Former Blues striker Darren Bent says something’s got to change at Portman Road with fans telling him that “the soul’s been ripped out of the football club” and people he knows at Town also unhappy.
Independent supporters group Blue Action staged the protest at which a flare led to a small fire causing training to be interrupted for 10 minutes, a development which Bent feels is untypical of Town and its support.
"People are obviously not happy with the football that they’re seeing,” Bent said on talkSPORT. "Last season, they completely fell off, were in position to get promoted and it didn’t happen.
"And listen, Ipswich Town is a club which is close to my heart, I started there, I still look back at their results, I still speak to a number of people associated with the football club, and they’re clearly not happy.
"And we’re talking about people at this football club that are some of the nicest people you’d meet, they’re not people who are argumentative, all they want to do is see what’s best for Ipswich Town and Ipswich Town hopefully get themselves back promoted.
"And they feel like the core of the club is being ripped out, whether that’s the owner or the manager, they’re not happy. To be fair, they’re not happy with both.
"As I say, I still speak to a number of people there, the fact that we’re seeing flares and they’re having to suspend training, people are protesting, this is not something which is usually associated with Ipswich Town Football Club, that is for sure.
"There’s always been a nice relationship between the club and the supporters. Well now it’s gone completely sour.
"So, I think in order for this situation to get resolved something’s got to change because this can’t continue.”
He added: "I think right now, the number of Ipswich Town fans that I speak to, they’re basically saying that they feel like the soul’s been ripped out of the football club.
"And I think when people start using those sorts of words, it’s not very good at all. It’s not good and somehow something needs to change because this is a club that shouldn’t be sitting in League One, they’ve been down there for far too long.
"The fact that this is going on, they’ve had a couple of cracks at getting promoted and it hasn’t quite happened, is sad and obviously these are where people’s frustrations are coming in because for a club like Ipswich Town, flares and protests, this is not something that used to being seen.”
Asked what he thinks will change, whether owner Marcus Evans will sell up, he continued: "It doesn’t seem like it, it doesn’t seem he’s going anywhere. He seems to be quite friendly with Paul Lambert.
"The general consensus amongst supporters and the people associated with the club is that Lambert’s got to to go, that they’re not happy with him.
"That’s not just coming from supporters, that’s people associated with the football club. As I said, if you ever speak to some of these people that are involved with Ipswich Town Football Club, they’ve not got a bad word to say about anybody, and they’re not happy.
"When you start going to the core of a football club, all football clubs have got their mainstays that have been there for ages, that were there when I was there when I was a kid, even if I went back now the same people would be there, whether that’s security or whatever.
"And when those people are not happy, something’s got to change because that can’t continue. The worse it gets, the further and further Ipswich will keep going down, and that can’t happen. For a club that size in League One, that’s not good enough.”