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Milne: Stick With Us
Monday, 11th Apr 2016 10:26

MD Ian Milne has urged wavering season ticket holders to stick with the Blues, despite Town now looking highly unlikely to repeat last season’s play-off finish. The early bird deadline for buying 2016/17 season tickets at the cheapest prices passes at midday today.

“We’re not in the relegation zone, we’re currently eighth and hopefully we’ll get higher,” Milne told BBC Radio Suffolk’s Life’s a Pitch prior to Saturday’s game against Brentford.

“I don’t think anything’s changed in many ways. Yes, we’d love to be in the top six, but we’re still a great football club with a great following.”

Town currently have just over 14,000 season ticket holders but with anecdotal evidence suggesting that a number of fans don’t plan to renew, many citing the style of play as much as results, that figure is likely to drop, perhaps as far the 12,000s, where sales were prior a boost provided by last season's success.

“That’s a pity, we’re still up there,” Milne added. “I understand what people say about it not being attractive football, but you can play attractive football and be in the relegation zone.

“It’s a very tough league, it’s gets tougher every year. We have to play to that, play to our strengths and keep the fight up.”

He dismisses suggestions that 2015/16 has been a wasted season: “Absolutely not, we have expanded the squad, the boys are still very confident, that’s where we want them to be and they’ve all worked extremely hard. Of course we’re feeling down, we’d love to be in the top six but it’s not over yet.”

He added: “Looking at just the players’ salary bill, it’s gone up 25 per cent over the last two seasons and 15 per cent over the last season, so that shows the expanding squad.

“We could say we’ve been unfortunate with some injuries, some key injuries, and it’s really good to see David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop back and maybe they will give us that little bit of extra creativity that we need.”

Whether manager Mick McCarthy will be handed more cash for next season will be decided in the summer.

“The budget’s gone up and there’s going to be a discussion between Mick and Marcus in the summer about players and we need to wait for that,” the Blues MD continued.

“But I have no reason to think that he’s not going to continue to invest at or above the level he’s investing at the moment. There could be more money available, as there has been this season.”

Meanwhile, Milne says there has been no contact from Aston Villa regarding McCarthy, who remains second-favourite for the vacant manager’s job at the Premier League’s bottom side, behind ex-Leicester boss Nigel Pearson, with some bookies quoting a price as low as 5/2.

“Nothing at all, it’s just a lovely rumour for certain Aston Villa fans, I suspect,” Milne added.

“He’s here to stay, I saw him on Friday and we were talking about open days and pre-season and what have you.”"


Photo: Action Images



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JustSpivvyChops added 10:36 - Apr 11
YAWN..........
17

Smithy added 10:37 - Apr 11
Think attractive football and a relegation battle would actually be more entertaining. Watching a team who can't work a goalkeeper for 90 minutes is soul destroying.
44

JimmyJazz added 10:38 - Apr 11
So from that I read - yes the playing style is awful, please keep buying season tickets as that is our main concern, ME may continue to keep funds at the present level, i.e. no money for transfers unless they are in the region of 100,000.

29

MaySixth added 10:39 - Apr 11
The football is massively tedious.
29

iaintaylorx added 10:39 - Apr 11
I'm sorry, but we will repay our faith in the club if changes are made and by changes I mean money being thrown at the club in order to bring in good players and challenge realistically.

I'm so fed up of always thinking 'this could our year' and being left demoralised.

It's so boring and when you all, including ME change the way the club is run, starting with absurd ticket prices, then you might notice a big difference!!

21

hoppy added 10:40 - Apr 11
Well, the early bird deadline for next season's season tickets has lasted longer than our chances of making the playoffs this season...
11

truckerblue added 10:40 - Apr 11
Wasted money on players like coke toure etc. Milne you're obviously hanging out of your a**e and worrying about season ticket sales. You're talking for the sake of talking. Actions speak louder than words so get the invisible man to start taking some.
18

Michael11 added 10:40 - Apr 11
Wish this guy would do one. He's even more annoying than Clegg was!
19

iaintaylorx added 10:41 - Apr 11
... and don't get me started on the style of play!!
11

Penguinblue added 10:44 - Apr 11
Ipswich Town - as another contributor has said, once everyone's second favourite team, renowned for good football, family club both through ownership and atmosphere for supporters. And achieved some success.
Now run by an invisible owner, judging by this article a deluded managing director with no sense of the club's history or pride in the product on offer.
Worse of all, an awful hoofball manager, who is negative, inexplicable 'tactics', selects favourites above ability and is contemptuous of fans - even those who support him. Holds us to ransom over his first season, when lets face it, any half decent manager could have saved us from what went before.
McCarthy's offensive expletive ridden comments to a very soft press are also a disgrace to the club - he should be on a disrepute charge.

A very sad state of affairs.

McCarthy out
48

dugoutdave added 10:46 - Apr 11
"we're still a great football club with a great following.”

Only one part of this statement is correct - the latter bit..
17

ArnieM added 10:49 - Apr 11
Whats the Club's forward plans? The letter with the ST renewal , was pretty non commital tbh and didnt exactly try to encourage fans to sign up again. Where's the owener? What is HIS plan for OUR Club. Where's the REAL investment for Mick to go out and buy players so he can COMPETE with the top 6 Clubs.

