IPSWICH Town chief executive Simon Clegg today faced the media in the wake of manager Paul Jewell’s departure from the club by mutual consent. The EADT’s chief football writer STUART WATSON brings you some of the highlights.

ON JEWELL’S DEPARTURE: “The results haven’t been anywhere near what we hoped they would be. The manager needs to take a lot of the responsibility for that. We thought after the defeat at Hull that we would give Paul the opportunity of having two home games to turn things around. To lose in the way we did last night (against Derby), in a similar fashion, was bitterly disappointing though and we felt we’d reached our tipping point.”

ON FAILURE OF LAST TWO MANAGERIAL APPOINTMENTS: “It’s difficult to put your finger on why. We’ve appointed two successful managers who had a good pedigree, but it’s just not worked here. The owner and I are the only two people within the football club who make appointments without the benefit of hindsight.”

ON WHAT HE AND EVANS ARE LOOKING FOR IN NEW MAN: “There’s not a time frame, all I’ll say is we want to do it as quickly as possible.

“We’ve pulled together a list of around 34 names between the owner, myself and certainly the owner’s advisors. He has extensive contacts across football.

“A number have people have applied. The phone has been red-hot since midday today.

“I don’t want to go into too many specifics because I don’t want the media to be able to narrow down the field in terms of where we are likely to focus on.

“The owner and I are very clear on how we want to move forward and the type of individual we want to bring to the club.

“If compensation is an issue then that would be addressed. If it was required I can’t see it being a major inhibiting factor for us.

ON RUMOURS LINKING ALAN CURBISHLEY AND DOUGIE FREEDMAN: “There’s wild speculation out there, but you wouldn’t expect me to comment on any one individual.”

ON BEING AN ATTRACTIVE PLACE TO COME: “There are obviously a number of Championship clubs out there who have vacancies at this time.

“One of the attractive things is that we won’t judge a manager on one or two games. I think that’s been demonstrated with Paul Jewell and his predecessor Roy Keane. We have probably gone further than most other clubs would go in terms of supporting them with both money and time. It’s a long-term appointment that we’re looking for.”

ON CALL FOR A DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL: “Marcus has got a lot of advisers within the game. It’s a relatively small circle of trust. I don’t think a director of football – and I’ve listened to the arguments – is a route that he’d want to go down. He takes soundings from people at the highest level.”

ON FINANCIAL BACKING FOR NEW MAN: “I’m sure the owner will support the new manager in the same way he has supported the last two. We are wary of financial fair play rules, but it’s not as if we haven’t funded signings. Money has been provided.”