Ownership Support and Future Outlook

This episode is brought to you by Flexemoise, a multi-award-winning digital business lender dedicated to providing UK SMEs with flexible finance done properly. Welcome back to Portman Road . Burns, trying to buy Jackson, it's Caden Jackson! It's two-nil ! Oh it's Chaplin! It's Cody Chaplin! That calls for Savienta ! Jeremy Saviento! Jack Taylor. Oh my goodness me ! Jack Taylor Hello everybody, welcome along to a special edition of the official Ipswich Town Podcast powered by FlexMice. We've got a real treat for you today as we bring you an extended chat with our CEO Mark Ashton and manager Kieran McKenna as they discuss what has been an exciting campaign so far, what lies ahead and plenty more in between. Matt Holland's hosting this one, so I'll throw over to him now. Enjoy everybody. Welcome to the Town TV studio.Feels quite strange to be in here on a non-match day,, uh but we've got two special guests and a special interview. Delighted to say that I've been joined by the CEO, Mark Ashton, and the manager Kieran McKenna. Great to have you with us. And Kieran, I think it's your first time inside the town TV studio. It is, yes, uh, it's lovely. Feels um very professionally done. So yeah, I've seen some clips from it, so nice to uh finally be here. Absolutely. I mean, what a season so far. I think we should start on the pitch. I mean mixing it with the three teams that got relegated last season, the budgets that they've got as well. I mean, how proud are you of what the team have achieved this season, Kieran? Yeah, we're very proud. You know, up until this point, I think it's you know, it's been fantastic, I think you'd have to say, not just of course the the points total and the position in the table, you know, sort of reflects that, but for me how we've gone about it, the performances, the football we've played, um, the excitement of the games, especially here at Portman Road, um the way the players have stuck together, the attitude, the effort, the comebacks, you know, it's it's been um it's been really exciting and uh you know I think the players have have loved it to this point, the supporters have loved it and and we're having a really good season. Um so yeah, we're proud of where we're up to by this point. But look it's it's thirty four games. We we vowed to to ourselves at the start of the season we were gonna go with everything we got for forty six games and and that's what we plan to do. So we got twelve more and um we want to keep pushing on and and try and improve and and have some really great games to come. Yeah, absolutely. I think Mark you said it in pre season that we're gonna attack the division. I think it's been more of an all out assault this year, hasn't it? Yeah, I th I think that we set we set our stall out probably as we we did in League One Um, you know, to be on the front foot. Um I think both on and off the pitch we we've attacked everything. Um we try and have almost like a hunter mentality in the football club. We know that there is supposedly bigger clubs, bigger budgets than us, but you know, we focus on being the very best version of us we can be. So when we sat down and we started to talk about recruitment in the summer, we had the pre-season tour, I remember having the interview with you that you're talking about about attacking the division. I think everyone on and off the pitch have done that and I think Kieran, the staff, the players, everyone associated with the team, uh again thus far have have done the club and its fan base, you know, really proud. Yeah, absolutely. Um Kieran, I think it you wanted to get improve the pitch, um, and there was a big investment in the summer. And how much how big a part do you think the pitch has been this year? Because it's it's been an excellent surface, hasn't it? Yeah, that's definitely helped, you know, and I think that was uh you know a fantastic investment from the football club and um yeah look it the home record was was really good last year. We have a fantastic s you know, stadium, fantastic supporters base but the the surface with you know the the lack of investment over so many years was hard to maintain and and the groundsmen and everyone did a fantastic job last year to maintain that pitch as well as they possibly could. But you know it was time for for a modern surface and um you know again I think we're we're really grateful for that investment because it's it's things like that that maybe don't, you know, stand out in terms of an investment as much as you know some other things can, but it's it's been very important. It's a big part of our playing style. I think it's for sure one of the best surfaces in the division now, if not the best and um you know it's it's been a big part of us being able to implement our philosophy of how we want to play. It's um we're almost through the back of the winter, it's it's withstood the weather and the games as well and and still stayed pretty true or really true. Um so it's been excellent and yeah it's been it's been big for us this year, it'll be big for us next year and I think it'll be you know a great surface for the for the players to play on and the fans to come and watch football for for years to come. Yeah, another thing that's been big for us has been the bench. It was a stat that had you beaming last week. I think 20 of the 80 goals that we've scored have been from substitutes. I mean how pleased are you with that stat, first of all, um, and also how difficult has it been to keep the squad harmonious