Heading into the 2017/18 season there was a feeling of frustration among the fans who felt that manager Mick McCarthy had run his course with the club. 

But Marcus Evans and the Ipswich board felt that he still had something to offer and kept him for the final campaign of his contract.

Considering the lack of funds he had at his disposal throughout the two windows, the Irishman did well and always had the club in a comfortable position and never looked in danger of going down.

Still, though, the disgruntled voices in the crowd seemed to shout the loudest and behind the scenes, Evans was beginning to feel the pressure.

Then, on March 29, after a loss to Bristol City, the club made a big announcement.

This is FLW Rewind, where we take a look back at a big decision made by a club analyse the initial reaction and document what happened next.

After six years at the helm, it was announced that McCarthy would be leaving the club at the end of the season when his contract expired.

It was a decision that largely delighted the fans:

Paul Hurst was brought in during the summer with the hope of bringing a fresh and youthful approach to, what has been labelled, a tired and archaic style of play.

But it quickly looked like being a case of being careful what you wish for. After finishing 12th in McCarthy's final season, the Tractor Boys plummeted to the foot of the table.

It took 12 games of the current campaign for Hurst to pick up his first win of the season and soon after that, he was given the boot. Evans had promised a new beginning under the former Shrewsbury Town man but clearly lacked the patience to see it through.

The talented but inexperienced crop of League One recruits brought in now had to adapt to Paul Lambert, but the club are still yet to win a match under him either.

With 18 matches played, the Suffolk club currently rock-bottom of the Championship, six points from safety.

If only they had a Mick McCarthy figure to pull them out of the slump.