Town legend Terry Butcher believes owner Marcus Evans will eventually have to loosen the Portman Road purse strings to give the club a more realistic chance of reaching the Championship play-offs.

The Blues, currently 12th, eight points off the top six, have rarely paid significant transfer fees during Mick McCarthy’s five years-plus as manager, while their wage bill - £17.78 million in the year to June 2017 - has been around the 18th highest in the Championship in recent seasons.

"If you've only got buttons to pay, you're not going to get the quality to lift you into the play-offs," Butcher, 59, told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"Marcus Evans, sooner or later, will have to release the purse strings. Perhaps not to the extent of Wolves, but if you do buy good players and buy quality it does get you wins, it does get you goals and it does get you up the table.”

The former England captain added: ”I think there's got to be more input from the [owner].

"If Mick does go at the end of the season, any new manager is going to come and the first thing he's going to say to Marcus Evans is 'What's my war chest? How much can I spend?’.

"The manager should already be looking at signings for next year - you need that as a security and we haven't got that."

McCarthy is out of contract at the end of the season - although the club has an option to keep him for two more years - with no decision yet made on whether he will be in charge at Portman Road beyond the summer.

Speaking last Friday, McCarthy revealed he had already held talks with owner Evans about his future and said those discussions are ongoing.

Having previously indicated he might not necessarily accept a new contract if one were to be offered, McCarthy appeared more receptive to extending his time at the club, saying that there was "a good chance" he'll remain at Town if owner Evans wants him to stay.

Last week, McCarthy was the bookies' favourite to become the new Barnsley manager, a link both he and MD Ian Milne dismissed.

St Mirren boss Jack Ross is now the favourite to take over at Oakwell, the Paisley-based club reportedly having given the Tykes permission to speak to him.

Photo: TWTD

dirtydingusmagee added 17:10 - Feb 13 it is frustrating knowing Evans just wont spend to improve the prospects of the club, when nearly all others are,if he cant afford to [unlikely] why drag the club down ,sell up.If he just cant be bothered which increasingly seems to be the case , sell up, Football is about money now, if you want to be a part of it you have to gamble and invest.If not get out of it.You wouldn't by an airliner if you couldn't afford to get it in the air .

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fransthyssen added 17:15 - Feb 13 Think your spot on dirtyding, shame but so true the whole club from supporters to players to management and Evans need to be optimistic and hungry for better things!
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therein61 added 17:16 - Feb 13 Nice thought from a proper bloke who wore our shirt with pride and passion, but i'm afraid it is not going to happen Butch!!
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JimInGreensboro added 17:41 - Feb 13 Mings, Cressy, Murph- we take in millions and sign for thousands. That's Evans' doing, not Mick. Then again, if we win 3 games on the bounce, all is sunshine and daisies, again. Such is football.
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jas0999 added 17:42 - Feb 13 Marcus Evans is the biggest problem at ITFC. MM hasn't helped he situation either. Together they have managed to turn the atmosphere toxic. The club is dead. At the very bottom.
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Seasider added 17:43 - Feb 13 It would help if Evans had the guts or inclination to come out and say something. I think his attitude to the club is shown by him never even bothering to attend the Clubs AGM,let alone any supporters functions. I just cannot understand why this man took over our Club in the first place.What I do know is it was in a better place then, than it is after 10 years of anonymity. I expect he naively thought that by appointing Roy Keane we would sail into the Premiership;but instead we are becalmed in the Championship. He certainly seems to have lost what little interest he had in the club(even financial).His lack of action indicates that he isn't bothered about the continually falling gates or getting the club to the Premiership anymore;so we must conclude as several have that he simply uses it as a tax vehicle now. How very sad,if like me you have followed the club since they won the Football League Championship in 1961/62.

