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

Lightningboy added 10:14 - Oct 26 #AnotherNewEra
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pablo123 added 10:17 - Oct 26 People on here make me laugh , this budgie plays exactly the same tactics as Mick, defend first and try and Nick one !! And now most of you are happy with that ??? Why?? We may aswell have kept Mick then , at least he's not ex scum !!!
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ChrisFelix added 10:21 - Oct 26 Who will ever forget Town 1 Norwich 5. The most humiliating game I have experienced at PR. This came after a 4 1 defeat in the way game. Manager of Norwich ???? .
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blueboy1981 added 10:22 - Oct 26 'you can please some of the people, some of the time - but never all of the people, all of the time'. Never truer words spoken. Stop the bickering, and the 'I hate Norwich' rubbish - and let's focus on getting some points on the board. Non of us like Norwich, because we support Ipswich - but we have to give credit where due and currently they leave us standing on all fronts. Let's all be focussed on reversing that, and that starts with unity, backing the Club, and giving everything our best shot. In other words :- The true, and legendary IPSWICH TOWN FC way.

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blueboy1981 added 10:28 - Oct 26 Don't keep harping on about 'the past' results against Norwich, it's water under the bridge - what we do against them in the future is what matters. Equally so - forget McCarthy, he's GONE - and won't be coming BACK, thankfully, as far as I and many others are. concerned. MOVE ON. - and spread the tunnel vision.
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afcfee added 10:30 - Oct 26 We really should of kept Mick even more so now.
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blueboy1981 added 10:32 - Oct 26 afcfee ......... buy a box of tissues please - then MOVE ON.
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tractorollson added 10:37 - Oct 26 Big Joe worked out ok and he was ex yellow, lets give him a chance, he cant be any worse than PH who was totally out of his depth and 3rd choice anyway
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blueherts added 10:42 - Oct 26 I think this is wrong call - We have tried old school methods last 10 years and failed - MM did financially very well for ME in the transfer market but lost the fans at the end Why not give the reigns to Klug , Nash and Hogg over next few months - we cannot be worst and frankly they know this club better than anyone . Not sold on Lambert - he did not rip uo any trees in previous jobs .

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truckerblue added 10:47 - Oct 26 Everyone give up on the "Klug for the job" he doesn't want it full time as he stated at the end of last season. Give him more of an input yes but otherwise let him carry on with what he does best.
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Henrietta_R_Hippo added 10:49 - Oct 26 @Guentchev Aye, regarding your amendment post of 08.46 I'm not sure either ...right NOW! lol So maybe his first couple of sessions with East Anglia's Boyz in Blue will go down something like this: :-) :-) (Although to perfectly honest dear @Guentchev I don't personally recall having seen any matches or game highlights with the imo for quite a while gradually but clearly turned more & more towards "Safety First, then live by Counterstrikes" thus not terribly exciting or daring Paul Lambert using 3 up front from start in RECENT years.... But obviously I trust you have done your homework, so it's on his menu card. But as inferred, here at ITFC with this current thin & poorish squad it will probably only happen after the January Window, at the earliest I think!)

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Essexnblue added 10:58 - Oct 26 Lets get bit of realism into this appointment, if confirmed. Who else is available who is experienced and has the knowledge to save a heavily sinking ship? If you poach then what Championship manager is wanting to come to us, so you go back to where Hurst has come from, which in hindsight would be a bad gamble. By the way Bruce is still being paid and hasn't reached a pay off settlement with Villa so he is NA. Lambert is hated in Norwich and that makes his appointment even more spicy as IMO he has nothing to lose. Having seen all except 1 game this season, the football has been poor and the organisation of the team even worse. So the job is enormous and again our business plan has been rocked by a poor appointment who stated that MM players were not good enough and promptly sold the crown jewels and brought in players for good fees who are clearly like the manager out of there depth. So discipline, confidence and motivation are the biggest things which PL needs to put on the table. If this is achieved then investment again from Evans is needed to complete the way forward. Embrace the change it has to be better than what we have had this season.

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ElephantintheRoom added 11:04 - Oct 26 Another shamefu and embarrasingl day in the club's shameful and embarrassing recent history. Hurst may or may not have been completely clueless but three months at an asset-stripped shell is hardly a fair crack of the whip. IF a young up and coming manager with knowledge of the lower leagues was the right decision three months' ago it still is - particularly as seems likely Town are in danger of the drop. Lambert is yet another overpaid lazy gravy train rider. His day has come and gone. At least he only has one yes man - but this clueless appointment is blindingly obviously a disaster waiting to happen.

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dirtydingusmagee added 11:15 - Oct 26 he will be wanting to make the canary's squirm, They wouldnt be bothered when at the other clubs but he knows he could really p#ss Norwich off with success at ITFC, That will be the motivation, he just needs Evans to change his ways and put up in the transfer market.I dont envy Lambert, his task is enormous given the players he has at present.One thing for sure is that he will be the one in charge now till the end,so we must give him support, there is no mistake we are looking doomed for the drop at the moment .

