....and he speaks again! https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/sport...cus-evans-gives-first-big-interview-1-5870792 The most interesting point is his "excuse" for not reinvesting all the fees we received for Cresswell,Mings,Murphy,etc,etc,etc. According to Evans we can't spend the full amount because the Club usually receives the fee in instalments,yes Marcus, but that cuts both ways and surely applies to us as a buying Club too!?
That was a pretty good interview and credit to our owner for finally choosing to talk to the local media. I thought Stuart posed some very good, effective questions and I appreciate the level of detail that Evans went into explaining and attempting to rationalise his structure, methodology and ways of working (although I don't agree with his approach). I completely take his point on the budget being there to both cater for permanent transfers and the wage bill, so the millions incoming may well be spent a little more evenly on the playing squad than what most of us presume. Having said that, I did not like that the whole '£6m a year investment' lie was still being parroted, despite the club's own accounts revealing that Evans has largely stepped back from actually investing 'outside money' into the squad. The way our owner gets a free ride from some supporters, almost due to that common misconception, is a shame. I also think he's massively in denial regarding his failure to provide investment to McCarthy in the 2014/15 season, the only season where we've had a realistic shot at promotion under Evans' tenure. Covering it up with a defeat to Southampton and an injury to Murphy was an unconvincing explanation. Despite an interview where I thought he mostly came across well, the harsh reality is that Evans has a systemic, consistent failure when hiring senior staff. The fact that he has only recently set up international scouting and pushed the sports science aspect at the club demonstrates he is frequently behind the curve when it comes to innovative thinking in football. His dismissive excuses about a proper Director of Football structure, which would have prevented the issues with the dismantling of the squad and our poor transfers in the summer, is also disappointing.
I haven't read the whole thing (yet). There is a hell of a lot there. But what it shows us, as you point out nuggets, is that things we would all consider to be obvious like organised scouting and sports science have not been in place at the club. I can't believe anyone would sink £80m - £90m into a business over 11 years without knowing what is going on or making decisions on any level, but that's what Evans appears to be telling us has been happening. Interesting he mentions the pitch. Alan Ferguson, the groundsman who told somebody - presumably Clegg - that the pitch needed re-laying, got ignored and then left for St George's Park, then Wembley and eventually was in charge of the World Cup final pitch. This is the single most important facility and the cost of it is a fraction of other costs and it sounds like Evans was oblivious. So the operation has been a tin pot operation and it's led us eventually to tin pot football.
It is truely unbelievable the way so many aspects of our Club have been allowed to bumble along over the last decade.It’s also amazing it’s taken Evans until now to realise it.