because it must be difficult leaving some of the players out at times. Yeah, I think as I said, it's it's it's one thing that I am I am proud of because I've always said I think it reflects really, really well in your group, you know. We have a we have a good squad, a big squad, but everybody does. So, you know having that impact from the squad were, you know, we've got however many, twenty, twenty two, twenty-three, twenty-four, however many players you've got, but having them, you know, all fully engaged, fully invested in the the direction of the club, fit, um, knowing the roles, ready to come on and make an impact, you know, that's that's the hard bit and that's you know what we've had over the last couple of seasons to be honest in um League One as well. I think we had I I think we've we were high scores off the bench maybe equal the club record and you know, we're there again already this year. So I think it's it's of course a great reflection on the individuals who come on and score the goals last year. You know, for example, Freddie Lidapo come on and scored so many goals for so many big and important goals. Great reflection on him. Other players this year have come off the bench with Freddie being one of them but other players have come on and scored a lot of goals but I think more so it's it's a reflection on the group and the culture within that group and um yeah everyone wants to start players want to want to start games um how often how often do you get players knocking on your door? Yeah it happens, you know it's it's part and parcel of it. But I think look in terms of how we try and manage the squad, you know, honesty and respect really and and before any one comes into the club I'll you know have an honest conversation with them about how they see, you know, how we see them fit in, of course what position and what role they might play in the squad, but also the competition and and how I see the squad and how I see them fitting into that and and what they'll bring to it and and we have those conversations ongoing with with all the players, not just myself, but you know, the other staff as well. And um you know, when you do that you'd like to think that all the players have got a pretty fair idea of you know their importance within the squad and what they're contributing and what we need from them, and and we try and maintain that. And uh, you know, the dressing room is really good as well, I have to say. I've I've said it before, but um, you know, we've got a leadership group and we've got leaders within the dressing room, we do a fant astic job of of managing the group. We got senior players who do a fantastic job of managing the group. We've got really good, you know, characters in the building. We've recruited good people and you know those good people are led by you know really good leaders not just from the from the coaching staff but also within that playing group so um I think is it driven mainly by the players then? A lot of things are driven by the players at this stage, yeah, and and that's where, you know, where you want to be when you for myself two years into two years into the job that you know if if every issue if every issue has to come across your desk, if every issue has to come across your door, um if you're having to constantly put out fires, you know, you're going to spend a lot of energy that can be used elsewhere. So you know we've worked really hard to build that that leadership within the group now and I think they they manage themselves really well. There's you know really good lines of communication with the coaching staff as well, so any little issues can get, you know, addressed and um you know dealt with in the appropriate manner and uh yeah, I think it's you know it's set up in a really good way now that um the players, you know they have their own code of conduct and their their standards that hold each other to when you know things need to be improved or addressed or you know built on and the staff are able to help with that and and certainly whenever I need to have my input I do that as well. So yeah. I think to bring it back to the substitutes, I think there's so many things that go into having a record like that. It's not just technical tactical things, it's not just having good players in the building, it's you know, it's your culture and your people and you know a lot of the time success comes back to that. And I and I guess that leads into the amount of late goals that we've scored as well. I think uh twelve points we've won after the seventieth so seventy fifth minute that is. What do you put that down to? Is it the fitness levels, is it the rotation, is it the fact that you've been able to go to your bench and you've got fresh legs coming on? Yeah again it's it's a multitude of things really. Some of them, yeah, cultural and and um you know how engaged those substitutes are because you've you know what it's like. Sometimes you can have you know it's eight substitutes nowadays, four of them maybe not dialed into the game, but I think everyone on our bench knows that they can have a big impact on the on the game ahead and are willing to make that impact. So yeah, it's having people in the right places. Of course technically we we try and have a plan, we you know prepare before the game for what you know what we want to finish like, what it'll look like if we're if we're chasing the game, what people are going to what positions, what you know, shape changes or adjustments we might need to make. We prepare that for all