| Sheepshanks book… 20:25 - May 15 with 1540 views | ITFC_Forever |
Anyone read it yet?
Appreciate he’s not without his critics due to events post-relegation, but no-one will ever deny he cared as passionately about the club as anyone.
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| Sheepshanks book… on 20:34 - May 15 with 1476 views | Hugoagogo_Reborn |
No, but I'll check it out. He always treated me very kindly when I worked at the club, and his passion for wanting the club to succeed was undeniable.
I emailed him after our 23/24 promotion, thanking him for facilitating the takeover with Marcus Evans in a way that protected the club and allowed the cancellation of debt. Without that, I don't think we would have been able to achieve what we did in such a resounding manner.
He sent a really lovely reply back and it's clear that he is absolutely delighted with the success ITFC have realised in the last few years. |  |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 20:39 - May 15 with 1431 views | DarkBrandon |
Sheepshanks book? |  | | |
| Sheepshanks book… on 20:45 - May 15 with 1401 views | EdwardStone |
| Sheepshanks book… on 20:39 - May 15 by DarkBrandon |
Sheepshanks book? |
I had Lamb Shanks in Morrisons Cafe a few weeks ago
Delicious and not too expensive iirc
But not sheep shanks |  | | |
| Sheepshanks book… on 21:53 - May 15 with 1176 views | Illinoisblue |
| Sheepshanks book… on 20:39 - May 15 by DarkBrandon |
Sheepshanks book? |
Out June 1st. |  |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 22:55 - May 15 with 998 views | John_Warks_Willy |
| Sheepshanks book… on 20:34 - May 15 by Hugoagogo_Reborn |
No, but I'll check it out. He always treated me very kindly when I worked at the club, and his passion for wanting the club to succeed was undeniable.
I emailed him after our 23/24 promotion, thanking him for facilitating the takeover with Marcus Evans in a way that protected the club and allowed the cancellation of debt. Without that, I don't think we would have been able to achieve what we did in such a resounding manner.
He sent a really lovely reply back and it's clear that he is absolutely delighted with the success ITFC have realised in the last few years. |
Top post 👍 |  |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 11:46 - May 16 with 639 views | stonojnr |
Ill wait for it to reduce in price in the bargain bins. Im certainly not paying full price for it.
because criticism, which was there before relegation because some of us could see what was happening with the clubs finances, was fully deserved and still is.
Im sure he's a lovely nice guy and everything personally, but never forget he made alot of money from the club thats for sure, and you can argue thats the role of chairman in an unpaid role at the time, but there was never any accountability for it, and he has always deflected his part in the mistakes, whilst taking credit for the success.
also dont forget he sanctioned the building of both new stands at once,which killed the atmosphere in the ground that relegation season for sure, which had been one of our best assets the season before, instead of just one at a time till the club were better positioned, and left us with what is the design of the North stand today, which everyone has complained about for the past quarter of a century.
even though we were only 15 years post the realisation that building stands puts you in financially bad positions at the expense of the on the pitch talent that keeps you in the league in the first place.
and the club went on a massive spending spree internally, every old tv in the ground got ripped out and replaced with flat screen teles, I knew some of the local tradesmen the club used in that time, and they were spending top whack on stuff that never really benefited the players, certainly not the fans, at least when they spend money on the ground now you can see it.
but the clubs thinking, which was his thinking, post 2000/01 was we'd made it in the Premiership, we were a top 6 team, thats how you end up in so much debt when the finanical rug gets pulled out on you & you go into administration, though Im sure the old it was all ITV digitals fault trope will be brought out again, and not we'd have been seriously under financial pressure if we'd stayed up.
and people go on about Ashton forcing players on us, who got us Sereni ? it wasnt Burley thats for sure, he wanted Poom
And Im sure (like hell) therell be a chapter of how he always engaged with the fans, like in the square in Luxembourg, before bravely running away when the questions got a bit closer to home and bit harder to answer, no Im sure that photo from Milan of him standing at completely the opposite end of the ground to the fans will be the "proudest moment" of the UEFA cup run and be a double spread photo.
maybe Im wrong and it will be an open and honest book, covering the mistakes he made, and accepting his part in them, as well as the success.
but I doubt it. |  | | |
| Sheepshanks book… on 12:48 - May 16 with 541 views | algy |
| Sheepshanks book… on 11:46 - May 16 by stonojnr |
Ill wait for it to reduce in price in the bargain bins. Im certainly not paying full price for it.
because criticism, which was there before relegation because some of us could see what was happening with the clubs finances, was fully deserved and still is.
