[Albion] Dan Ashworth joins Newcastle

[Herr Tubthumper]

A few thoughts:

1. If TB is the businessman we all think he is, then he will have planned for this. I assume he has a list of possible replacements for every key position at the club.

2. It's disappointing that Ashworth has decided to take a job that will not provide as much of a professional challenge or, I imagine, as much job satisfaction. So you get to spend almost unlimited wealth and if you get a signing wrong you just make a more expensive one. How interesting.

3. It's disappointing that he's taken tainted money. Okay, many of us would take a job for more dosh, but working for people who murder journqalists and bomb hospitals? No thanks. He's shown his true colours.

4. Everyone is replaceable. Okay, we hear he's done a great job. And it's true, look at all the fantastic strikers we've signed on his watch. Oh, wait ...

5. With Newcastle's likely summer budget, they may well be aiming a little higher than our players.

Regarding your first bullet, I remember Dan saying part of his remit is succession planning….let’s hope he’s handed over his list to Tony.

 

[BN41Albion]

I'd be bloody disappointed if they start trying to sign our best players like Lamptey and biss. I can see it happening now though...

Football is bloody depressing sometimes nowadays... Money money fecking tainted money everywhere

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I'd be bloody disappointed if they start trying to sign our best players like Lamptey and biss. I can see it happening now though...

Under contract though.

Tony could hold out for fees way above their market value. He seems hacked off.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

The club has £13m of tainted money as you put it sitting in the bank account how is that any different to Ashworth having his fingers in the same pie?

There’s a difference between selling someone who wanted to go, where you are quite rightly taking in to account the wishes of the employee, and going to work for them.

Having said that, I am not massively blaming Dan Ashworth. He will have had to weigh up the professional attraction of starting from scratch with a not very well set up club against where the club’s ownership lies.

 

[dangull]

I keep hearing the Brighton project is not finished yet, and that's why people are disappointed with DA leaving.
The club is currently in 9th position in the Premier League, so I'm not sure how much more progress the club can make in the next few years.
Maybe DA thinks like this as well ?

 

[Creaky]

There’s a difference between selling someone who wanted to go, where you are quite rightly taking in to account the wishes of the employee, and going to work for them.

Having said that, I am not massively blaming Dan Ashworth. He will have had to weigh up the professional attraction of starting from scratch with a not very well set up club against where the club’s ownership lies.

No one forced the club to take the money - could have let him go for free or donate the fee.

 

[portlock seagull]

Me too.

There have been times in my career when I've been approached to leave my job for a fair bit more money but job satisfaction and potential risks to my new employment have made me say no.

I remember a number of my colleagues jumping ship for Icelandic banks just before the GFC and that ended well.....

Me too and learnt hard way as well if honest. But also a few years ago one prospective employee got all shirty about my probing questions during interview into their ethics and his personal integrity. Afterwards I said no thank you. When asked why by agency, I said anyone that prickly has something to hide and I trust my gut feeling/good luck to them finding right candidate but not for me. I need to trust people I work with and for just as much they do me.

 

[portlock seagull]

I agree and I have turned down or not applied to various high paid roles for similar reasons. DA is obviously a talented individual, but with no integrity. Therefore, this is NOT bad news. I have every faith in our succession planning


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Here here and totally agree. Tony and Paul have been planning today since DA’s arrival. No one person is bigger than the club and all that. Except Tony obviously!!

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Here here and totally agree. Tony and Paul have been planning today since DA’s arrival. No one person is bigger than the club and all that. Except Tony obviously!!

Do you honestly believe that? Likely they have been planning today since the approach came in

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[ManOfSussex]

Under contract though.

Tony could hold out for fees way above their market value. He seems hacked off.

The words 'extremely disappointed' jumped out at me saying he's really, really ****ed off.

 

[blockhseagull]

It is more concerning that a PL rival will have detailed knowledge of the inner workings of our club, than the actual loss of Dan Ashworth's services. I also feel that well respected individuals within the game like him and Eddie Howe going to Newcastle adds another layer of respectability to the sportswashing. Disappointing all round.

I’ve got to be honest I’m not sure there will be too many secrets to divulge which they couldn’t find out from other means.

Football is quite a closed shop really, and because of that I’d imagine there a lots of open secrets about what clubs do and how they do it.

I also think that Newcastle will be aiming far far higher than little old Brighton in terms of player recruitment and ambition. If they replicate some of the things that we do here then that’s just the way it is. But I don’t think we will be at any huge disadvantage from what Ashworth knows about the club going forward.

 

[CaptainDaveUK]

There is a right and a wrong way to leave a place of employment, part of which is timing and with mutual respect. Ashworth has shown as much class as Poyet. I hope NUFC go down in style.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

No one forced the club to take the money - could have let him go for free or donate the fee.