the different scenarios in the game. Um fitness of course a big part of it. I think you know it's something that I'm I'm really proud of and big credit to all the staff at Portman Road and and to the players because you know I won't go into the the details but it's it's an incredible you, know maj,ority of our games this year that we've outrun the opposition on almost every parameter. So when you consider that, you know, the step up from League One to the championship is really big. And I think I said in pre season the championship's one of the most um physically intense leagues in Europe. So to be you know coming out on top on nearly all the physical parameters every week, that's uh that's a great reflection on the great. Is it is the team selection affected by the players' numbers in terms of their fitness levels as well and and the dist ances that they're they're traveling in games? Yeah, I think it it always has an impact. It's not the only factor of course. Um yeah, I think from the start of the game of course there's certain physical qualities that you want in the team and we we recruit for those as part of our recruitment process now as part of our selections to you know know what we need from different roles and and have players you can bring that that physical output first of all. And then of course there's the fatigue element and there's the the distances that the players recover and when games come and thick and fast and you know, the testing that the club do on on recovery that of course comes into selection for when we may need to rotate or how early we might need to use a substitute. So all these things come into it and um yeah I think that's a big part of why we're why we're physically doing really well in games and and why that leads to late goals. But again these things are down to you know so much good work from so many people at the training ground. And you added to the squad in January, must have been delighted with the recruitment in what was actually a difficult window as well, a quiet January transfer window, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, I think look um the club worked really really, hard and as always the you know the communication starts from one indo when one window closes the the communication starts for the next one. So you know there was a lot of hard work done by by lots of people, of course, you're always waiting to see how the season's progression, how you know we went with a really consistent squad from last season, so how players adapt to the level to you know constantly judge what the requirements would be. Injuries can change that, of course which you know can change the requirements in January but no we we felt like we we did some some good business we we tried as much as possible again to stick to the model of the club, stick to the model that we've agreed on and you know that's predominantly, you know, signing young and and hungry and athletic and technical players that we can, you know, sign but can come here and prove and develop and you know Ali Alhamidi would be an example of that type of profile. But you know, on top of that we were pragmatic in terms of um you know, looking at the the division, the needs of the team, where we can improve and and where we need to strengthen and keeper of course an example of someone who'd fit into that category, an experienced player who who doesn't sit in that you know normal recruitment bracket, but we you know we need to have that balance of experience of physicality. The George Hurst injury as well would have to find that. Yeah, so all those things you take into factor, and of course Kiefer's made a great impact and then you know Jeremy and and uh Travis as well, who've you know got you know experience in the division, Lewis a lot of experience, Jeremy, you know, a few months playing at at West Brom but both were up to speed with the division and and two players we thought were ready to come in and and have an impact and in January that's really important players who can come in and hit the ground running and and the four that we we brought in have managed to do that. And on the money side, how did financial fair play shape the transfer window? Was it difficult to get deals done because of financial fair play? Yeah, I I think I think that certainly had an impact across the board . Um, you know, Kieran's just said it it you know, we were really focused on what we wanted to do from the summer window. That changes when a George Hearst gets injured. But it was uh I think if you look at it nationally across all the divisions, it was a dry wind ow um and that's not necessarily clubs not having the cash but them being up against you know financial fair play limits whether that that's p whether that's PNS or S S C M P in leagues one and two. So yeah, so you didn't see much movement. Um and I think when you didn't see much movement in the Premier League that didn't cascade down into the championship, it meant that were the markets weren't there that were normally there to trade into. So, you know, there were players that you would inquire about that we've been looking at for a while. And it wasn't that you couldn't do a deal on those players, but not necessarily that club couldn't get a replacement in which again affected the food chain so you couldn't conclude the deals. So yeah I I think it's it it it was a challenge um but I think I think look everything that we've done since we took over the club as being brave and bold. We've tried to be front footed, we've tried to