Ashton: Delighted By Performances Even If Results Haven't Followed
Tuesday, 10th Dec 2024 10:22
Chairman and CEO Mark Ashton says he’s been delighted by the Blues’ performances this season even if results haven’t followed and reiterated that his belief in manager Kieran McKenna, his staff, the players and the club as a whole hasn’t wavered.
Town sit in 18th place in the Premier League following their return to the top flight after 15 games having won only once this season.
However, speaking at last night’s PLC AGM in the Sir Bobby Robson Suite, appearing alongside chief operating officer Luke Werhun and chief financial officer Tom Ball as well as PLC chair Roger Finbow, Ashton reminded shareholders where the club has come from in a remarkably short time.
“I think in three years, we have built the first stage of a huge rocket ship. But this is not the end, it is simply the end of the beginning,” he said.
“If I look at where we’ve come from and come to, where we’ve arrived at and the challenges that we face ahead, you’ll remember me talking at the last AGM about the four pillars of the football club upon which we would rebuild this amazing club.
“The first of which was the football department, and that was the appointment of Kieran, the further enhancement of his coaching staff, the development of the training facilities, the further enhancement of our academy, our recruitment, our analysis etc.
“In the last 12 months we have continued to develop all of those areas. Kieran has signed a new long-term contract with the football club, which wasn’t an easy thing to achieve but was supported by the board in its entirety and was a very, very important part of our summer following promotion.
“Recruitment, that’s been probably one of the biggest challenges of my career this summer, for sure.
“Moving into a very tight time period with the group of players that we’ve predominantly taken from League One to the Premier League, which is what we always said we were going to do, we knew we would need to recruit quickly and recruit effectively. And I think in the majority of the cases we are very happy with what we have recruited.
“The development of our players continues, players who have come on the journey with us, players we recruited in the summer are all developing and are becoming far better players under Kieran McKenna and his coaching staff, that is for sure.”
Reflecting on how the season has gone so far, he added: “On the pitch, the first team, it’s difficult. Are we surprised by anything? Not really. If you ask my honest opinion, I’m really pleased with the performance. In fact, I’m delighted with the performances.
“What hasn’t happened is that the results haven’t quite followed as we would have liked. A couple more wins and I think we’d all be feeling a little bit different. But my optimism, my determination, my belief in Kieran, the players, the staff and this football club doesn’t move move one millimetre.
“[Tuesday’s 1-1 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth] was disappointing, it was frustrating. There but the width of a post we could win the game, there but the width of the post we draw the game.
“But that is the Premier League. It’s brutal and we have to deal with it. For us to win a game, we have to be 10 out of 10 every time, nine, nine-and-a-half just doesn’t get you across the line.
“But, don’t forget where we’ve come from. We’ve got a lot of work to do and from a performance perspective, we always talk about sticking to the process and I’m more than happy with the performances that Kieran and his team have put out this season.”
Looking ahead to the January transfer window, Ashton pre-empted questions which might come from the floor later: “Before anyone asks, yes, we will be active. That’s what we do because we will move forward.”
Reflecting on the commercial side of the club, he added: “Commercially we continue to drive forward. Further enhancement of our relationship with main partner and family friend now Ed Sheeran, who is a shareholder. He should have been here. He can come and speak next time!
“All areas of commercial revenues are moving forward and moving forward well. I think you’ve seen what we’ve tried to do is tried to be really fair on ticket prices and shirt prices. Compare us with the rest of the league and we’re probably bottom of the league with some of the most competitive prices in the league.
“My mantra since I joined this club is attractive football which is affordable for families because we know we’re in a cost of living crisis, we know there is a challenge on every family’s pound and while we are running a business which loses a lot of money, we’re still trying to make this affordable for everyone.
“From a financial perspective. Let’s be really clear about this football club is. When I joined this football club, our revenues were circa £13 million. We will break through £153 million this year. That is a growth curve that I challenge anyone in world football to match.
“We are not little Ipswich, we are not sleepy Suffolk. This rocket ship will not stop. Anyone who knows me, anyone who has worked with me, I am not interested in bobbing along. We will move forward and we will move forward with power and pace because if we don’t, that lot up the road will go past us again. Not under my watch.
“This is only the end of the beginning. We have a lot to do. We’re not perfect, we will talk about some of the things where we’re not perfect that we don’t get quite right I’m sure. But I promise you, this management team, this board, when they wake up every single morning, their primary focus is how we make your football club better. How do we move forward?
“This isn’t short-term success. Short-term success is not particularly difficult to achieve. Sustainable success is far more difficult.
“On the pitch are not where we want them to be but we’re not far away. But you know what? I learn more now about my team, my players, my staff, my fanbase, my stakeholders than whenever we win games because the true supporters, the true people who really care about this football club do the one thing that I asked from day one: We stay together. We win together, we lose together. We’re happy together and we cry together. We are as one.
“This football club is so special but the only way we can continue to move forward is to move this incredible club with its amazing fanbase forward as one.
“When you go home tonight, when you go to work tomorrow and you see your friends and you get on social media tonight, if you take one message, take that: Ashton said ‘We move as one, we stay together through the good times and the challenging times’.
“And it is challenging on the pitch right now. We all feel it when we left [on Tuesday]. But if we move as one, we’ll move forward. This football club’s too big to go back to where it was under the previous ownership. Let’s not forget, I couldn’t even sit in the seats day one here because they were so dirty.
“We will move forward. I’m so grateful to the fanbase, I’m so grateful to all of you. We’ve got to dig deep, we’ve got to stay together and we’ve got to go as one.”
In the PLC business side of the event Town’s financial director Tom Ball was elected to the PLC board, having been in the position on an interim basis having replaced former chairman Mike O’Leary, while Elizabeth Edwards and Peter Over were re-elected.
A TWTD live blog covering the question and answer session can be found here.
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