2018 Ipswich Town disaster will still give supporters the shudders: View | OneFootball

After signing a young and upcoming manager in Paul Hurst from Shrewsbury Town, the 2018-19 season was full of hope for Ipswich Town.

But, after just fifteen games and a solitary win against Swansea City, the Ipswich board made the hasty decision of sacking Hurst and replacing him with Paul Lambert.

The season evidently wasn't just Hurst's fault and the Tractor Boys ended up being relegated with a meager 31 points and five wins to their name.

Paul Hurst had promise

For as bad as his short stint was, Hurst really did have a great deal of promise based on his previous experiences.

A brilliant spell at Grimsby, earned him an opportunity at a struggling Shrewsbury Town, who were bottom of League One when he joined. Having kept them up comfortably, the following season saw the Rotherham legend achieve something that no pundits could have predicted.

With the likes of Dean Henderson and Ben Godfrey in his side, Hurst led his low-budget team to an historic third-placed finish, just behind Blackburn and Wigan in the automatic spots.

A play-off semi-final win against Charlton set up a tie against his old teammate's side, Paul Warne's Rotherham.

For Salop fans, it was Wembley disappointment, though, as Richard Wood's iconic double sent the Millers to second tier football.

The summer saw Hurst leave for Ipswich, leaving Shrewsbury fans disappointed, but with a points per game of 1.71, it was time to look at fondly.

It all went wrong at Ipswich for Hurst

Immediately, a big problem for Hurst was the chaotic summer transfer window that ensued.

Of the twelve players that joined in the summer, some noticeable additions were those of Trevoh Chalobah, Jon Walters and Shrewsbury duo Jon Nolan and Toto Nsiala.

Despite the obvious quality of some of these additions, very few fitted in at Portman Road and was symptomatic of what turned out to be a horrible fifteen games for Hurst.

The two opening games against newly promoted sides Rotherham and Blackburn yielded just one point, and it got even worse in the EFL Cup where they were defeated on penalties by League Two Exeter City.

The pressure begins to get to Hurst

Draws and late defeats began to plague Hurst, and the manager, renowned for speaking honestly, started to give more brutal press conferences.

Speaking to the East Anglian Times, he said: "We’re in this together. I’ll take my responsibility but the players have to take theirs as well and a lot of those, if they’re honest, will say they can do better than what they’re doing at the minute."

In another press conference, the manager added: "There are lots of things at this football club that I would change"

The day after this interview, Hurst's side would face Leeds at Elland Road, in front of a raucous 29,000 crowd. Ipswich folded and Kemar Roofe and Liam Cooper netted either side of half-time in another woeful performance.

For the Tractor Boys' hierarchy, that sealed the deal and after just 148 days in charge, Paul Hurst was sacked from his job.

Speaking to the NotTop20 podcast, Hurst said this about his dealings in East Anglia: "There’s lots and lots of reasons, some small, some more obvious than others, as to why it didn’t work.

"It was always a tough job. Everyone said that to me", he added.

One Ipswich fans will want to forget

For fans of Ipswich, it was a horrible season and one that they can blame Hurst partly for. Having taken part in just under 1/3 of all games, the manager didn't get the results that were needed, but this was a period where they were on a slide.

Four seasons in League One followed, and the club are getting back to their best now, but the 148 days for Hurst and supporters alike was a torrid time.