The frank piece is intended to put the fans back in a position where they have trust in the board's activities following the drawn out nature of Francis' move to Wigan and the heart-stopping series of stories linking Ashton with a return to the Premiership.
"It is absolutely vital that supporters can trust what their club says," wrote Doncaster. "For Norwich City to risk misleading supporters is a very dangerous path to tread."
It was Wigan who, having bought Francis, were one of the clubs to actually table a bid for Ashton. According to the Chief Executive, the Latics put in one bid and Stuart Pearce's Manchester City made two offers for the former Crewe forward. None of the bids were of a level which might have made the Canaries take stock, and Ashton, after weeks of speculation, eventually reaffirmed his commitment to the club by signing a new contract.
Doncaster stated that the lack of unequivocal news from the club over Ashton's future, or other transfer dealings like the bid for Clinton Morrison, was to prevent those involved from undermining their efforts. The wrong statement at the wrong time could have set off a chain of events that might have ended unsatifactorily for the Canaries. As things stand, the club managed to keep Ashton and to get a good price for Francis.
Francis had reportedly been the subject of interest from any number of clubs, but Doncaster revealed that only Portsmouth made a bid for the player. Pompey's valuation fell well short of Norwich's and it was not until an agent arranged a transfer to Wigan that the club were able to part company with one of their star performers who wished to remain in the Premiership.
Doncaster also strongly hinted that the transfer window would not see an end to City's transfer activities, insinuating that Nigel Worthington will be exploiting the loan rules for Coca Cola League clubs in the coming weeks. The club failed in moves for Fulham's Ian Pearce and Charlton's Francis Jeffers this week but are keen to get in some new faces in the hope that they will have the same effect as before. The Autumn arrival of Peter Crouch, Kevin Harper and Darren Huckerby two years ago proved the catalyst for the First Division title and everyone involved with the club would welcome a similar turnaround in City's so far disappointing return to the Championship.