Since the announcement that manager Mick McCarthy would soon be on his way, a string of former players have shown interest in the Town job and the more the merrier in my view!
One thing that unites them all is their desire to see the Blues play entertaining football again, which most Ipswich supporters would agree, has been in very short supply of late.
Former captain Mick Mills played a staggering 591 times for the Suffolk club between the years 1966 to 1982 and then went into management with Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City where he assisted Trevor Francis, but he never got the chance to coach with the club he made his home.
He said on Radio Suffolk that he would have loved to have been offered the opportunity but when he was as prepared as ever to take on the job back in 2002, the post instead went to Joe Royle.
These days, however, he is completely out of the running but other former players have already thrown their hats in the ring!
Hot favourite would be Tony Mowbray who is doing a fine job at Blackburn Rovers and might just get them promoted from League One.
Mowbray played under George Burley when Town last got promoted to the Premier League and the 54-year-old has previously been in charge at Hibernian, West Bromwich Albion, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Coventry.
His second in command is another ex-Town defender in Mark Venus, who has been assisting him throughout his managerial career and although Mowbray to date has had only moderate success, it would still be a popular appointment.
Then there is Shefki Kuqi who is a regular attendee at Portman Road these days. He has managed mainly in Finland but knows the way Town like to play and what the supporters expect from them.
Matt Holland and Kieron Dyer have also found their way into the bookmakers betting odds but they are big outsiders for the post and it might still go to someone who has never been directly involved with the club at all.
George Burley believes that whoever takes over must understand the Blues ethos of playing free-flowing attacking football and what a breath of fresh air that would be!
Another former Town defender Russell Osman is of a similar view and said,’Fans want to see some of the old values of the club instilled again down at Portman Road and some people are maybe feeling the Ipswich Town they used to know and what they`re watching today, are a million miles apart.’
Burley thinks that Mowbray would be the perfect fit for the Blues and remarked,’ He played under me for five years and he was my assistant when we finished fifth in the Premier League. He knows the philosophy of the club and was brought up with a certain manner of playing the game and for me he ticks all the boxes.’
So then, which former Blue would you like to see running the club, or do you believe that only a relative outsider will do?
Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich
