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Dan Ashworth (no longer working for Manchester United)


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FWIW I’ve liked our recruitment under Steve Nickson, getting a new Sporting Director to get the best out of him and his team will be the best move forward

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23 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

All we’ve talked about this season is FFP, injuries, VAR and now a non-playing member of staff. Boring as fuck. Feels like absolute years since we were beating PSG in the champions league.

 

when is football coming back?


I was watching the PSG game last and it left a bitter taste in my mouth - I really believe we should have made it through that group. And imagine if we’d drawn Real Sociedad with all the other challenges  

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2 minutes ago, andyc35i said:


I was watching the PSG game last and it left a bitter taste in my mouth - I really believe we should have made it through that group. And imagine if we’d drawn Real Sociedad with all the other challenges  


Well it’s quite obvious we should, we were cheated by a decision. 

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Find it hard to judge what he has or hasn't done considering how behind the scenes it all is so I'm not going to say it's not a bother.

 

Felt like he was a bit of a statement hire so seems disappointing to be losing someone so many seem to rate as the best in the business, but also I'm confident we are well enough ran that we'll find another good fit. 

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2 hours ago, Zero said:

 

To be honest I always wonder what’s Howe’s position when it comes to transfers. 

I think Hopes article below whatever you think of him sounds very probable. I don’t think Ashworth has fallen out with anyone, but the decision making process is probably slowed by PIF and Howe does have final veto on transfers, whether folk think that is the right approach or not.

 

 

‘When Dan Ashworth gave his opening speech to Newcastle’s recruitment team at a hotel overlooking the River Tyne, he told them he would not be at the club forever. There was, he said, an optimal period for a sporting director to do his work before leaving with his processes in place.

 

But neither he nor anyone connected to Newcastle believed that time would come just 20 months later. The truth is, Ashworth’s work at St James’ Park is not done. Far from it, in fact. And that, in part, is one of the reasons he will likely leave for Manchester United.

What Ashworth hoped to implement at Newcastle will take longer than he expected, and some of what he had hoped to influence has been beyond his control. He has not been handed the keys to the kingdom. Rather, they will forever reside in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where we can reveal Ashworth attended meetings with the club’s majority owners at the start of last month.

 

There, it is likely he was asked about his own future, given Mail Sport reported before Christmas that the 52-year-old was expected to become Man United’s new sporting director, once Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS deal was ratified. He is close to Sir Dave Brailsford – INEOS director of sport - and a formal approach is now being prepared and expected within St James’.

But why would Ashworth want to go? It is important to state that, to our knowledge, there has been no fallout and all relations remain good, even if there is a want among Newcastle’s hierarchy to avoid a period of prolonged speculation. If Man United want him, they need to knock at the front door. When that approach comes, we expect Ashworth will tell his current employers he wishes to go. It is thought Newcastle would demand compensation in excess of £6million and insist on a period of gardening leave of up to a year. Their preference would be for him to remain, but an agreement is now likely to be reached as early as next week.

 

At Old Trafford, sources say, Ashworth would have far greater control. There is the lure of an increased salary, being closer to home and, significantly, the draw of being the man charged with re-aligning the biggest club in the world.

Those are the pull factors, but what about the push? It all comes back to autonomy. Ashworth uses an analogy about being ‘the man at the centre of the wheel, connecting the spokes of the different departments’. At Newcastle, however, there is more than one wheel, and all roads lead back to Riyadh.

 

Decision-making at the club is ‘process driven’, and very little is signed off without the say-so of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. This can often take weeks. Sources also say there are ‘blurred lines’ over the original plans and remit to which Ashworth signed up when joining from Brighton in the summer of 2022.

There are also the UK-based owners - Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Jamie Reuben. Again, sources insist Ashworth has a good relationship with all concerned, but his approach to business is measured, whereas others can sometimes be led by emotion, even if well intended.

 

With Eddie Howe, meanwhile, Ashworth is not part of the manager’s inner circle. That is not to suggest friction - they get on well and there is mutual respect - but that is just how Howe has always operated. Along with coaches Jason Tindall, Stephen Purches, Graeme Jones and nephew Andy Howe - head of technical scouting - he has a close-knit group in which he confides. Ashworth arrived eight months after the head coach and the chain of command was already established.

