There is a growing feeling amongst Town Supporters that owner Marcus Evans is waiting too long to appoint a new manager, but what do you think? The fear from fans seems to revolve around all these interviews and so little obvious progress, as some of the favourites for the job begin to look elsewhere.
Steven Gerrard was in the frame at the beginning of the campaign but in the end, he went to Rangers – although it is still very unclear as to whether he even got to the interview stage and the Cowley brothers and others, have extended their contracts by way of loyalty to their employers or moved elsewhere.
In fairness to Marcus Evans, he intimated in his exclusive interview with Steven Pearce on the official Ipswich Town website, that the process of finding a new manager would not be rushed and he suggested that a final decision would not be made until “towards the end of May – or the beginning of June.” In this respect, he is still on track to deliver his final judgement within this time-frame but with other clubs attempting to entice some of his prime candidates in other directions, there is serious cause for concern now.
For weeks Jack Ross has been the clear bookies favourite and yet we discover today that relegated Sunderland are suddenly showing an interest and have already interviewed him for the post. They do, admittedly, have other irons in the fire but Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain previously held the same position at Rangers and he will be well aware of the achievements of this man with Saint Mirren so Evans has been forewarned.
Ross is on vacation at the moment, which might give him some breathing space to weigh up his options but before we dismiss this possibility out of hand, we must remember that the Wearside club still has far greater spending power than Town and of course, they still have those dreaded parachute payments!
Shrewsbury boss Paul Hurst is also on their radar apparently and the longer this waiting game goes on, the more fearful Town supporters will become that we may just miss the boat and end up with another also-ran that no other club really wants.
Frank Lampard is at this moment the bookies third favourite for the job but would Lampard be seriously tempted when he knows that his war chest consists mainly consists of loan deals and short-term contracts? If a club with greater financial clout comes in, then he may well be tempted to look elsewhere.
I have to say I was very impressed with the Marcus Evans interview and he reassured me, and I think lots of other Town supporters, that he is as committed as ever to the Blues and is here for the long haul. His much publicised five-point plan makes perfect sense given our delicate financial situation and his insistence that simply throwing money at a problem does not always get you results, as of course Roy Keane and Paul Jewell can testify to.
At the end of the day, I guess it is as much about trustworthiness as anything else, and whether Town supporters really believe that Marcus Evans can deliver a manager who will provide us with what we all essentially want and that is bright entertaining football future again and lots of victories in the process.
