Tekel Towers » Tony Asghar on DUTV

LarsErikKjell · 25/1/2021 10:12 am

Hour long interview with TA on DUTV with Sean Dillon. Well worth a watch for anyone who has the access. If not, some of the more serious things he mentioned are covered in the below article:

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-united-tony-asghar-scottish-government-mark-ogren-season/

Lots of other chat about the current squad, the academy etc that isnt covered in the article.I take a lot of things from the interview and I'm surprised so much was covered if I'm honest.

One thing that it definitely confirms for me is that we will not be signing a single player this window. After what he said, I'll be shocked if we do. He also spoke about McMullan. He basically says that they looked at the out of contract players and knew they had to prioritise who they offered contracts to (Clark and Smith - quite rightly) and just said they'd never even got round to starting to think about offering McMullan a deal, so we dont know whether we would have or not. But did go on to say McMullan had been very professional through all of, then quoted Chalmers, Fotheringham and Mochrie as players who this now gives the opportunity to.

He talked about Mochrie, Freeman, Hoti and Graham all being very close to being ready to be involved with the first team. Sounds like Mellon was pleasantly surprised with what he has seen from the youngsters when they returned. The vibe I got from him is that the youngsters will be given chances this season if required instead of us bringing anyone in.

It painted a pretty grim picture of where the club is and how affected we've been by the Pandemic. We have to remember we've been in the Championship for 4 years. So your Premiership provincial teams have had years of Celtic/Rangers/Hibs/Aberdeen away crowds and the TV money which looks likely to have given them that little cushion going into the Pandemic. Which is why we see teams like St Mirren, St Johnstone and Motherwell able to strengthen this window. Whereas for us, we played all of our cards to get out of the Championship, in the hope that this season in normal times would see us posting some decent profits with crowds etc.

dufc2019 · 25/1/2021 10:16 am

Good to see the youngsters going to get a chance

Mg99 · 25/1/2021 12:59 pm

LarsErikKjell wrote:
Hour long interview with TA on DUTV with Sean Dillon. Well worth a watch for anyone who has the access. If not, some of the more serious things he mentioned are covered in the below article:

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-united-tony-asghar-scottish-government-mark-ogren-season/

Lots of other chat about the current squad, the academy etc that isnt covered in the article.I take a lot of things from the interview and I'm surprised so much was covered if I'm honest.

One thing that it definitely confirms for me is that we will not be signing a single player this window. After what he said, I'll be shocked if we do. He also spoke about McMullan. He basically says that they looked at the out of contract players and knew they had to prioritise who they offered contracts to (Clark and Smith - quite rightly) and just said they'd never even got round to starting to think about offering McMullan a deal, so we dont know whether we would have or not. But did go on to say McMullan had been very professional through all of, then quoted Chalmers, Fotheringham and Mochrie as players who this now gives the opportunity to.

He talked about Mochrie, Freeman, Hoti and Graham all being very close to being ready to be involved with the first team. Sounds like Mellon was pleasantly surprised with what he has seen from the youngsters when they returned. The vibe I got from him is that the youngsters will be given chances this season if required instead of us bringing anyone in.

It painted a pretty grim picture of where the club is and how affected we've been by the Pandemic. We have to remember we've been in the Championship for 4 years. So your Premiership provincial teams have had years of Celtic/Rangers/Hibs/Aberdeen away crowds and the TV money which looks likely to have given them that little cushion going into the Pandemic. Which is why we see teams like St Mirren, St Johnstone and Motherwell able to strengthen this window. Whereas for us, we played all of our cards to get out of the Championship, in the hope that this season in normal times would see us posting some decent profits with crowds etc.

Be great if it's true about giving the youngsters a chance. Especially. Mochrie.
As far as the interview is concerned, I'm surprised that more hasn't been made by all the clubs about the bias shown towards rugby, particularly regarding grants. Why are they given grants and football is offered loans?
Also, why are Hearts given £500,000 when they have more money to splash around than the majority of premier league clubs? That's one of the reasons they can sign players like GMS.
What happens at the end of the season when at least one team is relegated to the championship having made use of the wonderful credit facility provided by the government? Do they still have to repay it? How will they manage that with limited income?
The whole thing is a joke.
Only interested in the prawn sandwich brigade at Murrayfield.
No interest in helping football, it's only for oiks.
Time the clubs stood up and told them.

