PA Media journalist Nick Mashiter has claimed on Twitter today that Ipswich Town will appoint Paul Cook as their new manager later on this afternoon.
The Tractor Boys have been in the hunt for a replacement for the departed Paul Lambert since the Scot was given his marching orders by the club hierarchy shortly after the side beat Doncaster Rovers at Portman Road last Saturday.
Cook immediately emerged as the frontrunner for the role, with various reports linking the former Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic man with the vacant post in recent days.
Mashiter has now taken to Twitter to post the following update on the situation involving the Liverpool-born boss and the East Anglian side:
The 54-year-old boasts a sound record at Football League level, having most notably led the likes of Chesterfield Town, Pompey and the Latics to league titles in the past.
Cook has been out of work since September last year after leaving Wigan amid the financial uncertainty that continues to plague the beleaguered League One side.
His move to Ipswich would represent the seventh managerial role of his career, having also taken in spells with Southport, Sligo Rovers and Accrington Stanley in the past.
The VerdictÂ
This would be solid appointment for Ipswich from my point of view and it would give them the stability that the club is in desperate need of.
As Mashiter quite rightly mentions, they are still within a good shout of making the play-offs and this is surely an opportunity that Cook will thrive on.
He will bring in a possession-based style of play that should in theory make the club a much bigger threat going forwards in attack, with the likes of Troy Parrott and James Norwood sure to be focal to the new manager's ideas.
Getting the best out of what is an underperforming squad will be Cook's remit and the play-offs surely have to be the objective going into the final few months of the campaign.