Town have announced that manager Paul Cook has been relieved of his duties following this afternoon’s 0-0 FA Cup draw with Barrow at Portman Road.

Blues CEO Mark Ashton told the club site: "Firstly, we would like to thank Paul and his team for their efforts in what has been a difficult transition period for everyone.

“I know how much Paul wanted to succeed at this club. However, following discussions with the board, we have decided a change is needed for our long-term interests.

“At this moment, there is no one lined up to replace Paul. There will be an extensive search to find the best replacement for the club. I will communicate more to the media and our supporters on Monday.”

It seems likely that former Colchester manager John McGreal, who joined the Blues as an U23s coach on Thursday, an appointment we understand wasn't made by Cook, will be put in caretaker charge.

Cook, 54, joined the club in March having been appointed by former owner Marcus Evans following Paul Lambert's sacking with the Blues dropping out of the play-off zone during his couple of months in charge.

The summer saw a major overhaul of the playing staff with 19 senior additions coming in along with new backroom staff - first team coach Franny Jeffers, goalkeeper-coach John Keeley and coach Ian Craney joining another first-team coach Gary Roberts - and around 30 players departing.

Despite the Blues having one of the largest budgets in League One, they made a slow start to the season and they have remained inconsistent and currently sit in 11th in the division.

Cook's record in his 44 games with Town reads a disappointing won 13, drawn 17 and lost 14.

The Blues new ownership backed Cook's appointment by Evans but, as reported by TWTD at the time, the man they eyed for the job was Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton, who worked for Ashton and chairman Mike O'Leary at Oxford having previously had links with the pair at West Brom.

Town are likely to look for a head coach rather than an old-style manager and other candidates we understand will come into the reckoning are MK Dons boss Liam Manning - who started his coaching career with the Blues having been an academy player - and Plymouth's Ryan Lowe.

Photo: TWTD

blueboy1981 added 16:15 - Dec 5 The reality of the situation, especially for the over excitable - is that you should realise it is NOW a Reset to Zero for our Club …. !!! In other words a potentially 9 months of team building wasted …. !!! Where we head now, is anyone's guess.
2

ElephantintheRoom added 16:16 - Dec 5 Truly embarrassing. Cook comes in and utterly demoralises an above average third division side, many of whom had been here long term. He is then backed to gut the club, recruit a vast number of unimpressive plaers and surrounded by a team of hangars on - and blow me down is out of a job before Xmas despite the pretend owners blathering about a 'long term vision'. Having destabilised a slowly sinking club, these debt-pedalling Americans are about to press the self-destruct button - ably assisted by a smarmy, insincere bloke in an open-necked shirt. Could get very messy very soon.

-9

dirtydingusmagee added 16:30 - Dec 5 Burley and Butch two great Town men, lovely blokes BUT NOT for management now imo the game on and off the field has changed a lot ,and like it or not they would just be legendary dinosaurs , it wouldnt work and would end up tarnishing their reputation with those not old enough to have seen them at work on and off the pitch in their hay day .
6

marco5113 added 16:51 - Dec 5 exciting times..... might see a different formation on a matchday...... forgot what the other possible formations are now tbh lol
4

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:55 - Dec 5 ElephantintheRoom: That is certainly one way of looking at it, and I am rather worried it might be too close to the truth for comfort. However, for the time being, I'm trying to remain optimistic. Let's just hope it doesn't get messy because if it does, we are f****d!.
2

dirtydingusmagee added 17:03 - Dec 5 no more Pauls, and im not sure we need a Jesse either after what we've been through . lol
1

johnwarksshorts added 17:10 - Dec 5 SHEFKI!!
1

dirtydingusmagee added 17:17 - Dec 5 cant wait to hear from Mike Ashton tomorrow , an ''extensive search '' for a manager sounds good to me at least it wont be a knee jerk replacement [and hopefully not any kind of jerk replacement !] Im happy to see McGreal at the helm until decision made, we just need to get the appointment right . The backroom staff hopefully will sent packing as they are not blameless in the teams performance im sure. Much to be revealed in due course i think ! .

10

Gforce added 17:59 - Dec 5 For all those people praising Farke,the only reason he had a good record in the championship was due to the luxury of having 50 odd million of parachute money each time.His record in the premier league was appalling.
6

Bert added 18:13 - Dec 5 Yallop the bookies favourite because of his Phoenix connections but we must do better than that. The Ipswich Town situation is complex and demanding so I want Ashton to take his time. Install McGreal as a caretaker manager, look to see what is out there in the U.K. and throughout Europe and build a coaching team that is fit for purpose. As much as I like Butcher and Burley, the game has moved on so we need a manager who understands the modern complexities of the role. This is probably the most serious and concerning time in our history given the feel good factor has somewhat crashed. Time for all supporters to pull together.

12

Lower_North added 18:14 - Dec 5 Bit suprised I thought he'd get a season or until mathematically impossible to make play offs. Good luck PC for the future. As the outgoing Magilton said “Beautiful game, horrible business”
3

ringwoodblue added 18:27 - Dec 5 Im not being ageist but personally I don't want an older style manager like Warnock or Allardyce. It's unlikely we could tempt Manning and his coaching team from MKDons but that's the sort of appointment I am hoping for. Lampard with Terry as an assistant would be awesome but can't see that happening. I don't know Yallop's managerial credentials but being known to the American owners is why he is one of the favourites.

0

BlueRuin69 added 19:03 - Dec 5 Yallop! How is he better than Cook? This is a farce, now the owners are getting their old mates in.....
0

dirtydingusmagee added 19:04 - Dec 5 cant imagine it being Yallop personally , been at a lot of clubs over the pond but think around 2yrs max .That said i dont follow football over there,and know nothing of how he has performed. Football in states i would think is a far cry from LG1 OR Championship here anyway . But as you say Ringwood it could just be the states connection with the bookies at moment .

0

Bury_St_Edmundson added 19:13 - Dec 5 No to Lampard took Derby from 6th to 6th and then managed to spend a truck tonne and make Chelsea worse
0

Marv added 19:59 - Dec 5 Jesse March?
1

6May1978 added 19:59 - Dec 5 I've read the comments from others but would still take a punt on Farke. His success in the Championship wasn't down only to budget but getting the team to play and play well. OK, he's not been a success in the Premier League, but compare our last half-a-dozen or so managers who've taken us from being one of the better teams in the Championship, through to relegation and on to mid-table mediocrity in the old Third Division.

0

Westy added 21:10 - Dec 5 IT CANNOT BE FARKE !!!!
2

Saxonblue74 added 22:01 - Dec 5 I do wonder if the "extensive search" is already over? Big coincidence that Mcgreal is appointed in the week that PC gets the push and apparently played no part in bringing him in?
0

bluearmy81 added 22:33 - Dec 5 Instead of the next manager being a Paul, how about a Big? .... Big Sam, Big Mick, Big Fat Joe or Big Ron ! ( is he still about? ) !!
-1

richardpaul added 23:08 - Dec 5 There must be some more Pauls out there who could be considered who have a footballing background Gasgoigne Scholes to name two
1

graham2408 added 08:00 - Dec 6 Let's be the first club with a female manager. Emma Hayes at Chelsea is a brilliant motivator and coach. Yet another "food for thought"!! 🤔
-2

bobble added 08:05 - Dec 6 another scouser of little substance looking for a job....
0

bobble added 08:12 - Dec 6 tony popovic....
2

londontractorboy57 added 08:49 - Dec 6 And still our most successful manager of recent times Mickma.
0

Blogs 296 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls