Ipswich Town part ways with Paul Lambert as American takeover looms nearer

The Ipswich Town manager ‘mutually parted ways’ with The Tractor Boys on Sunday night, with rumours of an American takeover on the horizon becoming more prominent.

After nearly two and a half years at the club, Lambert parted ways with the Suffolk outfit the day after a hard-fought win away to Doncaster. Even after the win at the weekend, Lambert’s departure has seemed like an inevitable one from the outset of the season.

Paul Lambert began the 2020/21 season well, with The Blues going undefeated in their first six games and looking like real contenders for promotion back to the Championship. Disappointingly for Town, their form took a huge dip over the Christmas period, a dip which Lambert never really recovered from, leaving Ipswich sitting in 10^th place when the Scotsman eventually left the club.

https://twitter.com/IpswichTown/status/1366135999609397251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Despite a recent turn in results, with Ipswich winning away at both Hull and Doncaster, the takeover of the club and Lambert’s exit has been in the works for a long time now with the relationship between the former manager and the current owner Marcus Evans on thin ice.

Lambert’s most recent debacle with the chairman took place during the week, with Evans and Lambert reportedly having a heated face to face discussion merely a week after the former boss spoke out against the club’s owner:

‘Everything at the club is wrong’

‘I can’t protect Evans in the same way he did Randy Lerner at Aston Villa.’ – eadt.co.uk

In a statement released on the club website on Sunday afternoon, Evans thanked Lambert for his services to the club as well as speaking on his sacking:

“I have enjoyed a healthy working relationship with Paul in our time together and he has brought a lot of positive aspects to the Club.

“It has, however, become clear after holding discussions over the last few days that there are significant differences of opinion as to the order of immediate priorities and we agreed it was best for us to part company. I would like to wish both Paul and Stuart the best in the future.” – itfc.co.uk

As well as the disagreement over the future of the club with Marcus Evans, the other suspected reason that Lambert was sacked was to make way for a new boss who will most probably take charge under new owners at Ipswich.

The change of ownership at Ipswich has been one that fans have been craving for many years now and they look to finally have that change, with Evans looking to write off his debt in a new takeover deal with American businessman Brett Johnson.

Fans have been calling for change for over a year now, with recent protests taking a more serious turn at the Ipswich training ground Playford road. The protest took place last month as flares were set off during a training session and calls for the dismissal of Lambert could be heard as the players trained, with many fans standing with the infamous ‘Blue Action Group’ in calling for Evans to save the Ipswich season by sacking Paul Lambert.

The manager who is lined up to have the difficult task of rescuing the Ipswich season is expected to be former Wigan manager Paul Cook, as the new potential American owners look to put a new face on the club in a late bid for the playoff places.

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