Watching the shenanigans of yesterday’s transfer deadline day unfold, my mind turned to Mr John and I wondered what he would have made of the carnival.

On reflection, he might not have been the best person to have in the room making deals so late in the evening, but I can easily picture his bemusement at the madness of it all.

While Sir Bobby was creating a Golden Age for the club, John Cobbold was weaving an attitude and outlook into our fabric. Strip away the frivolity and high spirits and there was a man who cared deeply for the club and who tried to build for the long term, even if the Golden Age dissipated after he and Sir Bobby departed.

Susan Gardner, in her excellent history of the club, highlighted a romance many of us have built around the idea that “it has been during the times when those Ipswich Town traditions and values were at their strongest that the club achieved its greatest glories.”

The world we play our football in is far removed from the seventies, characterised, as Susan puts it, by a “greater ruthlessness and commercialisation”, and yet it is possible to see Marcus Evans approach increasingly echoing that of Mr John as his experience at the helm of the club has grown.

Once John knew that Bobby was right for the manager’s job, as he put it, “It was clear from our initial discussion that Bobby was a man of integrity, someone we could trust as long as we backed him to the hilt and kept faith with him”, this being “the least a manager should expect from his chairman and board of directors”.

When I read Marcus Evans’ piece in the Fulham matchday programme, I was struck by how this was echoed by the trust he has rightly placed in Mick McCarthy and in how he is planning patiently for the long-term, even allowing for the fact that other clubs are prepared to “roll the dice” despite FFP rules.

As Evans put it, “The biggest positive for me over the close season was Mick and Terry signing new three-year deals. We can't get anywhere in this league without continuity and a long-term plan. These new contracts have and will result in our current core squad extending their contracts and new players being attracted to a stable and successful environment.”

John Cobbold rightly believed that the two most important people in the club were the chairman and the manager, and “not necessarily in that order”. He believed that directors should not interfere with the playing side of things: “Imagine me, who has never kicked a ball in his life, telling Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson or any of the great managers we have had how the game should be played.”

Yesterday’s transfer deadline day events exemplified Evans' trust in Mick. Having found a manager he can trust, it is clear to see how they are working in tandem on building the squad. While most attention was focused on David McGoldrick’s transfer, Mick’s comments about Tyrone Mings were more revealing.

“We have discussed the possibility, rather the certainty, should I say, of giving Tyrone a new contract and that will be the case. That is the reward for getting in the team and doing well. Neither Marcus nor I wanted him to go. We want him here for the long term. I want to keep my best players. I want to keep the young, exciting players and Ty is one of them.”

Like many fans, I had my doubts over Marcus Evans after the appointments of Keane and Jewell. Simon Clegg was an experienced sports administrator but something of a neophyte when it came to the cut and thrust world of football negotiating. It could even be argued that bringing Mick and Terry on board may have been a stroke of fortune rather than down to good judgement.

What cannot be argued is that our approach as a club under Evans has been transformed since Mick’s arrival. The way we held our nerve yesterday exemplified this clear thinking.

We could afford to let Aaron Cresswell go because the time and the price were right for him and we had long-term replacements. McGoldrick could not be comparably be replaced to our advantage and Mings is a long-term prospect we can develop to both his and our mutual benefit.

Interestingly, Cobbold was clear on the subject of supporters' views, wishing that they echoed his own humble approach: “There are several million people in the country…who think they could make really good managers. A large section of every club’s support thinks that they know better but they are all wrong.”

As supporters, many of us are in the same camp as Mr John. Our opinion is constructed from our best understanding of the game without having participated professionally. Having said this, I struggle to recall so many of our supporters quite so confused in their thinking as I encountered yesterday evening.

As two posters put it last night, “There was even some div…accusing [Evans and McCarthy] of lack of ambition because we didn't take the money, I'm still trying to work that one out”, “They get slated…when someone is sold and slated when someone isn't sold.”

It is tempting to dismiss last night’s criticism of our stance as impatient rambling, but I struggle to see what alternative we can contemplate. Patient team building under a manager with a proven track record has to be the right way forward. We cannot return to the seventies, but the seventies can still greatly inform our approach and thinking.

I am probably one of Mr John’s many millions who are wrong, but I believe that we have an owner and a manager working together who have the confidence, good judgement and patience to strengthen and club and take us in the right direction. Yesterday’s events supported this view greatly.

