Paul Lambert will be confirmed as Town’s new manager within the 48 hours, TWTD understands.

Paul Hurst’s short spell as Blues boss ended this afternoon with the former Shrewsbury manager, his assistant Chris Doig, fitness coach Nathan Winder and physio Chris Skitt also leaving the club.

Hurst's stint of 149 days and 15 games is the shortest in the club's professional history.

Owner Marcus Evans has sounded out a number of potential new managers over the last couple of weeks - ex-Millwall boss Ian Holloway, former Villa boss Tim Sherwood and Leicester assistant manager Michael Appleton among them - following Town’s disastrous start to the season.

Evans relieved Hurst of his duties this afternoon with the players, who had been given the day off, called to Playford Road to be given the news.

We understand Lambert, 49, is expected at the club tomorrow with the loose ends relating to his recruitment expected to be tied up in time for confirmation of his appointment either tomorrow or Saturday. It's believed he will sign a three-year deal.

In the meantime, Bryan Klug has been reappointed caretaker-manager and will be in charge at the Den. The academy head of coaching and player development will take tomorrow's press conference, which won't be shown on Facebook Live.

Lambert’s assistant is likely to be former Norwich defender Ian Culverhouse, who resigned from his position as manager of Grantham Town last week. Culverhouse, 54, previously worked alongside Lambert at Colchester United, Norwich City and Aston Villa.

Lambert was last in a job earlier this year, taking charge of Stoke City in January but leaving in May following the Potters’ relegation to the Championship.

Previously he was in charge at Wolves, Blackburn and Villa, but is most remembered in East Anglia for his stint in charge at Norwich between 2009 and 2012 during which he took them from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons.

The Scot had joined the Canaries from Colchester United where he had spent just under a year. The U's had defeated Norwich 7-1 on the opening day of 2009/10.

His managerial career started at Livingston, where he finished his playing days, before he moved on to Wycombe.

A midfielder, he played for St Mirren, Motherwell, Borussia Dortmund - with whom he won the Champions League - and Celtic as well as Livingston and won 40 caps for Scotland, scoring once.

Photo: Action Images

AndrewPC added 21:18 - Oct 25 The first thing to be said is that the appointment of Lambert is not a good solution from the perspective of ITFC strategy. Separately, the sacking of Hurst and his team tells us that owner Evans is now desperate. He alone is accountable for the manager selection and again he has failed with Hurst. Clearly, having given Hurst his "freedom". over changes at the club, Evans has quickly voted for survival in League 2 rathr than relegation. Problem is, will Lambert deliver that ? Tall order, and good luck to him as he is already appointed. however, WHAT THE HELL IS THE FUTURE for this great club

0

AndrewPC added 21:19 - Oct 25 The first thing to be said is that the appointment of Lambert is not a good solution from the perspective of ITFC strategy. Separately, the sacking of Hurst and his team tells us that owner Evans is now desperate. He alone is accountable for the manager selection and again he has failed with Hurst. Clearly, having given Hurst his "freedom". over changes at the club, Evans has quickly voted for survival in League 2 rathr than relegation. Problem is, will Lambert deliver that ? Tall order, and good luck to him as he is already appointed. however, WHAT THE HELL IS THE FUTURE for this great club

1

happybeingblue added 21:21 - Oct 25 Oh my god this is unbelievable
-5

JimBaxter added 21:29 - Oct 25 I really despair with some of the muppets who post on this site.Paul Lambert is Scottish he is not a budgie he is a football manager and will work for whoever pays his wages. So please give the guy a chance he has a better managerial record than Hurst who was portrayed as the messiah by some on this site and has shown to be completely out of his depth. His style of football has been worse than MM and no one can question that. I also get fed up with the ‘this once great club' comments posted by so many on this site. I have been watching Ipswich since the mid 80s and apart from a few years with Lyall and Burley the football has been pretty mediocre. The bottom line is that Ipswich are a fairly average championship team and hopefully Mr Lambert can keep us in the division so forget all the moronic budgie comments and support the new manager...get real guys

26

BlueParadigm added 21:32 - Oct 25 Come on peeps - forget the East Anglian tribalism and get behind the Lambert appointment if confirmed. He has a decent track record and will be highly motivated to get back into the game and prove that he is still a good Manager. The last thing he and his staff need on their first outing at PR is to be greeted by jeers and boos. The club will need every ounce of support they can get to help the new guy dignus out of this mess! COYB

24

Tootingblue added 21:35 - Oct 25 Anyone else remember how the crowd sang anti Joe Royle songs before his appointment because of the Norwich link? That didn't turn out so bad and we all came to love BFJ and his entertaining approach. We need to get over ourselves, Lambert is a decent shout with his experience. Just remember it could have been Grayson, Holloway or Megson. COYB.
18

cranky_old_tractor added 21:36 - Oct 25 The right decision today. Whoever replaces PH has to be better. It would be good to have ITFC blue blood in our new manager but I hope Lambert and Culverhouse can turn this around. ME needs to give them cash (lots of it) but starting now would be a good move. Personally do not care about their Norwich link and will get right behind them. Come on ITFC
10

cranky_old_tractor added 21:41 - Oct 25 Question: With PH and his Shrews departing IP1, will this impact NIsala and Nolan's performance? Guess these guys will move on (soon) too
1

ArnieM added 21:42 - Oct 25 Two schools of thought on Lamberts appointment. 1) if he cockis it up and we go down. It'll be “ agent Lambert” etc etc... Or 2) Lambert keeps us up and even better Town flourish under his leadership , and it'll be such a massive coup for ITFC that it will REALLY stick in the scums throat for ever more. I know which scenario I'm hoping for.
7

ArnieM added 21:45 - Oct 25 Ps meant to say “ Welcome to Portman Road, Paul Lambert” !
4