 

Howe has the final say on transfers and, contrary to wider belief, Ashworth is not a talent-spotter. Rather, he oversees recruitment and negotiates and concludes deals. At Newcastle, his focus has been as much on revamping the scouting network, from academy to first team, both domestically and globally.

 

But to the backdrop of his efforts have been financial fair play rules and the frustration of a strict limit on spending, evidenced by a January window in which Newcastle made no signings. For Ashworth, there will be a realisation that progress at Man United, by comparison, would be accelerated.

 

Ironically, we understand there are scouting meetings on Tyneside this week, with foreign scouts flying in for debriefs and planning summits led by Ashworth. They usually have a group meal the night before attending a home game, and Newcastle host Bournemouth on Saturday. For those present, it could well have the feel of the Last Supper’.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Whitley mag

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I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in here but I’m already sick of the stories about it all now. I’m more interested in who we can get to replace him. 

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1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

I don't think it was a coincidence that this came out right before the first internationals of the season. 

 

 

 

Second. He played for Italy about 6-7 weeks after he signed for us against North Macedonia.

 

Something clearly came to light between that game and the England game a month later from which they were withdrawn so I don't see it's a mad theory that we couldn't have known.

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7 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

 

Decision-making at the club is ‘process driven’, and very little is signed off without the say-so of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. This can often take weeks. Sources also say there are ‘blurred lines’ over the original plans and remit to which Ashworth signed up when joining from Brighton in the summer of 2022.

There are also the UK-based owners - Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Jamie Reuben. Again, sources insist Ashworth has a good relationship with all concerned, but his approach to business is measured, whereas others can sometimes be led by emotion, even if well intended.

 

This is where there should be questions asked of the ownership, while being frustrated with Hope’s patter as a journalist (‘Sources say there are ‘blurred lines …’’.  Blurred lines about what, Craig?  What were the original plans?  What are they now?). 
 

Why does it take weeks for PIF to respond?  Surely the decisions they’re asked to resolve are re money.  Why the continuing inefficiency?  And if PIF need to sign everything off, why does the club lack an active PIF representative on the board?

 

It’s a strange ownership model, this.  

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13 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

Second. He played for Italy about 6-7 weeks after he signed for us against North Macedonia.

 

Something clearly came to light between that game and the England game a month later from which they were withdrawn so I don't see it's a mad theory that we couldn't have known.

Fair regarding Italian FA. Not Milan.

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1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Ashworth isn’t a head scout, though.  

 

So he can be in place for the summer transfer window.

 

Sure he plays a role in transfers/recruitment, he will be involved in those discussions with the scouting team.

 

Nobody mentioned he's out there scouting himself though?

 

besides that's all what people went on about during his time with Brighton, and now making the claim here for Man Utd also.

 

 

 

Edited by mighty__mag

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2 minutes ago, mighty__mag said:

 

So he can be in place for the summer transfer window.

 

Sure he plays a role in transfers/recruitment 

 

that's all what people went on about during his time with Brighton, and now making the claim here for Man Utd also.

 

Negotiations, budget’s etc he will be. He doesn’t personally scout players though. All the gems Brighton found weren’t because of Ashworth.

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1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

This is where there should be questions asked of the ownership, while being frustrated with Hope’s patter as a journalist (‘Sources say there are ‘blurred lines …’’.  Blurred lines about what, Craig?  What were the original plans?  What are they now?). 
 

Why does it take weeks for PIF to respond?  Surely the decisions they’re asked to resolve are re money.  Why the continuing inefficiency?  And if PIF need to sign everything off, why does the club lack an active PIF representative on the board?

 

It’s a strange ownership model, this.  

Whilst I see what you are getting at, has the current decision making process we have in place cost us anything yet ? I don’t recall us missing out on targets or anything due to it ?

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7 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Whilst I see what you are getting at, has the current decision making process we have in place cost us anything yet ? I don’t recall us missing out on targets or anything due to it ?

No idea if it has tbh.  I hate articles like that one generally - lots of hints from ‘sources’, without anything actually specific.  Hope and his kin would make better palm readers than journalists. 

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