Very interesting read. Wonder if Ashworth was the one pushing the Premier League experience thing with us. Seemed to be a focus with them too, when looking at managers.
We can also see why we didn't have any data driven capabilities in house. Ashworth looked to outsource it.
Lastly, seems he would have stayed if he knew Staveley was leaving. Felt the relationship Howe had already established there meant he was out of the loop at times.
Happy Man Utd came in for him and we had to make a change. Doesn't seem up to it on recruitment where we really need to be exceptional going forward.
Some snippets ...
The signs of disharmony were detectable at the very moment that Ashworth would have been expected to prove his worth. In searching for a replacement for Erik ten Hag as manager, Ratcliffe wanted to hear ideas from the man he had sanctioned spending around £2.5million ($3.2million) to bring in from Newcastle United due to his expertise at building structures. Ashworth, it is claimed, did not provide clear, compelling arguments for who to bring in.
Instead, there was a list and those he did propose had a theme: Premier League experience. Suggestions included Eddie Howe, despite the picture not always being rosy at Newcastle United; Marco Silva, the Fulham head coach; and Thomas Frank, the Brentford head coach. Graham Potter was another name mentioned by Ashworth, possibly as an interim until the end of the season.
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Friction was also apparent when Ashworth proposed bringing in a data company to evaluate the candidates to replace Ten Hag. Ratcliffe was said to have reacted badly, countering that it was Ashworth’s job to know such matters rather than outsource, while also making him question United’s in-house capabilities.
In his interview with fanzine United We Stand, Ratcliffe said: “Data analysis comes alongside recruitment. It doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here.”
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Ashworth has expressed to people a feeling of working in a highly pressurised environment and suggested he may not have left Newcastle had he known Amanda Staveley would subsequently depart. Howe’s strong relationship with Staveley, at the time a Newcastle minority shareholder and director, had been built before Ashworth’s arrival at the club and the Newcastle manager had always had a direct dialogue with her, so did not go via Ashworth.
