Former academy coach Alan Lee has lifted the lid on life working at Town during the latter years of the Marcus Evans era, branding it an “unprofessional environment” with “no accountability throughout the club”.

Former striker Lee returned to the Blues as an academy coach in 2013 but moved on in 2018 as his frustrations with life at Town grew to the extent where he hated working there.

“You just started to feel that working in the academy, I thought it was a very unprofessional environment,” he said in part two of his Blue Monday-TWTD podcast.

“There was so much going on, the behaviours, a lack of discipline, from coaches. Standards.

“Everyone was trying to go on every course to try and get as many qualifications as they could. Everyone was trying to show that tactically they can work with the first team and win games.

“Very few people would actually do a bit of work one-on-one with players. Every decision was short-term, no one was making long-term decisions for the good of the football club and I felt it had taken over the club.

“There was no support there. I started hating working there and I could see in [former manager] Mick [McCarthy] that the stress built because he didn’t deserve the treatment he was getting. And he wasn’t getting support from the club.

“Ultimately, I remember the day it was sorted out. He had the meeting with [former owner] Marcus [Evans] and his contract wasn’t renewed or whatever they said, it was mutual.

“He came in the next day and he looked five years younger and I realised actually that was the best thing for him. He just had this weight off his shoulders. He was carrying everything.

“It was a mad time to work at the club. You could see everything going, it was like a car crash in slow motion, like the Five-Point Plan and this idea that we’re going to stroke it around at the back.

“I can remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to get out of here’. I had very little respect for the people I was working with, or most of them certainly.

“In the space of two years we lost Mick, Terry Connor, Andy Liddell [fitness coach], Malcolm Webster [goalkeeper-coach], Simon Milton [director of academy sales/player liaison], Steve McGavin [head of academy recruitment], James Scowcroft, Titus Bramble, Steve Foley, Ben Pugh, Duncan Wheeler [who were all coaching in the academy], sorry if I’ve missed anyone.

“We’d lost so many people you could depend on to do their job for Ipswich Town. They didn’t want to go and work for the first team, they didn’t want to up their careers or think about the next job, you could depend on these guys to do good. And they all went.

“I thought ‘I’ve got to get out of here’. I can’t look sponsors in the eyes or do the end-of-season Player of the Year awards and think ‘oh, this great and we’re on the right track’ because I knew we weren’t.

“Decisions weren’t being made for the right of the football club. And the football club suffered badly because of it.”

He added: “With leadership, you have to have accountability. What I found was that there was no accountability throughout the club.

“Coaches, people didn’t have to do their jobs. Some people chose to do them, some didn’t know how to do them. No one had to do their jobs, no one was responsible for anything. Without that, it was just the wild west.

“I think the people that Marcus had in charge and the people he went to for leadership had no idea what you might have to do to be a successful professional footballer, to become a professional footballer, to run a team or where to invest or what to do.

“When the Five-Point Plan was going out, I was thinking, ‘what were we doing before?’. It’s a soundbite.

“I remember when we were saying we’re going to stroke it around at the back and everyone had this plan, and I remember going straight to Bryan Klug and saying ‘Bryan, we will get relegated. Do the people not realise why Mick had to play the way he did last year?’

“It was insane because we were saying we going to stroke it around at the back.

“I remember that that they were looking for a manager and I remember phoning Dave Bowman, saying ‘what about this manager, what about this? They’ve got some experience’.

“An old manager of mine phoned me up and said ‘Alan, can you get my CV in?’. And I phoned Dave Bowman and he said ‘they won’t even consider him’. ‘But he’s had two promotions to the Premier League!’. He said, ‘Yes, I know but they want somebody young and fresh’.

“You had this mad situation where you got the impression that the job was going to be given to somebody who was inexperienced enough to say ‘yes, I can work under those budget constraints and play it out from the back’. And you could see it coming.

“But again, no one was really responsible, no one knew who had come up with the plan. I certainly know that anyone that was experienced and honest at that football club was not consulted. Anyone qualified to put a plan together was not consulted.

“They might be good plans for Man City, they might sound good and everyone says ‘well, if you play the same formation throughout the club it’ll help’.

“Anyone who suggests that just hasn’t worked in youth development at our level, that is so far from the truth you don’t know what you’re talking about if you think that’s a helpful perspective. Knowing the challenges you have with youth, it’s just nonsense.”

Photo: TWTD

blues1 added 16:45 - Jun 18 Bluearmy81. No. Ur right. And I dont think for a minute it would have done. And wasnt against anyone wanting to put pressure on him to sell. What im saying is there were fans who were suggesting that should happen. ( forcing him to walk away that is.). Fortunately, that's all water under the bridge now and hopefully, the only way is up. But we do have to be patient. It may not happen overnight. May be a couple of seasons before we get up. My concern us that some wont be willing to wait that long and will expect success overnight. It could happen but theres no guarantee.

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Bluearmy_81 added 17:01 - Jun 18 Blues1, I don't remember anyone ever wanting him to 'walk away.' Anyone who wanted Evans out surely wanted a new owner, that is total common sense and goes eithout saying. Anyway, onwards and upwards. COYB
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Bluearmy_81 added 17:03 - Jun 18 Like I say too many fans had eternal patience for Evans, 14 years!! The new owners definitely deserve patience, not 14 years worth but at least a year or two. As long as they are doing the right things (at present I don't think they can be faulted) it's alright by me...
4

jas0999 added 17:17 - Jun 18 I'm afraid I'm not surprised by any of this. Despite the spin, Evans ran the club into the ground often making abysmal decisions such as giving a failing manager a five year deal. His biggest mistake in recent years was neglecting and failing to invest into the most important aspect of a football club - the team.
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norfolkbluey added 17:30 - Jun 18 'The King is dead long live the King'. The trouble for us the fans is that we mostly didn't realise fully what was going on. Looking back I now have a degree of understanding for both Mick M and PL . It must have been extremely difficult for them under ME. If what Alan Lee is telling us is the unadulterated story then this ship has been sinking for a long time and our future success is now in the hands of a far more professional group of owners and a manager with proper backing. Good luck to all those in charge of our beloved club and thank you for giving us the fans something to hope for over the next few years.

