Birmingham City climb out of the Championship relegation zone with victory over mid-table Ipswich at St Andrew's.Read more
- Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy is to leave the club
- The club says his contract is not being extended when it expires at the end of the season
- Mick McCarthy says 'people were getting bored of me'
- Captain Luke Chambers says players were told this morning
- Steve McClaren, Tony Mowbray and Mark Warburton among names linked with job
We're ending our regular live updates on the reaction to the announcement that Mick McCarthy is to leave the manager's seat at Ipswich Town at the end of the season.
You can post your thoughts on the BBC Suffolk Facebook page.
BBC Radio Suffolk brings you Life's A Pitch and Matchday on Saturday, as Town visit Birmingham, and there's more commentary on Monday for the visit of McCarthy's former club Millwall.
Reacting to the news Mick McCarthy will leave Ipswich Town, Tyrone Mings said: "Personally I have nothing other than positivity about everything he did for me whilst at the club and the position he's got the club into.
"What has happened since [the play-off season] - arguably people will say there hasn't been enough attractive football - I think the job he has done has been fantastic."
One of Mick McCarthy's big success stories at Ipswich Town was Tyrone Mings - the young defender bought for £10,000 and sold for £8m.
He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "I can never truly put into words how much of an influence Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor were on my early career - they were very much like fatherly figures.
"They bled me into the team when I needed to be, took me out when I needed it, but most importantly they gave me time to develop.
"I remember quitting my job on the Tuesday, signing on the Thursday and on the Friday I was travelling up to Leeds with the squad."
Hear the full interview on Stephen Foster's Drivetime show.
Former England boss Steve McLaren is top of the William Hill betting list to become next Ipswich manager.
McLaren, who has also managed Middlesborough, FC Twente, VfL Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Derby and Newcastle, is 3/1 (at the time of writing) and is currently without a job.
Former Town captain Tony Mowbray, currently at Blackburn Rovers in League One, is 7/2.
Here's a selection of the national coverage of the announcement the Mick McCarthy and Ipswich Town are to part company at the end of the season:
- The Independent: "McCarthy has spent six years at Ipswich but will move after a disappointing season"
- The Sun: "The Tractor Boys have fallen off the pace in the chase for the Championship playoffs"
- The Guardian: "We both agreed that this was the best way forward, says owner"
Meanwhile, The Sack Race is installing Lincoln City's Danny Cowley as 5/2 favourite to take over at Portman Road.
The Imps boss oversaw the defeat of Ipswich in the FA Cup a year ago, in what was one of the low-points of McCarthy's reign.
At the time, Ipswich and England legend Terry Butcher said: "I can't remember ever being so embarrassed and humiliated as an Ipswich fan.
"Ipswich lost the wrong way, not enough fight, not enough passion."
As the press conference came to an end, one final question prompted an interesting response from Mick McCarthy - will his exit lead the way for others?
The future of Polish international goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski has been a hot topic of conversation over recent months, and McCarthy suggested that during conversations "Barts" had been keen to know whether the manager would still be here next season.
During his press conference, outgoing Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy also called out the "numbskulls who've been given me abuse".
"That comment is for the people who have been doing it and ruining games at Portman Road and making it hard for players to play," he said.
"They probably don't give too many people respect, let alone the manager."
"I've done well here, I've enjoyed every bit of it, but we're not progressing, we're pretty much standing still.
"I've done my job and people were getting bored of me. Let them have someone else and see if they get bored of them."
More from Mick McCarthy at Ipswich Town's training ground
"There's a few teams in the bottom three that would take my position, that certainly have bigger budgets than we have and I inherited.
"I think there was a bit of a heavy heart from both [me and Marcus Evans] last night, and I've been given time.
"I think he's been very good to all the managers that have been here."
McCarthy added that his time in management is not over and he is ready if and when an opportunity arises once his contract ends.
The first we hear from Mick McCarthy, speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk's Brenner Woolley:
"This is kind of a natural end and I think everything has its cycle and my time here has run its course," he said.
"It's both our decisions, [owner] Marcus Evans and me. It's the right time. I've done my stint and a done blooming good stint."
He added the criticism from some fans had not affected the decision.
More from Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers on Mick McCarthy's departure:
"I feel he's done a very good job with the things he's had to deal with. I thought we'd had a pretty decent run of it of late.
"He called a meeting this morning, we obviously knew something was going to happen sooner or later, knowing which way we were going to go as a club.
"The gaffer's made no secret he wants to finish above those guys up the road so we'll be doing everything we can to finish as high as we can."
Luke Chambers is now speaking to the press about Mick McCarthy's departure:
"We found out this morning," he said. "We have to be professional and continue to give our all to the football club."
Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers is facing the media before his manager and has said that "from a personal point of view it’s a sad day".
"We’ll all continue to do our job from now until the end of the season," he told the club in an interview with them before he heads into the press room.
“You’re playing for your future now under a new manager. I think the manager has done a very good job here.”
He said Mick McCarthy was a "great person and a great man".
"Hopefully it can be a long wave goodbye now."