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Henrietta_R_Hippo added 11:18 - Oct 26 @Blueboy Your post of 10.01: Sure!... had you asked me just a few years ago, as I thought that to be a "dead certain" ..until Kingdom Come!. But in recent years with football clueless & predominantly football-indifferent Ebeneezer Evans and his jaw-droppingly awesome (not!) & SECOND TO NONE mixture of tighta$$ness, eagerly selling-out of too many key players (despite comfortably having a reported net worth of £ 800 mill!!!), needless snail-like hesitation with axing MM and just general stream of Cock & Bull stories and broken promises either trough his fabulous MD mouthpiece Mr. Milne or via blatantly obvious scripted interviews.... I've SERIOUSLY considered switching over to St. Albans City FC on more than one occasion!!!. What color do they play in nowadays btw, do you know? :-) lol :-)

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DaGremloid added 11:19 - Oct 26 For me, the problem was appointing Paul Hurst in the first place. We had the perfect opportunity to seek out a really good manager because finding one should be a lot easier between seasons than once a season has started. I was totally underwhelmed with the appointment of PH — his track record never said to me he was capable of the step up and I believe there were better managers around: there certainly wasn't the panic or the rush to find a new manager then as there is now. I agree wholeheartedly with JimBaxter when he said in an earlier post that there seemed to be so many on this site lauding PH as the new Messiah. Personally, as I say, I just couldn't see it but I was more than willing to support him and give him a chance, although my alarm bells certainly started ringing with the mass exodus of good players and the influx of new, lower league ones. I don't want to disrespect PH as he seems to be a genuinely nice guy and I desperately did want him to succeed, but he and Deputy Doig (who may have been more of a problem than PH) really have left us in a mess. So now we have found ourselves scrabbling around trying to find a new manager to rescue us from the abyss, at a time when there aren't many good managers around — the best ones are now all employed. And also, who in their right minds would want to come to Portman Road at the moment, with the club in such appalling disarray, both on and off the field? After supporting the club for almost 50 years it breaks my heart to see Ipswich Town in this state. I keep thinking it can't get any worse but it does. We're never going to be a top 6 Premier League Club with the way football is these days, but we should be so much better than we are. Anyway, if it is going to be Paul Lambert, which looks like being the case, then he has my full support. I don't buy into the Norwich thing and nor should any Town fan. As someone else stated, players and managers flit between rivals all the time. I love this club more than any one person. COYB.

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bluesarge added 11:22 - Oct 26 Me too I am not pleased at an ex Carrot cruncher being at my club but like others have said so was BFJ he was ok. So lets forget it and look forward to moving up the table to safety and even higher. Followed ITFC for 50 years aint going to stop now. COYB
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Razor added 11:26 - Oct 26 Hey peeps lets remember we support IPSWICH TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB----THE TEAM. If Lambert is appointed he will have a massive job and will need ALL our support----petty emotions aside and lets do it TOGETHER-----PLEASE!!
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blueboy1981 added 11:27 - Oct 26 Henrietta ......... I think we have all had similar thoughts on more than one occasion - however we always revert back to original settings, on the prospect of another new dawn. It will come - eventually - but hopefully now.
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baxter7 added 11:27 - Oct 26 All you lot on here moaning about Lambert so what if he was a Norwich manager he if gets us out of the s--t who cares so get behind him and the team and stop bloody moaning
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afcfee added 11:30 - Oct 26 I swear Ipswich fans are deluded to be happy look at the comments from a neutral POV. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157249023315982&id=8585725981&anch
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blueboy1981 added 11:40 - Oct 26 Above all today :- Remember - THE BEAT.
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Murphys_Law added 12:03 - Oct 26 If he's brave enough to take this task on with the current squad then fair play and he gets my full support! Time to get behind the team, 4th bottom would be an awesome achievement. COYB
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philpott2 added 12:05 - Oct 26 I'm finding this a real toughie! I for one was totally fed up with MM...playing people out of position, bigging up the opposition, setting up not to concede against a poor team but telling everyone how good they were, one decent player they might have, but we set up 11 to combat that one! I for one cried out for some attacking football, crisp passing and movement, not goofball! Then he was gone...PH came in.....and there appeared to be a plan......i was happy to go along with it. My two lads and I enjoyed the pre-season game at MK. We passed it about at the back like England at the WC, wait for a gap to open up and the many with the ball would take it forward, a few neat passes and we moved up the pitch, eventually looking like we had a chance of scoring. Great stuff, the players might take a while to adapt, but Edwards, Woolfie etc. we're making me smile. Harrison had literally just signed, but although terribly one-footed he was lovely, quick, hungry, and could jump as high as David Johnson... But virtually our entire front players left, meager replacements, and we were no longer looking good in any way shape or form. ME had to change things. Simple fact. I thought we looked better v Leeds than a number of our previous games, but never looked like scoring....again. I'm not keen on Lambert, but will happily back him as I have done Hurst, but for me he is one of a large number of managers that has had very little success in that role, a brief high, and then joins the merry-go-round of sackings, appointments, fizzling out, sacking etc. Along with Bruce, Carvalhal, Hughes, Warburton, Rowett, Monk, McLaren etc. Please whoever comes in, organise, galvanize, teach them to pass to each other, and sort out that midfield. Skuse is okay for me, but bring some skill alongside him with a Dozzell etc. Nolan, I don't get the fuss about him but he can improve. Chalobah is so far off being a decent player it beggars belief (the same turn every time he gets the ball!), and Nsiala might be fine with 3 centrehalves, but he hits the floor, slides in far too much for my liking. Anyway, am fed up holding my phone typing all of this, as I'm thinking so much more. Maybe later!!! COYB. And RIP Mr Beattie - chatted to me for ages at a pre-season friends over at Rushden and Diamonds years ago. Top bloke!

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philpott2 added 12:06 - Oct 26 Or hoofball, lol......or maybe it was!!
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