Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Written by Broganonthewing on Wednesday, 17th Feb 2021 11:03

This phrase has been bandied about quite a bit recently, even Marcus Evans has quoted it.

Those supporters who were on Mick McCarthy's side would certainly seem to have the bragging rights at the moment.

I can't believe that as things stand now, there is one single supporter who would not like to see Evans go now (just after he has fired Paul Lambert).

For that reason, I say again 'be careful what you wish for!' We are living in unprecedented times, The hospitality industry which includes Mr Evans's core businesses and our beloved football club must be losing millions of pounds and with very little likelihood of ever getting that money back.

We are not privy to the detail of his companies and their financial strength, but it does not take a genius to work out that currently they must be suffering badly.

I am sure we would love to sell ITFC because he has certainly caught a very nasty cold by buying it. With the benefit of hindsight his whole tenure has been one of getting it wrong from day one.

His first appointments of Roy Keane and Simon Clegg were doomed before they even started. Paul Jewell started brightly but turned out to be a disaster and like Keane, Evans gave him millions to spend, or should I say waste?

McCarthy steadied the ship, got us to the play-offs and then another huge mistake, not investing so that we could at least try to take the next step.

I guess by this time, Evans had already been badly burnt and felt enough is enough - I am not throwing any more millions at this.

The Paul Hurst appointment? Well, the fans got what they wished for! Lambert came in like a whirlwind, got everybody on board off the pitch, organised school reunions (John Wark, George Burley, Terry Butcher etc all lauded at the training ground). He bought the fans a pint and became everybody's mate.

One small problem, he appears to be be a rubbish manager and coach when it comes to the actual footballing side.

Now let's get to basics, 'be careful what you wish for' who is advising Evans? Certainly no one with any idea how to run a football club, maybe a devout Norwich supporter? But just maybe the next advice might be to cut your losses and run, stop throwing good money after bad.

In the current climate that might be the best advice ever. To sack Lambert and his staff would cost a small fortune. Any new manager would want some investment to stand any chance of succeeding and with no substantial income coming in, it would not be beyond reasonable just to walk away.

But who would buy it? It certainly wouldn't be a sound financial decision. So to conclude I am very worried that if we do get what we wish for, we might not have a football club to support. That would be heartbreaking.




Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.

Nthsuffolkblue added 11:12 - Feb 17
Any new manager worth their salt would be looking to trim the squad and build around the 20-30 players they saw as the future of the club. That only takes investment if it involves paying players off. Any player who values their career will be looking to go somewhere to play football. If we cannot sell players we should be able to transfer them on frees or loan them out for at least a proportion of their wages.
4

Broganonthewing added 11:21 - Feb 17
Agree on that point Nthsuffolkblue, but my point is that I believe and really worry that Evans will cut his losses and walk away. What happens then? worst case scenario the club folds! Very worrying times!
1

PortmanTerrorist added 11:37 - Feb 17
This Blog would have more value if not looking at MM with rose tinted glasses. Just like he did at Wolves, he slowly eroded the quality and values of the Club including swearing at his own supporters at Norwich (including my teenage son). It took Wolves 5 years to recover with equally dodgy Managerial appointments (incl PL) until new owners paid for someone decent in Nuno, who instilled a new culture. We cannot afford/attract anyone decent now at Nuno's level, with possible exception of someone like George Burley who would walk over coals to come back....though ME would not even give him (with Butch) an interview previously!

I maintain GB is no a romantic option. He not only understands the values/culture of our Club but crucially he has shown himself to be one of UK Football's best judge of a young player (historically, based on results i.e. getting them into 1st team) and would be invaluable, even on a short term basis (even as a Director of Football), to give an objective view on our swathe of young players and assess if they really can be the answer before he or any other manager starts bringing in experienced journeymen again !

P.S. For Wolves, PL was the final straw but they recognized the direction of travel and moved him on before it was too late. Took them 7 months; less for a rift to form with the Club. Wonder if they think it was worth the "cost" to shift him on?
1

1psw1ch added 12:05 - Feb 17
devastating times at this one time brilliant club,,, absolute rotton to the core,,, we will get there again,,, evans doesn't deserve to be part of this wonderful club so wish he'd pack up and move on,,,we are a fantastic club and we'll get through this together
0

monty_radio added 12:12 - Feb 17
It's a new precarious world for everyone, Evans included. Take a look at the whole interview last night, and discover a world of confused, directionless answers - no inkling there of green shoots. Comparisons with Mick are pointless. 80% in the Star wanted him gone. That's the Star, not some gung-ho social media collection!

