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Lambert: Evans is a Very Good Owner But We Have Running Battles
Tuesday, 17th Dec 2019 14:22

Blues boss Paul Lambert says Marcus Evans is a “very good” club owner but admits he doesn’t always agree with him and says the pair have “running battles”.

Asked at last night’s PLC AGM whether Evans was going to back him with cash for experienced signings in January, Lambert said: “The last conversation I had with Marcus was him saying to never really protect him. And I agree with him, I won’t protect him in a lot of stuff, I did it once and it never did me any favours.

“There two sides to look at him, I think. If he wasn’t as good as what he was then your club could be the same as Bury, it could be in real trouble. He keeps everything afloat. We work within the parameters of what he says.

“Do I agree with him all the time? No, I don’t. I don’t agree with him all the time. I’ll probably want things that he doesn’t want and vice versa, it’s give or take with him.

“But as an owner he’s very good because he looks after the club where you look at the way some football clubs are run now, it’s a precarious business that the owners are in.

“Unless there are so many investors, five or six of them, then that’s not a problem, but you’ve got one investor here.

“I heard the debt earlier, £90-odd million. Jesus! That’s incredible, absolutely incredible. You look at that side of it, there are good bits to him.

“But definitely, the other side of it, we have a running battle, [general manager of football operations] Lee [O’Neill] will tell you, we have running battles. And probably the best man wins and [the other one] succumbs to it.


“We can’t go and buy loads of players, it’s impossible, that isn’t going to happen, spending millions isn’t going to happen, that’s me being realistic.

“We have to try and battle against a lot of things to try and get ones in that we think can help us, whether that’s experience, young guys who have played 100 games, that’s experience.

“So, if we can’t go out and do it, no doubt me and Marcus will probably have a little nibble at each other!”

O’Neill added: “It’s also important to point out that we’ve got a big squad. We’ve got players returning from injury, players that we’ve had at the football club that have done very well.

“Both Freddie [Sears] and Teddy [Bishop] are coming back from long-term injuries, that’s two more players to add to the existing squad.

“I think there’s really healthy competition, so if we are looking at any players out there, they have to be fundamentally better than what we’ve got or not stopping the opportunity for one of the younger players coming through.

“It’s an ongoing conversation, they don’t just stop and happen in the transfer window in the summer and in the winter, they’re ongoing conversations that myself, Paul and Marcus have all the time about the squad and areas we can make improvements on. Whether that be financial or development, we have to look at it all the time.”

O’Neill says Evans has shown willingness to loosen the purse strings when signings have been required.

“I’d just like to say that 12 months ago we were talking about how much more involved Marcus was going to be involved in the day to day operations of the football club,” he added.

“Myself and Mark Andrews, head of finance, have lots of meetings with Marcus and we have got that long-term strategy and plan and vision in place, along with the manager’s thoughts on how we’re going to play.

“Like we’ve talked about, it is one of our key initiatives to bring younger players through the football club.

"“We’re not going to be in a position where we’re going to have an open chequebook in the transfer windows to go and buy significant players.

“But if you look at the last window where, for example, we didn’t have a successful right-back in the building that we feel can do the job the manager required, Marcus was willing to invest into that area [by signing Kane Vincent-Young from Colchester for £500,000] and we looked at the strategy going forward.

“I think it will be looking out there, with the recruitment strategy, we wouldn’t invest in those areas if we weren’t looking.

“We have to go out there and try and find the right blend of players that can fit both the way the manager wants to play, the age profile and the position profile.

“And if we can do that, and if we can find them at the right price, then I’m sure that’s a situation Marcus will look at.

“But one of our fundamental strategies though is to try and encourage the development of the younger players from within the club.”

You can find notes from the question and answer session on the TWTD Forum here.


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ITFCsince73 added 14:32 - Dec 17
All I know is in 2007, we was an ambitious type Championship club. Always to start the season as minimum top six finish, being the target.
Nowadays it would appear, we have more chance of L2 than premier league. Good or bad. Rightly or wrongly. That's the current day ITFC.
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Bluearmy_81 added 14:54 - Dec 17
Agree 73. The facts don't lie. He's been a disaster for ITFC. 12 years to get from the verge of the prem to league 1 whilst trebling the debt. Absolute s hitshow
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Bluearmy_81 added 15:00 - Dec 17
Norwich fans love Evans for obvious reasons. Oh and rabbit, suffolk boy dozzellbobble etc 😂
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Gilesy added 15:05 - Dec 17
And your suggestion to a new approach is...oh that's right, you haven't got one.

