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Updated - Marcus Evans Interview
Wednesday, 25th Apr 2018 12:03

Town owner Marcus Evans has given his first ever on-camera interview to iFollow Ipswich, watch it here on TWTD.

Among many topics covered in the near-half-hour interview, Evans talks about the appointment of the new manager - “It’s a big challenge and it’s a big issue for me, to find the right person” - and says he has an open mind regarding the new boss’s profile.

“I’m going to look for a manager who ticks [various] boxes and through a process of interviewing and speaking with those that know and have worked with the applicants I can get down to my final options,” he said.

“I’m not going to prejudge a manager, they could be young, they could be older, they could be experienced at winning promotion to the Premier League or not, but overall I want to find someone that buys into the club’s plans.

“To be clear on that, that’s based on the Five-Point Plan which I announced a while ago and that I feel brings Ipswich the best opportunity for promotion.

“it includes bringing players through from the academy, developing a team to play attractive and exciting football and achieving this within a competitive wage budget which is going to be below many of the parachute clubs in our division.

“It’s going to take some time and I expect to make an appointment towards the end of May or early in June, I would have thought, something like that.”

He added: “There are a lot of names in there and it’s a lot to go through. I think another couple of important factors in the appointment not being rushed are that a lot’s going to happen at the end of the season and management changes anyway are going to take place at the end of the season and we want to see what those changes are because there may be others that come on the list that aren’t currently on the list.”


Regarding out of contract players such as Luke Hyam and Teddy Bishop, who we understand is already in talks regarding a new deal, Evans said: “There are a few players, not that many, that we need to make imminent decisions on and the senior football staff will make the decisions on that.

“They will let me know what they think and then if it’s appropriate for negotiations to take place to renew contacts or do whatever we need to do, they will take place. They don’t need to wait for the new manager to be in place.”

Evans makes reference to the Five-Point Plan outlined in December 2016 on several occasions and says that remains the thinking with the new manager having to work within the same financial constraints as previous boss Mick McCarthy.

“I’m going to give the same answer to the new manager as I have to all the other managers in terms of being up front and honest about the budgets that are available and the way that we’re going to go forwards,” the owner said.

“I will continue to give the manager all the support I can within the sort of budgets that I’ve made available over the last few years.

“But let’s look at the squad we’ve got, it is competitive, it’s a great mix of youth and experience, we’ve got good cover across all positions.

“We’ve got players to come back from injury, Emyr’s going to come back, Adeyemi, Dozzell, and even the players who have been round this season, we’ve had so many who have had stop-start seasons.

“So once we get everyone fit, make a few select additions, I think we can be in the mix next year.

“And it is worth noting, despite what anybody thinks, our spend on the squad in terms of transfer fees and wages has been increasing each year.”

Evans admits he got it wrong when he increased season ticket prices last summer: “When I raised the season ticket prices last year that we clearly a mistake, I shouldn’t have done that.

“The reason behind it was that we needed more revenue to compete, we still need more revenue to compete, but that clearly wasn’t the way to do it and that’s why I’ve dropped the season ticket price this year by 10 per cent.”

The Blues owner has no immediate plans to sell the club but says he would be willing to listen to offers if someone was in a better position to fund a promotion push.

“If I didn’t feel we had a chance [of winning promotion], then, yes, it would be time for me to move on,” he admitted.

“But I’ve got no desire to sell, I think the plan that I’ve got in place has a chance of success and I want to be here to carry out that plan.

“But money is always going to make a difference and more money in this league would give us a better chance, particularly if it’s spent wisely and particularly if someone came along who could do a better job, had the personal and financial credentials to do a better job, I’d always do what’s right for the club.

“I suppose I’m in the fortunate personal position where I don’t have to recoup the investment I’ve made in the club.

“So, I suppose, yes, if the right person came along, offered the right prospect for the club, it would be wrong for me to stand in their way and I’d have to look at that very seriously.