Beharder · 25/1/2021 2:33 pm

Well said Mg99
The bias towards rugby or against football is breathtaking really. There are only 2 (two) Pro rugby teams in Scotland. It needs to be scrutinised thoroughly. However we are getting close to living in a one party state where nothing is questioned

UniDundee · 25/1/2021 3:07 pm

You know bad news is on the way with the amount of time TA and MO are in the press recently, or am I cynical.

Accounts are overdue by Companies House, so due anytime time now. We have been given warning about that. TA and MO signing up for the foundation then days later ask the foundation for money, I'm cynical!!

Mg99 · 25/1/2021 3:11 pm

Beharder wrote:
Well said Mg99
The bias towards rugby or against football is breathtaking really. There are only 2 (two) Pro rugby teams in Scotland. It needs to be scrutinised thoroughly. However we are getting close to living in a one party state where nothing is questioned

Thanks beharder. Ashgar is the first person I'm aware of to have a go since Dave Cormack was pretty much hung out to dry after he attempted to question the motives of the government a couple of months ago.
At that point I thought the other clubs would rally behind him, but the silence was deafening.
If Ogren is actually saying that it would be better for us financially to stop playing as things stand, then that possibly shifts the balance of power in this argument.
Sturgeon has consistently threatened football with her 'red card', but if the threat of the season being abandoned isn't really a threat at all from a financial perspective , then surely the clubs should be demanding monetary recompense for the harm done by the lock down imposed by her government.
All the pussyfooting around, in fear of them 'shutting football down' seems pretty pointless, if being closed down won't actually make things any worse financially.

AlonsMosely · 25/1/2021 3:27 pm

UniDundee wrote:
You know bad news is on the way with the amount of time TA and MO are in the press recently, or am I cynical.

Accounts are overdue by Companies House, so due anytime time now. We have been given warning about that. TA and MO signing up for the foundation then days later ask the foundation for money, I'm cynical!!

Shock horror, football club finances down in middle of pandemic.....naughty naughty Tony....

Lilley01 · 25/1/2021 3:34 pm

Bad news is 100% on the way, of course it is. Our finances were poor but supported by a benefactor, we've then increased running costs and had all of our expected (increased) income taken away. The questions isn't if it's coming, it's how bad is. And if the ultimate answer is MO is ok with the size of the hole, then it almost doesn't matter (for now.)

In my eyes, the club done a good job of being proactive in the transfer market with an ambitious approach to replace seasons of poor management and recruitment by building a strong squad that would get promoted. The pandemic has then hit at the worst possible time for us to start leveraging the expected income of being at this level and repaying that initial investment. could have happened to any business, and has. No quick fixes out of this either unfortunately.

LarsErikKjell · 25/1/2021 4:08 pm

Knowing one or two people within the club, it would appear that the bonuses and wage rises for gaining promotion to the Premiership were fairly substantial. Fair enough in normal circumstances, and nothing the club could do to in hindsight in terms of anticipating a pandemic. But the shock at the wage to turnover from the last set of accounts could be even worse this time around.

Beharder · 25/1/2021 7:58 pm

LarsErikKjell wrote:
Knowing one or two people within the club, it would appear that the bonuses and wage rises for gaining promotion to the Premiership were fairly substantial. Fair enough in normal circumstances, and nothing the club could do to in hindsight in terms of anticipating a pandemic. But the shock at the wage to turnover from the last set of accounts could be even worse this time around.

I would suggest not just could be worse but will Definately be worse seen as the turnover has collapsed

25/1/2021 11:58 pm

Here's a wee theory...

I say the top two tiers in Scotland are getting MADE to play by the government so we don't all go off our rockers.

The govt whip is that the elite game is being granted privilege to play (so better behave) but really it'a a ploy to stop us going nuts & rioting like in Eindhoven today.

I guess the elite players would be just as happy NOT playing given the false nature & all the restrictions placed upon them & likewise the Clubs would be happy too cos all they're doing is losing money on an on-going basis.

UniDundee · 26/1/2021 10:05 am

We were on the radio last night. 43mins in via this link

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p095335d

AlonsMosely · 26/1/2021 10:15 am

smedDUm wrote:
Here's a wee theory...

I say the top two tiers in Scotland are getting MADE to play by the government so we don't all go off our rockers.

