Veteran boss Neil Warnock has been lined up as replacement for Paul Lambert if Ipswich Town ‘fail to arrest their alarming slump in form’, reports the Sunday Mirror.
Lambert signed a new five-year deal on New Year's Day, but it's understood there are performance-related break clauses in that contract and a general cap on the pay-off required to part company with both the Blues boss and his staff should owner Marcus Evans decide a change is needed in the hot-seat.
Ipswich have slipped from first to ninth in the League One table in little more than a month. Yesterday's 2-1 loss at Blackpool was their fifth defeat in seven matches and leaves them five points adrift of the play-off places heading into quickfire home matches against in-form duo Fleetwood and Coventry this week.
MORE: 'If you don't want pressure, don't play for the football club' - Lambert on 2-1 defeat at Blackpool
After winning eight of their opening 11 matches, the Blues have struggled to be clinical or consistent. Since a 1-0 win at Fleetwood on October 5, they have claimed just 25 points from 23 games (W6 D7 L10).
Warnock, 71, was directly quizzed about his potential interest in the Ipswich job, should it come up, just prior to Lambert signing his new deal. Speaking on talkSport, the former Sheffield United, Leeds and Cardiff boss - who has eight promotions on his CV - said: "If the right thing comes up I'm not really bothered what it is. I just want to enjoy myself until the end of the season."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here