Pessimistic added 15:51 - Sep 3 That should of course read I share those sentiments and IS rife is football circles. Need my glasses more these days!
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Stato added 19:35 - Sep 3 I wrote my original comments in a bit of a hurry and wanted to add a couple of points about Evans which are prompted by this debate even if not entirely on point but the fact that Cobbold was almost universally popular in our club and in the wider footballing world and Evans isn't. I think I am being fair if I say he polarises opinion among our own fans with perhaps the majority in his favour, a perhaps the rest being split between those like myself who see little to cheer about and perhaps a few are anti-Evans. I said earlier that I thought it was clever to reject the bids for Mings and McGoldrick but what I should of added was that maybe it was also clever that perhaps the Creswell money hasn't been spent yet as maybe that enabled us to reject those bids. I see a comparison here with Levy at Spurs who has a reputation as a ruthless negotiator and maybe Evans is about to start sending out a message to the footballing world that Portman Road is no longer the place to come looking for bargains. Yes every player has his price (I guess Mick tells Marcus what "value" looks like) and if higher bids had come in then maybe one or both would of gone. From my point of view what has caught my attention is Evans turning down "easy" money for bids which most of our fans (not me) would have accepted as being accepted as being fair and inevitable sales would have followed as mid-table Championship sides do that sort of thing. For me this was a statement of intent. A show of real ambition and a bit of a gamble perhaps on McGoldrick who could leave at the end of the season on a free but if he does I'll still be giving Evans credit for at least trying to do the right thing. Similarly if one or both sign new contracts and one or both are sold for higher bids that meet our valuation in January I will have no issue with that and will still give Evans credit for his handling of the situation. So part of me is really encouraged by the stance Evans has taken in this transfer window and more of the same will see me join the ranks of those who think he is a force for good in our club but some questions still remain and the first of those has been highlighted quite rightly by Nuggets on a few occasions in the lack Cat 1 status for the academy. Perhaps someone can correct me if they know better but in crude terms reaching Cat 1 should not be a complicated process. There is a list of requirements that are black and white and not nebulous in their definition. Therefore achieving Cat 1 is a tick box process and there should be no shocks over passing or failing. For example "Do you have the required span of control, YES/NO" as opposed "Is their a nice atmosphere in the sleeping quarters". I was shocked we failed Cat 1 and shocked that the messages coming out of Portman Road about that failure were so relaxed. I'd have thought that heads would roll. Either way the failure doesn't look good and even if you don't but into the conspiracy theories put forward by some saying we deliberately failed I would think we all agree that Cat 1 must not be failed again. Assuming we do get Cat 1 then I'm sure I won't be the only one finding far less to grumble about life in the Evans era. The final point where I need Evans to prove himself on is in his commitment to McCarthy which I think is misguided (I accept I'm in the minority). When McCarthy first arrived I told my mates he had shored up a leaky defence but then he went and signed Gerken and in his second season our goals conceded went up and our form went down (6th on form from when arrived to 9th). In midfield he has mostly played very defensively minded players and both the goal scoring and assist stats from our midfield from day one of his arrival have been appalling. Up front he has relied to heavily on big lumps and we have them coming out of our ears (giving Alan Lee a contract was a step too far on this particular point). We are mostly playing boring, negative, hoof ball and I don't care how McCarthy developed previous teams as there is no sign of flair at Portman Road. McCarthy is now in his 3rd season. The transfer window has closed. This is absolutely his squad playing exactly how he sets them up which is 442 home and away with very few exceptions. I predict ever declining crowds while Mick remains in charge and being close to the play offs won't change that (as last season proved). That means ever declining budgets and hence the test for Evans being how long into McCarthy's tenure will he say enough is enough. My challenge to Mick's fan club is what is the point in adding another 3 years of mid table obscurity to our already unwelcome record of the longest serving Championship club. He isn't good enough to take us up and increasing numbers will come to the same conclusion. How long it takes Evans to come to the same conclusion is my final test of when he really has got to grips with running this club. Then he can go find a young Bobby Robson from the next generation and get Town back playing with flair and entertaining the crowds. Attendances will rise, so will revenues, therefore the budget for playing staff and a return to the Premiership will hopefully follow. Drinks on me that night Marcus !!

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Blue041273 added 10:21 - Sep 4 Apart from @Bossman's unwelcome attempt to convert this into another anti MM tirade, I have thoroughly enjoyed the debate provoked by this blog. I have sympathies with all the arguments put forward and find it difficult to opine in any particular direction. Those of us who were part of the extended family created in the Cobbald era will always have fond memories of that time. My biggest hope is that ultimately the younger generations will hold the ME era in a similar regard. Thanks Harry, the blog has been very thought provoking. If nothing else it reminded me of a golden age in the history of our beloved club.

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tractorboybig added 20:39 - Sep 4 John Cobbold was an old etonian with old values. Marcus evans is a ruthless modern day business man who now has to try an cut his losses. His choice of managers has to say the least been poor. Mcarthy stopped the ship sinking but is not the man to take us foward. If mick stumbles he will be gone no nonsense no remorse, there is no comparison between the men. Would Cobbold succeed now? Who knows. WE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. dreaming has to stop. We are where we are because that is what we are, and here I cry to say, we stay.

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Hegansheroes added 20:58 - Sep 4 As usual a very good blog. However, I cannot see the similarity between Mr. John & ME. ME bought the club as a business venture which didn't work out quite as he anticipated & has been left with a bit of a millstone & is now looking at the long term. Also MM has only been successful at this level & was really out of his depth in the top tier. His style of football would be an embarrassment in the Premier. I also have to question the man's integrity, Sir Bob had integrity as did Burley but MM comes across as pig headed, somewhat arrogant & a poor man manager. On reflection it is a great shame Jim McG wasn't given more time & backing by ME, at least the football was watchable & not what MM serves up until he is forced to change the team by injuries etc. Attendances are very poor these days due to our style & the pricing, Brighton by comparison are pulling in around 25,000 for each home game

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blueboy1981 added 10:26 - Sep 7 ...... Excellent blog - and intelligent post debate - cannot really add to what's already been aired on this.
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