Im sure he's a lovely nice guy and everything personally, but never forget he made alot of money from the club thats for sure, and you can argue thats the role of chairman in an unpaid role at the time, but there was never any accountability for it, and he has always deflected his part in the mistakes, whilst taking credit for the success.
also dont forget he sanctioned the building of both new stands at once,which killed the atmosphere in the ground that relegation season for sure, which had been one of our best assets the season before, instead of just one at a time till the club were better positioned, and left us with what is the design of the North stand today, which everyone has complained about for the past quarter of a century.
even though we were only 15 years post the realisation that building stands puts you in financially bad positions at the expense of the on the pitch talent that keeps you in the league in the first place.
and the club went on a massive spending spree internally, every old tv in the ground got ripped out and replaced with flat screen teles, I knew some of the local tradesmen the club used in that time, and they were spending top whack on stuff that never really benefited the players, certainly not the fans, at least when they spend money on the ground now you can see it.
but the clubs thinking, which was his thinking, post 2000/01 was we'd made it in the Premiership, we were a top 6 team, thats how you end up in so much debt when the finanical rug gets pulled out on you & you go into administration, though Im sure the old it was all ITV digitals fault trope will be brought out again, and not we'd have been seriously under financial pressure if we'd stayed up.
and people go on about Ashton forcing players on us, who got us Sereni ? it wasnt Burley thats for sure, he wanted Poom
And Im sure (like hell) therell be a chapter of how he always engaged with the fans, like in the square in Luxembourg, before bravely running away when the questions got a bit closer to home and bit harder to answer, no Im sure that photo from Milan of him standing at completely the opposite end of the ground to the fans will be the "proudest moment" of the UEFA cup run and be a double spread photo.
maybe Im wrong and it will be an open and honest book, covering the mistakes he made, and accepting his part in them, as well as the success.
but I doubt it. |
And ultimately from the Sheepshanks era he got a long career in football administration and we got Marcus Evans. | |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 12:52 - May 16 with 533 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| Sheepshanks book… on 12:48 - May 16 by algy |
And ultimately from the Sheepshanks era he got a long career in football administration and we got Marcus Evans. |
Indeed.
And to Evans’ credit he found us a proper ownership group to take the club forward. | | | |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 13:03 - May 16 with 483 views | chicoazul |
I mean, if the owners feel like the club needs a chairman with plenty of experience who can tell Ashton No every now and then they could do a lot lot worse. |  |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 13:05 - May 16 with 469 views | ITFC_Forever |
| Sheepshanks book… on 11:46 - May 16 by stonojnr |
Ill wait for it to reduce in price in the bargain bins. Im certainly not paying full price for it.
because criticism, which was there before relegation because some of us could see what was happening with the clubs finances, was fully deserved and still is.
Im sure he's a lovely nice guy and everything personally, but never forget he made alot of money from the club thats for sure, and you can argue thats the role of chairman in an unpaid role at the time, but there was never any accountability for it, and he has always deflected his part in the mistakes, whilst taking credit for the success.
also dont forget he sanctioned the building of both new stands at once,which killed the atmosphere in the ground that relegation season for sure, which had been one of our best assets the season before, instead of just one at a time till the club were better positioned, and left us with what is the design of the North stand today, which everyone has complained about for the past quarter of a century.
even though we were only 15 years post the realisation that building stands puts you in financially bad positions at the expense of the on the pitch talent that keeps you in the league in the first place.
and the club went on a massive spending spree internally, every old tv in the ground got ripped out and replaced with flat screen teles, I knew some of the local tradesmen the club used in that time, and they were spending top whack on stuff that never really benefited the players, certainly not the fans, at least when they spend money on the ground now you can see it.
but the clubs thinking, which was his thinking, post 2000/01 was we'd made it in the Premiership, we were a top 6 team, thats how you end up in so much debt when the finanical rug gets pulled out on you & you go into administration, though Im sure the old it was all ITV digitals fault trope will be brought out again, and not we'd have been seriously under financial pressure if we'd stayed up.
and people go on about Ashton forcing players on us, who got us Sereni ? it wasnt Burley thats for sure, he wanted Poom
And Im sure (like hell) therell be a chapter of how he always engaged with the fans, like in the square in Luxembourg, before bravely running away when the questions got a bit closer to home and bit harder to answer, no Im sure that photo from Milan of him standing at completely the opposite end of the ground to the fans will be the "proudest moment" of the UEFA cup run and be a double spread photo.
maybe Im wrong and it will be an open and honest book, covering the mistakes he made, and accepting his part in them, as well as the success.
but I doubt it. |
He made the fatal mistake of letting his heart rule his head and got carried away. | |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 13:09 - May 16 with 459 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| Sheepshanks book… on 12:52 - May 16 by PrideOfTheEast |
Indeed.
