Blues managing director Ian Milne says owner Marcus Evans “remains as committed as ever” to Town and has no thoughts of selling the club or looking for external investment.

“Marcus remains as committed as ever with the Premier League remaining the target, he’s not thinking of selling,” Milne said.

“He wants to get in the Premier League, he’s still very much up for that challenge, he wants to go for it.

“We appreciate that with the teams that have come down it’s going to make it harder to get up but on the other hand we came pretty close [to the play-offs] this time.”

Would he look to bring in external investment? “Like most of his businesses, he won’t want to share it with anybody else and it sometimes can make things more complicated for the manager.

“A manager doesn’t want to have to go through a whole load of owners to get their permission because that’s when things screw up.”

He says that even with the Blues having brought in a fee of £8 million plus top-ups for Tyrone Mings last summer - although not all of the initial figure was paid up front - Town will still make a loss during the financial year to the end of June.

“Overall the club will make a loss,” he added. “They all think Marcus is not putting money in but even with the Tyrone fee money still had to be put in and a lot of money it was as well.”

Where does that money go? “Wages, 3G pitches. Certainly Marcus doesn’t feel he’s put any of it in his pocket.

“It’s gone on wages, the Ryan Frasers of this world aren’t cheap wages-wise. It’s gone in those sorts of areas.

“We got stages of the fee and then part of it was also appearance money and of course he hasn’t had many of those, poor chap. I know Tyrone is currently in Philadelphia doing some rehab.”

Milne says Evans and manager Mick McCarthy work closely on transfers and contracts and it’s often the latter who decides where to draw a line.

“Some people think Marcus won’t pay that and all the rest of it, but to be fair to him he takes the advice of Mick, and Mick will not overpay.

“I’ve seen it many a time, ‘He’s not worth it’ or if someone is extending their contract or having a new contract but their demands are too high, he’ll say ‘He’s not worth it, we’ll find somebody else’.

“So they know the value and I think this has made us a much more financially stable club, which I hope the fans understand.

“That’s the first thing we want, a financially stable club, that the owner’s not going to use it as a two or three-year toy and then turn it over to somebody else or just leave it.

“Marcus is coming up towards 10 years now and he has consistently put money into it, and more importantly he really enjoys it.

“Those who have seen him, he will hide behind the seats when things go wrong and leap for joy when things go right. And will moan and laugh the same as all the rest of us when things happen. He enjoys it very much as a fan.”

Will Evans become a more public figure than he has been during his time with the Blues up to now?

“He picks and chooses, we occasionally persuade him to do things. He will do it in his way.

“We come up with novel ways to get out there and he knows when is best to do things, which tends to be at the start or the end of the season so he can give a summary, and at other times it can look like interfering.

“The timing of this recent [interview in the programme] we thought about a lot in detail and we thought it was the right thing to do at that time.”

Photo: Action Images

BrettenhamBlue added 13:22 - May 21 All sounds good. Just hope the words actually turn into something on the pitch. Success is long overdue at this club.
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Wickets added 13:39 - May 21 Good.
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braveblue added 13:45 - May 21 What a load of nonsense. The Mings money spin is fantasy!! Million miles away from what was being said last year.
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ivegottheblues added 13:54 - May 21 More bad news. We need real investment , not Marcus's spare pocket money.
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BlueKush added 15:28 - May 21 It wasn't even £8 million up front for Mings? Poor
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ITFCGloryDays added 15:42 - May 21 SHAME!
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Seasider added 15:42 - May 21 Think it is good to learn all these things now about the club and owner,not sure how much of it has been prompted by a lot of season ticket holders not renewing,but welcome anyway. Interesting that Mick is instrumental in deciding wages and fees,at least as much as Mr Evans.Not sure if that's a good or bad thing!
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Penguinblue added 16:11 - May 21 If he had any ambition at all, or any commitment to entertainment, he would employ a football manager
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joepublic added 16:47 - May 21 Penguinblue: I am starting to think you don't rate Mick;)
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bluey123 added 17:15 - May 21 What a load of rubbish Evans should come out and speak for himself rather than send out a puppet reading a script this club is going nowhere I wrote to the club 3 weeks ago still no reply as I asked where the club is going and if they are happy with 7th it might as well been 17th still nothing
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Blue_Again added 17:31 - May 21
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jas0999 added 17:40 - May 21 Still sticking to the same spin. Money spent on wages. Yes, but what about wages saved last season. The Taylor's of thus world were on a lot of money but the club released him. Odd how Milne forgot to mention the thirteen player wages saved last ore season, with numerous players leaving this. The club are never keen to mention that.
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essex57 added 18:01 - May 21 F'Fs give it a rest penguin
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HackneyBlue added 20:34 - May 21 I too wrote to the club 3 weeks ago,i too am not renewing simply for lack of entertainment reasons plus the audacity to increase to watch Sunday park football,i made the point to Ian Milne who keeps going on about how other clubs wished they had a season like ours-the clubs below us of course wish they could be higher but the fans at those clubs would not want to see the crap we have had to see.ENTERTAINMENT brings fans in not getting 7th by playing prehistoric airball.