attack uh everything that we've done, whether that's on the pitch or off the pitch. Um and I think we ended up in a fairly good place. I think it was another solid window that helped us helped us Funding your business doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to take weeks. It doesn't need to involve your bank. We believe there's a different way to do things. We take the hassle out of finance so you can get on with what you do best, running your business. Think of us as your trusty sidekick with the power to boost your business, with fast, flexible loans built for you. Visit us at fleximize.com or call our Epswitch office on 0147-3-208-108. Fleximize. Business finance. Done properly . The support this season. It's been incredible. Again, 11 times we've exceeded 29,000 through the doors at Portland Road. Easy to say it's because we're winning games that people are turning up, that because people want to come and watch a winning team. But what else do you put it down to? Because it must be more than just that, because we were in Europe for how many years and didn't get these crowds? So is it the playing style? Is it the matchday experience? What what would you put it down to? I I think if we just step back for a second, because you if you just go back to the financial fair play question for a second. I think again, just to reiterate to the fans, every penny they put into this football club assists us in financial fair play. The club will still lose substantial amount of money. Um why? Because when we took over the club, we took over a club that for a decade had been run down and had deteriorated. Respectfully you'd seen that. So we've had to invest and continue have to invest in all areas. And that money plays against our financial fair player position. But what gives us headroom is the money that comes in, whether that's commercial, whether that comes in from the fans, retail. Retail. And it's quite incredible. I think when I first in the first season I was here we talked about, I remember having a management meeting . Said this before, and I said, We're going to sell 18,000 season tickets. And I think people around the table looked at me with a bit of disbelief. But you know what? This fan base stepped up. This fan base delivered 18,000 season tickets. This fan base has delivered now 22,000 season tickets. Before we took over this football club, said it before, we'd never sold more than 10,000 replica shirts. This season, this fan base has stepped up again. Forty-three thousand shirts this fan base has sold. We will have record numbers in commercial, we will have record numbers in retail, we will have record numbers in conference, events, hosp itality, this fan base has stepped up every time we have asked. And I couldn't be present. It must be give you great pleasure to drive around Ipswich and see all the kids in Ipswich shirts. Because in years gone by it was a Man United shirt, Liverpool shirt, Man City now, maybe Chelsea. Now all of a sudden everyone's got an Ipswich shirt. It's incredible, isn't it? And and the fanzone as well is another thing. When I come to the ground now, drive down the driveway, and you see the fanzone absolutely round on a match day, it must give you such great pleasure. Yeah, it's fantastic, you know, feeling the atmosphere around the town, really. You know, I've got, of course, we're living in in Ipswich, kids are in school, um, my brother 's joined the the university in Ipswich as well, so he fills me in on the on the social scenes which I don't get to see too much of thankfully. Um so just to feel the buzz around the time's fantastic, you know, whether that's bringing my my daughter to something or bringing my son to his his football practice, everyone wants to talk about the games. Seems like everyone was at the game. Yeah. And we can tell you where they were sitting, what they thought when the goal went in, what they thought when they scored. Um yeah, Ipswich shirts everywhere, you know, kids wanting to ask about this player or that player and um yeah there's just such a wonderful buzz around the football club and you know I I can't comment on it before because I didn't see it, but it's it's how I think we'd all want it to be. You know, it's it's a it's a one club county, Ipswich town is is the heartbeat of of Suffolk. And um for the people to be so behind it, for the club to be, to be stepping up and and providing with a with a good product to get behind and like Mark said for the supporters to be stepping up and um you know more than playing their part it's it's fantastic and it's it's great to great to see and great to to be a part of. Yeah, it's a real buzzing. I mean just in an image actually of of when uh the bus arrived or when you were walking down for the Norwich game. I mean it incredible. Yeah. For for me, uh Kieran's experience European Kignhts with top Premier league clubs, it it gave me that impression and it it it just showed the passion and the size of this football club and what the future could hold. I mean that those scenes I don't know what it was like for you on the bus, but us standing there watching it off the bus, it was just incredible. No, it was amazing I say it's it's twice now we've had that and yeah. Yeah, having seen it at different football clubs and and different entries I I don't think I've I've I've seen too too better in those to be honest, the the passion as as we come in in the atmosphere and um yeah it's it's been you know great times to to be part of it and and hopefully some some more