Ipswich Town to be led by Matt Gill and Bryan Klug ahead of Paul Lambert's successor being appointed

Ipswich Town's general manager of football operations, Lee O'Neill, has confirmed first-team coach Matt Gill and head of coaching and player development Bryan Klug have been put in temporary charge of the Blues.

It comes following last night's announcement that the club are seeking their 19th manager as a result of Paul Lambert and Stuart Taylor leaving by 'mutual consent' after Saturday's 2-1 home win against top-six side Doncaster Rovers.

With now eighth-placed Town back in action at the side directly above them in the Sky Bet League One table in Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium tomorrow night (7pm) - and both two points adrift of sixth place – O'Neill told iFollow Ipswich: “Matt Gill is going to step in and take charge tomorrow.

"He will be assisted by Bryan Klug, and all the usual first-team staff around that.

“The boys have been in good form, and the focus is 100 per cent on the game tomorrow night.”

He would not be drawn on how long Town fans can expect to be without a permanent manager, saying owner Marcus Evans will take as long as is needed to appoint a new manager at Portman Road.

"Marcus is working on it now but will take as long as is needed.

"He'll be speaking to people about the role and in the interim period we are confident that Matt can do what is needed on a game-by-game basis.

"Our goalposts haven't changed, though, and we want to get the results that can get us promoted this season.

"We feel with a new manager and some momentum we can push on for the remainder of the campaign."

He also thanked both Lambert and his assistant Stuart Taylor for their efforts during their time with the club, but said the timing felt right on all sides to move in a different direction from each other.

"It had come to a point where both parties felt it was the right time for the club to make a change," he said.

"Paul has had frustrations with a few things and there had been conversations about the club moving forward.

"For the club it was the right decision to part ways.

"We hadn't been getting the results we needed to stay in and around the promotion mix, and things have been tough. But, the last couple of weeks can hopefully give us some momentum for the rest of the season.

"Paul and Stuart worked very hard while here and for that we thank them. We have a game to prepare for tomorrow evening and our full focus is on that fixture."

Paul Cook, who led Chesterfield and Portsmouth to promotion with league titles, and was most recently left Wigan Athletic following a points-penalty enforced relegation, has been installed as the bookies' 1/5 odds-on favourite for the Town job.

Second on the list is former Lincoln City promotion winner and former Huddersfield Town manager Danny Cowley (3/1) then Kieron Dyer, Neil Harris and Ryan Lowe, all at 16/1 (all with SkyBet).

It comes as the club is subject to reports of a US consortium takeover which is said to be very close to completion, though not something Evans and the club have been drawn on other than to say he is "not actively looking to sell the club".

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