The govt whip is that the elite game is being granted privilege to play (so better behave) but really it'a a ploy to stop us going nuts & rioting like in Eindhoven today.

I guess the elite players would be just as happy NOT playing given the false nature & all the restrictions placed upon them & likewise the Clubs would be happy too cos all they're doing is losing money on an on-going basis.

This 100%, maybe should have told government that the clubs were unhappy to play unless funding was in place....instead they should have used the furlough scheme to pay wages....

LarsErikKjell · 26/1/2021 11:07 am

It appears the media (DCT and the BBC) are really putting the boot in to United over the last few days.

Asghar's comments made sense to me in the most part. Why should Premiership clubs have to take loans and lower league clubs get grants? How is that fair?

Lilley01 · 26/1/2021 12:07 pm

LarsErikKjell wrote:
It appears the media (DCT and the BBC) are really putting the boot in to United over the last few days.

Asghar's comments made sense to me in the most part. Why should Premiership clubs have to take loans and lower league clubs get grants? How is that fair?

What was the justification for that?

Edited to remove my own political questioning. not needed here!!

Last edited by Lilley01 (26/1/2021 12:25 pm)

LarsErikKjell · 26/1/2021 12:27 pm

Lilley01 wrote:
LarsErikKjell wrote:
It appears the media (DCT and the BBC) are really putting the boot in to United over the last few days.

Asghar's comments made sense to me in the most part. Why should Premiership clubs have to take loans and lower league clubs get grants? How is that fair?
What was the justification for that?

Edited to remove my own political questioning. not needed here!!

Justification for what mate, sorry?

Lilley01 · 26/1/2021 1:32 pm

Why the prem teams were only offered loans. I remember thinking it was strange but I can’t remember the reason why they proposed that.

LarsErikKjell · 26/1/2021 1:34 pm

Lilley01 wrote:
Why the prem teams were only offered loans. I remember thinking it was strange but I can’t remember the reason why they proposed that.

Ah sorry, I think it was to do with the fact that the Premiership teams have access to over 80% of the money that comes into Scottish football from TV etc.

Tangy · 26/1/2021 7:25 pm

LarsErikKjell wrote:
Lilley01 wrote:
Why the prem teams were only offered loans. I remember thinking it was strange but I can’t remember the reason why they proposed that.
Ah sorry, I think it was to do with the fact that the Premiership teams have access to over 80% of the money that comes into Scottish football from TV etc.

I guess we have 80% of the outgoings too.......

Tek · 05/2/2021 2:30 am

Less than a fortnight since his cosy, in-house chat with 'Dillo' where no challenging questions were asked.

Yet, in the days since some fans are starting to really question his role within the club. So, naturally he deactivates his Twitter account (again).

When Utd are doing 'ok' he is happy to be in the mainstream media and is quick to promote the so called successful structures he has implemented at the club.

The minute however, any focus, scrutiny and real questioning of his role occurs and he invariably goes to ground.

If you enjoy the 'plaudits' of supporters in the good times you have to also take the criticisms when things are bad.

That is the cut throat World of professional football.

Thin skinned individual? Or a deflection tactic aimed at supporters pointing fingers at each other instead of him?

LarsErikKjell · 05/2/2021 10:34 am

Tony certainly talks a good game. And if everything that comes out of his mouth is true then that is great and all sounds really positive. But I mean, its getting more and more difficult. I do think there is an element of overreaction from a lot of fans. And a place like Twitter is the worst place to be when you feel like the world is against you. So in terms of him deleting his Twitter, if its that bad, dont go back to it, even if things are good. Use official club comms to get your message across.

You see one or two of the messages the boy Stevie Grieve got yesterday on the back of this analyst in India story. Guys asking him why Harkes canna control a ball and why we are playing shite and why we canna cross the ball etc? FFS people need to have a look at themselves. An analyst will provide a manager/coaching team with the detail they ask for, simple as that, he isn't banging on Micky's door telling him that we need to change this or do that. That's not his job. Baffling stuff like.

But when times are tough, football fans take to places like Twitter etc to vent their frustration, its unfortunately part of the game now. Fair play to Stevie Grieve as he engaged with a few fans and calmly explained his job and how it works, whereas I think Tony it too high up in the club to be engaging with fans on Twitter if I'm honest. His Q&A on here was great and a really good way of communicating, but Twitter can be a horrible place at times, and I think he should stay away from it.