Simpleton.
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Bluearmy_81 added 15:08 - Dec 17
Oh that's right I forgot, if I haven't got the answers or the money then as a fan of ITFC I can't moan/state the above.. Never heard the likes of it, you lot are truly special...
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SouperJim added 15:24 - Dec 17
Oh good, this again.

The current state of play in our football isn't sustainable. Yes Evans has made some poor choices, but you can't blame him for the way the playing field has changed beyond all recognition since he bought the club. He's spent £60m-odd and it's not been enough to even keep us where we were. That's not entirely his fault, some of his appointments could have been better and it would have helped, but not enough to do any more than slow the decline (baring a freak promotion).

We are where we are. I see little point in giving it out to Evans and it's probably foolish to bite the hand that feeds us.
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dirtydingusmagee added 15:31 - Dec 17
Its hard to swallow ,[been a Town supporter since 60s] but football has changed big time over that period of time. Football is no longer a sport , its a business , and ITFC is just a corner shop, trying to compete with the supermarket chains. all we can realistically hope for is survival, to do as well or hopefully a bit better than the shop on the next corner. We will jog a long in hope until one day the shutters come down for the last time, swallowed up by the all consuming Premier league, which in turn will succumb to the bigger European leagues, I TELL YOU NOW we're doomed ,i say, we're doomed, and its nothing to do with global warming ,Brexit, the price of fish& chips or Evans [well yes he is a bit guilty ] anyway im going for a pint .
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Bluearmy_81 added 15:40 - Dec 17
"That's not entirely his fault, some of his appointments could have been better..."

And who appointed them?!! Evans! So in actual fact its all his fault!! You couldn't make it up!!
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Lathers added 15:42 - Dec 17
Do their running battles go something like “Paul, your 14 months in charge has actually been pretty awful and I'm starting to think you don't know what you're doing?” “Marcus I'm doing really, really well and I've played for some really, really big clubs”.
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dirtydingusmagee added 15:49 - Dec 17
Bluearmy, '' us lot'' just need someone to come up with the solution , We all want better for the club, each week after a bad result you blame Evans and ''you lot'', if you take the time and make your next post a plausible ,strategy to take the club forward , perhaps we can present your obviously cunning plan to M E . Until then i will just have to believe we are in the dung and put up with the smell.
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ArnieM added 15:55 - Dec 17
Football is this Country has changed from one of a fairly even playing field to that which had been ruined by Sky money . It's dead in the water now and only a matter of time before it goes tits up at ALL levels . Then the money sucking leeches will move into a new arena , probably the Far East . I just hope sky f lucks off with them plus the so called top 5 Clubs from this Country.
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Bluearmy_81 added 15:56 - Dec 17
Yeah dirty, just shrug, quietly moan to yourself, maybe kick a cat. Whatever you do though don't give Evans grief and let him know you're fcuked off with what he's done to YOUR Club, like any other football fan at any other club up and down this country would!! Unbelievable
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d77sgw added 16:05 - Dec 17
Bluearmy81 - with reference to your third comment above, yes, precisely that. If you can't come up with some kind of alternative, your moaning about Evans' ownership is completely pointless. Clearly every decision he has made has not been perfect, but thats in the past. If continues to fund us into the future we should be grateful. Unless you have a better proposition. Seriously, what is it? Who does he sell the club too?
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Bluearmy_81 added 16:10 - Dec 17
You just don't get it do you?!! Its my club and I have a right to moan and if you don't like it tough!! It's not the 18th century where serfs put up and shut up! It's biazzare, I think serfdom is hard wired into some of you lot
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Carberry added 16:26 - Dec 17
Evans bought the club thinking a return to the Premier League would be achieved quickly, he made poor decisions on manager recruitment, allowing them to spend on players that got us nowhere, so we are in League 1 and he is notionally £100m down. If we are promoted he won't put his hand in his pocket to make us competitive, in fact he will sell our best players to cover losses as he has done consistently over the last 5 years at least. It is unrealistic to believe the products of our Academy will get us to the Prem because you need a blend of experience and youth which will cost money and the best of those youngsters will move on anyway. So there it is, mid table Championship at best, that's our future. And Lambert speaks about 'your' club - he's not in for the long haul, why would he be, he must be able to see the writing on the wall.
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Bluearmy_81 added 16:35 - Dec 17
Indeed Carberry. If we go up (trust me I'm an itfc fan, I want us to but it is looking less likely by the week) he won't invest what he needs to to see us be competitive. Stagnation or yo yo is the future. Still some here will be apologists, make excuses and back the man! He must pi ss himself at some of you lot!! And you call yourself town fans, you have some funny priorities...
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SouperJim added 16:37 - Dec 17
Bluearmy you dullard, yes HIS appointments. I.e. he could have made better appointments. Of course he is responsible for who he put in charge, but not for the way the game has changed. It's called trying to have a bit of a perspective and present a balanced argument, rather than just bleating on because it's your "right".
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Bildestoned added 16:37 - Dec 17
It seems odd to me that so many here cannot contemplate just where ITFC would be if ME had not stepped in. My suspicion is that it would no longer exist. His track record of ownership may not be a stellar one but he's a member of an increasingly large club. Plus, we should do well to remember how 1 x new stand + 1 x relegation = STRUGGLE. Not long after ME took the club owner I had to sweat blood to get my boss to (as he saw it) ‘risk' doing business with the Club. Let's just fight for our team and town.
10

