Exiting chief executive Simon Clegg has confirmed that, as TWTD reported earlier, directors Jonathan Symonds and Ian Milne will become Town’s joint-managing directors with fellow board member Martin Pitcher working with them. Owner Marcus Evans will also take an increasingly hands-on role at the club he took control of at the end of 2007.

Clegg told TWTD: “The incoming team will be Jonathan Symonds, Ian Milne and Martin Pitcher with the first two as joint-managing directors.

“Martin will continue to perform a finance function and Marcus is going to play a much more hands-on role with the club, which I think is genuinely good for the club.

“It’s his investment, it’s his money that’s keeping us afloat, and it demonstrates once again that he wants to get closer to it.”

He says he expects Evans to spend more time at Portman Road than he has up to now but doesn’t know whether the Blues’ owner will become a more public figure, having previously been keen to avoid the limelight.

Clegg says the matter of who will take over from him as the ‘face’ of the club has not yet been resolved: “The issue as to who is going to be the face of the club, who is going to be the brunt of the fans’ frustration going forward, will be someone else’s problem, it won’t be mine and I think they are still working that through.”

There has been some speculation that former midfielder Simon Milton, who is currently the club’s academy sponsorship manager and player liaison officer, might take on a new role but Clegg says he isn’t aware of any plans along those lines: “That’s not within my remit and I’m not privy to that, they’ve not shared that with me. But I have to say, that’s not been a topic of huge discussion.”

The 53-year-old says he has been considering moving on from Town since the summer: “I started discussing it with Marcus at the end of last season. I’d been there three seasons and if we didn’t achieve promotion this season I’m not sure how much longer I could go.

“My family still live down in Farnham in Surrey and this is an incredibly busy job. A lot of fans think it’s all about sitting in the directors’ box watching football matches, having fat boy lunches in the directors’ box and a little bit of work in the office. This is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week business.

“And with the family still in Surrey and only getting home a maximum of one day a week, it’s taken its toll and I’ve not had as much enjoyment out of it as I hoped and expected to, predominantly because we’ve not been able to deliver on the pitch.”

We'll have more from Simon Clegg on his departure from Town tomorrow.

Photo: Action Images

Lennyboy added 17:49 - Feb 5 When does he actually leave the building?
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tomitfc added 17:53 - Feb 5 Someone seems a little bitter
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IP12 added 18:01 - Feb 5 Maybe I'm wrong but when you take a job that you know is going to have a massive effect on your family life you either (1) move the family to within your working area or (2) you don't take the job. If the Chief Exec doesn't want to come here then why do players...
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muhrensweet4thijssen added 18:03 - Feb 5 Oh god he will probably cock this up too and stay! Evans clearly got all corporate goodies and now Olympics are over its bye bye!
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SouperJim added 18:06 - Feb 5 I think these comments offer massive insight into why Clegg has made a poor chief exec. He is clearly quite bitter and while I can understand that as the "public face" of the club he has no doubt taken stick for things which are not his fault, neither has he ever accepted responsibility for anything which has not gone to plan. His comment about what "a lot of fans" think his job involves do not surprise me at all. They are a clear sign of his contempt for us mere mortals and it is this attitude which, in part, have made his tenure here such a failure. We've never said it was an easy job Simon, but your performance has been woeful.

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SouperJim added 18:07 - Feb 5 Oh and please take the Official Sycophants Clique with you when you go. They are in no way representative of the fan base.
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brendenward35 added 18:10 - Feb 5 Well normal people on £150,000 a year expect long hours, demanding work and maybe away from family unless you work for Suffolk county council :-)
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h32 added 18:12 - Feb 5 A pretty open and honest appraisal of the situation - can't ask for more than that. All seems positive - with the possibility of even more true ITFC pedigree being actively involved in the running of the Club.
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ChestnutSe added 18:36 - Feb 5 Good luck Simon and thanks for all your efforts on behalf of ITFC
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 18:36 - Feb 5 h32 - this is getting silly now, once again we agree. Seems like honest comments to me. There doesnt always have to be a conspiracy or an ulterior motive people.
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nix290 added 18:45 - Feb 5 oh dear, poor Simon. Having to earn all that money in return for having to work hard and not see his family for a few days. Try spending 4 to 6 months away from your family in Afghanistan for a fraction of the pay you were receiving, you whining failure!!! These sort of comments really show how committed he was.
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bluemikey100 added 18:46 - Feb 5 MICK MARCUS and TERRYS blue army perhaps marcus is gonna pick the team this week
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Cheshire_Blue added 18:48 - Feb 5 I like the comment about what is/is not representative of the fan base. The small minority who comment on this site certainly does not represent the views of the majority of the 16,000+ who attend PR. As far as Clegg is concerned it is a pity his dedication to his job didn't stretch to moving his family to Suffolk.
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Fatcatevans added 18:50 - Feb 5 As bad as Clegg was we now have management (executive level CEO) by that wonderful British institution of compromise. Decisions will now be effected by Messrs Symonds Milne and Pitcher. They already sound like a firm of undertakers. Which one will make the ultimate decision on any given matter on any given day? It's a horrible compromise.. Man up Evans and either appoint some one individual or, do it yourself or appoint MM as a managing director. The current fudge just won't wash.

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Stato added 18:52 - Feb 5 Too many things went wrong in the Clegg era and having grown up with the Cobbolds in charge I have come to expect better of Town. Brave move on Evans part and I applaud him for it as now the flack will come his way if on pitch fortunes don't turn around. With Mick in charge Evans shouldn't have too much to worry about.
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 18:52 - Feb 5 Frankly I doubt if anyone on here knows exactly what he did, how much he earned, how many hours he worked. I don't know really if he did a good job or bad. But he struck me as working quite hard for the club, and as people who met him, quite a decent chap. For the trolls on here who bash every member of staff ANY time they make a mistake (and said trolls NEVER make mistakes do they), please note that Mr Clegg has gone now. So move on yourselves please.

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jas0999 added 19:09 - Feb 5 They can dress it up as much as they like - but Clegg was clearly pushed and now seems bitter: "The issue as to who is going to be the face of the club, who is going to be the brunt of the fans' frustration going forward, will be someone else's problem, it won't be mine and I think they are still working that through"
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itfc1981 added 19:10 - Feb 5
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itfc1981 added 19:13 - Feb 5 I am painting the house blue but I have ran out of paint. I wonder who would be the best person to ask for help?
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 19:15 - Feb 5 " i started discussing it with Marcus at the end of last season" - doesnt sound like being pushed to me.
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beerhelps added 19:30 - Feb 5 " I started discussing it with Marcus at the end of last season"......six months notice?
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blueblood66 added 19:33 - Feb 5 Clegg out..oh!
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bluemingood added 19:54 - Feb 5 Cleggers will be for ever joined at the hip with messrs Keen and Jewel. And Marcus will be for ever joined at the hip with Uncle Mick.....clever chap.
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miltonsnephew added 20:09 - Feb 5 Simon Milton the face of Ipswich hey!! Or given a different role. I like the sound of that Milts!!!
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chorltonskylineblue added 20:19 - Feb 5 It seems a bit off that Clegg has had to deliver this message - "I'm not privy to what's going on, etc." The responses here show, as all too often, that none of us really know what's going on behind the scenes. So we fill the vacuum with speculation. The lack of transparency is worrying
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