IPSWICH TOWN: It will cost Blues owner Marcus Evans a fortune to get rid of manager Roy Keane.

And the new manager will be not be certain of receiving the same financial backing that Keane and his predecessor Jim Magilton enjoyed.

Cash that Evans may well have put aside to allow his manager to spend during the January transfer window could be swallowed up by the huge costs involved in dismissing Keane.

Evans was reluctant to commit money to Keane in recent months, which is something that increasingly agitated the Irishman.

The owner’s stance is understandable, and he might now hedge his bets on whether he can afford to give his new manager a helping hand by signing a large cheque.

Paying off Keane, and presumable in the next few weeks also paying up the contracts of coaches that worked closely with the former manager, will run into �millions.

And so will attracting a manager of the right calibre as he will no doubt want to bring in his own coaches on lengthy contracts on top of his own.

Keane’s replacement will be keen to squeeze some cash out of Evans to sign players that he sees capable of improving the squad that he inherits.

So all-in-all it will turn out to be an expensive month for an owner who already has to fork out �6 million a year from his Marcus Evans Group to run the day to day affairs at Portman Road.

Chief executive Simon Clegg confirmed today that there will be some money available to the new manager.

He said: “If the new manager believes that we need additional resources, then these will be made available.

“He will be given assurances that he will have the support and the resources that he needs to achieve the objectives that we have for the club.

“If you look at the track record, in every transfer window that we have got into we have made some fairly significant signings.

“There have been three complete transfer windows that we had during Roy’s tenure, and we will continue to support the new manager like we did Roy.”

Clegg says that Ipswich will be looking upwards rather than towards the relegation places, adding:

“We should still be aspiring for success this season, and hoping that we can get into the play-offs.

“Suggestions that the club is in a mess at way off beam.

“We are in the process of appointing a new manager that will lead to an improvement in results.”