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nijomo added 18:03 - Feb 13 Is this TB making a case for himself as next manager?
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Popeye added 18:13 - Feb 13 ME had his fingers burned giving ex managers like magilton, Jewell and Keane money to spend and waste with no return, but he has gone too far the other way now by not giving MM much to spend on players. If MM had been given the same funding previous managers were given I am sure we would be challenging for the top six but now the best we can hope for is finishing in the top half on the table. The club is going nowhere, unlikely to be relegated but even more unlikely to make play off or top two. Wolves have invested and got the right manager and are dead certs for promotion, that's the difference, ambition and quality signings.

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Argyle_blue added 18:30 - Feb 13 Seems to me there's a bit of collusion between ME and MM to blame the current situation on the fans. It's convenient for both parties. They don't have the slag each other off and more importantly they can allow the situation to stay the same without ME having to inject cash while MM keeps taking the weekly wage. The status quo suits everyone but the fans. I wonder if there is a payout for MM if the option for 2 more years isn't taken meaning he'd be a fool to walk away. Unfortunately for both of them the fans for whom they seem to have so much contempt are the ‘customers' who make the business work. It might work short term but the long term consequences of losing a loyal fanbase could be very damaging. It's a sad state of affairs but reflects the modern Football business. There's no evidence of any real plan. 5 vague statements is not a business plan. I wait for something that change with hope rather than expectation.

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Cloddyseedbed added 18:41 - Feb 13 I am a supporter who is not convinced that MM has not had more money at his disposal. MM delights in being the underdog and getting one over on teams that have spent big and have skillful players in their teams. MM doesn't get on with or work well with players who have more ability, as his game plans and work ethics stifle these type of players. Look at players when they arrive, they play their best games for us when they 1st get here and then taper off to be average to poor. MM's type of player and style/tactics, however we dress it up, are to blame. ME's just letting him get on with it the MM way as he doesn't understand football certainly is not helping. MM going around telling everybody how good he is at his job and his wonderful CV is absolutely no good at all, if you look at the bigger picture and see what we have after his 5 years as manager. After being allowed to stay at this club for so long and having built zilch is not something he should be proud of in my opinion. It's not all about the money. Not the 1st time I've said this. It's about the type of players you get in your team and the football you play. For me MM has failed, we have been consistently outplayed by teams far lower in the league than us and made to look very poor. Even teams in FA cup in far lower league's have consistently outplayed us. Still MM has kept his job. This would never have been allowed to happen at any other club in the league, a manager telling an owner how good a manager he is and how good a job he's doing when it's clear to so many that he most certainly isn't. Clearly the owner and manager team at ITFC can not progress this club. At least one needs to go and I would shed no tear if they both did. At least more supporters would turn up and it wouldn't be so bl**dy drafty in the half empty stands!

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terryf added 18:58 - Feb 13 Yes Seasider my first game was 21st October 1961 Ipswich v Tottenham and we won 3-2. What a great game and season!!! I also got to see my footballing hero John White that day who sadly died on the golf course struck by lightning. Although I don't live there now it's also nice to see my home Town, Felixstowe, topping the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division.
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dirtydingusmagee added 19:17 - Feb 13 totally agree cloddy.
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Geddis78 added 19:40 - Feb 13 What we need is a manager to start healing the rift between the club and the fans. Has there ever been such a disconnect? Terry Butcher could be that man. He doesn't have the best track record in management but as a club legend, he would surely have the fans support. Beside investment, we desperately need more fans at Portman Road to create an atmosphere and get behind the team again. I have had enough of the opposition fans asking if this is a library!

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AYACCA added 19:43 - Feb 13 Give Mick £5mil and 1 more season. He'd get us in the playoffs with that and the returnees next seson
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TractorBeezer added 20:02 - Feb 13 Seasider, I think that Sheepshanks did a good job in enticing Marcus to invest especially as I understand there were no other seriously interested parties. I do agree with you that he should periodically be accessible to the supporters to build a relationship. He should put that in his business plan. I also understand that he was led to believe that if he spent early he would be rewarded with a quick return to the Prem, however, Keano did not spend wisely and pissed off the supporters even more then MM. A huge factor this season is the loss of all of our best midfielders to long term rehab. There is still some hope if he injects some serious cash in the transfer budget, continues to develop our promising youngsters and motivates the season ticket holders to return. A younger attack minded manager at this stage would help too.