That would be just silly.

If they wanted to do that sort of thing, they might have given it to charity, or diverted it on bloc to Albion in te Community. But the club was only reacting to what the player wanted to do.

 

[CaptainDaveUK]

When it all goes pear shaped maybe Sunderland will offer DA a job in 18 months time.

 

[zefarelly]

All’s fair in love, war and the £££££££ EPL.

Ashworth’s knowledge of transfer gems/targets, will now be the Saudis.

Anyone here still have respect or a secret liking of Chelski, PSG or Citeh? They set the model, Wenger nearly a lone voice in being a strong critic of their “financial doping” all those years ago …. he was laughed at.

Kind of says all you need to know

DA was the beginning of the end of CH and a new beginning for BHA, like it or not, in recruitment.

He has always struck me as a flakey snakey type, just a hunch and first impression . . . . Although I have nothing to back it up I've learnt to recognise them in 20 odd years of motorsport.

He'll fit in well with arabs.

 

[Guinness Boy]

No one forced the club to take the money - could have let him go for free or donate the fee.

That pretty much means we'd not take any money for any player at all unless they were bought by a community run club with a nun in charge. Which sort of breaks the strategy and punishes us, a side run by an actual fan.

Football is broken and the PL is full of dubious owners rolling in filthy money. Taking their money off them - in this case overpaying by at least 5 million for our 5th choice centre back - is our moral duty.

 

[zefarelly]

When it all goes pear shaped maybe Sunderland will offer DA a job in 18 months time.

I wouldn't wish him on Whitby Fishermans Society!

SUnderland will be fine

 

[Mancgull]

Gardening leave is rarely in contracts (I've never seen it) - in my experience it's simply the term for not letting someone formally leave before their notice period is up, but not asking them to work in the meantime. It's normally used in redundancy situations (so you essentially remain employed and keep all your benefits a bit longer) or, as in this case, when someone has resigned and is going to the competition so you (perfectly legally) make them and their new employers wait as long as possible. I would bet this has dragged out because a) Tony initially would have counter-offered and then b) Ashworth has been trying to negotiate an exit as soon as he can (which the club have refused - at significant cost)

I'm also thinking that the 'extremely disappointed' came from the fact that Tony went out of his way to counter offer and Ashworth waited to see what it was before going. If you go out of your way to counter offer and its rejected it must be very frustrating.
I think it makes sense to appoint David Weir as the replacement. He's been responsible for overseeing the loan players and this continuity must be important now so that we don't lose the impetus. Maybe Weir doesn't have the same expertise as DA but he'll have worked closely with him and understand his plans and maybe know some of his contacts. Eg the contacts that have been scouting South American talent. It will also mean that Weir can start straight away building these key relationships while DA is on garden leave. Bring someone else in with experience and they will take some time to bed in and may have a notice period themselves. We need continuity now to continue our successful plan to date, not a whole new strategy.
As well as this, the relationship with Potter will be key. I'm assuming Weir and Potter get on OK as otherwise the promotion Weir has recently had would be a strange move.

 

[portlock seagull]

Do you honestly believe that? Likely they have been planning today since the approach came in

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Sorry, I do not know the precise hour the planning started. Is it THAT important to you?

 

[Guinness Boy]

I'm also thinking that the 'extremely disappointed' came from the fact that Tony went out of his way to counter offer and Ashworth waited to see what it was before going. If you go out of your way to counter offer and its rejected it must be very frustrating.
I think it makes sense to appoint David Weir as the replacement. He's been responsible for overseeing the loan players and this continuity must be important now so that we don't lose the impetus. Maybe Weir doesn't have the same expertise as DA but he'll have worked closely with him and understand his plans and maybe know some of his contacts. Eg the contacts that have been scouting South American talent. It will also mean that Weir can start straight away building these key relationships while DA is on garden leave. Bring someone else in with experience and they will take some time to bed in and may have a notice period themselves. We need continuity now to continue our successful plan to date, not a whole new strategy.
As well as this, the relationship with Potter will be key. I'm assuming Weir and Potter get on OK as otherwise the promotion Weir has recently had would be a strange move.

I think a couple of posts from [MENTION=30752]NooBHA[/MENTION] were quite telling regarding Ashworth's influence on selection and squad make up. It might just be that Gpott gets on far better with the successor. Let's see.

The biggest risk to us is Ashworth stealing the plan and culture and giving it to owners who don't seem to know the difference between a free kick and a sausage. The hope there is that their hubris dilutes it utterly.

I can't see Smug Eddie lasting to the end of the calendar year. If they go down he's toast. If they don't they'll have bribed some big name to take over by December.