“But I have to be honest with you, I’m not too sure why, but I haven’t seen too many Chinese or Russian oligarchs racing up the A12 in the last few years.”

On why he has chosen now to speak publicly on camera for the first time, he said: “I always thought it was really important that my being involved was certainly not about me in any way, it’s about the football side of the club and I’ve always tried to leave it like that, that the managers do the talking.

“But over this season, I think the circumstances have become different and it’s become clear to me that the fans really want to know where their club was going and I just felt the time was right now for me to have this interview.”


Photo: ITFC



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The_suffolk_punch added 12:19 - Apr 25
Who did the sound on this video needs proper training it's bloody awful
-20

CornardBlue added 12:22 - Apr 25
Can't get any sound at all. Complete waste of time.
-24

PortmanTerrorist added 12:22 - Apr 25
So is there any money or not ??
-10

pennblue added 12:28 - Apr 25
So no further cash, but he will sell up, that is good to hear as we need investment to compete.
-46

StringerBell added 12:31 - Apr 25
So, to summarise:

We can't compete because of parachute payments and average revenues (oh, and you're all dependent on me and don't forget it)
No appointment till late May / early June
Attractive football would be nice but expect grinding out results to continue
The 5 point plan is still the key to success (how many times did he mention that, I lost count)
I'd bite someone's hand off if someone offered me the right money

Shifty and uninspiring I'm afraid.
-63

peteswindon added 12:31 - Apr 25
No money for the new manager then ?
-44

CraigEdwards added 12:31 - Apr 25
An Honest opinion Marcus thank you
92

itfc58 added 12:33 - Apr 25
can't get any sound, waste of time!!
-14

wherescounago added 12:34 - Apr 25
"No desire to sell and the plan in place is right!!!" Oh dear I can't see much changing in the near future.
-46

Green_Army added 12:36 - Apr 25
At a moment in time we need straight forward answers, commitment to the club and a clear plan, he gives us round the houses answers, admits he's open to selling the club and says investment won't change.

I'm worried if he makes a managerial appointment that we as the fans can't get behind we will be moving further away from the premier league and fast.

Next season will be an interesting one whatever happens!
-23

cambsman added 12:36 - Apr 25
A very good and thought promoting interview he appears to be a very genuine man a pity he has left it so long but now at least from the horses mouth we know which way we are going lets hope the new manager can get the club back to where his vision of ITFC should be if with the crowd at the Villa game there must be only better times to come .Very well spoken Mr Evans
95

borge added 12:36 - Apr 25
Some decent questions, particularly towards the end. Reasonable answers, albeit some responses made him seem a little like a politician. Not easy to talk on camera in that way for that long, so he came across as genuinely knowing his stuff about the club (as you would damn well hope!).

Clearly sounds like budget will not be improving, but I would think in part that will depend on who we secure as manager.

On the positive side, he clearly referenced playing style on a number of occasions; he watches most home matches and know how dull it has been, so I would hope he's genuine when he says this is important.
91

bostonusablue added 12:37 - Apr 25
After 10 years of silence, I must say I was impressed by what he had to say. Come on you Blues!!
79

bostonusablue added 12:37 - Apr 25
After 10 years of silence, I must say I was impressed by what he had to say. Come on you Blues!!
15

bigolconnor added 12:38 - Apr 25
Not much wrong with that. I'd much prefer to get promoted with our kids over the next few years than buying in a load of overpayed primadonnas for quick but inevitably short term success. Build, build nurture and build.
78

martin587 added 12:40 - Apr 25
Well,I thought that was a very honest and frank interview from the owner.It clarified a lot of points with the debt,wages,and the future of ITFC.
I felt he came across as a very committed owner and now understands the views and concerns of us the supporters.Although I'm glad he is giving the position of the incoming manager a great deal of thought and consideration I had hoped a new man would have been in charge a little earlier than end of May as suggested by Mr.Evans.
Having said all that I now feel confident we are moving in the right direction. Onwards and upwards.
73

Lightningboy added 12:40 - Apr 25
Seems like a decent level-headed bloke & seems to know his stuff...said many times that i'd rather have someone like him here than some megabucks nut-job owner who sacks managers every 2 minutes.