5

Trequartista added 20:49 - May 21 Do we really need to see the charred remains of Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov in the News Elsewhere section?
0

wayway added 21:13 - May 21 As i see it penguinblue genuinely cares about the club while essex57 is prepared to go along with the dire dross served up by a boring dinosauer and if him and his like prevail we will always be a middle/lower championship club or worse. We need properly committed owners and a manager who plays football as it should be played
4

Cloddyseedbed added 22:04 - May 21 We get the same things said every year since ME has been owner of the club, I can't honestly say things will be any different next year. I think the entertainment level will not change as that is the way MM sets out his teams. I feel we are getting further behind each year in our attempts to get promoted as there are many teams in Championship who have very strong squads and play attractive attacking football. That's what I long for, attacking entertaining football, personally I don't care what division it's in.

2

ElderGrizzly added 22:52 - May 21 Jas0999 - we didn't save on wages last season, or the season before that, or the season before that. All you have to do is look at the audited accounts to see they have gone up the last 3 seasons and are now £5m higher at end of 15/16 season than 2013/14. Yes, we need to spend a little more on fees/quality, but your argument is undermined by lying
7

Knightsy added 23:17 - May 21 Getting Desperate to Sell Season Tickets, all these Milne interviews....I have no interest in Spin coming out of Portman Rd, heard it all before. Thanks for your letter you sent me Mr Milne asking me to renew my season ticket, but no thanks.
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ivegottheblues added 08:34 - May 22 Cloddyseedbed Of course you are right. There are many supporters of teams who finished lower than 7th in the championship who are more than pleased with what they see each week. Those of us who yearn to see entertaining football again do not use the finishing position as our criteria for 'success'
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thebeat added 08:55 - May 22 MarcusEvansReborn i totally agree with jas0999 they keep banging on about wages but for every player we bring in on a wage we also let at least one go so it virtually evens itself out.Its a kopout
1

Slambo added 09:56 - May 22 Anyone who bleats and whines about not being 'entertained' is an absolute disgrace to this football club. Take any affiliation you have with Ipswich, cut it up, stick it in the bin, consign it to memory. You are not a supporter, despite how desperately you scream and shout otherwise; you are a passive consumer, no better than a suburban mum switching between supermarkets. I will ALWAYS be entertained watching Ipswich because I have an emotional investment in them. No matter how bland the product on the pitch, I am on the edge of my seat willing them to win...those of you don't understand this, well, stay at home with your Sky boxsets and don't come back. You have no place here.

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Cloddyseedbed added 10:37 - May 22 Slambo, good for you mate. I too share all the emotional connections you have too for our club and have done since the 60's. During my lifetime I have played many sports, they have been part of my life, but I've played them for enjoyment and to win and be successful. Enjoyment always comes 1st, it is a sport. As I like many other supporters have supported the club so long through the good, the bad, the good, the bad and so on and invested huge amounts of money over the years doing so I think I'm entitled to be classed as a good supporter. As for your on the edge of your seat willing them to win every game, I can't think back that long, to when the football last season had me on the edge of my seat, or infact anyone in the same stand as me. Most were chatting amongst themselves, trying to stay awake or discussing what was so wrong. Thanks for telling me I am not welcome at Portman Road as I'm not happy with the football being played, good job your not in control of ticket sales banning supporters with the same view as me then isn't it. We BOTH want the same thing, for our club to be successful, how it gets there is what we disagree on. For the record my wife uses the same supermarket every week, despite some of the products on sale being bland, same as me for my football support.

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ipswich134 added 10:52 - May 22 Wasn't Newcastle a entertaining club..where they sack managers for not entertaining. Lets just focus on 2016-2017
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dirtydingusmagee added 14:02 - May 22 As for Evans being ''just as committed as ever'' ,personally i see nothing in that statement to draw in encouragement from .I stopped going to matches with 6 games to go,and have no intentions of returning to the terraces unless im convinced the club is striving for better things..I honestly cant see it happening with present regime .
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