CHRIS Hutchings to be the next Ipswich Town manager!

This is a likely scenario after the 53-year-old was yesterday confirmed as assistant manager to Paul Jewell at Portman Road.

This is a similar post Hutchings held at Bradford City and Wigan Athletic – and in both cases he went on to manage after Jewell left.

And after also working with Jewell at Derby County, Hutchings briefly held the post of caretaker manager at Pride Park.

This is not to make any hasty judgements on Jewell’s inability to hold the reins for some considerable time at Ipswich as his track record working with Hutchings is impressive taking both Bradford and Wigan to the Premier League – and keeping them there.

If the pair enjoy the same success in Suffolk the job description handed to Jewell by Town owner Marcus Evans will be completed, and Blues supporters will be delighted.

Jewell’s predecessor Roy Keane decided not to go down the route of bringing in an experienced number two, and possibly he paid a heavy price for that.

He was adamant that he wanted to take this path after a middle of the road 2009/10 at Portman Road, but the move never materialised although his coach Ian McParland does have managerial experience.

Hutchings was manager of Walsall for two years until he dismissed earlier this month.

Jewell said: “Chris is a terrific coach and we’ve enjoyed success both at Bradford and at Wigan and having spoken to a couple of people over the weekend I wanted to get his appointment nailed down as quickly as possible.”

A defender, Hutchings played for Chelsea, Brighton, Huddersfield, Walsall and Rotherham, and he joins coach Sean McCarthy in joining Jewell’s backroom staff since the new manager was appointed.

Striker Rory Fallon has confirmed that he would have had no problem extending his loan at Ipswich.

The 28-year-old New Zealand international returned to his parent club Plymouth yesterday after his original loan deal that was due to run out on Saturday was curtailed.

When he joined in late November it was anticipated that a deal could be thrashed out with hard-up League One Plymouth to make the move to Portman Road permanent.

“I’d have been happy to stay with Ipswich,” said Fallon.

Jewell will be looking to bring in his own loan signings – and perhaps a couple or so permanent ones – by the end of the month with Fallon not featuring in his plans.

Fallon, who was an unused substitute for the 2-1 Championship loss at Millwall on Saturday, made four Ipswich starts and made two appearances off the bench, scoring in the 1-1 draw at Coventry on New Year’s Day.