Blues boss Mick McCarthy says meeting Town owner Marcus Evans was key to his decision to join the club as manager last month. Monday is the fifth anniversary of Evans's takeover at Portman Road.

McCarthy says the club’s 49-year-old owner made a significant impact upon him when he met him: “A very big impression, he was very important in me coming here.

“When I went to see him I had designs on taking a Premier League club. I didn’t have any designs on taking a club which was bottom of the Championship.

“But when I spoke to Paul [Jewell] and other people, I was suitably impressed enough to go and speak to him.

“And having met him, that convinced me that it was the right thing to do. I knew about the club within reason, but he impressed me.”

He says Evans confirmed that there will be money to spend in January: “That was discussed at the time. There’s no chance I would have come here unless there was a chance of being competitive.

“There’s all sorts going to happen this year with Financial Fair Play, that’s going to make it difficult for everybody, but if we can get this place rocking and get 20,000 people here, that will make it better because we’ll be one of the more competitive clubs in terms of crowds and how much we earn.

“Marcus has backed his other managers and convinced me that that would be the same when I came in.”

McCarthy says former boss Jewell has been in touch to congratulate him on his excellent start at Town: “I’ve heard from him, I’ve had text messages from him, just saying ‘Well done’, which is lovely. It’s refreshing actually, when you come in and take someone else’s job.

“But Paul was looked after and it was all dealt with properly and he’s a mate of mine, so I’ve no doubt he wishes me well.

“We used to speak on a fairly regular basis when we were both scrapping away trying to get a result. It’s very nice of him.”

Photo: Action Images

Mr_Evans added 06:27 - Dec 14 One thing I'm proud of; ITFC are a proper football club, no 'franchise' crap like alot of other teams, and certainly much more respected than our counterparts this coming Saturday
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Korrupt added 07:42 - Dec 14 Evans will be crucial in Jan. if mick is given the funds we'll be fine this season. He'll handle the loan situation and make us stronger.
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BillBlue added 09:01 - Dec 14 Nicely and timely said Mick, I take off my hat. I just hope all you 'hate PJ' merchants take note and have the decency to feel ashamed. COYB
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meekreech added 09:56 - Dec 14 We all saw that PJ did not achieve the results we hoped for but there was no need for the personal abuse he received . He has shown in his dealings with MM and ME since leaving ( and in the way he went ) that he is a decent man and was unlucky to fail in his time at PR ! He deserves a big apology from a lot of the so called Town fans !
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petermorris added 10:17 - Dec 14 BillBlue - I don't think many people actually ‘hated' Jewell — he's obviously a nice chap. However, a lot of supporters (me included) got sick and tired of the waffle, ‘tactics', humiliation, sound bites, and the hours and hours travelling to/from matches where we were absolutely rubbish.
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Guthrum added 11:00 - Dec 14 Increasingly appears that Paul Jewell did make a couple of fairly crucial contributions to our present success. Firstly, he got a lot of the personnel in who are now winning matches. Secondly, it sounds like he was the broker who brought Mick McCarthy and ITFC together. He deserves our thanks for that.
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tallguy6767 added 11:27 - Dec 14 well said petermorris ! we don't all live in the chocolate box world that some do and just like to say it as it is ! Im sure nobody hated jewell but the guy just wasn't up to the task .
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BuckieBlue added 18:37 - Dec 14 I think both sides of the discussion above are correct- Pj wasn't (latterly at least) up to the job but since leaving has shown himself a more than decent bloke- contact with/ advice to ME about where it went wrong, suggesting MM, speaking well of us publicly- not many like that in football these days. Wish him well for future.
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petermorris added 20:02 - Dec 14 Agree Buckie. The reason ranting broke out (me included) was that the sacking of Magic, and the appointment and amateurish failure of ‘Keano', and then PJ, clearly demonstrated incompetence and naivety further up. I felt like I hadn't supported ITFC for over 40 yrs to see the whole thing go up in a cloud of guff, so I was absolutely pissed off.
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