ahead. Absolutely. We we're very much a community club um and the foundation continues to grow. Dan Palfrey has been named head of foundation. Can you talk about his role, his impact on the foundation? Yeah, um, I think Dan's a done, listen, Dan's a person who's been at the football club a long time and you know we have brought staff in, whether that's players, management, heads of departments from other clubs, other areas, but we also have a group of staff who are developing from within. Dan's one of those. Um, he's actually now formerly the director of the foundation, which gives him serious responsibilities. Um, he works with um a group of trustees of which you are one, Connor Chaplin's one, Natasha Thomas is one. And you know, we've got some fantastic people on that board of trustees who work passionately for the football club. The likes of Peter Over, Andrew Stevens, who really care about this football club. And again, big thank you to the likes of Peter because you know he's just a great supporter of what every everything we do. But you know, Dan's now delivering activities to nine thousand different children and families per week in the Ipswich and Suffolk area. It's incredible. Whether we're dealing with health, whether we're dealing with education, whether we're dealing with social inclusion, whether we're dealing with the dementia cafe, on a Thursday here at Portman Road, we are delivering wide -ranging activities to the local community. Yes, it has benefits for the club, but you know what, Matt? It's just the right thing to do. This football club will be here long after we are all gone. And and I just I'm so proud of them. What what are the immediate and long-term goals of the foundation? Where do you where do you see the foundation getting to? I think I think look, I I think it's one of the areas of the club that you shouldn't put a ceiling on. They've just moved into new offices um just over the road from from Portman Road because we needed to give them more space and they needed a professional environment. I think long term we'd like to see the foundation have its own sporting facilities. I think that's a desire and an aspiration that we have where they can deliver more activities to more families, more participants in the wider area. Because the more we do that, the more we can use this fantastic brand that is Ipswich Town Football Club to motivate and engage its community. That helps us grow the fan base, it helps us engage people with the football club. But also, some of those people don't come and watch the games. No. But it's still the right thing to do, engage the community ultimately owns this football club. Yeah, absolutely. We've already mentioned the playing surface, but there's always something going on at the road that you've always got a project, you've always got something that's next. So so what is it? What's what's the next plan? Um there's the yeah, you are right. Um my office seems to eat time. You come in the morning and I don't know what you like at the training ground before you you you know, you believe it, you're going home and it's six, seven o'clock. Um so look there there's gonna be some further inf infrastructure projects at the stadium. Um you know the pitch has been good, but they always told us the second and third year of the pitch it would be great. So I think you know we've got more work to do there. I think we saw that actually at the start of the season, didn't we you could see week by week it was getting better and better. And I think there'll be there'll be there'll be infrastructure projects at the stadium. We've got some work to do on the west end to potentially complete the box level to give us some more space. Um but I think over the next probably two or three weeks you're gonna see some additional announcements coming out of the football club, particularly in relation to the training ground. Um that is probably the next biggest project that we've had. Um So where are we? Where are we with the training ground then? We've got initial designs now in place. Um Kieran's had a quick look at those. We'll be presenting those to the players probably in the next seven to ten da ys. Um Kieran then gets to get his hand on the designs and and and tweak and turn and play with then we'll we'll go into a planning process and we'll we'll look to progress. But that that's going to be a huge um a huge programme of development for you got a time scale on it or um yeah I think look if everything went well I'd like to be on site with as soon as we threw planning, and I'd like to get through planning this summer. Um, the three pitches are up and running, so that's an advantage. We haven't got to wait for the pitches to be built, they'll get better um uh this summer uh and be better again for next season but the building the building is key because we need to give key and the staff prof a professional environment that will allow us to also alter the facilities that we've got and enhance the facilities for our academy and enhance our facilities for Joe and the women's team. So it's a major redevelopment uh at the training ground. And also trying to get placed to come and sign as well. When you've got a training ground state of the art, it would help, wouldn't it? Yeah it helps. I think um look the club have done everything they they can really with the with the existing buildings and and infrastructure to get them as you know as presentable as they can be and to utilise the spaces as well as you can and and you can, you know, the atmosphere