George Burley's future is assured despite Town's poor start to the season. The Town boss has been told by David Sheepshanks that whatever happens his job will not be on the line.

The Town boss welcomed this hardly surprising news. Consistency and the relationship between chairman and manager have been the linchpins of Town's success in recent years. Burley said: "In any walk of life people should be given the opportunity to show what they can do and that doesn't always happen in football. Stability is very important for clubs and those clubs who have shown loyalty and belief in their manager have been the more successful. That has been the case at Ipswich over the years and I have a tremendous chairman and board of directors and as a person it is nice to be appreciated."

David Sheepshanks added: "As long as you have a club which knows the authority of the manager is absolute, you will be OK. That is the case here. George enjoys the total confidence of all the board. He has managed the team exceptionally well over the past seven years and slowly but surely he has presided over the resurgence of Ipswich Town. No job is safe for life and, like myself, George has to perform. But even if the club were to be relegated, I would have every confidence that George would be the best man to bring us back up. The support for him from the fans is also superb — they don't have short memories."

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