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therein61 added 17:53 - Jun 18 It appears to be like Biden taking over from Trump after his idiotic term on office.
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Gcon added 18:07 - Jun 18 McCartney never deserved to be hounded out of this club. Evans did.
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Gcon added 18:10 - Jun 18 McCartney?!.....Obvs I meant McCarthy.
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BlueNomad added 18:26 - Jun 18 It goes some way to explaining Lambert's meltdown
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runningout added 19:29 - Jun 18 You could see things had been run poorly for a long time. Body language of most players was obvious. With things changing a lot, I'm not expecting Brilliance, Just close to it
2

chopra777 added 22:24 - Jun 18 I know how he feels. There are a lot of owners who cannot operate a company well. Staff are unmotivated and the firm ticks over with unprofessional decisions. With the majority of players being shifted out because they were poisoned by the old culture. Dozzell being one and were nurtured from an early age. I hope the new management team learns, but their approach is slow unless we get a sudden stream of new players, then we can get more excited.

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shakytown added 22:50 - Jun 18 monkeyblue. Perhaps it's time for you to move on as well as all this negativity cannot be good for you. Best outcome for all most likely. If miss the days of fist pumper and all the third rate disinterested mob go support Colchester because the whole squad and club will be a different proposition this season.
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whymarkwhynot added 23:41 - Jun 18 @therein61 you're talking utter nonsense Sleepy Joe hasn't a clue what day it is.
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 06:53 - Jun 19 Mick should go down as one of the top managers ever at ITFC. It's becoming clear. Yet he was chased out. Shame on a lot of you. You wanted pretty football, and Evans tried to give it to you. You blame Evans, look in the mirror, he listened to you and none of actually understood the club. ‘Bryan, we will get relegated. Do the people not realise why Mick had to play the way he did last year?'... It was insane because we were saying we going to stroke it around at the back."

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abandon_hope1978 added 09:04 - Jun 19 The most honest and accurate assessment of our club that's been written in years. My son was in the academy during Alan's time and I can verify that what he's described was evident to all us parents. The good coaches who truly had the knowledge and best intentions were leaving in droves, and the remaining egotists were more interested in self progression than the development of the young players. I spoke with many of the coaches during these times and when I raised my concerns during review meeting with the senior academy staff, I was always told that I was reading to much into the situation and misunderstood what was going on. Unfortunately, I understand that the tight knit destructive force crew is still in place within the academy, so don't expect to see any youngsters regularly making our first time soon. The big clear out which is well underway should extend all the way through our club, and hopefully the good old days will return. COYB.

2

peewee added 09:12 - Jun 19 Without Evans there would of not been a club and with in him there wouldn't of beena club but just would of taken longer. Evans now has been shown that he had no clue how to run a club and that his name on the shirt and maybe what he got bk for the club ran at a loss ment more to him while adding it to loan we had to pay bk thinking he would just make it bk once we winged it all the way to the EPL. Shame investment had to wait till we had hit Rock bottom.

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Marinersnose added 10:51 - Jun 19 Sometimes things need to be said in order to put some perspective of why Ipswich Town are in such a mess. Alan Lee deserves a pat on the back for his refreshing honest account of the shambolic situation at our great club. I like many have heard some unbelievable rumours about training ground antics which clearly were probably true . Unprofessional really sums the club up. Onwards and upwards now.

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BobbyBell added 11:00 - Jun 19 I walked around the stadium the other day and was gutted to see that the ME logos are still up. I think if I was part of the new owners of a club I would want to make a big statement to the locals by announcing our arrival. I think that changing the logos and giving the place a lick of fresh paint
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BobbyBell added 11:07 - Jun 19 Sorry I hadn't finished above... would go a long way to giving the fans and the local people a big boost and a belief that things are finally on the up again. Some will say it costs money to do but I think it would be money very well spent to get people behinds the club and excited for the future. Seeing no apparent change at the stadium was a bit of a downer and that ME logo just seems like a reminder of how bad things can get.

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Rimsy added 14:01 - Jun 19 A damning indictment on how poorly the club has been run. And exactly what the fans have long suspected. Thank god things are changing.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 17:03 - Jun 19 Good to see clear evidence that it was not us the fans who had gone mad. We were told all was rosy and that our observations and worries were unfounded, groundless and undermining morale. Turns out it was as crap as it seemed.
2

istanblue added 21:49 - Jun 19 Hopefully after these damning comments all the apologists for the Evans regime will wake-up and see what at an utter disaster that charlatan was for this club. I dare say there will still be some deluded happy-clappers (fake fans) who defend him though.
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stocktractor added 22:29 - Jun 19 Alan Lee..average player Don't know why he's held in such fondness by a lot of supporters..as soon as he played for the scum he used all his credit up with me. Can we get an interview with a loyal blue please, Shefki or Jim would be nice
-1

Saxonblue74 added 00:31 - Jun 20 The more realistic among us know full well that MM was over achieving. A handful of fans need to accept a bit of responsibility here. A fresh, younger manager who is going to play the modern game is what was called for and it sounds like a case of "give the people what they want".
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Bluearmy_81 added 08:42 - Jun 20 Some fans definitely need to accept some responsibility, true. That is, and only, for not turning against ME sooner. The apathy, passive acceptance and resignation towards our pitiful plight/state was shocking. Never ever again please town fans...
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