[Albion] Dan Ashworth

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Unfair to pick on individuals but I would say whilst the long term structure and plan all looks very credible (which Ashworth is rightly part of) cannot help but think the club have taken their eye off the ball with the short term needs of the team.

Yup, this 100%. TB is doubtless a ruthless businessman, but as an Albion chairman he just often seems to be sweetly naive, seems to have his eye more on carrying on the family Albion dynasty than getting down and dirty with the rest of the hard-nosed moneymen in this division. Horrible thing to say, but maybe he's just too DECENT a bloke to be a PL chairman

 

[Seasidesage]

But Potter had his previous success with his own recruitment guy. DOF has hardly worked well anywhere, let Potter take charge of it and use others to fulfill his remit/nerds and not the other way around.

I was most certainly in the Hughton Out camp end of last season, but did he suffer the same fate of having dog shit signings foisteted on him?

Ashworth OUT.

Let the manager manage it.

It's quite possible you are right but its just too soon to know. Almost everyone at this level has switched to a DOF type structure there must be a reason for that? Scouting is now a worldwide business both at 1st team level and academy it surely makes sense to have someone overseeing that? A manager could never do it properly anymore. What is important is that all of the parties buy into that which I presume is why Potter's men were brought on board too?

Mistakes have clearly been made on the recruitment side the lack of striking options is criminal but with the limited knowledge we have we cannot know who if anyone is responsible? FWIW I thought Potter's decision to go to 2 up front yesterday was the point the game became strung out and ultimately led to their goal but Potter is on a learning curve as much as anybody at this point. The very fact that we gave Potter a 6 year contract means this whole structure is a long term project. Time will tell if it works or not but it makes as much sense to blame Andone for throwing his rattle out of the pram in August as it does to blame the DOF...

 

[Icy Gull]

I really know very little about DA other than he arrived with lots of hype and came out with infamous guff along the lines of “it’s my job to keep the manager in his job”

I’m on the “out train”, as it does seem we’ve gone backwards since he arrived

Just what does Dan Ashworth do?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Why don't we wave sign someone who can walk straight into the first team.

We only ever seem to sign "squad" players who are little better than those we have already, and need three months acclimatisation (and then get injured).

 

[Chicken Run]

I really know very little about DA other than he arrived with lots of hype and came out with infamous guff along the lines of “it’s my job to keep the manager in his job”

Brilliant well, that’s possibly 2 managers and goodness knows how many millions in compensation

 

[Icy Gull]

Why don't we wave sign someone who can walk straight into the first team.

We only ever seem to sign "squad" players who are little better than those we have already, and need three months acclimatisation (and then get injured).

Someone like Jarrod Bowen then

 

[portlock seagull]

Why don't we wave sign someone who can walk straight into the first team.

We only ever seem to sign "squad" players who are little better than those we have already, and need three months acclimatisation (and then get injured).

It’s just not the Brighton Way. Suggest you go support one of the other 91 clubs it works perfectly well for

 

[Ernest]

Yup, this 100%. TB is doubtless a ruthless businessman, but as an Albion chairman he just often seems to be sweetly naive, seems to have his eye more on carrying on the family Albion dynasty than getting down and dirty with the rest of the hard-nosed moneymen in this division. Horrible thing to say, but maybe he's just too DECENT a bloke to be a PL chairman

Seems he allows the likes of Barber and now Ashworth too much control , when things are going tits up as they are now he should be saying to them if we go down you're getting SACKED not Potter

 

[phoenix]

Someone like Jarrod Bowen then

It was said on Sky that he (Bowen) wanted 80K a week in wages.

 

[Icy Gull]

It was said on Sky that he wanted 80K a week in wages.

OK I feel better about it now, out of our league then

 

[phoenix]

This is a myth. Our net transfer spend is in the top 10 in Europe over the last 3 years. We have a shocking squad for that outlay.

I believe that is because in and outs are taken into account. So if we sold Dunk for say 50 million. That would be taken off our spending.

 

[phoenix]

OK I feel better about it now, out of our league then

Yes i think we still pay up to about 45-50 k.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I don’t have a view on Ashworth in or out because I don’t know his remit. I also do not blame him for short term results, particularly during his first year in the job. However, what I have heard is lots of Blair style soundbites, rather than specifics. Maybe that’s the problem. Many of us have met similar characters within organizations who are very good at selling themselves and their careers but have little substance. TB seems to like such people but, like many on here, I am very suspicious of people with silky communication skills but little else.
Perhaps we need to hear the other side of the story, namely a summary of his achievements since he joined.

