Dan Ashworth may have had to be patient while on gardening leave, but the 51-year-old certainly did not leave Brighton through the back door when he handed in his notice earlier this year. It was quite the opposite, in fact.
Ashworth was so well-regarded at Brighton that, even after resigning to take up a new position at an effective rival in Newcastle United, the technical director was given the chance to say farewell to staff and personally address the players.
"This is probably the best group of players I have had the privilege of working with in terms of culture and togetherness," he told the squad back in February.
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You could understand the emotion. Ashworth had watched this group grow during his time at the club and so many of these players epitomised the strides the Seagulls had made behind the scenes in each individual department under Ashworth's watch.
When it came to the academy, Lewis Dunk, who came through the ranks all those years ago, was continuing to inspire the club's youngsters as captain. Smart signings such as Tariq Lamptey, Marc Cucurella and Joel Veltman proved that Brighton could punch above their weight by being smart with recruitment. The Seagulls' well-thought out use of the loan system allowed Robert Sanchez, Alexis Mac Allister and Jakub Moder the chance to develop elsewhere before the trio were, crucially, reintegrated into the squad as part of a long-term plan. Progress made in the medical and sports science department has seen Danny Welbeck defy his critics and play his part.
Walking away from these players, effectively 18 months before Ashworth traditionally gets itchy feet in his fifth year, was not easy. Ashworth was settled in Sussex - living just a stone's throw from chief executive Paul Barber and head coach Graham Potter, who had become friends as much as colleagues - and was not actively looking to move on. In fact, had it not been for recruitment firm Nolan Partners headhunting Ashworth on Newcastle's behalf, the sporting director would still be at Brighton right now.
However, Ashworth's primary objective, to turn Brighton into a top 10 Premier League outfit, was about to be completed and the chance to move to Newcastle was simply a once in a lifetime opportunity. For all that he has accomplished in the game, and that includes establishing the England DNA during his time at the FA, this has the potential to be Ashworth's biggest challenge yet.
Not only will Ashworth have the backing to help reshape football operations at Newcastle - from the academy to the women's team - but the sporting director will have the chance to establish an overarching philosophy for a long-term project with an unprecedented end goal. At Ashworth's previous clubs, the medium and long term may have involved stability, survival or the top 10; at Newcastle, it will mean something altogether different as the Magpies look to one day challenge for trophies while creating a sustainable club that produces its own talent.
It will fall to Ashworth to build that environment, to observe, to construct networks and recruit members of staff to beef up stripped back departments that have badly needed additional support over the years. This goes far beyond this summer or individual transfer windows; it is the club's long-term strategy.
Given the wide-ranging responsibilities of this role, Ashworth could be speaking to grassroots coaches one day and potentially pitching to the hierarchy the next, and this is the bonus of bringing in a figure like the 51-year-old. Ashworth, after all, has carried out every job in youth development - the organisational and strategic skills required during his work at the academy proved the basis for him stepping up as a technical director in the first place at West Brom in 2007 - and has also long served as the bridge between staff and the powers at be.
Stuart White, who was head of UK recruitment at West Brom, told ChronicleLive that Ashworth had a 'sixth sense' in knowing 'when to press the button and when to get what we needed' while Mike Rigg, who was head of talent management at the FA during his time there, noted how his friend was as effective speaking to practitioners as he was sitting in front of executives.
"Dan is an organised, intelligent guy that has come from a good football background so he's going to be really competent at being able to sit down with Eddie [Howe] and talk about the plans, what they want to do, signing players and winning games," Rigg told ChronicleLive. "But, also, he's going to be equally comfortable sitting in front of the owners talking about future strategic plan.
"That's a real talent having someone that's really competent in both the football and business sectors."
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