New joint-managing directors Ian Milne and Jonathan Symonds wrote a column in last night's match programme, which the club have given us permission to reproduce here.

Ever since we became directors of this club five years ago, and even more so now we have stepped into our new shoes, we have given much thought to the aim of a professional football club.

Of course, consistently winning matches, getting promoted and lifting trophies spring immediately to mind. But we want to achieve more than that.

We want to entertain, provide a great day out for all supporters young and old, promote participation in sport generally and especially in football at all levels. We want the club to play a noteworthy role in its community, assisting local business sponsors and providing employment in the area.

We have a glorious history that we cherish — 135 years of it since the club’s formation as Ipswich AFC. And now our fans, owner, players and staff challenge us to look to the future.

We have spent time with every department and area of the club. Together we are developing and launching various projects and ideas to promote a new culture centred on efficiency, generating new sources of income and generally adding value to the club and its activities.

This will reshape the way Ipswich Town does business and these changes will benefit our fans, our players and our employees which ultimately should improve performance on the pitch.

Where we can change things for the better quickly, then we must do so. One of our first areas of focus is to do more through the Internet. We can operate more economically by doing business online, such as ticket and shop sales. And we can reach old and new fans more quickly and effectively.

Another area where we have a lot of experience and expertise is hospitality and so we are reviewing all processes around the delivery of food and beverages to fans to improve our offering, efficiency and courtesy in these areas. Our public bars are spearheading this and more improvements are on the way.

We will look at every stage of a fan’s visit, be they home or away supporters, with a view to enhancing the quality of service and experience that the club provides. The supporters will want to come back for more Ipswich Town hospitality, cheer and entertainment. The club’s staff are committed to improving services throughout the stadium.

We relish the opportunity to take Ipswich Town forward and are committed to steering through the significant challenges still facing us. These challenges are not straightforward but with the support of the fans and the engagement of our employees we can realise the potential of this fine football club.

Photo: ITFC

Photo: Action Images

HARRY10 added 17:47 - Feb 20 "Crucially this is the two new blokes, Chelsea fans and with no previous knowledge of the Club clearly, save for a week since appointed," WHAT?? They have been here sinec 2007 ! They have, as directors, overseen all the failings. The drop in attendances, the huge rise in debt and the loans and 'dodg'y players we have signed. If they were any good we would not have needed Clegg in the first place. This is them filling in to save the money on us having a decent CEO. Having this Laurel and Hardy act taking over is not only an insult but, more worringly, a further indication of the direction the club is going. Downward.

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Guthrum added 18:35 - Feb 20 What a load of drivel. That's most of these comments, not the statement from the new MDs. Under FFP, maximised income = maximised player and coaching budget. Simple as that. Of course they're not going to comment on footballing matters, that's not part of their job (as Evans' statement the other day made quite clear). Enough people have complained about the catering, the club website and customer service. You can't now complain about an attempt to improve those areas. Of course we have to save money. Evans cannot simply go on pouring funds into the bottomless pit which is Ipswich Town forever. It'll be at least 15 months before the next opportunity for us to reap the bountiful harvest of the Premiership cash-cow (and maybe quite a bit longer).

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HARRY10 added 00:52 - Feb 21 "Enough people have complained about the catering, the club website and customer service" perhaps you could remind us who were on the board when these complaints were being made since their time on the board attendances have dropped by nearly a third - which requires a 50% sales increase from the current attendances just to get us back to where we were in 2007 and how much increase in these sales and efficiency cuts will be needed to cover the likely drop in season ticket sales and attendances next season ? you are living in cloud cuckoo land if you think that selling a few more pints and pints and sacking a few more backroom staff is going to fund any noticable increase in the playing and coaching budgets the cuts are merely a means to cover further losses in ticket revenue - something they are announcing now to try and pre-empt future fans discountent you need to wise uo a bit I think

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RonFearonsHair added 08:34 - Feb 21 As a season-ticket holder that doesn't buy a programme, doesn't use any 'hospitality' and very rarely buys any tut from the shop, I don't feel as though I have been mentioned at all in the article. I can count the number of 'good days out' I've had in the last 5 years on 1 hand.
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BlueBadger added 10:04 - Feb 21 TWO non-footballing men issuing the same tired old platitudes. We are a laughing stock.
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EatonBlue added 12:05 - Feb 21 I've never been a big fan of job-share but provided these two are proper football enthusiasts then we should be ok. I wonder what Mr John would make of it?
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Guthrum added 13:58 - Feb 21 HARRY10 - Were they full executive directors? Did their then-remit cover these matters? Attendances have dropped because of two factors, both outside the directors' control, namely: 1) The current economic climate; and 2) Lack of success on the pitch. What makes you think they will fall further, especially if either of those two aforementioned factors improves? As I believe has been used in an advert: "Every little helps". All revenue increased and savings made will free up further money for the playing budget. If half the fans buy an extra pint of beer each, that would cover a fair chunk of a young player's wages for that fortnight.

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HARRY10 added 14:45 - Feb 21 They have sat on the board for five years and so would have overseen the way the club was running. Any improvement in the economy (which looks highly unlikely) will make little difference - it is what happens on the pitch. Season tickets and attendances have fallen year on year since their appointment, the onus is on you to prove why they will not continue to fall. Yes, it is a case of every little, however sums so minimal that they will make no impact whatsoever. Which then begs the question of why the posturing about this, by both Evans and now these two. Stuff like this should be seen as routine activity for any fair sized business, so it suggests the ground is being prepared for far deeper cuts than we would normally expect. I would suggest you check what we make in those type of sales and compare them to another 10% drop in season ticket sales. I would suggest you check the overall attendances for season 2011/12 and compare how much they have dropped for this season - and work out that further loss in income. This is not about wringing a few more quid out of sales, or the belief that if things work better there will be increased sales but how we deal withyet another season of even lower income. And ask yourself why the club has still not published those accounts for last season - three months later than usua. There is far more to this than a few supposed efficiency savings.

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