Fabrizio reports on Dan Ashworth

F**k me, a lot of hand wringing for someone who has hardly been here a long time.

He’s got a long term connection with Brailsford from his time at the FA.

He’s going to have more money to make a change at Man Utd because they just have much bigger commercials and sponsors than us (at the moment and likely to be the case for a good few years).

Saying he wants more wages probably the 3rd (if that) thing on his list of reasons.

Well rinse Man Utd for him, can’t see the Saudi mentality accepting any loss of face… the deal will HAVE to obviously be a good one for us.

Talk of Michael Edwards to replace him, did a great job re*****ising Liverpool with Klopp… so he’s proven it at the club level… but am sure we’ll find a good replacement to come in.

More worried about Wilson ripping his bloody tot wrestling with a Forest player than Ashworth 🤣

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Originally Posted by Marat18

Aren’t we all, when it comes to a day to day job?

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In essence yes. Ashworth has a fair bit of form for this stuff.
I not complaining about it because as you say, we're all open to better financial offers if we think the grass is greener.

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Originally Posted by Nufcian

F**k me, a lot of hand wringing for someone who has hardly been here a long time.

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It's not the length of time he's been here though, Ian.

With FFP seemingly devised to stop us (among others) from progressing, Ashowrth leaving would be a kick in the teeth after the importance we placed on getting him. We may not like it but having a club who are inside the FFP fence seemigly click their fingers and take one of our most important employees is not a good look.

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Originally Posted by Zippity

It's not the length of time he's been here though, Ian.

With FFP seemingly devised to stop us (among others) from progressing, Ashowrth leaving would be a kick in the teeth after the importance we placed on getting him. We may not like it but having a club who are inside the FFP fence seemigly click their fingers and take one of our most important employees is not a good look.

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I agree Zip, its the optics of it. Sends the wrong message totally about our position and ambition. Not particularly annoyed about losing him but its how that can be perceived as our place in the pecking order.

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Originally Posted by Sclox

its the optics of it. .

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Absolutely, man. The Saudis won't like this one little bit.

I know they're in it for the long term but maybe even they didn't realise the extent of the cartel they're trying to break into. i don't doubt their commitment to spending 100's of millions on this project-billions, in fact-but, if they're not allowed to spend it and, no sooner do we employ someone at the top of their game to take us forward than they leave for someone who can spend money then you begin to wonder how long they'll put up with it...?

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Originally Posted by Zippity

Absolutely, man. The Saudis won't like this one little bit.

I know they're in it for the long term but maybe even they didn't realise the extent of the cartel they're trying to break into. i don't doubt their commitment to spending 100's of millions on this project-billions, in fact-but, if they're not allowed to spend it and, no sooner do we employ someone at the top of their game to take us forward than they leave for someone who can spend money then you begin to wonder how long they'll put up with it...?

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Yeah, for sure but theres other ways the millions can be displayed I reckon that are within the rules improving the infrastructure and bones of the club. I hope we see it.

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Originally Posted by Nufcian

F**k me, a lot of hand wringing for someone who has hardly been here a long time.

He’s got a long term connection with Brailsford from his time at the FA.

He’s going to have more money to make a change at Man Utd because they just have much bigger commercials and sponsors than us (at the moment and likely to be the case for a good few years).

Saying he wants more wages probably the 3rd (if that) thing on his list of reasons.

Well rinse Man Utd for him, can’t see the Saudi mentality accepting any loss of face… the deal will HAVE to obviously be a good one for us.

Talk of Michael Edwards to replace him, did a great job re*****ising Liverpool with Klopp… so he’s proven it at the club level… but am sure we’ll find a good replacement to come in.

More worried about Wilson ripping his bloody tot wrestling with a Forest player than Ashworth ��

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Edwards would be my choice to replace Ashworth too.

Echo everything you've said here mate, The PiF will make sure he sits in his garden until this time next year - 2 windows - at least or £10m for his services and contractually unable to pursue targets NUFC have gone got lined up for the summer window.

Either way we need to get it sorted asap and move on.

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Originally Posted by Zippity

Absolutely, man. The Saudis won't like this one little bit.

I know they're in it for the long term but maybe even they didn't realise the extent of the cartel they're trying to break into. i don't doubt their commitment to spending 100's of millions on this project-billions, in fact-but, if they're not allowed to spend it and, no sooner do we employ someone at the top of their game to take us forward than they leave for someone who can spend money then you begin to wonder how long they'll put up with it...?

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I'm sure they'll have known about the challenges faced. Also there will be considerable pressure from the Saudi's on the EPL, Masters et al to ensure that we are not completely handcuffed.

What I expect to see if that the $105m loss over 3 yrs will be adjusted to meet 'football inflation' in accordance with something close to that which Keiran McGuire discussed on 'The Price of Football' Podcast (highly recommend you all make this a weekly listen, total clears up any uncertainty around the financial rules of the game at all levels) closer to where it should be today, around £280m over 3 yrs.

Then we are golden, it's all the sh!t around 3rd party sponsorship that is total BS in my opinion!

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Originally Posted by Zippity

It's not the length of time he's been here though, Ian.

With FFP seemingly devised to stop us (among others) from progressing, Ashowrth leaving would be a kick in the teeth after the importance we placed on getting him. We may not like it but having a club who are inside the FFP fence seemigly click their fingers and take one of our most important employees is not a good look.

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I agree, and that’s why I said we (PIF) will only sign off on a deal that is obviously good for us.

Until FFP limit is increased or our commercials dramatically improve then we’re at risk of losing staff and players if their head gets turned, and the only thing we can really do is stand strong (starting with Ashworth) and make the vultures pay through the nose for any deal… if we allow anyone to go easily or cheaply then I’d be really worried, but it’s just the $h!tty reality of FFP consequences till it changes.

Also, this could be as much his existing relationship with Brailsford and not just FFP

It’s likely more about his relationship with Brailsford surely?

Ashworth’s career has been built on identifying players with a high sell on value.

Giving players the opportunity to build on their potential in an environment that nurtures their abilities and lets them thrive without pressure, then moving them on for big money and repeat the cycle.

His expertise is surely wasted at Man Utd where they are not interested in nurturing that talent and readying them for a bigger club, they want players to step straight in to the squad and compete immediately for trophies at the highest level.

We’re not there yet, unearthing those gems for Newcastle where they have the time to grow into their potential is definitely what we need.

And that sell on model to build a club is exactly why we are hearing about our top talent being primed to leave.

Is it a bad thing for Ashworth to go at this moment in time?

Will his expertise will be wasted at Man Utd?

Will we get a DoF in who thinks holding on to Bruno, Jo, Isak etc is better than selling on and reinvesting? If Ashworth stays, we’re losing one or more as that’s his modus operandi.

For me, if Ashworth goes, our commercial director has to be the the guy to focus on building our revenue streams, so we can invest in the team rather than selling to build!