If one supports the club but fears change more than continuity, it can't really be a matter that greatly troubles them. There is currently no sensible course that can prolong the status quo to positive effect.

Incidentally, having been informed last night that Town beat Northampton 6-0 in '67, I looked it up, and discovered that one Frank Brogan got a hattrick.



0

slade1 added 13:07 - Feb 17
Like him or not, what would happen to our club if Evans did decide to bow out?
He pays the debts to keep the club afloat, without Evans surely things would get even worse?
I am not for one minute defending him but just wondered on others opinions of what would happen if he was to walk away?

1

muhrensleftfoot added 13:19 - Feb 17
I agree, it would be a disaster if Evans walked away. He has 2 choices - write off a £100m debt or continue throwing good money after bad. No knight in shining armour is going to ride in and take on the debt. Who would want to buy the club, even if Evans sold the debt for less than it is? Certainly the likes of Ed Sheeran, who has been mentioned by some on here, doesn't have anything like enough riches. Russian oligarchs, Arab oil sheiks or media moguls are the only ones who could afford it.

It galls me to see our East Anglian cousins having such a well run ship. They have no rich owners - Delia is a pauper in football terms, but they run at a profit, more than likely back in the Premier League next season. It could and should have been us, but for that one season that Sheepshanks and Burley over reached themselves, and plunged us into administration and into the hands of Marcus Evans.

No, these are indeed worrying times. If Evans decides he's had enough, we will go the way of Bury and disappear.
2

Linkboy13 added 13:29 - Feb 17
Unless you're a brain dead numpty which they are many on here without the owners money we would be in the Brown stuff. It's obvious Evans is not going to invest heavily in the club any more and who can blame him. I keep hearing people are interested in buying the club but no names are mentioned. One rumour is Ed Sheeran and bearing in mind he lives locally most of the time i don't think this would be practical taking into account the amount of abuse he would get if things didn't work out after putting millions into the club. So i hope this is just a rumour and doesn't turn into reality for the lads sake.
-2

RegencyBlue added 19:31 - Feb 17
This is a variation on the usual ‘Where would we be without Marcus’ argument put forward by his supporters, to which I would ask one simple question.Where the hell do you think we are going to end up WITH him?

This club is in a death spiral under his inept ownership, he hasn’t got one meaningful decision right in 13 years and I don’t expect him to start now!

He needs to put the club up for sale at a realistic price. He isn’t going to get anywhere near all of his money back but the longer he delays the further the value of this once great club plummets.
1

KernewekBlue added 12:56 - Mar 3
Mick McCarthy, the name that leaves a really bitter, sour taste in my mouth. I hoped I'd never have to see that bighead's name crop up on this site ever again yet some people still think it was wrong to get shot of him. The whole "Be careful what you wish for" thing always leaves me seething.

McCarthy was (is) an arrogant gob-on-a-stick, who threw his dummy out of the pram when the fans reacted poorly to the dreary, non-entertainment being served up week after week by his prehistoric, hoofball "style". He swore at and treated the fans appallingly and simply had to go... end of!

McCarthy, however, wasn't even half the problem. No manager, no matter how shiny and brilliant their CV looks to date, would fail to struggle under Marcus Evans.

Evans has made one terrible mistake after another. His managerial appointments have been short sighted at best and abysmal at worst. When the need has arisen to shore up the squad with greater quality, by speculating more funds to protect his already sizeable investment, he has bottled it, he has failed to act and we are now reaping the rewards of those poor decisions. He has no real football knowledge to go along with his millions, which has proven to be a recipe for complete disaster and ultimately, his own downfall. How the guy has ever made any money doing anything, I'll never know.

Evans surely must be feeling the pressure by now, stuck in a corner of his own making and with the viable exits disappearing at a rate of knots, knowing he'll never recoup anywhere near his financial outlay and watching the value of his asset plummet day by day. His only option to regain even a fraction of his investment is to cut and run by taking any half-decent offer tabled for the club.

Some folks may say we don't know what ill effects we might suffer under any new ownership. I say this, I'm pretty certain, the way things are going, what the consequences will be IF we don't get rid of the current owner... relegated into total obscurity and possibly run out of business altogether.

We need a new broom to sweep through the club and clear the dust of the last 13 years out of Portman Road.

I, for one, can't wait to hear the words, "Marcus Evans has sold Ipswich Town football club...".


1
You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 295 bloggers

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© TWTD 1995-2024