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Owner Evans Writes
Monday, 11th Aug 2014 06:00 by Marcus Evans

Owner Marcus Evans wrote a column in Saturday’s matchday programme, which Town have given us permission to reproduce in full.

I would like to welcome you all back to Portman Road for what will hopefully result in a promotion season or at least a year of further progression.

I would especially like to say thank you to our thousands of season ticket holders who stick with the club through good and not so good times.

I am now entering my seventh full season with the club and feel I am an old hand, however, when I am told that we have several season ticket holders with over 60 years of continued support I realise the depth of loyalty the club enjoys.

The biggest positive for me over the close season was Mick and Terry signing new three-year deals. We can't get anywhere in this league without continuity and a long-term plan.

These new contracts have and will result in our current core squad extending their contracts and new players being attracted to a stable and successful environment.

From a player perspective, we were all sorry to see Aaron Cresswell leave. However, once the immediate prospect of Premier League football was presented to him, along with a fair valuation offered for the player, it was always going to be difficult to keep him at Ipswich.

I am highly conscious that letting our best players move on will make promotion harder, however, the football management at the club decided we have a great option going forward at left-back with Tyrone and also, having brought in Jonny Parr, this will not be as big a loss as it might have been. Having considered all of these points, we all agreed it was best to proceed with the move.

On the incoming side we have a new keeper in Bart to challenge for the number one jersey, Stephen and Alex are back with us and we have added some talented, fresh faces to the squad in Jonny, Balint, Kevin and Cameron.

My strategy to move the club forward is a simple one. To where possible keep the core of our squad together and add a few, new faces each year (some from the academy and some from outside) to ensure a net gain season upon season in the quality of the team, with this strategy leading to promotion - and all the time doing so within a solid financial framework.

Fair Play Will Start To Hit Home

This year will also see the rules relating to Financial Fair Play (FFP) start to bite. Those who have breached the rules should see fines (promoted clubs) and transfer embargoes (those that remain in the Championship).

These take effect in January 2015 and time will tell if the rules have the desired effect of stopping clubs throwing everything they can at promotion in one or two seasons to the detriment of those trying to develop their club's long-term future alongside a long-term secure financial strategy.

I for one fully support a plan which rewards clubs with sensible long term-plans. Before FFP those trying to build sensibly over the long-term would see little benefit in doing so as every season another club would roll the dice with huge short-term investment to create a short-term advantage, creating an environment of disincentive for those trying to do the right thing.

Your club has worked within FFP since it was introduced and I view FFP as a positive step, but only a first step in creating a more secure structure for football finances.

The system will, however, only work when the financial gap between non-parachute and parachute clubs is closed and at Ipswich we are working hard with the Football League and other like-minded clubs to influence ongoing discussions where we can.

On the youth side, it was disappointing to have not achieved category one academy status at our first try, however we will continue with our efforts to gain the needed pass mark with another audit next year.

Thank you again to all those who have in the past and continue to support our academy sponsorship programme. I assure you every pound committed to the academy from you means more invested directly in the first-team squad, so this assistance is invaluable.

I am as excited as ever at the start of a new season but realistic enough to know that we are as usual in for a rollercoaster ride.

My support continues to be undiminished in pursuit of Premier League football and, despite the hugely competitive league that we play in, I sincerely believe that my own input seven years into the role as well as the stable environment created over the last couple of years by Mick and his team puts us in a great position in what, as always, will be a tough and long season.

On a final note, I would like to welcome Fulham back to Portman Road for the first time in 12 years.

They are a club with a great tradition and an example to the non-giant clubs of how one can create an established Premier League outfit.

We also represent Fulham's biggest ever League win - and our heaviest loss - at 10-1 back in December 1963 so maybe time for some gentle retribution! Enjoy the season.


