New Ipswich Town owner Mark Detmer has insisted the Three Lions will give Paul Cook all the financial backing he needs to ‘impose his will’ on the club this summer.
Detmer, who along with Brett Johnson and Berke Bakay form the Three Lions group and fronted the US takeover at Portman Road last month, has been impressed with Cook’s management in recent weeks at a time when he’s overseen a number of departures from the club.
More exits could follow, as will a long list of incomings as Cook looks to shape the Town squad in his image.
And Detmer has insisted the Ipswich boss will be given a very healthy amount of money to spend in the transfer market as he bids to turn an also-ran into a promotion contender.
“I think it needs to be,” Detmer said, when asked whether the summer transfer budget would be ‘significant’.
“You have to come in and almost impose your will as a manager by saying ‘this is the style of play with which I’ve had success, this is the style with which we’re going to play and these are the pieces of the puzzle I need to do that’.
“We have to provide him with those resources and that support in order to see his vision through. Paul has our support and has our resources.
“He’s doing a phenomenal job,” he continued.
“I watch all his interviews and watch all his matches on iFollow. I follow just like everyone else.
“This will be Paul Cook’s team. It will be his year to show us how capable he is because we all believe in him.”
Detmer, like the other two Lions and new Ipswich chairman Mike O’Leary, insisted Cook was always the top choice to take over as manager as they discussed the takeover with outgoing owner Marcus Evans.
“Paul’s had tremendous success and has taken clubs up before so he was essential casting when we looked at who we wanted as a manager,” Detmer said.
“Thankfully Marcus Evans had him top of the list as well. If we give Paul the right support and the right opportunity, along with all the others around him, I think we can have the success on the pitch we want to achieve.
“We aren’t hugely patient people – I'm not sure too many in football are. As much as they like to say they are you can take that with a grain of salt because everyone wants to win. That’s the nature of the beast.”
Cook will also be empowered to make ‘tough decisions’, with the Three Lions operating in a similar manner.
“We are willing to make those tough calls but it’s got to be reasonable and sensible,” he said.
“You don’t make irrational decisions that impact people’s lives off the cuff. You have to be thoughtful and you have to go through a decision tree analysis process and then communicate.
“I’ve been successful when communicating with others in the past with things we’re doing right and things we could improve on.
“I think when you’re communicating like that then there are no questions when you get to a point where you have to part company with certain players or others associated with the organisation because we have clearly outlined our culture and our vision.
“With that, if we weren’t achieving that, then they knew it and there were no surprises. When you do that and have everyone onboard with expectation and what you need to achieve you look at decisions along the way and make sensible and reasonable ones, even if they appear to be tough.
“We are here to see Ipswich Town return to its former glory.”
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