AndrewPC added 21:48 - Oct 25 Hey Jim Baxter Listen we are all ITFC fans and want the best for the team and the club. Those of us who are older than you remember our FA Cup victory (I was there) as the precursor to further successful exploits in Europe. The world of football finance has now changed dramatically, And in the Championship there is no level playing field. You are - apparently - in favour of th appointment of Paul Lamberrt at ITFC at this moment in time. You are welcome to your opinion My own view is that, the owner has again made an error in providing zero information why this person and what is his mandate Personally, I see little in the CV of Lambert as a manager thqt is a long term solution, only - perhaps - to keep us up. ( BTW, I do not ignore his courage to go and play in Germany as a player)

1

algarvefan added 21:53 - Oct 25 Forget the Norwich connection, don't give a damn about that. He did a good job there but that was years ago, what has he achieved since?, the list of possibles in underwhelming to say the least and is comment to our current standing. We need a miracle to say the least, I hope he's a success and I'm prepared to eat my words and apolgise if he is, but I'm completely underwhelmed by this appointment. He will however get my support as a Town manager.

-2

Bluefish11 added 21:55 - Oct 25 Without naming him, If i told you we are getting an ex Prem league manager who had also previously taken a club from Div 1 to Prem in back to back seasons, AND he won the Champions League as a player, you would all be wetting yourself with excitement. Forget the Norwich connection, he was doing a job and now he is coming here to do a job! Bring it on. And if he fails through lack of £ support, then get Evans out, this is your last chance Evans!

14

Sospiri added 21:59 - Oct 25 Hurst was a nice guy, but I never got the impression he would have gelled with the players; he's just too cold. And it was confirmed when he angrily blamed them for the Exeter loss, something Chambers clearly took exception too. Interesting how there have been hardly any player interviews on Ipswich Player since Hurst took over, and not a word of Klug. Basically, I just don't think the players liked him . And Doig just seemed like a playground bully, which would just have made things worse. I think what we need now is an easy-going, likable manager who will laugh and joke and bond with the players and give them their confidence back; Paul Lambert is the perfect man for that job.

9

SheptonMalletBlue added 22:03 - Oct 25 Shame it's not Mick Lambert
0

62WasBest added 22:04 - Oct 25 Is this really a progressive step? I think our current position would test a good manager and I'd have to be convinced that Lambert is a good manager these days.
2

AndrewPC added 22:08 - Oct 25 BlueFish 11 You are enthusiastic for the appointment of Lambert on the basis of his record, I hope you are right but from my perapective I think you are wrong. Time will tell but do not gorget that sustainable change requires a robust strategy. IMO, we will have neither with Lambert and Evans
1

BlueandTruesince82 added 22:14 - Oct 25 He's not appointed yet, would be premature for Evans to comment just yet
0

terry_butchers_twin added 22:15 - Oct 25 From the NCFC WRATH IF THE BARCLAY website, the most commented on post today!! Please form two lines. Behind me: Those who absolutely loved Paul Lambert but understand that a man has to make a living. Second line: Those who are having a right old underwear damping foot stomp because it makes him some kind of arsehole and, in the view of some, an actual c**t.

-1

warktheline added 22:16 - Oct 25 Hapless Hurst should have gone at the very latest after the Swansea game, yeah you know the ‘pure fluke' 3 points so many on this forum were ‘lording' over throughout the international break! So fickle! Thus I can only conclude the majority have ‘smelt' the coffee! Trouble is the ‘majority' doesn't include the ‘minority', which turns my attention to Evans!!!! Oh dear, oh dear! ‘Double espresso' for Evans please, ASAP! You have got to be having a ‘giraffe' ????.....the ‘dark lord part 2', step forward ‘journeyman' Paul Lambert, yeah he hit the ‘giddy heights' in another part ( or two ) of East Anglia and took immense pleasure in showing total distain towards Ipswich Town FC ( no I won't get over it, and I won't ever be forgetting it! ) and since been ‘kicking around' doing the ‘rounds' with little, if any success! At best he'll ‘organise' ! How the hell somebody like Lambert keeps gaining decent managerial positions ahead of the likes of Steve Clarke ( Kilmarnock revival ) is totally beyond me!!!! Happy clappers get pressing !!!!!!

-4

boysof81 added 22:19 - Oct 25 If Paul Lambert is the best of the bunch then its a slamming indictment of how far Evans has let our club slide. Personally would have given Mark Wharberton a shout.Dosnt take a genius to predict the outcome with such lack of investment
-1

Grim added 22:19 - Oct 25 “I have loved it (pressure) for years. Does it affect me? Not really. The players and fans are my main concern. They are the most important people.“ -PL from the sackrace.com Agree with previous comments not ideal BUT looking at positives, what an opportunity to put egg on budgie faces! Not a boring season, weirdly enjoying it but also pooping my pants.
1

Grim added 22:27 - Oct 25 Ok who am I kidding, we are in the 🥔
-2

warktheline added 22:28 - Oct 25 Evans! Get that statue up of Kevin Beattie and give this club something to really ‘lord' over! Not only the majority of fans worshipped the man, but also the players that had the privilege to have played alongside and against him! Two words summed this legend up ‘Awe inspiring' !!! Thereafter sell up or whatever you must do to leave our club alone! Enough is more than enough!

1

jackson added 22:38 - Oct 25 Lambert could easily be the BEST thing that ever happened to ITFC. He was absolutely brilliant at Norwich teaching a truly lousy + newly relegated team who just got thrashed 1-7 how to "play without fear" - something sadly lacking at ITFC. He also left Norwich under a cloud with little love lost between them. I can see him really putting his heart+soul into this job. Ip will win the next Derby and stay up - mark my words.

6

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls