Manager Paul Lambert has dismissed claims that there is a dressing room mutiny at Town and says he laughs at reports along those lines.

Earlier in the week, Football Insider claimed that Lambert was facing dressing room unrest with relationships between the Blues boss and some of his senior players “fractured”.

Asked to address the report, Lambert said: “I’m pretty sure you can ask any player [about] that [and] I’ve never had fallout with [them].

“I have a laugh with them, I never have any arguments with them. I tell them if I don’t think they’re doing well.

“The world is brilliant, isn’t it? You read a tweet and you guys believe it. I can’t do anything about that.

“If somebody tells me Bart was in the tunnel arguing with a steward and somebody put it on a site and said it was a fight. Bart left here two years ago. It’s bizarre.

“I just laugh at all that nonsense, I just laugh. I don’t get involved in it. I don’t read anything, I don’t get involved, I just laugh.”

Marcus Evans publicly backed Lambert last month and is understood to still be firmly behind him and Lambert was asked whether the owner has given him any reassurance since last week’s 3-2 home defeat to strugglers Swindon.

“Number one, I don’t listen to any of that stuff. I don’t get involved with all that. Marcus has been good with us,” he said.

“Saturday, I was watching it, it wasn’t good enough. We never fought, we never ran, we never did the hard yards, never did the other side of the game.

“It doesn’t matter what type of footballer you are, you have to put the work in and I don’t think we ran hard enough on Saturday. We just relied on us maybe creating something or us trying to do something ability-wise.

“But ability-wise doesn’t always win you games, you’ve got to put the hard work in. Like any job, you’ve got to put the hard work in.”

Is he confident Evans will continue to back him? “I don’t really care, to be honest. What do you do? I said this to you last season, if Marcus says to go, you go. If Marcus says you say, you stay. I don’t have a problem. I get on really well with him, I don’t really get involved with this stuff.”

Asked to clarify what he meant by that, he added: “What I’m saying is, what can I do about it? If somebody comes and says ‘listen, you need to leave’, what can I do? You just say ‘OK, thank you very much, see you later’.

“You have to remember, I was at the highest level of football and I know how it works. I’ve worked with unbelievable managers, no stress, no nothing, pure stone cold focused on what I had to do.

“If Marcus says ‘Paul, you need to move’, what can I do? That’s what I mean by that, what can I actually do about it? Beg him and say ‘come on, come on!’? What do you do? There’s nothing I can do, that’s what I mean by that.

“The only answer is for us to try and get results, not for my sake but for the club’s sake and for the players’ sake to try and be successful. That’s our job, to try and make them successful, but there’s not a thing I can do with that if Marcus says anything like that, and I said that two years ago. If Marcus came to me, good, bad or indifferent and says I have to go, what can I do? Nothing.”

Would it hurt him if he left Town without having achieved what he’s wanted to achieve, chiefly getting the Blues back in the Championship? “If you don’t win any game of football, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a player or a manager, that always hurts you.

“That competitive thing never leaves you. If I was playing you at football in a one-v-one situation, I’d put you right on your arse because there’s no way you’d beat me.

“And it’s the same as a manager, it absolutely hurts you, the same as a player, it hurts you, and that’s the way it works.

“But when you get a decision which you can’t control, OK, no problem. There’s nothing you can do to control that, that comes from the hierarchy.

“Marcus has been great, I think he’s said to you guys [the media] that he knows the constraints we’re under here, so I hope you write it the right way where there’s nothing I can do about it. When you lose, you lose, that hurts and that’s always the case. But there aren’t too many times I’ve lost.”

Earlier in the week, the South West Branch of the Supporters Club joined independent fans’ group Blue Action in calling for a change of manager.

“You telling me something I don’t know. I’m oblivious to that,” Lambert said when asked about the calls. “The number of letters you get with people saying ‘stick with it, stick with it’ is incredible as well. That never gets highlighted because nobody ever says anything. You get a lot of support on that side of it but that’s fine.

“All the fans want is for the team is to be successful. They’ve had too many years here. Forty years ago was an incredible time here, the great, great players here, then the promotion team and all that. Great times.

“It’s been too long that this club hasn’t had anything to celebrate really. It’s not had anything for a long, long time.

“I can understand how it’s been for supporters and if things don’t go their way the first thing they’ll go for is the manager, that’s the first thing they’ll always go for, that always happens.

“We just hope that we can give them something. We have to give them something so they can say ‘OK, that was a successful time’ we have to get that that feeling where they say ‘OK, let’s see how it goes’.

Photo: Matchday Images

Bert added 11:32 - Jan 15 As with our Prime Minister, I don't know who to believe anymore. Lambert would be a fool to deny the rumours if they are true. Football Insider is run by rumour mongers. All I know is that if the tactics don't change and we are near to full strength and remain where we are then Lambert should go gracefully. Sadly, a manager with no plan B is not a manager for us. I wish Lambert a return to good health.

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mrfixit426 added 11:32 - Jan 15 "When you lose, you lose, that hurts and that's always the case. But there aren't too many times I've lost.” He's spent the majority of his managerial career losing, so that makes no sense at all.
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herobobby added 11:33 - Jan 15 Two words Pompous prick..... Lambert makes my blood boil
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vanmunt added 11:39 - Jan 15 Bore off LameBert.
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StringerBell added 11:44 - Jan 15 I really shouldn't read these articles as his ridiculous chuntering grits my sh1t so much. Such a tedious tossbag
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ronnyd added 11:50 - Jan 15 Quote "You have to remember, that i was at the highest level of football". Emphasis on the "was" there i reckon.
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SouperJim added 11:52 - Jan 15 “Bart was in the tunnel arguing with a steward.. Bart left here two years ago... I don't get involved in it. I don't read anything” So you didn't read it Paul, but you know what picture accompanied it?
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DifferentGravy added 11:53 - Jan 15 DING DING DING.......who had 'Ive played at the highest level of football' in Lambert bingo!?!? “The world is brilliant, isn't it? You read a tweet and you guys believe it. I can't do anything about that."...... Just like when Lambert states we have been playing well .....only difference being Ive actually seen the woeful tactics/formations/performances over the last three seasons.

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Suffolkboy added 12:05 - Jan 15 Not at all sure if it's what he says, how he says it ,just the structure of the words, OR how it gets reported upon and reflected in the media but it all becomes tediously unattractive somehow ! Whilst feeling certain PL ‘s heart is in the right place, equally he appears to maintain a protective carapace and warmth , passion and feelings do not come through . Managing is not an easily acquired skill set ; leading both on and off the field undoubtedly demanding AND couching reflections and views for public digestion ,in multifarious circumstances , another matter entirely . Too frequently ,as a supporter and observer, one feels it's a struggle to grasp ,even empathise , with what the team are trying for, or how our Manager explains, or not ! Most supporters will feel they actually want to not only understand ,but be a part of the ITFC team which moves forward ., Difficult though it is , come on PL , learn a bit more about how to take us with you ! COYB

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oldelsworthyfan added 12:08 - Jan 15 He would say that, wouldn't he.
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hogster1970 added 12:16 - Jan 15 well then lambo you live and die buy the sword, our current tactics and method of play isnt working is it, have we ever even with a full strength squad dominated any team in div 1 since we have been here , errrrr nope, if it wasnt down to the likes of edwards , and bishop with there indivual goals early on in the campain then we would be screwed, as thats the problem we are relying on individual brilliance rather than a team effort. players need to run more with the ball, make more movement off the ball and make the runs to split defence, all that simple stuff is missing. time for back to basics with the best available 11 for there rightfull postions and hopefullt a 442 approach will see us start to play better, again we are easy to play against and will have to play catch up to keep up, hence why for years we allways go backwards after xmas. even in the MM days thats what always happened.

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HarleydavidsonBlue added 12:18 - Jan 15 "But there aren't too many times I've lost.” According to TWTD web site, his managerial record at ITFC is Wins = 32% Draws = 24.3% Losses = 43.7% Hello .............
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Nobbysnuts added 12:23 - Jan 15 Idiot....
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Blue_badge added 12:36 - Jan 15 "The number of letters you get with people saying ‘stick with it, stick with it' is incredible as well" - the same "people" writing these letters as those telling Trump he's doing great!
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ThaiBlue added 12:39 - Jan 15 Just read a q&a in eadt and to me he does not give a brad pitt about his job or the team but he likes to tell everyone his highs in his career.Really hope he goes soon big attitude problem and could not care less,moan over.
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BlueBlood90 added 13:10 - Jan 15 It's like dying a slow death supporting us at the minute. Every interview he gives is exactly the same. He doesn't want to be here, Marcus Evans doesn't want to pay him off, so here we are.
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IpswichToon added 13:17 - Jan 15 If you actually read the original Football Insider article, it literally just says "Lambert is facing increasing pressure". It makes no direct mention of an actual mutiny or any legitimate unrest, only insinuating that there will likely be a mutiny if things continue the way they are. Please stop giving that horrible clickbaity article any merit.
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itfctim added 13:21 - Jan 15 Shambert...Delusion personified!
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MonkeyAlan added 13:21 - Jan 15 Same old BS. He knows what is being said. He isnt daft. He also knows what he is dishing up simply isn't good enough. Trouble is, he doesn't know how to change it. The biggest muppet in all this is of course Evans, because he is utterly clueless at running a football club. Will leave it too late as usual. And as for the players, don't get me started on some of those lightweights.

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WhoisJimmyJuan added 13:26 - Jan 15 Methinks the manager does protest too much.
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tetchris added 13:37 - Jan 15 He was at the game and he was in touch with the bench yet he couldn't effect the game, tactics, formation etc? I bet if Fergie missed a Man Utd game through illness I bet he was able to effect what was happening on the pitch by phone etc
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Wicksy added 14:36 - Jan 15 For a second I read that as 'Lambert dismissed...' Gutted
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tractorboybig added 15:08 - Jan 15 Well he would not admit loosing the dressing room even if the rumour was true and you mainly only get a job as manager replacing someone who has been sacked. Whole interview rather pointless.
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Cloddyseedbed added 18:05 - Jan 15 When Lambert 1st arrived I saw a manager pacing up and down the technical area, shouting directions and orders to all the players and wanting to kick and head and pass every ball himself. He was leaner, fitter and his appearance was sharper and smarter. Now I see a manager who looks completely baffled by what is in front of him and constantly siding up to his number 2 Taylor. His demeanour has changed, he has put on weight, can't be bothered to shave and looks scruffy. His motivation from technical area has disappeared and he comes across as having no answers to what is in front of him. If I was a player just looking at him would remove any motivation I needed. He's lost and out of his depth and looks and acts like it. If Evans can't accept that fact but is hanging onto him because of his long contract I fear the worst for our once great club. If a manager doesn't come across as wanting to turn things round and lacks fire in his belly it's time to go. What's more he doesn't come across as he'd give a damn, that can't be a good attitude to have in management.

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istanblue added 18:47 - Jan 15 ''If somebody comes and says ‘listen, you need to leave', what can I do? You just say ‘OK, thank you very much, see you later''. Yeah, and get a fat payoff because your clueless employer gave you a 5 year contract.
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