of the training ground couldn't be better. I think the work and practice inside the training ground are fantastic, the people are fantastic and and that goes a long way. But also certainly when you get to a certain level, having um you know, top class facilities that that can be a big part of of recruiting, you know, players, a big part of retaining your best players and um, you know, growing your football team and your football club as well. We talked about the training ground. Jumping ahead a little bit, maybe one you can't answer , I don't know. Redevelopment of the cobalt stand . Is that on the agenda? Something we you've talked about? And again, there'll be information coming out of the club probably in the next two or three weeks in relation to that that is not the next project for sure let let me just manage expectation on that we we are working with architects we're working with the local authority um on a scale and bulk on what that stand would need to look like and we're pretty much down the line on that. But that would not be an imminent build project. We've got other projects that sit well ahead of that. Um but yeah, it's something that's certainly on our horizon and and again there's a lot of work going into that. What the other projects ahead of that then? Well apart from the trading ground. A lot of it is people projects. Okay. You know, we've got a new head of marketing in the football club, um, and we you know we are again we are seeing incredible record breaking numbers right throughout the football club. But the challenge is, you know, we talk about this this hunter and this attack mentality. If we rest on our laurels and we sit back , other clubs will move past us really quickly. The minute you think you 've got this industry beaten, she kicks you in the bum. And we have to be ahead. So you know we're planning ticketing, we're planning retail, we're planning kits two years out. You know, we're looking at the office space because we run out of office space in the stadium, how do we develop the fa foundation and take that forward? So there's a multitude of products here at at at Portman Road and that's before you get to the design build of the training ground, play recruitment, coaches, taking that forward. It's it's never we were talking about it earlier. There's never a minute. No. One thing that is going leaps and bounds is the Itchwich Town women's team. You mentioned Joe Sheehan there and the facilities that you want to improve for the women, but you've announced a fixture at Portman Road, Chatham Town, Saturday the twenty third of March. How important is that for the development of the women's game and and taking the women's team forward? I listen, I think it's really it's really important. We we always made the commitment that once the pitch is done and the pitch was settled that we would bring some of the women's games here. Um and as Joe and Natasha and some of the players kept reminding me when when when. Yeah. So this was really the first window of opportun ity that we had. Um you know, I think Joe's probably been frustrated with a couple of the results he's had recently. But ultimately our our first aim with the women's team is to get them out of the division they're in and stabilised into the champ ionship. That that that is the plan. And we sit down with Joe. We've increased the budget again this season. I'm sure the same will happen again next season. Um but again the women's team do us credit both on and off the pitch. Yeah, and we we''veve seen the her game too and we've had the you know women in the studio the the you know Natasha Thomas Maria Boswell absolutely absolutely Joe Sheen's been in here um yeah I mean and and they're close to you as well aren't they you you have a really close relationship with Joe Sheehan don't you? Yeah the interactions are are really good. Um you know that's the the benefit of the the the smaller more compact training ground we have at the moment the interactions are are daily and you know both both sets of players get on well and and staff get on well and um yeah try and you know interact and help out wherever we can. Yeah. Uh town TV, we're in the studio. Um your first visit. Ed Sheeran's been in before you incredible. Uh how pleased are you with the numbers that have been watching town TV and Yeah, I think I think look, Marcus, yourself, um, the team that that have built this from s from dust. Um, none of you can remember none of this was here at the end of last season. Nothing was here. So to build the technology, the infrastructure, um, yeah, there's been some glitches on the way through. There always was going to be, but the numbers that we've been delivering, the the quality of the product . I don't get to see it that much because I'm at the majority of the games. I wasn't at the Swansea game, so I got to watch it. strength and I see what it also gives is the fans an opportunity to see more in-depth interviews you know when they're at the training ground when they're with the foundation where they're with the women's team to see a little bit more about the magic that goes on behind the scenes and I think Marcus and his team yo,urself and your colleagues who present have have been just fantastic. The uh you might not watch many games, but the owners will be, won't they? How how pleased are they with the progress that they've seen on the pitch this season? Really, really pleased. Um, you know, we're in communication all the time. Um you know, the the the wrinkles and the grey hair, I'm trying doing