Newly appointed Ipswich Town manager Paul Cook wants to recruit interim Wigan Athletic Leam Richardson and former Republic of Ireland international Noel Hunt to his backroom team at Portman Road, a report from The Sun (07/03, p61) has claimed.

Cook was appointed as Ipswich manager earlier this month, and saw his team slip to a 3-1 defeat at Gillingham in his first game in charge of the club on Saturday afternoon.

Now it seems as though Cook is keen to make his own mark on his coaching team behind the scenes at the Tractor Boys.

According to this latest report, Cook is keen to recruit Richardson - who has been in caretaker charge of Wigan for the majority of this season - and former Leeds striker Hunt - who had a spell as interim manager of Swindon earlier this season - to his backroom team.

Richardson has previously worked as Cook's assistant at both Chesterfield and Wigan, while Hunt has played under the recently appointed Ipswich boss for Portsmouth and the Latics.

However, it has been suggested that despite Wigan's precarious position in the League One table, Richardson is keen to remain at the DW Stadium until the summer at least, meaning Cook may have to wait to secure that particular reunion.

Ipswich are currently eighth in the League One table, two points adrift of the play-off places following that defeat at Priestfield.

The Verdict

It does seem as though there would be two sensible appointments for Ipswich to make.

Both Richardson and Hunt have plenty of experience in the game, meaning they could both be useful assets for the club with the insight they could offer.

Indeed, the the fact that they already know Cook could help as well, since there would be less of an adaptation period required should they make the move to Portman Road.

That could potentially allow them to hit the ground running with the Tractor Boys, which could be just what they need as they look to force their into the promotion picture this season.