Photo: Action Images



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Greektractor added 06:49 - Aug 11
Nice to hear from you again Marcus, you sly fox.
8

tractorintheloft added 06:59 - Aug 11
Fair play re fair play. Just get a feeling that transfer embargoes won't be enough to deter the clubs rolling the dice. I think it will have to be points deductions before it will work. Lets get the academy sorted - can't help but look back at the Southampton team we beat in the FA Youth final and think what if instead of us rolling the dice at the time.
4

WhoisJimmyJuan added 07:31 - Aug 11
He has his doubters on here, but he sounds committed to me.
13

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:35 - Aug 11
Thank you Marcus. Fair enough! But you need to get your ticket prices sorted out - and your semi-colons!
8

Lord_Mac added 07:48 - Aug 11
Good piece. When we look at the instability through which some clubs are having to navigate (Leeds, Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool to name but a few) there is no doubt that stability off the field is a big factor in achieving at least modest success on it. How many managers did Fulham have last year? It was no coincidence that the team with 10/11 of last year's players on the pitch triumphed over the team with one and it made up for the discrepancy in player value!
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TractorCam added 07:54 - Aug 11
Wise words Marcus, let's go and get that promotion!
2

carlo88 added 08:13 - Aug 11
I remember similar wise words from Mr Sheepshanks over fifteen years ago, however promotion to the Premier League does tend to do weird things to clubs and especially their chairmen. Seemingly sensibly run clubs like Fulham, Norwich and even West Brom end up making stranger and stranger decisions. I'm afraid I don't think we'd be any different.
-3

Bergholtblue added 08:27 - Aug 11
I agree with tractorintheloft. What is the point of transfer embargoes when they already have spent the money on the players they want? Sounds like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted. What about those clubs that got promoted (e.g. QPR) a fine will only result in a long, tedious, court case where the only guaranteed outcome is that some lawyers will do very well out of it indeed.

The only way FFP will work, is with the threat of points deductions and with those clubs that did get promoted, applied retrospectively should they come back down again.

But even then there never will be an even playing field with relegated clubs getting such large parachute payments. These payments, if you remember, were to assist in the finances for clubs who have contracted players on Premier League salaries. The size of the payments just goes to illustrate the chasm that exists between the Premier League and the lower divisions.

Things will never really change until the power that be at the FA, the Premier League and the Football League merge together and start to act in the interests of the English game rather than just looking after themselves.
9

itfc_steve added 08:38 - Aug 11
Clegg out!
1

brian_a_mul added 08:43 - Aug 11
Fair enough, it is very obvious Marcus is a genuine supporter of the club. I think the club is well and truely on the right path with him steering the ship. He made a few errors in his first few seasons but he has learned the hard way that laying the ground work (stability with mgmt, Grade 1 academy, keep core squad etc) is the best way forward for clubs like Ipswich.

I also agree that a points penalty would be a big deterrent and must be looked at if they want to take FFP seriously.
However I worry about the FA, they seem to pander to the big clubs and SKY. Its about time the FA grew a pair!
10

Blue041273 added 08:53 - Aug 11
Transfer embargoes will work. Players are the life blood of any team and to deny a club the opportunity to sign any new players for a period of time will be truly punishing. Arguably a greater punishment indeed than a minor points deduction which might equate to a couple of bad results.

A transfer embargo requires a different kind of player management and history shows that clubs under transfer embargo are rarely successful.
4

algarvefan added 08:57 - Aug 11
Parachute payments could be easily stopped by the FA insisting that all contracts have a clause that say's contracts will be mull and void if the club is relegated. It might make some of the B's fight a bit harder to stay up!!!!! Club before player needs to return to football!
3

TotalBlue added 09:01 - Aug 11
Sadly as seen just before last season if the football league try and does anything about parachute payments the Premier League turns round and threatens and throws there teddy out of the pram. I fear they would also do this if there was a points deduction. Its such a sad state of affairs but the small guys(the football league) can not do anything about it. I think Marcus has been very good for this club, don't forget had he not come in when he did we would of been back in administration within weeks and playing League one football.

Someone mentioned court cases over the fines. I am not a solicitor but surely they cant sue they signed up to the plan in the first place.

All we can do now is build slowly and get promoted and STAY there which I think is possible as long as sense prevails.

