Town MD Ian Milne says news on the future of manager Mick McCarthy and the release of season ticket prices for the 2018/19 campaign will “come together” in the next couple of weeks.

McCarthy is out of contract in the summer but with owner Marcus Evans having an option to extend his time at the Portman Road helm by a further two years.

Speaking just over a fortnight ago, McCarthy, who has been in charge at Town since November 2012, anticipated speaking with Evans regarding the way forward “over the next three or four weeks”.

Asked when the announcement of next term’s season ticket prices might come on Saturday’s Life’s a Pitch on BBC Radio Suffolk, managing director Milne said: “It will come out in the next couple of weeks, hopefully some good news on that.”

Season ticket numbers dropped by 15 per cent to under 11,000 last summer and with attendances having continued to drop throughout the season - the 13,205 crowd for the Cardiff game at the end of last month was the lowest for a home league game for nearly 20 years - another fall in numbers is expected.

Milne admits the club needs to woo fans back: “I think one thing is the season ticket side, but also I think there’s also probably a change, a letter of intent from the club on what we’re doing in the future and what have you, without going into too much detail.

“I hope off the field we do get out our new intent with what we’re trying to do with the music [the IP1 Live event announced earlier in the week] and other things as well. But I appreciate that’s a separate thing from the football.

“We listen, the owner’s listening, we’re listening. We had a fans’ forum a couple of weeks ago and they were talking about exactly the same things as you’re talking about. They come up with some great ideas, some we can take on. I think they will be pleased with what we’re going to do about season tickets.”

Many fans are likely to make their decision whether to renew their season tickets on the management situation.

Quizzed on whether there will be any news on that front prior to the season ticket announcement, Milne responded: “I think the timing is quite important. I appreciate that it’s not just the season ticket prices, it’s gauging for next season. We’re totally into that one and, yes, the two things will come together.

“You’ve got to bear with us on timing on all of that. We understand where the fans are coming from, we totally get it and we will come out with the announcement at the appropriate time so they can make the right decision.”

You can hear Milne on Life’s a Pitch here from 1hr 21mins 40secs, while Blues legend Shefki Kuqi was on the show from 1hr 38mins 12secs and winger Mustapha Carayol from 1hr 12mins 47secs.

Photo: TWTD

oldegold added 09:03 - Mar 12 Quote unquote..."Declaring himself very much satisfied with a point, he said: “Let's go gung-ho and create loads of chances, make it an open game and get beat shall we? I'm not really into that. That's never going to be the case. Hey, we set out not to concede, but we don't set out for a 0-0 draw.” That pretty much illustrates the McCarthy philosophy and why he has to go if we are to become again a protagonist club that is reknown for playing good football. McCarthy has not got it yet that the fans DO want tippy-tappy football, DO want to see us take for once the game to our opponents, DO not want to see us settle for a point,DO want to see our youngsters break through and stake a claim in the team, DO not want any more flabby loannes, DO want to see players actually play on merit and not because they are his favs.....and DO want to see you gone in the name of this once great club which has gone to rot. DO the right thing and walk now.

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poldark added 09:07 - Mar 12 2 happy flappy McCarthy ites hit the down button just shows the mentality of some on here
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brittaniaman added 09:15 - Mar 12 What happened to Drinnan Dino ??? came over here full of promise as a second Daryl Murphy, your words Dino, on the bench for his first game (not used) and now he has simply gone by the wayside !!!!!
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:54 - Mar 12 i read the statement twice, and each time came to different conclusion ,so gave it another go, all I can say is ,its content makes more sense If McCarthy is going, [NOT because I hope he is even though that is so ] .However, as everyone knows when our Mr Milne makes any statement, if it is not in code ,at best its bewildering.I think his input would be clearer to all if past on in smoke signals. So whilst I wouldn't put my shirt on it, i'd say McCarthy will be on his way.

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MicksZzzTactics added 10:27 - Mar 12 @brittaniaman Good question! So ehhhh playing a little *The Devil's Silly Advocate* here :-) :-) hmmm could it possibly be due to the much talked-up Aaron Drinan having suddenly PHYSICALLY pulled "A Leon Best"??? lol ......and for those who don't recall here is what the elegant Dino had to say about dear Leon (beside the coy "He won't play for me again!!!") as that Irish forward ODDLY was very much singled out following the Lincoln 0-1 embarrassment: "He came in, trained well for two weeks and really impressed everyone. It was a case of right place, right time for him, but he's not done it SINCE!" ....and if that slightly far-fetched theory is not to your personal liking :-) :-) well how about The Next Murph having suddenly VERBALLY pulled "A Leon Best" (or "A Maitland-Niles' angry mum") then lol ......and thus either somehow spatted it out or twitted about what he *really* thinks of his dreaded archaic itfc gaffer, including his indefensible player favorization, mind-boggling and double-standardish youth use & youth policy and OF COURSE his inherently negative, wimpy & hedgehog "8-9 defenders & just maybe we might NICK all 3" approach to football & *crowd entertainment* in the 21th century??? Naaah! lol

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Razor added 10:28 - Mar 12 Nirvana would be a REDUCTION in ticket prices, letting Mick go and a consequent increase in ticket sales and a whole new atmosphere at club and with the fans. Although someone slammed me before for my suggestion, Mark Hughes and some money would get me going.
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black_shuck added 10:37 - Mar 12 “Listen, unless somebody decides otherwise, you've got me, boring old big nose f***ing fart with s***e football until May. Unless somebody decides different.” He's staying. The whole season has been about finding a way to extend MM contract.
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Northstandveteran added 11:18 - Mar 12 I keep finding myself agreeing with many supporters suggestions of McCarthy's replacement. Mowbray, Venus and Lowe appealed, Mark Hughes? The boys at Lincoln? I can only conclude as I nod in agreement with these ideas that a change is needed. I have nothing against McCarthy personally, I actually quite like his character and I do agree with posters on this site that he has brought stability to the club but I and many other town fans away from this site have said we won't be returning while he is in charge. Not as a protest, not out of spite but because we don't want to pay to watch this awful football. Perhaps, being the experienced manager he is, he's achieving the best he can with his resources? Who knows? Come on Evans, roll the dice. We might have a 3 at the moment but take a chance. Yes we might get a 2 but we may get a 6! We may never be a hugely successful club again with the amount of money thrown around by bigger clubs, and we have no God given right to be in the promotion race but we should be looking like we are giving it a dam good go and trying........

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itfc2001 added 13:58 - Mar 12 No sense in talking about a John Duncan / WHU style protest as always more stewards than fans in the ground at the final whistle. MM has more security than the Royal family at home games. I wonder why?? After 41 years 2 more tickets going if he stays.
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