Talks a lot of sense regards money available..some of our supporters need a reality check in that department,plus as has been proven under Keane & Jewell,money does not guarantee promotion.

Sounds like it's probably a manager involved in the play-offs if he's not appointing til the end of May,so it could well be the Cowleys...i'd be happy with that as they're young,eager and successful,which is something our club desperately could do with if it's to be a fresh start.

Now I Just hope we're not going to be disappointed...🤔🤞🏻🤞🏻

56

toxtethblue added 12:40 - Apr 25
Marcus, Mr Evans... you lot are unbelievable!! He has starved our club of funds and caused nauseous decade long stagnation. No others fans would be anywhere near as nice under the circumstances. He really did see some of you lot coming...
-74

carsey added 12:41 - Apr 25
Well I thought he came across very well and didn't try to disguise the fact that Town are average when it comes to spending power.
He is bank rolling the club with his personal finances and so long as he keeps doing that we have to accept where we are, unless some mega rich foreigner comes in.
It might take a couple of years but as he rightly pointed out, similar clubs on similar budgets have done it and there is no reason to believe, with the right manager, that Town can't get into the Premier League.
The next big thing is who gets the job, followed by how we start next season. That will determine whether the stay away fans come back and Portman Road is not a toxic atmosphere for the home team.
I am determined to be optimistic after years of McCarthy gloom.
57

MooseJuice added 12:42 - Apr 25
Pleased he's finally shown himself. It was a fair interview, credit for that.

People who keep banging on on about spend millions and millions or sell up are starting to grind on me. We know he has to put millions in every year just to keep the club healthy. If it was solely about spending money then Derby, Middlesbrough, Sheff Wed etc wouldn't still be in this league would they!? Sunderland and Hull had parachute payments... look where they are! I personally think a decent owner with his head screwed on is far better for a club than a foreigner who chucks a few quid at it then loses interest after a year or two and ley' s his club rot. Royle got us into the playoffs without two beans to rub togethet, even McCarthy did it!... so maybe we should appreciate that we do have an owner who is still interested in our club and running it properly rather than shouting about the only possible way to reach the playoffs is to throw £50m of his own money at players or Jeff Off!
71

blueheartXT added 12:43 - Apr 25
Well no sign of any significant extra investment although he puts a fair amount in (probably not enough)

I think a magician is required personally as our squad is not strong enough in depth once the inevitable injuries come into play

If we could keep everyone fit for the whole season we'd have a chance unfortunatly more often or not the replacements aren't good enough.

We need 22 first team quality playes and the youth waiting in the wings until then i think mid table stability is where we'll l remain and were gonna have to be thankfull each year if that happens
-9

44_not_out added 12:44 - Apr 25
Fair play to him. My only criticism is that he should've done this sooner. I thought he came across very well

To all those bleating about his lack of investment, he invests 7 million plus, each year but the majority of you won't shell out £300 for a season ticket..... just saying
54

Daz added 12:44 - Apr 25
Losses are used with in the group to minimise with less taxes etc but i will add the full loss to the clubs debt.

I'm happy with the plan regardless of the increasing debt
3

brendenward35 added 12:48 - Apr 25
I thought he came across as caring and honest to be fair, even his kids are involved and asking questions to their dad. Even if someone came along with money to buy the club he would consider if its right for the club. We can't argue with that can we. We all have to be realistic and don't expect too much. Fans through the turnstiles will make a massive difference to the club.
49

shoopdelang added 12:49 - Apr 25
Whats that guy doing the interviews background before working for ITFC?

Poor interviewing more of a staged long winded speech it seems.
-38


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