Town owner Marcus Evans has revealed that he gets “offers all the time” from parties interested in buying the Blues.

"There are always people making offers for football clubs and I get offers all the time," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"Therefore, if I was interested in not being involved in the club, I would have had ample opportunity in much more difficult periods to become a season ticket holder rather than the person who has to write the cheques out to support the whole club.”

Evans was speaking to Mark Murphy in a wider interview which will be featured on Friday’s BBC Radio Suffolk Breakfast Show (from 7am) and also on Saturday’s Life’s a Pitch (12pm-2pm).

However, as with the Blues’ owner’s previous contacts with the media, the interview was given with the agreement that the audio would not be broadcast.

The 50-year-old owner also admits that he thought getting Town into the Premier League would be an easier job when he completed his takeover towards the end of 2007: ”When I first bought the club I did expect it to happen far easier.

"Those people who sold the club did a very good selling job in persuading me that a little bit of extra money and one or two extra players was all that was needed.

"One of the previous managers, Joe Royle, was always quoted to me by people at the club. He always said if we just had one or two extra players we were definitely going to get promoted.

"I've now found out that every manager says that. So that is something that I did think was going to be easier."

Photo: Action Images

Cheltenham_Blue added 17:25 - Aug 14 When ME bought the club we did only need 1 or 2 players.
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Axeldalai_lama added 17:35 - Aug 14 We're lucky to have him. Very lucky.
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bournemouthblue added 17:36 - Aug 14 and Royle would only have needed one or two in fairness
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ericclacton added 17:42 - Aug 14 Fancy that!
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BlueMachines added 17:42 - Aug 14 Whilst it would be nice to spend on a fantastic player now and then to bring some excitement to the fans I'm grateful for ME and how is running the club. Wouldn't swap him for Cellino at Leeds or Oyston at Blackpool!!
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Mark added 17:44 - Aug 14 Cheltenham_Blue is right, we were doing really well with Magilton when Evans took over, winning nearly every home match with Walters in top form. It was such a shame that Jim's management unravelled towards the end, and then we made the awful mistake of appointing Keane who blew our best opportunity to go up. Jewell didn't do much better, so thank goodness we have a top manager now. It's just a shame the money has been spent now and with FFP kicking in Mick has a real challenge to get us promoted.

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MaySixth added 17:47 - Aug 14 Marcus Evans playing the blame game. Clearly has no idea about how to run a football club.
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70s_Legend added 17:52 - Aug 14 Marcus....... If you hadn't appointed that absolute idiot and the disaster that was Roy Keane then a " little bit of extra money and one or two extra players" was all that was needed. We were a half decent side back then, that needed a bit of tinkering and a couple of additions, not totally rebuilding with players with big forearms. You only have yourself to blame for the lack of promotion and the majority of debt you have built up.

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FrowsyArmLarry added 18:05 - Aug 14 Every team is just two players away from their next ambition.... just shows how little Evans knew about football when he bought the club and appointed Keane. Glad he's our owner though and committed to running the club properly
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bedsitfc added 18:09 - Aug 14 So glad he is our owner and has now got a good man running the team along with tc. In fairness when Keane came in we were all optimistic with what he did at Sunderland and his man Utd connections, how wrong were we so I can understand Marcus falling for it.
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MattinLondon added 18:10 - Aug 14 If ME had given Jim a strict budget of two million then I think he would have easily brought in players from the lower leagues, the reserves or abroad and who knows what would have happened. Instead we spent weeks chasing an overly expensive David Norris and from then on it was mostly costly mistakes. Not all ME fault - as fans we were to blame for wanting Jim out and Simon Clegg didn't help matters as well. I think that ME has learnt his lessons and it seems to be getting better. I will however say that I wish that ME and his team discover that Ipswich isn't North London, or in the PL, and reduce match tickets quite significantly.

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62WasBest added 18:19 - Aug 14 bedsitfc - Please don't re-write history. A good many of us were totally pessimistic when Keane was hired, and said so on here , and why.
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cats_whiskers added 18:20 - Aug 14 You have to go back to Sheepshanks, and it was him who didn't make money available to strengthen the team... (Joe Royle did wonders considering) Sheepshanks originally appointed Magilton as manager and Evans took over and he gave him the money to waste on Norris etc as he did with Keane on Leadbitter and Priskin. The worst thin Evans did was appoint that charismatic CEO who has thankfully gone.