 

[The_Viper]

Burke came in and destroyed what was the best style of football and momentum we've had in my lifetime. Managers outright blamed him for the downturn. We bought in a Head Coach in Sami and we almost went back to League 1 football. Just over half a decade later and Bloom, I assume, has bought in Ashworth and Head Coach Potter (who has never been in this situation before, by the way) with the logic of Burke and Sami failed because they weren't up to scratch, so bringing in someone of the Ashworth calibre shouldn't fail. He's getting a very expensive outcome. Director of Football and the type of manager we want at this club do not work together, and on the whole the DoF doesn't work well in many places at all. It's one thing to cost however much Burke and Samis sackings cost but this one is set to cost Tony almost half a billion when all is said and done without even including what it might end up costing to sack Ashworth or Potters team, but they don't go together clearly. Yikes.


Edit: Oh, and if you read all of DA's little articles and interviews and other staff members at the club, it certainly paints a picture that SUGGESTS he may well have a large say in that starting XI we see every week.

 

[Springal]

Edit: Oh, and if you read all of DA's little articles and interviews and other staff members at the club, it certainly paints a picture that SUGGESTS he may well have a large say in that starting XI we see every week.

Why did Potter join? And why is he still here?

 

[Bry Nylon]

Ladies team doing well

Tony: The thing is Dan, you're a decent bloke, but if we get relegated that's about £110m of TV money down the shitter, plus the same again from reduced commercial ties-ins, gate money, sponsorship deals, corporate revenue and merchandise sales. Give me one good reason why shouldn't I sack you?

Ashworth: Ladies team doing well?

 

[peterward]

Why don't we wave sign someone who can walk straight into the first team.

We only ever seem to sign "squad" players who are little better than those we have already, and need three months acclimatisation (and then get injured).

Here here, we're sold the line that theyre rough diamonds in need of a little polishing, only to find out later they're turds who can't be polished

 

[Springal]

Tony: The thing is Dan, you're a decent bloke, but if we get relegated that's about £110m of TV money down the shitter, plus the same again from reduced commercial ties-ins, gate money, sponsorship deals, corporate revenue and merchandise sales. Give me one good reason why shouldn't I sack you?

Ashworth: Ladies team doing well?

[emoji849]

 

[um bongo molongo]

It's not insider knowledge but certainly having worked in senior management in corporate postions for a number of years I can tell you it is utterly destablising to just insert a "Head Of" or "Director Of" or "CXO" into a management hierarchy that is working very nicely already thank you. And I've been calling this out since Hughton went. Look at the threads in the immediate aftermath of his sacking where I discuss it with [MENTION=27447]Goldstone1976[/MENTION] or any other of the Ashworth threads.

The worst software project I ever did was one where there was a Delivery Manager, Project Manager and Lead Analyst all basically responsible for exactly the same thing, all reporting to one person who had it in their interest that the other three did a job that was just good enough to get by without any of them shining. It was stressful, frustrating and, frankly, a money pit. Now look at our recruitment. Ashworth is ultimately responsible (apparently) yet we have Potter's former "head of" at Swansea and Winstanley both still on the payroll. And, as you point out correctly, our Premier League recruitment has been SHITHOUSE.

Saved me posting pretty much the same thing. I would say the coaching also leaves a bit to be desired though - do they ever practice shooting? Solly March might be the worst shooter in Premier League history for an attacking player. Powderpuff.
I don't like the DoF role in English football anyway and there is plenty of recent evidence to show this dislike is not just the old causation / coirrelation argument when it comes to the men's first team, which is why 99% of us are here. Our most successful periods? When Poyet had more or less complete autonomy and when Hughton did. Our least? When we've tried to crowbar in this role. Poyet was led to do "something" that he hadn't been before, Oscar left within a season, citing recruitment and then we had the Hyypia disaster. Now we have a Head Coach who cannot pick the same players twice in a row and yet always has the same old flaws. That's either poor coaching or....well... you do the math.

When we go down - and we will - I will be perfectly happy with Championship football. I'd go as far as to say I'd prefer it. But Tony and Tony's bank balance won't. Someone will pay with their job. Let's just wait and see who it is, eh?

Saved me posting pretty much the same thing. I would say the coaching also leaves a bit to be desired though - do they ever practice shooting? Solly March might be the worst shooter in Premier League history for an attacking player. Powderpuff.

 

[southstandandy]

At least we'll get parachute payments for the next couple of years.