Bluearmy_81 added 16:40 - Dec 17
That's the thing though, there is no fight in you lot. Just passive accepting apathy!! So poor. Wet as fcuk
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IpswichToon added 16:43 - Dec 17
It seems like some people think there is some god-given right that ITFC belong in or near the Premier League. Where has this ideology come from? This is football, and this is the kind of thing that can happen. Yes we've won a few things, but we've spent the majority of our existence outside of the top flight. You can blame the owner or financial restrictions or as much as you like, but it doesn't always come down to some small, big, or even continued series of mistakes on the owner's behalf. No owner has a magic 8-ball, and they're all trying to do the same thing. I don't think Marcus Evans has ever done anything particularly detrimental to the club, at least not directly. I'd much rather he stay than leave right now. Stop acting like a spoilt child and be a bit more positive about 'your club' sitting 2nd in the league.
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SouperJim added 16:44 - Dec 17
Amusing to hear you saying he must be laughing at us, yes I'm sure he's laughing about the £60m he's lost. Painting Evans as some kind of panto villain going about his evil deeds is moronic. You don't think he wants what is best for the club he is the majority shareholder for? You're just another fringe loon on the outside p!ssing in, while completely unable to present any kind of alternative. What is it that you want Evans to do?
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Bluearmy_81 added 16:51 - Dec 17
Can't be bothered mate you must be fckin simple. Or Norwich. Or both
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SouperJim added 16:54 - Dec 17
Brilliant. So you have absolutely no clue how Evans can do anything better, or any viable alternative to the status quo, but let's just give it out to Evans anyway because it's our right to do so and it's all his fault.

And I'm the simple one.
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Bluearmy_81 added 17:03 - Dec 17
Omg I can't quite believe what I'm reading! It's obvious. You're a fan of ITFC and you don't think it might be an idea for him to spend a bit in January?! We are in league one because he underfunded the team, as Carberry says, sold our best players (who can blame them wanting to leave a club with zero ambition) and got a league 1 squad in to (not) compete in the championship. I want him to spend some of his billions on players to fix the mess he's got us into!! And yes I know there are restrictions but as best he is able to. From a fan perspective that's not asking too much!! Thrn if/when we go up I want him to carry on spending what he needs to to make us competitive. When he bought us he took on a duty of care if you will to the football club and has failed us massively. It's the least he could do. And as a fan of ITFC it's the least you should expect!!
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TimmyH added 17:05 - Dec 17
Obi Ed Sheeran Kenobi...you're our only hope!
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