Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony says the vacant Ipswich Town manager's job is a 'dream position'.

The outspoken Irishman, whose side are currently 22nd in the Championship table, was asked about Town's decision to sack Paul Cook on his 'Hard Truth' podcast.

"I’m not shocked, you’re getting up to Christmas now, they’re 11th, they struggled in the cup on Saturday,” he said.

"Obviously behind the scenes (chief executive Mark] Ashton wants them to win the league, he wants them to win promotion. They’ve spent heavily, they’ve invested heavily.

“You know yourself how you’re playing. Do you look like winning? Is it too inconsistent? What’s going on at the training ground? What are the vibes?

“But obviously Ashton’s under pressure, a big group have bought that club, they’re expecting to get out this year. How far are they away from the top two positions? All those things start coming in.

“January’s coming up, do you trust him again to go out and spend more money and bring more players in? What a job that is for somebody.”

East Anglian Daily Times: Chelsea legend John Terry is looking for his first job in management, having assisted Dean Smith at Aston Villa.Chelsea legend John Terry is looking for his first job in management, having assisted Dean Smith at Aston Villa. (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

He continued: “I think because they brought so many players in in the summer, I don’t think it’ll be a case of going out and signing another 10 players.

“So what do you do? Who do you go after? Who’s out of work out there? Who’s been fired in the Championship that you think maybe can drop down and do a job and do well?

“I don’t know. It’s a big club and they’ve got deep pockets. Any of those clubs, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich, if any of them lose their manager, you’re going to have some top, top managers applying for those jobs.

“It will be interesting. Could you go and attract a John Terry for that job? Could you, I don’t know, go and get Wayne Rooney from Derby? He’s done really well at Derby, (could you) bring him to Ipswich? Could you be that ambitious. I can’t speak for them. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

Chelsea legend Terry is currently looking for his first job in management having assisted Dean Smith at Aston Villa. Rooney is trying to guide Derby through a tumultuous period which sees them bottom of the Championship table following a 21-point deduction for historical financial breaches.


MacAnthony added: “There are not a lot of jobs. There are 72 jobs in the Football League. If you’re somebody who is out of work for a period of time, how long do you want to wait to get back into work? A club like Ipswich, it’s a dream job, it’s an absolutely unbelievable job. I don’t know.

“If my manager, say for example, if he was out of work and we were speaking and I had a manager who was doing really well, I’d be saying to my manager you’ve got to be in for that Ipswich job. That’s a helluva job, one of the biggest clubs in England as regards outside the Premier League.

“You look at their fanbase, you look at the size of them, you look at the new wealthy owners. It’s a dream project for somebody. You look at the squad and you think any good manager could go in there and get them going.

“As we know in League One, five or six wins on the spin and suddenly you’re flying. That’s a helluva job.”