How much of what we lose each year is inflated interest on debt that Evans never had to physically pay for? He should write some of it off. Regarding Wordsworth and Taylor, I think we probably cannot play them anyway as it will trigger extra payments, particularly in Taylors case. Honestly some of the decision making at the club since Evans took over has been unbelievable and now he is killing the club squeezing out what he can. I think Mick is ideal for him as he can keep us up playing hoof balj. All of them doing nicely except the fans who pay to watch dross.

So can we get in some minor signing to get a bigger squad

I don't believe young loan players with no experience is what we need , we need a playmaker who has played at this standard who will get his foot on the ball and stop us chasing shadows all game . To be fair it doesn't matter who we bring in as MM wont play them anyway , he only brought Williams in last year to replace the injured Dids , no way will he play two players with flair

I want to know why we haven't spent the money that was promised when Cresswell was sold , who is lying the board or has MM horribly mis judged his squad ?

Also all the talk of the ticket sales being better than previous years what was the final sales up or down on previous seasons at the start of the season? Phil ?

I think everyone should calm down a bit.

MM has signed a very creative midfield player in Cameron Stewart (not one poster on here has given this a mention) and he has freed up the wage bill for additions if and when they become available. Bajner and Bru will be relatively cheap gambles so if either or both work it great. If not MM will get rid like he has with Nouble. Wordsworth has been talked about on here as if he's Messi, hilarious.

Oh and don't forget we've signed Alex Henshall. Another midfielder in the creative mould, albeit a winger.

This is still a work in progress football club, look at the ages of the players. Did George Burley get us promoted in a year or two? No.

We are slowly building something again, just support the team and the Management.

Assess whether to make changes ????? Come on Mick that team you are playing is the same as last season MINUS CRESSWELL and WILLIAMS !! SO IT IS WEAKER ???
To rub salt in our wounds you send WORDSWORTH and TAYLOR AWAY !!!!!
I do not understand your Logic on this Mick perhaps you could explain ????? and do not be so Arrogant about it ,I wont hold my breath for the answer ??? but they were our players, who should have had the same chances as Skuse and Tabb !!!

Also I can see Wordsworth and Taylor situation turning in to another Jordon Rhodes Saga ?? and bite us back on the bum . unless it is addressed properly

It's worth looking again at the club's Annual Report and Accounts, to remind ourselves of the size of the loss ITFC makes - in the region of £15m every year (apart from when we got a whopping big fee for Wickham). We need to sell players to break even on the wage bill alone.

Even disregarding FFP, you can't run a business like that, with debt ever accumulating into larger and larger piles, with no hope of paying it off apart from the faint, off-chance of achieving promotion (only three teams out of 24 per season). Putting huge sums of money in with the hope of making it to the Prem is more akin to wild gambling than investment. It took Leicester many years of big spending to achieve what they did (arguably it happened in the one season they didn't push the boat out). QPR spent vast amounts to turn themselves into a debt-burdened yo-yo club (now facing a massive fine for overspending again). The Prem is lucrative, but it's not that lucrative.

Spending the Cresswell money on player wages is spending the money on the team. That bill is a lot more significant than the fees paid to other clubs. It enables us to attract and keep a better quality of player, as the money is going directly into their pockets.

In any case, wild spending on player transfers is largely a thing of the past in the Championship. Of the 197 transfers so far this window which had players moving within or coming into our division, just 28.9% of those (57) involved any kind of fee or compensation. 58.2% were free transfers (104) and 17.3% were loans (34), plus there were a couple of swaps. Those figures continue the trend of recent seasons with Championship clubs (the most active group in the overall English transfer market) relying mainly on free transfers and loans, with fewer and fewer fees being paid.

If we're going to remain in the bargain basement with survival the best we can hope for please, please can we at least try to play some football? Not with Mick at the helm I fear.

MM often talks about his small squad but is happy to let players go out before he gets replacements in! He really is starting to make himself look foolish.

Are we going to win the league? No
Are we going to be in the play offs? Probably not
Are we going to just miss out on the play offs? Probably yes
Are we going to finish mid table? yes
Are we going to get relegated? Definitely no

That has always been my thoughts every season for the last 5 years, and I don't think it will be any different this season I'm afraid.

McCarthy the only place for big strong workhorses is on the club badge.

Very good post Guthrum, but are we sure the Cresswell money is being invested in wages? And if so,whose? Bajner's and Bru's? Great...

