber.

 

[herecomesaregular]

We're all hypocrites in some way or another, it's part of human nature. Therefore, personally, I can't really criticise him for going there (although BDB was a Geordie so he gets more of a pass). Maybe it wasn't just the money maybe (hopefully) his job is done here and Newcastle is more of a from-scratch project he likes and excels at. Again, hopefully, we're all set up as a smooth operator and we no longer really need him anyway?

 

[blockhseagull]

Just a thought. Always clear he had close relationship with Tony Bloom but I wonder how Ashworth enjoyed working with/for Paul Barber.

Some people can’t help themselves

 

[Worried Man Blues]

We're the only ones that don't leave, the fans, fortunately that includes Mr Bloom. The rest can come and go

 

[Mackenzie]

If he doesn’t want to be here then he can **** off, good riddance to the prick.

 

[Hamilton]

Bit of faux outrage from the usual suspects. He has no allegiance to Albion, we did something similar to Newcastle when we got him to sign from the FA. He gets to work on an interesting project and line his families pockets, what's the problem?

How many families has he got?

Polygamous Ashworth!

 

[METALMICKY]

Not that fussed about the effect Ashworth leaving will have on the club.

Tony protects the club interests pretty well.

Ashworth has done the initial work of setting systems up, we might need different skills moving forward.

My only concern - not megabucks offers for Trossard or Bissouma etc. ( as Tony will get eye-watering prices beyond their worth ) - is Ashworth poaching Potter. That would be a disaster - but I think and hope Potter has more moral fibre than his ex-boss.

Sadly I think a lot of people in football are going to discover that moral fibre gets trumped by silly amounts of wonga quite easily. And anyone who thinks that doesn't apply to all our players and the manager is naive!

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Fourth bit is unenforceable - it would just be someone else doing it (Head of Recruitment for example), and would also risk a restraint of trade case on the part of the player

Agreed. I was thinking that he would only be interested in the same people everybody else is anyway, BUT he would have the knowledge about recent recruits who are still under the radar that others would be less aware of.

But the would still be ours to sell rather than his(Newcastle's) to buy. We would be in control.

 

[Steve in Japan]

If he doesn’t want to be here then he can **** off, good riddance to the prick.

That's where I am with this. Succinct and to the point.

 

[Jim in the West]

Per the Clubs statement:


I'm sure Tony, as has been pointed out, values loyalty and integrity so will max the 'extended' to the max. Plus had all his laptops, securty passes and BHA neckties taken off of him. A bit closing the door after the horse and all that, but at least he won't be up to date on the latest club targets.

Just wondering how long that 'extended' is, 3 months? 6 months? Hope it is 6 months and time to get a few of the targets nailed down, especially the Enciso lad.

Tricky running a business in such a field thats awash with money where your best talented workers can be poached for megabucks.

It's a really interestingly-worded statement from the club. Complete guess-work, but this doesn't sound like an amicable parting. I think Tony feels very let down. The quid pro quo is holding Ashworth to his notice period (which MUST be longer than three months - using the word "extended" is slightly strange, and to me it points to something quite lengthy - at least six months, perhaps). It's also very strange how this has taken so long to come to fruition.....seems like there's been a month or so of negotiating (which could have included TB putting more money on the table and/or Ashworth indicating he was going to stay, but then deciding to leave??). It'll be interesting to see what announcement Newcastle make (which should provide the timescales, and hence the notice period info). Odd, too, to include the bit about continuing to report to PB during his gardening leave....sounds like the club has made it clear that they absolutely expect Ashworth to respect the terms of his contract, and if PB thinks he's starting to work for Newcastle, he'll get him to come into the office and sit around doing nothing!!

 

[tronnogull]

Presumably Newcastle would have wanted Ashworth to start immediately. It must be quite likely that they offered significant compensation to buy him out of his contract but TB and PB told them to feck off and wait until after the gardening.

 

[GoingUp]

If Newcastle rang tomorrow and offered us 100k a week to do our current jobs, Im sure most of us would take it.

This moral outrage and criticism players and workers like Dan Ashworth are getting is a bit too much.

Yes I despise the human rights issues in Saudi too and would rather dubious regimes and owners stayed out of football but slagging off workers or players who choose to go work for Newcastle is daft.

I would understand the outrage if already minted players went for the paycheque, like Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar etc players that are already worth well over £50-200million but the current players that have signed are average Premier League or even Championship players and would never get the wages Newcastle have offered them anywhere else and its a chance to secure their futures, they could get a career ending injury in training tomorrow.

Still, I agree with most. I hope Newcastle get relegated, mess up FFP and end up falling down the football pyramid too.

 

[Springal]

Personally think this is probably as bad as Paul Barber leaving. Unfortunately he has pretty intricate knowledge of the inner workings of our club through the footballing operation side. Understanding of contracts, negotiations, transfer targets, scouting policies / activities. Also will have an understanding of our plans for next season in terms of budgets, where and who we are starting to target. I doubt he'll do a straight copy / paste but some of the 'astute' buys we had in mind it is possible they end up on Newcastle radar. All well and good putting him on gardening leave but no doubt he'll be starting to put plans in place, tap up people / agents etc during this period.

I think if it was in 12-18 months time we could be more comfortable but it feels like only really the last few windows we've started to get into a stride and seeing improvements all round the club (on / off the pitch, better recruitment, smart buying etc)

 

[Milano]

There is a reason that Bloom made Barber vice chair and not ‘just’ CEO, it’s a more elevated role and I’d imagine invokes more loyalty.
With any luck the garden leave is at least 3 months, it would be in the ‘real’ world.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

The moral argument is all very well but how many of us make moral decisions whilst going about our everyday life. I don't check everything I buy at the supermarket in case I am lining the pockets of some morally corrupt regime. I don't think its Dan Ashworth's job to make a stand against the Saudi regime when others have allowed this situation to come about

in everyday life, I think there's a bit of difference between deciding whether to buy something in a supermarket because of where it came from and whether to uproot your whole family to move 300 miles away to work for people where there might be questions about the provenance of the finance, particularly when the question of the remuneration package comes in to it.

On the other hand it might also be such an attractive challenge with him having exactly the control and the possibilities in place that he might ever wish for - too good an opportunity to turn down, irrespective of the money.