How we would all like to have been a fly on the wall at the meetings on Thursday when Marcus Evans and Paul Lambert met. I may have the answers for you here. The meeting between the owner and manager was conducted in a calm and jovial manner, and the mutual respect that they have for each other remained intact.
Evans pointed out that football, in general, was haemorrhaging money wherever one cared to look. Ipswich Town football club was no exception. He explained to manager Paul Lambert that his entertainment and ticketing business has suffered immensely due to Covid-19 and that he was now in the business of assessing his financial commitments. He pointed out that a group of American investors led by Los Angeles-based businessman Brett Johnson had made an offer for the club, and that he was mulling over the financial implications of a possible deal.
For his part, Paul Lambert was dismissive when quizzed over what went on behind close doors. “It was just what it is. Unfortunately for you guys, these talks are not as interesting as what you might think they are. Marcus had his say, I had my say. Yeah… They’re not interesting at all.” He is correct in suggesting that from a purely footballing perspective the meeting, which lasted two and three-quarter hours, was not very stimulating. Evans stressed the need for his team to produce more entertaining football but accepted that in the last few games – which he has not attended, the Blues form, and style of play, has discernibly improved. Lambert said that now that he had most of his key players back, improvements were already apparent, and he still believed that the club could finish in those play-off places at the very minimum. He argued that his defence was one of the best in this division and that once the strikers started to strike, we will pick up points more freely.
Since yesterday, however, things have moved on at a pace, and a take-over of the club could happen (according to the popular press) as early as next week! There are several conditions to this agreement being met and one is that Evans would retain a five per cent stake in Town, whilst retaining some elements of the training facilities and all of the Bent Lane side of the facility. Evans is understood to be writing off the club’s, 97 million pounds debt, giving Johnson’s group a good reason to buy into this deal. But this remains hearsay and not fact, as things stand.
Let us makes things abundantly clear. When Lambert spoke with Evans yesterday, little of this was discussed. The details of a possible take-over were only briefly touched upon in the light of high-level negotiations which involved the Evans team and the US investors. Lambert position as manager was not the main topic of conversation, but he has been around football long enough to know that if new owners came in, then his job would be under more scrutiny.
The next few days will be fascinating but nothing will happen overnight. We can expect that Glaswegian to be at Portman Road tomorrow picking the side to play Doncaster Rovers, and I expect it to be more or less unchanged from the team that defeated Hull City in midweek so convincingly.