Can somebody tell me how we lose 15m a year? We have the smallest squad imaginable with mid level attendances and top level prices, yet other clubs manage to pay fees and play watchable football who I would imagine have comparable revenues. Answer - inflated blood sucking interest applied to ever growing paper debt each year and a manager paid to tow the line.

Totally Spot on Notts_tractor!

Id say it's obvious why MM has shipped out so many players recently. Its to free up funds fkr those quality PL youngsters he spoke of some four months ago. He said "we have spoken to all of the top four PL clubs about specific young targets who we would like to take on a seasons loan.....but we may have to be patient as these clubs will be hanging onto them due to the effects of the world cup".

Nothing has changed.....we wait for the loan window go open. Then we will be bringing in the quality we need.

its FOUR games into a 46 game season. We have in MM a manager who knows this division better than anyone. For Gods sake. Trust him to do his job. He Knows where the weakness is. Hes not stupid!

The sum of all this is the club that we love is a slave to past debt.

We were told that the money for the sale off Cresswell would be reinvested in the team, I think us supporters have a right to know why it has not.
The worrying thing for me is not the soft goals we let in, it is the few chances we have created. People complain about Hyman and Skuse but when they win the ball who have they got to play forward passes to, I admire Chambers and Mings effort but they are not full backs who can get forward and attack teams, Tabb should never be a Town player he adds nothing to the team.
I have not been impressed with Tommy Smith this season I would play Berra and Chambers in the middle of defence and Parr and Hewitt at full back plus give Bialkowski a game in goal at least he might be able to dominate his area.
On the left Henshall should be given a run of games he is young with talent and should be the clubs future.
COYB

@Notts tractor - everybody's wages! Plus, of course, any expensive loan players being eyed up, where we may be able to pay a higher proportion of their wages to achieve a deal.

@marcus139 - we aren't paying "inflated blood sucking interest". In fact, according to Phil, Evans is not charging any interest at all on the majority of the debt. Suggest you take a closer look at the published accounts. By far our largest expenditure is on player and staff wages.

http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/22759/town-make-loss-of-%EF%BF%BD15.96m

I don't understand this, we have a Premier League quality player training with us in Collison and Mick has already said that he has added quality to training, I can only assume that he's either not quite to Micks liking or the fact that he would probably have been on wages at West Ham that we could get nowhere near and if any negotiations have already taken place then that's the stumbling block. If it is the case I'd rather Mick came out and said that he tried but his wage demands were just too high, because the way it comes across right now is that nobody is really trying to add any extra quality or depth to the squad.

Loan back some of our players from Rotherham?

I have a nose on my face. Yes it is that obvious from Saturday that we are woefully short in quality and skill. We do need additions to the squad desperately, a creative midfielder is a priority, but that has been obvious going back to the arrival of Joniesta and now we have got rid of Woody its even more of a dire need.

it appears like MM has agreed a profit share with ME, keep us mid table, spend nothing.
and bonuses and cash for the Barnsley boy.

It is clear that ME has dug deep for many seasons and is no longer prepared to do this. Maybe his comments regarding him becomming just a season ticket holder is an indication that he may sell up ??. Those fans referring to the dark days under RK and PJ may want to access the difference in quality from RK's ITFC and the current crop.RK albeit he had poor man management skills did attract some quality players. Begovic, Colback, Townsend, Livermore and DSantos to name a few. Yes he brought in Priskin but he was an international player who would have thrived in a football playing team. You must ask what sort of player would come here for development the way we approach the game.....just a thought. We need to start with a keeper.

Guthrum, how can we be losing so much money now? Who are the players earning millions a year? We have a squad of plodders. The financial year you quote is 2012, will be interesting to see 2013 numbers (i will take your advice on the accounts).

I really thought after the sale of cresswell
We would see some attacking threat added
To the midfield. Loans are ok, but if not with
A view to a permanent switch you are back to
Square one. Hope mick can pull something out
The bag, because we need not only goals from
Midfield but a bit of entertainment aswell!! As
The style of play really is depressing at the mo.
Coyb

@marcus139 - £10k per week is half a million per year (plus employers' NI contributions). Even our average earners on £5k add up to £0.25m each. Then you've got all the coaching staff. I suspect the bill will be much reduced now from the 2011-12 figure, but it's still a hefty sum.

It's probably the biggest change from football in the "old days", with the influx of money starting in the '90s having pushed up wages and thus overall costs. It's now virtually impossible for a club at our level to be run at break-even, even if they were able to fill every seat in their stadium (on which they probably also owe money).