a lot more traveling, so I'm backwards and forwards. I'm trying to cut the grey hair to to the US. I was telling Kieran I was I was there I don't know ten days ago um and uh I was in a meeting and the Rotherham game was on when we conceded it I just shut the iPad I couldn't that was it done. I just could I just couldn't handle it. Um, but no they',re fantastic. You know, Ed Schwartz plays a real lead role in this. Um, ORG representing Mark Steed and the pension fund. Um, Brett Burke and the and the three lions and Mark Det mer are are consistently in in touch. Uh, you know, they'll be here again for the Sheffield game. So you know the communication is on. They're the first people on the phone directly after the game. Fantastically supportive. Supportive as the business plan. And I'll go back to one of the the the fantastic day things that they do for myself and for Kieran is give us the oxygen. They don't meddle in the day-to-day running of the football club, they agree the strategy, they make sure the finances in place, they hold us accountable to the results and what we're going to deliver, and then they empower us to go and build this football club. You couldn't ask for a better board. No, I mean you say you've recently been out to the US. How did that go? Good. Um good. It's um it's tough with a jet lag, I must admit, both ways. Um but it's good, they're so supportive and it's much better to to communicate face to face than rather than try and do everything on Zoom. So as much as they come here, I try and go there. I then I will go out to the US and I'll I'll hop around different states just to see them wherever they are. But they're again good people have this club at heart um and uh are with us for the journey. I was gonna say is it a long term project with the owners. It's not we get promoted, they're cash in. Nah. Well well look that's never that's never been mentioned. And the way th the club structured it just doesn't work like that. Um we we've all bought into a long term plan . Um and I think from my perspective, I would hope Kieran would say the same, they've just been really consistent. There's nothing that we have gone and asked for that they haven't said, no, there's a problem with that, or you shouldn't have that, or no, we're not gonna do that. You know, whether it's a small thing or a large thing, they've been really supportive. We sat down with them before and mid transfer window, this is what we wanted to do. We wanted to be brave. Would you support that? We wanted to be bold. Would you support that? Mark, get on with it. Fantastic. No, brilliant. Um, worst case scenario, we don't get promoted. 12 go goes to go in a great position. Um, how does that alter the plans if we don't go up? Does it change much? I don't think it does. I think we we we we have a model of operation. We need to become better at it. We need to be more effective and we just need to be relentless. Um you know, Rome wasn't built in a day. We have gone on a an incredible um trajectory of improvement across all areas of the club since this ownership group take take took over. Off the pitch and on the pitch speaks speaks for itself. So from my perspective, whatever happens we will just be relentless in rebuilding this club. Is that the final message for the supporters? For me, again, I go back to what I said earlier. Every time we've asked this fan base to step up, they have stepped up in their numbers. We cannot do this on our own. You know, we are the custodians of this football c lub. Ultimately the fans and the community own this football club. I can't thank them enough. Kieran? No one to see them is definitely a a message of gratitude and um other than that I, think I always probably end up saying the same thing. It's just everyone keep trying to enjoy the journey. You know, of course we know the destination someday, hopefully someday not too far away, we would love the club to be back in the Premier League and we'll we'll do absolutely everything in our power to you know day by day to to try and make that happen. Um but I think you know it's it's about enjoying each little step along the way, each game for us at the it? play Yeah, I think I can. I I do. I think it's been yeah, I've I've really enjoyed the season. I have to say, of course, yeah, when when Rotherham score after seventy-six seconds, I'm not not enjoying that one or the referee gives a penalty in the ninety-third minute. But like look, we're we're having a a record breaking season on top of you know a record breaking season last year we got a fantastic group of players who I see the dedication and the effort day in, day out. The fans I'd like to see see CD effort levels every single week, if not twice a week. We're playing a brand of football that is, you know, admired up and down the country. Um we got a wonderful support base that are selling out the stadium and you know backing us away from home as well and we got the a real unity for the football club so um you know of course we yeah we know that the ultimate ultimately we'd love to to bring the club back to the Premier League someday, but I think we we all have to keep trying to enjoy the here and now and enjoy the days as they come and enjoy the challenges as they come and and the next one is on is Plymouth away on Saturday. All in all things aren't bad are they? Could be twelve games, could be fifteen games. Who knows? But good luck Saturday. Good luck for the rest of the season. Really appreciate your time as always at such a busy period. Pleasure . Pleasure