COYB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
0

Bergholtblue added 09:15 - Aug 11
Totalblue

I mentioned court cases not in the context of sueing anyone but in trying to get the money. It has been mentioned in the press that QPR may face a fine of £8m. If this is true and they refuse to pay, how would the FL get this money. It can only be done through the courts.
0

Middlin added 09:41 - Aug 11
And who reckons he wrote that
Penny to a pound that was written by the directors of football and he penned his name o the bottom
-2

We_hate_Norwich added 09:43 - Aug 11
Nice to hear from our esteemed leader but it's be nice if he stopped charging interest on our debt, this will stop us getting further into his debt and maybe release more funds for the Academy and First Team Squad!
1

PhilTWTD added 10:14 - Aug 11
We_hate_Norwich

As of the last set of accounts, ME no longer charges interest on the debt.
6

essextractorboy93 added 11:06 - Aug 11
Feels good to have such a stable management team and the chairman too. I do feel that FFP punishments are a bit unfair because a transfer embargo is not necessarily a bad thing for some of these clubs! Having a settled squad for a year or two can help performances and also forces managers to look to up coming youth team players. A points penalty would be much fairer, not a fine because it would mean very little to certain owners.
1

We_hate_Norwich added 11:11 - Aug 11
Thanks for clearing that up for me Phil.
0

Wearside_Blue added 12:07 - Aug 11
Clear message and stable approach from Mr Evans. Refreshing in these modern times. Have a good feeling this season!
1

Blue041273 added 13:30 - Aug 11
Algarvefan

Agree with your sentiments but the premiership's interests are paramount these days. The premiership needs to maintain the integrity of competition involving all the 20 clubs in the division. There is pressure on all teams in the prem to invest in quality players to ensure that competition in the league stays fair. Hence clubs need the security of parachute payments to offset the risks inherent in relegation. Otherwise, the validity of promotion/relegation becomes pointless and when that happens the prem may well declare themselves to be an exclusive franchise.

It's not good for football generally but greed is good in the top leagues these days.
0

ITFCcharmer added 13:44 - Aug 11
I think we're in safe hands behind the scenes and safe hands on the field with MM and TC.

But what I particularly like is that Mick is left to do the footballing side of the job without his/our chairman interfering.

COYB
2

jas0999 added 17:28 - Aug 11
I personally don't disagree with MEs strategy, providing the squad gets stronger per pre season and despite the excellent result on Saturday I remain far from convinced. Looking at each position:

Goalkeeper: arguably STRONGER with Loach leaving and the new Pole signing

Defence: Cresswell and Richardson depart, with just Parr arriving. Parr seems injury prone and it's arguable whether he is better than Cresswell. In terms of numbers and quality we are possibly WEAKER.

Midfield: Edwards, Green and Williams depart. Hunt and Henschell are retained. Bru (unproven) and Stewart ( injured) arrive. We do not have a player like Williams at the club, whilst in terms of numbers we are most definitely WEAKER.

Strikers: SEB out. No loss. Banjar in. Neither weaker or stronger.

So, overall despite cashing in on Cresswell we have fewer players and arguably no better quality. For me therefore the strategy hasn't worked this summer. However, we have MM who can grind out hard working results, which is good news.
2

Ipswich24 added 18:48 - Aug 11
It is so unfair, how should you get rewarded for failure? This is ridiculous. In players contracts there should be something written in to say if relegated they go to championship wages. Its crazy and why unless we get a couple of top notch premier league loans or actually spend some of Cressy money will sit in mid table.
1

PSGBlue added 20:01 - Aug 11
Good of Marcus to let TWTD print what was in the match programme, as unless you were willing to queue for 15 mins on Sat you were unable to get one.

Unfortunately Marcus as ever you failed to make me feel I was very welcome at PR on Sat. I should not have to queue for 15 mins just to get a programme, sort that out. Also sort out the Sales assistant in the team shop behind the Coop stand. I went down at half time to try and get a programme. Only to find a chap in front of me with two kids trying the same thing.

He was told that the programmes had sold out 10 mins before kick off and that if he had wanted one he should have arrived 30 mins before KO as it states on the ticket.

Considering there were only 17,000 at the game. Firstly why do we need to get to the game 30 mins before KO and secondly why were there not enough programmes to go round.

Having always bought a programme since 1976 ITFC can stuff it. The sales assistant made some jibe behind the chap with the two kids back as he left the shop unhappy.

No wonder many people have fallen out of love with ITFC, its purely how much money Evans can get out of us!
1


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