Like it or not, REAL promotion credentials will take REAL levels of investment, not just "tick over" levels. No owners of Football clubs make money ....Hopefully Evans wiould have had his eyes fully open whe he bought us . If he has bought the Club puekly as Tax deducatable in his Consoldated accouts , then frankle , we are going nowhere , because ut will suit him for us to stay in the CC.
5

trncbluearmy added 10:51 - Apr 11
Boring football
Badly managed club
Incompetent owner
Manager stuck up his own predantic Yorkshire arse

It is time for major change at ITFC
For a start get rid of Milne get Bowden back and take on Sheepy as a consultant
18

hoppy added 10:51 - Apr 11
And I guess he hasn't even so much as picked up a paintbrush, yet alone give the turnstiles a lick of paint either has he, Michael11?
6

KuqiCoup added 10:51 - Apr 11
This sums up the entire club


That's a pity, we're still up there,” Milne added. “I understand what people say about it not being attractive football, but you can play attractive football and be in the relegation zone.

“It's a very tough league, it's gets tougher every year. We have to play to that, play to our strengths and keep the fight up.”

With proper investment beyond covering our losses we could have players whose strengths are to play good football. Or Mick could stop bringing in dross like Coke, Toure and even Douglas and Varney and use that money to get one player of quality and use the kids to come on for the last 3 minutes and equally do nothing.

We do have some decent technical players but we have a manager capable of nothing else but hoofball. Fine when you have a striker in the form of his life. Sadly shown up when not.

Our goalkeeper just won player of the season and we are 8th. Without him we'd be 14th or 15th. The squad isn't playing to its strengths and I'd argue we'd be better playing good football as last season Murph's unreal season and Bart's this one have massively masked how poor we are in certain areas.

We need to bring in a manager capable of playing football the fans want to see and start finding frees (or buying players with further investment) than can be more than the Wimbledon of today.
29

hairbear added 10:55 - Apr 11
Excellent news. Roll on next year. MM in!!! COYB
-14

KuqiCoup added 10:56 - Apr 11
Yet again Evans has not given any assurance or even hinted at a plan.

The best we get for our money is being told there's nothing to suggest he won't invest as he has been. So he can't even commit to saying he will do.

Also we've increased the wage bill on the same players who have gone BACKWARDS. We have effectively given the wife £5000 to buy a new car instead of £3000 but she's spent the whole five grand on a £3000 motor!
23

brendenward35 added 11:07 - Apr 11
So to balance the books this years who up for sale? Forget about a nice transfer budget we had to sell Mings last year just to pay wages so I'm sure we'll have to do the same again. Hate to even guess what contract MM is on and 2 years more of hoffball fans will be rushing to buy tickets (not) Roll of 2016/2017 season getting hammered each week as we don't have a midfield capable of get the ball to our strikers, plus a mamger who plays a striker on the wing so he doesn't scored goals very clever not rocket science Mick

5

essexboy added 11:08 - Apr 11
The football has been dire,tactics and team selection have left a lot to be desired,and very little investment from an invisible owner who wishes not to explain his intentions for the club,and you have the cheek to say we should not let the club down and invest in season tickets for next season.I think that just about says it all.
24

Geoff added 11:12 - Apr 11
Milne has the penny finally dropped stop being Evans mouth piece the propaganda will not work.The club need big changes from the top down we will will be in this league for another 15 years without.
I want to come back but not until this dreadful regime are gone.
20

MVBlue added 11:14 - Apr 11
The fans do want entertainment. We dont even cry out for huge success. But look up the road, how have we let them get so far ahead?
19

Count_Arthur added 11:15 - Apr 11
I know someone who has not renewed her four season tickets after 20 years and the letter she got back from the club simply said “We accept confirmation of your notice and your seats are available to purchase from immediate effect”

No, questions as to why they're not renewing, no ‘thanks for your support over the years', no ‘sorry to see you go'.

Wake up and smell the empty seats Town!
28

Daniel72 added 11:19 - Apr 11
I think we have to give it another year. s a fantastically gifted visionary manager just itching to come and work shoestring miracles. Having said that I still think sacking Magilton was a mistake. If they dare put the ticket prices up I think people should just refuse and they will soon learn. I think attractive football but in the relegation battle would not be an improvement for long. Very difficult to recover if we went down.. we would end up a small club with a history.. Would be nice to see some young players come through next year. A few decent results. Is that too much to ask?
1

GiveusaWave added 11:21 - Apr 11
Good news all round. Milne has made it clear that there has been no approach from Villa and it sounds like next season is already being organised, which is great. Mick will be with us for another year at the very least.

But like ArnieM has mentioned, we do need to hear a bit more about where we plan to be next year. Are we aiming for a PO place again? A top half finish? Was a top half finish the aim this season? We do have some good players and Skuse is one of the best defensive midfielders in this division. COYB!
-17

Bluetone added 11:24 - Apr 11
Quote "Milne added. “I understand what people say about it not being attractive football, but you can play attractive football and be in the relegation zone"

And here is a revolutionary thought it is also possible to play attractive football and be in the play off zone.

Time for an in depth review of our club and its way forward.
21


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