‘Marcus, it’s time to do things the Ipswich way again’

Ipswich Town manager Roy Keane - a marquee signing (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Dear Mr Evans,

Let's be very clear here. I will always support our beloved football club, but where do we start?

Upon you purchasing the club, I was filled with excitement.

A successful businessman, a man with ambition that matched the club, but best of all, a fellow supporter of our prestigious club.

I wasn't lucky enough, like many of our current fan base, to go through the Ramsey and Robson days.

But I had the best of the Burley years and they were good. That night against Inter Milan, That day at Wembley watching Martijn Reuser put us in the Premier League after years of play off heartbreak. And who can forget the match that got us there against Bolton. These moments will live with me until my last breath.

Ipswich Town owner Marcus Evans talks with manager of football operations Lee O'Neill during the Lincoln game. Picture Steve Waller www.stephenwaller.com (Image: Steve Waller)

So you taking over our Club gave me the hope that I could go back to the days of watching Premier League football, the possibility of competing well at the highest level, even more nights at Portman Road under the lights against Europe's best.

These are what I thought would surely follow within five years of you purchasing Town. And the signs to start with were encouraging.

Big players came in with decent price tags. The marquee manager Roy Keane was announced as a replacement for the well thought of Jim Magilton. I thought it odd to sack Magilton after he had practically worked miracles with the budget he had, he knew the Ipswich way, but come on now this was Roy Keane.

The signs pointed only up. We were on our way!

What a distant memory those days are.

What was worse is I found myself sitting in Sir Bobby's stand remembering this while watching an underwhelming Fleetwood Town beat us without even a whimper. I have never seen or heard such a toxic atmosphere, nor had I ever seen an Ipswich team so poor. Where did it all go so wrong?

Town manager Paul Hurst Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM (Image: � Copyright Stephen Waller)

Unfortunately Mr Evans, the fingers are now pointed at you and we as fans are right to do so. Why you may ask? After all we could be in the same position as Bolton, or even worse Bury, right now if it was not for your financial backing. True. But right now as a fan, it is all I can be grateful for.

In your time as our owner, only two big moments stand out for me. Our League Cup win over Arsenal and our play-off reaching season under Mick McCarthy.

That's it!

Bad managerial acquisitions have been the biggest downfall.

Only Mick showed any qualities needed to get us back to where we belong and it seems to most fans you failed to back him financially just to push us over the finish line. You would of thought lessons were learnt come this transfer window just gone.

All your managers have contributed to the downfall of our club, making decisions that you have overseen and, I'm sure, approved.

Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert (left) and Toto Nsiala during the Sky Bet Championship match at Portman Road, Ipswich. (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

From buying the wrong players for big money, to letting the likes of Jordan Rhodes, Jack Marriott, Matt Clarke to name a few, leave for little.

Then there was Paul Hurst.

I was, as were others, applauding you for giving a young and hungry manager from a lower league a chance. After all, it was what the fans were asking for after the toxic turn of Mick.

But alarm bells set in very quickly.

Out went the likes of Waghorn, Garner, McGoldrick and Webster, while Hurst replaced players untested at even Championship level.

But we still had youth players who had been in and around the first team performing at Championship level more than some of his signings.

Yes we still had the old guard in Chambers, Skuse and Bart and a few players on the injury table who could help our new players integrate. So surely we would be okay. My alarm bells proved to be right.

The amount signed and jump made by these players was too much. Hurst appeared way out of his depth in my opinion.

At this point it wouldn't of mattered who you employed as manager. The state of the club was clear for everyone to see. We were going down after flirting with the prospect for so long.

This brings us to Paul Lambert.

Personally, I was completely against it from the off.

Yes, he managed to connect the club with the fans again. He brought club legends back to the training ground.

Things started well. But the alarm bells were still ringing.

We were getting the results without playing all that well.

With momentum behind us, games were being rearranged due to the 'international break'. It has backfired spectacularly. Lambert's policy to rotate on top of this is a joke if you ask me.

You pick your best squad and play it week in, week out. Then, instead of trying to halt the mistakes, you reward Lambert with a 5 year contract!

Then there is the budget.

Yes, our Academy is churning out what I can see are going to be players with big futures. For this I do applaud you.

What I hope is that these futures lay at Portman Road.

But the same old problem springs to mind. When other clubs come knocking, we will lose them and replace them with 'journeymen' on a free transfer. It's been the story with our best players too. The phrase of quality over quantity comes to mind.

So why do I highlight all this?

Because we have been the best fans you could ask for. We have patiently waited for your regime to put us in the right direction. Instead we have had our love for the club played. Fans will leave and not come back and can you blame them?

I think you are in last chance saloon Mr Evans. It's time to lead the club from the front.

If your love has gone then please start looking for other investors. You cannot wait in hope things will turn. They won't. You have to start the rebuilding process now to save what is currently left of our famous and prestigious football club.

It's time to do things the Ipswich way again. So bring in someone who knows that and implement our youth again like we always have.

You cannot dwell on this if you want to continue to have the fantastic support home and away.

Despite all this, Ipswich will always be my club, I will always be a supporter no matter what happens and I won't walk away. Just show us fans that too Mr Evans.

Kieran McCusker

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