Could FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth be about to join the Albion?
Brighton and Hove Albion could be about to pull off one of the transfer coups of the summer with the news that FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth is considering a switch to the Amex.
According to the Daily Mirror, Ashworthis set to turn down a new deal with the FA in favour of taking up a similar role with the Albion.
That would be quite the appointment from Tony Bloom. If Gareth Southgate has been the face of England’s revolution, than Ashworth has been the brains.
He arrived at the FA from West Bromwich Albion in September 2012, charged with sparking an improvement across all areas of the national side. In 2014, he came up with the idea of “England DNA”. Originally scoffed at, Ashworth’s plan involved greater use of junior age group teams, all England sides playing the same way to ease transitions between age groups and a greater emphasis on long term thinking.
Essentially, Ashworth wanted to turn England into Germany. He was mainly laughed at, not helped by the David Brent style title of his blueprint for reinvention. Four years on and nobody is laughing now. Under Ashworth’s watch, England have lifted an Under 17 World Cup, an Under 18 Toulon Tournament, an Under 19 European Championships, an Under 20 World Cup and the Under 21s have reached a European semi final.
He’s also overseen a first ever third place finish for the Lionesses in the 2015 World Cup and a European Championship semi final exit. Oh, and we don’t know whether you noticed, but the senior mens side also reached their own World Cup semi for only the third time ever.
The FA are understandably desperate to keep him, but it was reported even before England had reached the quarter finals in Russia that Ashworthcould have his head turned by a return to the club game.
His previous spell with West Brom lasted five years and saw him turn the Baggies from yo-yo club to solid Premier League outfit. Becoming an established Premier League outfit is very much on the Albion’s agenda, and if they could bring Ashworth into achieve it, it would be a real statement of intent as to where the club want to be.
With the reports suggesting his job title at the Amex would be similar to that of his with the FA, it would seem that a brand new role would be created for Ashworth. Paul Winstanley has done an excellent job on the player recruitment, particularly in this window having secured the signings of highly rated players from the continent such as Yves Bissouma and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
On thing the Albion have struggled to do however is bring players through from the academy. Solly March was the last player to progress from youth to first team half a decade ago. By appointing a man with a proven track record at creating pathways for young talent, Brighton would be addressing one of their few major shortcomings.
Exciting times. And even if this rumour does turn out to be complete bollocks, the fact that we are even being linked with the man who has transformed English football is a sign of how far we’ve come. It’s only four years ago that David Burke was in charge, after all.
