Dundee United sporting director believes Robbie Neilson can be the man to lead the Tangerines back into Europe after agreeing a new deal.
While there is no one at Tannadice taking promotion this season for granted, Asghar believes it is healthy to set the bar high.
Speaking after confirming that Neilson and his assistant head coaches Gordon Forrest and Lee McCulloch has extended their stays until the summer of 2022, Asghar ignored the Brexit shenanigans going on elsewhere in the country to predict a bright, continental future for United one day with Neilson showing the way.
Asghar said: “I think everyone is ambitious in football.
“My long-term ambition is the same as his – to get success for this club.
“We have set goals and they are high.
“These are to get into the Premiership, which would be the key that would turn this whole club into something even better than it is now.
“Being a top-flight side playing against even bigger teams would be huge for the fans.
“My personal ambition – and Robbie’s too – is then to compete in Europe again.
“That’s a big thing for any Scottish club.
“I spoke to someone the other day about how good results in the Premiership, in reality, can only get you to third place.
“That means getting as high as you can and that would mean Europa League football.
“I think for us to achieve that would be a real measure of our success.”
Neilson was asked if he agreed with Asghar’s Euro dream.
He replied: “We managed to do it at Hearts. We got promoted and then got ourselves into the Europa League qualifiers the following season.
“It’s great for the fans and then the players can test themselves at another level.
“That’s the ultimate aim for the club. We don’t want to get too carried away but that’s our aspiration.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with Tony. The relationship between manager and sporting director is really important, and we’ve got that.
“The owner’s vision is to get the club into the top-flight and then push as far as we can . We, Tony and I, both believe in it.”
Continuing the upbeat predictions, Asghar insisted Neilson can eventually see his picture hang among the Tannadice greats of the glory days.
He added: “You can try to get yourself on the walls of this club alongside some of the legends who have been up there for decades.
“We need to start looking at new success stories and I think we have all bought into it.
“For him to commit long-term nowadays when this can be such a transient business is great.
“Obviously, it means financial security but he and the coaches can go and work without the possibility of a contract running down. That is key.
“This shows there is a commitment culture here.
“We are never going to win every game and there are going to be some nightmares along the way – that’s football – but it’s about where we finish.
“This is about building the club up.
“We came in when it was in a bad position. We are going to make mistakes but we are getting there.
“We always had a plan to create a more sustainable club by keeping people and giving them time to set a strategy.
“Getting all three coaches signed until 2022 is fantastic.
“Sometimes you can put undue pressure on people and they won’t work effectively with that pressure hanging over them.
“I think, ultimately, when we go up we will have a ready-made staff that’s ready for the demands and rigours of Premiership football.
“In the worst-case scenario – ie we don’t go up – then we will still have that plan in place and have another go.
“Part of my job as sporting director is to negate the chance of the head coach or manager being sacked. I am responsible and accountable in making sure that I give them everything possible in order to be successful on the pitch.
“There was no point in our just closing the door if things were failing – we had to look at why that was the case and review that.
“I have worked with a lot of managers and I see Robbie as one who, with the help of this club, can be developed into a really top level manager.”