And to Evans’ credit he found us a proper ownership group to take the club forward. |
Whilst we are giving Evans 'credit' can we be sure to remember that he almost didn't sell the club to GC20, and his change of heart was only down to the insipid 0-0 draw with Rochdale, god only knows what would have happened had we won that match.
Can we also credit him for the dilapidated state that he allowed the ground to get to, and for planting a tree on the roof. Which ended up costing the new owners millions, not to get it Premier League ready, but just to get it fit for purpose.
Can we also credit him for his back of a fag packet 5 point plan, which on analysis was an instruction manual for putting a club into managed decline.
Can we credit him for being so anonymous that he threw a succession of MD's, CEO's and Managers to the wolves to cover up his own mistakes.
Whilst we are dishing out the credit that is...... |  |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 16:29 - May 16 with 268 views | ITFC_Forever |
| Sheepshanks book… on 13:09 - May 16 by Cheltenham_Blue |
Whilst we are giving Evans 'credit' can we be sure to remember that he almost didn't sell the club to GC20, and his change of heart was only down to the insipid 0-0 draw with Rochdale, god only knows what would have happened had we won that match.
Can we also credit him for the dilapidated state that he allowed the ground to get to, and for planting a tree on the roof. Which ended up costing the new owners millions, not to get it Premier League ready, but just to get it fit for purpose.
Can we also credit him for his back of a fag packet 5 point plan, which on analysis was an instruction manual for putting a club into managed decline.
Can we credit him for being so anonymous that he threw a succession of MD's, CEO's and Managers to the wolves to cover up his own mistakes.
Whilst we are dishing out the credit that is...... |
Didn’t know he nearly pulled out of the sale, and I’m pretty sure the tree wasn’t “planted”. | |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 16:32 - May 16 with 255 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| Sheepshanks book… on 16:29 - May 16 by ITFC_Forever |
Didn’t know he nearly pulled out of the sale, and I’m pretty sure the tree wasn’t “planted”. |
Do you really think I reckon Evans climbed up there with a tree in a pot and a bag of compost? | |
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| Sheepshanks book… on 17:01 - May 16 with 186 views | Churchman |
| Sheepshanks book… on 11:46 - May 16 by stonojnr |
Ill wait for it to reduce in price in the bargain bins. Im certainly not paying full price for it.
because criticism, which was there before relegation because some of us could see what was happening with the clubs finances, was fully deserved and still is.
Im sure he's a lovely nice guy and everything personally, but never forget he made alot of money from the club thats for sure, and you can argue thats the role of chairman in an unpaid role at the time, but there was never any accountability for it, and he has always deflected his part in the mistakes, whilst taking credit for the success.
also dont forget he sanctioned the building of both new stands at once,which killed the atmosphere in the ground that relegation season for sure, which had been one of our best assets the season before, instead of just one at a time till the club were better positioned, and left us with what is the design of the North stand today, which everyone has complained about for the past quarter of a century.
even though we were only 15 years post the realisation that building stands puts you in financially bad positions at the expense of the on the pitch talent that keeps you in the league in the first place.
and the club went on a massive spending spree internally, every old tv in the ground got ripped out and replaced with flat screen teles, I knew some of the local tradesmen the club used in that time, and they were spending top whack on stuff that never really benefited the players, certainly not the fans, at least when they spend money on the ground now you can see it.
but the clubs thinking, which was his thinking, post 2000/01 was we'd made it in the Premiership, we were a top 6 team, thats how you end up in so much debt when the finanical rug gets pulled out on you & you go into administration, though Im sure the old it was all ITV digitals fault trope will be brought out again, and not we'd have been seriously under financial pressure if we'd stayed up.
and people go on about Ashton forcing players on us, who got us Sereni ? it wasnt Burley thats for sure, he wanted Poom
And Im sure (like hell) therell be a chapter of how he always engaged with the fans, like in the square in Luxembourg, before bravely running away when the questions got a bit closer to home and bit harder to answer, no Im sure that photo from Milan of him standing at completely the opposite end of the ground to the fans will be the "proudest moment" of the UEFA cup run and be a double spread photo.
maybe Im wrong and it will be an open and honest book, covering the mistakes he made, and accepting his part in them, as well as the success.
but I doubt it. |
I met Sheepshanks once in the run up to the 2000/01 season. He was pleasant, helpful and good conversation. A nice man. He cared about the club. No doubt about that.