It must be a strange one for Cole Skues as he turns 32....
The media is waiting at Ipswich Town's training ground, but there's still no sign of the press conference starting.
We expect to hear from Luke Chambers and Mick McCarthy shortly.
BBC Radio Suffolk sport
I speak to players largely on tape, but even off tape you can read between the lines with players.
"On the record" they'll support the manager, but that is 100% genuine.
The fans have had a lot of turgid, dull uninspiring performances from the team over the last couple of years.
But I do think Mick McCarthy has been working with tied hands and has been very unlucky with injuries this season, because they're not a million miles away.
I think the relationship [with fans] had broken down, the point had come. I think it does need some fresh blood being brought into the club.
BBC Radio Suffolk
While Ipswich Town won't finish this season in a good enough position for most supporters, the club will be in a far better position than it was when Mick McCarthy took charge in November 2012.
Back then, with the Blues stranded at the bottom of the Championship, he was tasked with saving the club from relegation, a feat that a fair few fans thought impossible at the time.
A ninth placed finish after his first full season in charge signalled excellent progress, and Portman Road was buzzing with excitement by May 2015, as Ipswich qualified for the end of season play-offs for the first time under Marcus Evans's ownership.
The club has fallen short of reaching those highs in the years since, with Evans arguably to blame for not giving McCarthy sufficient funds with which to challenge in an increasingly competitive second tier.
The owner's reluctance to speak publicly also hasn't helped the manger, and he has shouldered more of the blame from an increasingly frustrated fan base than necessary.
That said, in recent months, McCarthy has on occasions been his own worst enemy with regards to his relationship with the fans.
Speculation about his future recently switched from 'if he goes' to 'when he goes,' and now the time has come.
Members of the press are starting to gather at Ipswich Town's training ground, where Mick McCarthy is due to speak at 13:00.
Jay Tabb played under Mick McCarthy at Ipswich for three years and praised him for how he was treated by the manager.
"He was very good, up there with one of the best managers to play for. He was always fair to me, he improved me as a player and many others at the club.
"He commanded a lot of respect, probably the only manager that didn't really have any open favourites, he would happily leave someone out the team, whereas most managers wouldn't have that."
And who would Jay have as the next manager? "I wouldn't know where to start," he said.
Former Ipswich Town player Bryan Hamilton says it is a shame Mick McCarthy's reign ended in the way it did.
"I am disappointed that it's ended like this for Mick because I just feel when he came into the club he did a fantastic job," he said.
"It was a club that had lost direction, lost a bit of spirit, lost a lot of qualities. He came in, stabilised the ship, gave it a direction, put a spirit and a belief into it and for 18-two years he did a fantastic job.
"Every club in the Championship wants the Premier League, and I think there was a moment in time after what Mick did [getting the club to the play-offs], they needed to sit down to say 'we believe in Mick, we'll invest, buy players, improve the structure'.
"For two or three years we seem to have been treading water."
"I've absolutely no idea," the former midfielder, who also worked at the club after his playing career, said.
Whoever it is, though, will inherit a club "in a decent position", he said.
So who might be next through the door at Portman Road?
The early favourite for the job is former England manager Steve McClaren, who has been out of work since 2017 when he left Derby County.
Also in the mix are current Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray - a former Ipswich Town player - and ex-Rangers and Nottingham Forest boss Mark Warburton.
But it's early days yet...
Former Ipswich Town midfielder Simon Milton says Mick McCarthy's departure has not come as a surprise, but praised the manager's work.
"I truly believe Mick McCarthy should be commended for what he's done," he said.
"From the minute he walked into the door he lifted the club.
"We were in turmoil."
This season things have turned sour for McCarthy.
The Ipswich boss had to apologise for his language in the aftermath of their goal at East Anglian rivals Norwich City, but denied it was aimed at the travelling fans.
Earlier this month, McCarthy insisted he would not leave before the summer, despite supporter criticism.
He says now he leaves the club with no "regrets".
"I have given everything for Ipswich Town and I will see out my contract in the same way," he said.
It’s safe to say the highlight of Mick McCarthy’s time in charge of Ipswich was undoubtedly the 2014-15 season, when he guided the club to the Championship play-off places.
Despite Paul Anderson's goal helping them to a first-leg draw, the Tractor Boys lost in the semi-finals against fierce rivals Norwich City 4-2 on aggregate. Norwich eventually went on to win promotion to the top flight.
The following season Ipswich finished just outside the play-off places, in seventh, but last season saw a drop down the table, ending the campaign in 16th place.
Mick McCarthy has come under criticism from some fans this season, who he claimed were creating a "difficult atmosphere" for his players.
The Tractor Boys had got off to a flying start to this campaign, winning their first five games in all competitions.
But form has dipped and they have only won four games in 2018 - so today's news won't surprise many.
This was the club's tweet from earlier:
The news brings to an end the longest reign of any manager in the Championship - the 59-year-old having been in charge of the Tractor Boys since 2012.
This season the club are 12th in the table and after a meeting with owner Marcus Evans on Wednesday it was decided a change was "in the best interest for all parties".