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JustSpivvyChops added 18:20 - Aug 14 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SELL AND SOD OFF....................
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tractorkent added 18:25 - Aug 14 If Royle had been given 12 millions to spend then we would have been in the premiership years ago. Instead that money was mainly wasted as was the money given to Keane and Jewell.
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vodkaboy added 18:44 - Aug 14 The faults of the past lie squarely with Clegg. Agree with Mattinlondon. Whilst many will say Evans appointed Clegg (yes a poor choice) it would have been Clegg who would have recommended and pushed for Keane - who without a doubt was a NA choice of biblical proportions for this club - on his appointment I was told by a well connected source in Ireland that he would be a disaster waiting to happen and if were to get any Irish manager they would have McCarthy - Shame he wasn't available as I believe if Mick had the money Roy had we'd go up no probs

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jas0999 added 18:44 - Aug 14 Joe Royle was an excellent manager who played football the right way ... Attacking!! I firmly believe that if he had Evans backing we would have achieved promotion. However, it's all ifs. Not sure if there is any point giving a radio interview if the audio isn't going to be broadcast!
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IpswichFan26 added 18:49 - Aug 14 Seeing all the horror stories from other clubs with their respective owners (Leeds, Blackpool, heck even Notts Forest to name just a few), I for one, am incredibly glad and grateful for ME being here. And to those fans who blast ME and MM, remember that we seem to be a dying breed of clubs that dont change the management team or owner or go through a complete overhaul each season. At least in the personnel sense, we are stable. Just need to think about trying to sort out our debt

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IpswichFan26 added 18:52 - Aug 14 Also, while it does seem a bit strange that we have never seen or heard ME before, isn't it refreshing to have an owner who likes to take a back seat from the press at least? And when he does say something to the press, its usually something positive about ITFC?
4

Paulc added 19:36 - Aug 14 It is interesting that everyone continues to rate a largely unproved manager in Jim Magilton. It is all based on 'if only' we don't really know how well he would have done given longer, hindsight is a luxury we all have now! I think ME took a gamble on Keane, and if we are all honest with ourselves, whilst the way Jim exited from the club was poor, we were all very upbeat about RK joing Town. Again our luxury of hindsight comes into play when we look back at that era. The 2 areas I think ME deserves the criticism are the appointments of Clegg and Paul Jewell. Clegg was never a football man and completely failed to relate to the fans, PJ was, is and will always be a clown of a man, who in their right mind ever thought he was up to the job? I personally did not need hindsight to figure that one out, I had a Derby County Season Ticket holder colleague taunting me every time it looked like RK was on dodgy ground saying 'you're gonna get PJ' - shame! In summary of ME, I am glad he is our owner - be careful what you wish for. He has continued to support the club financially, whilst I am aware he does not own the debt ITFC does, so could walk away at any point, he has had ample oppotunity to do so. yes, he has made errors, but I believe he is learning and the true proof of his direction and ownership would be evident I hope, once we are promoted, this year? who knows! COYB

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brittaniaman added 19:36 - Aug 14 Joe Royles saying was give me a Million pounds to spend and I will get Ipswich in to the premier !!!!! The trouble was that Sheepshanks did not have a Million pound to give him to spend ??????? and I believe it was Wigan who got promoted instead of us that season, it was that close...
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bongoblue91 added 20:00 - Aug 14 How people can sit on here and slag ME off for employing Roy Keane is a joke, I didn't meet one Town fan who wasn't over the moon about him being given the job! Sort it out, ME is one of us and is just trying to do the best for town! Were really going up this season by the way ;)
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Steelmonkey added 20:30 - Aug 14 You really couldn't knock the credentials of previous managers, or surely ME wouldn't have appointed them, but if they conned their way in, maybe he has learned that you need to leave a football club in the hands of someone who knows football game better than he does. As a successful business man, maybe he has learned a thing or two that other meddling owners haven't yet. The last two before MM had their success's. They also had failings, whilst PJ had got clubs promoted, he also got them relegated for whatever reason and in hind sight the law of averages weighed heavily against him doing it again. RK couldn't do anything but buy players to get him results, and lost countless millions at Sunderland before he was rumbled and lost more here. But we still employed him. Perhaps that's why MM is so different, he has not gone to ME to prise money from his fists and rifle through his pockets, but seeks to reap success by skill and judgement. Only time will tell if he has it.

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MattinLondon added 20:53 - Aug 14 brittaniaman added 19:36 - Aug 14 Joe Royles saying was give me a Million pounds to spend and I will get Ipswich in to the premier !!!!! The trouble was that Sheepshanks did not have a Million pound to give him to spend ??????? and I believe it was Wigan who got promoted instead of us that season, it was that close. Royle said that (and it was two million) at a time when he knew full well that he had no chance of getting any money whatsoever - he knew he didn't have to back up his statement. His last buy for 650k was Sam Parkin who didn't actually do a lot. Anyway, think ME and MM get along, know what each other expects so hopefully it'll be all good from now on.

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simonkos added 20:54 - Aug 14 well lets focus on the here and now. our present manager has brought us back from the dead and buried and we can only keep climbing up especially as he is the one bringing in value for money players. I believe the future is blue
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