2

Karlosfandangal added 20:06 - Feb 13 I think we can only hope that MM can find a couple of gems like Waghorn and Garner next year and Huws Anmydiyi Dozzell Nydam and Downes become the main stay of the team and then we may have a chance of play offs ......maybe
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NBVJohn added 20:43 - Feb 13 So that's the second former player to come out and say what he thinks after Russell Osman's comments last summer. Both good points well made in my opinion. What I was wondering though is what that font of all knowledge, the Oracle himself, Ian ‘the powers that be' Milne thinks of all these shenanigans. Maybe as MD he's too busy choosing a new bog roll supplier to comment on the mundane business of playing matters. The club is knackered - well and truly - a manager who has (unfortunately in my view) lost the fans through a mixture of his pride and stubbornness, an owner who lost interest through poor managerial appointments early in his tenure and an M.D. that thinks he's a smooth talking spin machine but is clueless and deluded. Butcher, who was a far better player than a manager, and clearly cares about the club is right to speak out, but he probably shouldn't expect the red carpet treatment at PR whilst Milne and Evans are still here. You don't need to spend millions and millions to reach the Premier League, ask Huddersfield and Burnley, but I suspect that you do need to be united and aligned at every level - first and foremost that's something we will never have with Evans and Milne - the fans don't trust a word they say, and it never seems like a happy ship. So much needs to change. I don't think that a £20m injection of cash would make an enormous difference in the current set up - it could make a massive difference if the whole club was ‘right' though.

4

Pedlarjak added 21:02 - Feb 13 Very thinly disguised punt at the job of Ipswich manager
0

wayway added 21:03 - Feb 13 Evans PLC and with them McCarthy has to go. We need owners who are committed to the football club not faceless, absent people. We need someone to come in to the club and is hands on, seen around the place three or four times a week, not some puppet like Milne who knows as much about modern day football as the man in the moon. We need a young forward thinking manager back up by a CEO like Derek Bowden, a man who understands the game. As someone said, do that and you will see gates of 20000 plus, and that is just for starters

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woohoo added 21:09 - Feb 13 All rather depends on why ME bought the club - and what his objectives are. If he wants to get into the PL, then he will need to spend more - and appoint a new manager. Clearly the approach of MM+low budget is not going to do the trick If he doesn't care about getting into the PL....... ..who knows? I don't.
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runningout added 21:10 - Feb 13 ME attempting to get promoted by getting a reasonably priced team together and trusting a manager to do the rest. Hasn't worked YET. We won't be spending big. I'm stating the bleeding obvious I know :)
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bobble added 21:41 - Feb 13 micks tactics are scaredy cat tactics...
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itfcgene added 00:01 - Feb 14 The problem started with ME being a bit clueless and expecting dividends from Jewell and Keane, who bought rubbish at over inflated prices and managed the football even worse; MM came along and had better seasons with nothing, and it set a president. Terry Butcher is right about spending. Maybe MM could do better with a war chest. Who knows? It sucks that we've had to sit through 10 years of ME finding his feet. All I can think is role on next season.

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itfcgene added 00:02 - Feb 14 you know what i meant
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sixtouchfootball added 00:16 - Feb 14 We are producing players for the 1st time in ages. Dozzell. Downes. Hyam. Bishop. There are others coming through. We have Had aweful injuries to most of these nydam included. Huws adyemi as well. Our midfield has been decimated. Webster coming back from a bad injury. I wish we had seen all available to see what might of been as beginning of season was positive. Things have gone tits up since october. Bad luck? Possibly. All those out dont help.

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