Town have sacked manager Paul Hurst after less than five months in charge with former Norwich boss Paul Lambert close to taking over.

Owner Marcus Evans is understood to have wielded the axe this afternoon following last night’s 2-0 defeat at Leeds with the players believed to have been called to the training ground to be told the news.

Evans is understood to have sounded out a number of experienced Championship managers to take over from Hurst as he looks to avoid a damaging and costly relegation to League One.

TWTD can confirm the Daily Mirror's earlier report that former Norwich, Aston Villa and Colchester manager Lambert could be confirmed as boss prior to Saturday’s trip to Millwall, although Bryan Klug has returned to his caretaker-manager role in the meantime.

Hurst was only appointed Town boss on May 30th and his tenure - only the 16th since the club turned professional - at 149 days is the shortest in the Blues' history.

Town won only once during his time in charge, at Swansea prior to the international break, with his overall record in all competitions reading played 15, won one, drawn seven, lost seven. They sit bottom of the Championship.

Rumours of training ground discontent have been rife for some weeks, while Hurst's summer recruitment, largely players who impressed him while working in the lower leagues while a number of more experienced players departed, is widely viewed as a significant factor behind the current position.

Hurst's departure appeared only a matter of time with the win at Swansea having perhaps bought him a little time. However, Saturday's dismal performance the 2-0 home defeat to QPR was probably the final straw.

Lambert, 49, was last in a job earlier this year, taking charge of Stoke City in January but leaving in May following their relegation to the Championship.

Previously he was in charge at Wolves, Blackburn and Villa, but is most remembered in East Anglia for his stint in charge at Norwich between 2009 and 2012 during which he took them from League One to the Premier League.

The Scot had joined the Canaries from Colchester United where he spent just under a year. The U's had defeated Norwich 7-1 on the opening day of 2009/10.

He started his managerial career at Livingston and Wycombe having played in midfield for St Mirren, Motherwell, Borussia Dortmund - with whom he won the Champions League - Celtic and Livingston as well as winning 40 caps for Scotland.

Photo: Action Images

ThaiBlue added 20:49 - Oct 25 Happy Hurst has gone seen nothing good from him job to big.If Lambert takes it it will not be any worse than Hurst will it.
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ThaiBlue added 20:49 - Oct 25 Happy Hurst has gone seen nothing good from him job to big.If Lambert takes it it will not be any worse than Hurst will it.
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TractorBeezer added 21:00 - Oct 25 I wish Paul Hurst well. I thought that he ticked most of the boxes when he was hired but I did get very concerned with the departure of senior players such as Waghorn, Garner and Webster . I could understand us not chasing McGoldrick who was a quality player but very injury prone. Hurst says that they all wanted to leave Ipswich. Why? I have no idea where the goals are going to come from. We never looked like scoring against Leeds or QPR. Hurst did get us playing an entertaining passing game in his early days, however, it was only in patches. Our loan players are not the same calibre as Fraser, Lawrence, Celina and Carter Vickers. In my opinion, Evans did the right thing to let Hurst go rather than prolong the problem. Evans also did the right thing to part company with Mick. He now has to give the new manager a kitty to bring in at least three experienced players to get us out of this mess. The club will need our full support.. UTTBs

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ITFCsince73 added 21:38 - Oct 25 Best of luck to whoever takes this task on..... Squad full of lower league players and proper blokes that no one wanted. Paul Hurst badly let down by the senior players of the club. Chambers a total joke of a defender, poor player all round.
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KernewekBlue added 22:37 - Oct 25 So, the inevitable parting of the ways has happened. Like others on here, I think Paul Hurst is a decent bloke, always came across as being very personable and honest but at the end of the day, proved to be in way over his head, trying to manage a team in the cauldron that is The Championship. The transfer dealings prior to the season getting underway contributed to his downfall. You cannot replace the ability, experience and guile of proven performers like Waghorn & McGoldrick with league 1 and 2 greenhorns such as Harrison and Jackson. It's a different world up here. That being said, I don't think Hurst should shoulder ALL the blame for our current predicament. The players need to take a very good, very long look at themselves in the mirror and ask some tough questions. Marcus Evans likewise. It is his hand on the tiller that has steered us to this sorry point in our history. It ought to be dawning on him that you can't make a promotion omelette without cracking a few million eggs! If he's seriously got this club's welfare at heart and wants the glory of Premier League football to return to Portman Road, he HAS to dig deep into his pockets and provide a meaningful financial warchest to achieve it. TractorBeezer remarked on the injury-prone nature of McGoldrick... he seems to be playing very well regularly, contributing greatly and scoring for Sheffield Utd though, huh? Why wasn't he doing that for us week in, week out??? Anyway, I digress... Paul Lambert is a proven performer at this level. He guided that small club up the road on a path to successive promotions and played decent football whilst doing so. If he gets us out the mire we find ourselves in, I'm all for it! I know you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and by god, have we got a few sow's ear'oles around here at the moment, but, if he's confirmed as our new boss, he can expect my full support in his endeavours to get us up the table. COYB!!!

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StavangerBlue added 22:37 - Oct 25 I wish PH all the best.
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RobsonWark added 23:14 - Oct 25 It's his own fault. He dropped all our best players (including dropping our best player for the last 3 years for the Jerk-en in goal), sent all our promising youngsters who had been bought up the Ipswich way playing a passing game (which is what all the fans and Evans said he wanted - a passing game) and picked our worst two players over the years for every game (Chambers and Skuse). Has anyone ever seen Chambers make a tackle? He only ever tries and blocks shots...make a bloody tackle!! How when every Ipswich Town supporter can see that Chambers is not a Championship player both of the last two managers couldn't?

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RobsonWark added 23:15 - Oct 25 ME please get rid of Chambers!!! He is the DISEASE in this club!!
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RobsonWark added 23:31 - Oct 25 I am assuming MM and PH played Chambers every game because Chambers does great fist pumps! What's the reason they picked Skuse every game? Does he do great star jumps?
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Barty added 08:07 - Oct 26 Credit to ME for doing this now and not at Christmas when we would have been dead and buried. It wont be easy for Lambert but I already feel more confident about our survival. I do wish PH all the best but he was totally out of his depth in the championship.
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shortmarine1969 added 11:03 - Oct 26 ME is still a massive part of the problem and yet he continues to get away scot free with no apparent desire from the press to challenge him or that useless mouthpiece Milne..Why ???. Unless the new manager gets positive investment in new players in Jan , it,s hard to see what the new guy can do , chronic lack of player investment for years has in part lead to this not just PH , Me did not even give PH what was raised from sales let alone any actual investment , ME is the route cause of where we are..!! and unless he stops doing things on the cheap and trying to get away with it we will remain in decline , He bought the club nobody forced him to , threw money at it to reach for the golden goose it fialed and now he only keeps us alfoat and nothing else his interest in not in advancing us as a club.

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Razor added 11:09 - Oct 26 How anybody can feel sorry for this guy is beyond me. He has virtually destroyed this club single handed in 5 months and you dont drop your best player 90 mts before the game by text. David Moyes or Nigel Clough for me but if its Lambert will give him full support and forget the past----whoever it is has a helluva task due to the mess left.
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TomIpswich added 14:22 - Oct 26 League 1 for us then
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