But he and his Board got us into such a mess. It felt like post the phenomenal Premier League season he lost his head. ITV Digital copped the blame. It was a factor but it was also a smokescreen. North Stand (Churchmans had already been planned for) Finidi, Sereni, artificial training pitch, you name it. He might not have taken a salary, but I seem to remember his pension took a nice little top up.
When it went wrong for GB, did he back him? No he fired him. Administration? Local businesses got rinsed. When the club fell into trouble again, he couldn’t sell it fast enough to Evans and we all knew where that led. Yet we are meant to be grateful Evans wasn’t an Oyston or Chansiri. I’m not.
My view was always that he was a man that cared. Bleeds blue and white. A likeable man. He just wasn’t a very good Chairman.
I will read his book when it’s cheap enough with interest. Maybe it’ll change my view. I hope so. [Post edited 16 May 17:08]
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| Sheepshanks book… on 17:43 - May 16 with 105 views | Churchman |
| Sheepshanks book… on 12:52 - May 16 by PrideOfTheEast |
Indeed.
And to Evans’ credit he found us a proper ownership group to take the club forward. |
It was the current owners that approached Evans wasn’t it? Not quite the same thing.
He will get no credit from me. He was a chancer. Lob in a few £, quick flip and happy days for his wallet. Thanks to him we weren’t too far from having no club at all. Had that happened there would have been no 5% shares or £40m and he’d have lost a lot more than the debt he wrote off with himself.
Who can forget the five point plan and the heartfelt letter before each season asking the supporters to renew their season tickets. Every season waffle and every season the idiots swallowed it. I should know, I was one of them.
Years of decline and sweating the assets. Awful football most seasons, the club became a joke. A byword for mediocrity and inevitable decline. Just a name fading away. The day I saw his name being scraped off the side of North Stand was a truly glorious one. It was real.
The Dementor had gone. | | | |
| Sheepshanks book… on 17:45 - May 16 with 96 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| Sheepshanks book… on 13:09 - May 16 by Cheltenham_Blue |
Whilst we are giving Evans 'credit' can we be sure to remember that he almost didn't sell the club to GC20, and his change of heart was only down to the insipid 0-0 draw with Rochdale, god only knows what would have happened had we won that match.
Can we also credit him for the dilapidated state that he allowed the ground to get to, and for planting a tree on the roof. Which ended up costing the new owners millions, not to get it Premier League ready, but just to get it fit for purpose.
Can we also credit him for his back of a fag packet 5 point plan, which on analysis was an instruction manual for putting a club into managed decline.
Can we credit him for being so anonymous that he threw a succession of MD's, CEO's and Managers to the wolves to cover up his own mistakes.
Whilst we are dishing out the credit that is...... |
Nope. The result at Rochdale didn’t determine whether he’d sell or not (as if he’d think that short term). It was him giving up the club that he had owned for so long that was his deliberation, and Rochdale was at the time immediately before the transaction was about to close.
I am not defending his tenure at all. Merely pointing out that custodians have a responsibility in my view to sell well too (Sheepshanks and co did not do that, and put themselves in a position where they had to sell to pretty much any willing buyer). | | | |
| Sheepshanks book… on 18:00 - May 16 with 65 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| Sheepshanks book… on 17:43 - May 16 by Churchman |
It was the current owners that approached Evans wasn’t it? Not quite the same thing.
He will get no credit from me. He was a chancer. Lob in a few £, quick flip and happy days for his wallet. Thanks to him we weren’t too far from having no club at all. Had that happened there would have been no 5% shares or £40m and he’d have lost a lot more than the debt he wrote off with himself.
Who can forget the five point plan and the heartfelt letter before each season asking the supporters to renew their season tickets. Every season waffle and every season the idiots swallowed it. I should know, I was one of them.
Years of decline and sweating the assets. Awful football most seasons, the club became a joke. A byword for mediocrity and inevitable decline. Just a name fading away. The day I saw his name being scraped off the side of North Stand was a truly glorious one. It was real.
The Dementor had gone. |
It was known for ages that Ipswich was for sale to the right buyer and Evans publicly said as much in one of his rare interviews. Just before Covid (around the time we were top of league 1 but poor) he’d had serious talks with an American group but didn’t think they were capitalised sufficiently, and at least one from the Middle East.
Mike O’Leary was key in getting it done, persuading Evans that the backers were good. | | | |
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