Wigan’s Leam Richardson displays how highly he rates former Portsmouth boss Paul Cook as he offers Ipswich sacking verdict

But the ex-Fratton Park assistant manager said he was in no doubt sure his now out-of-work pal would not be out of football long.

Cook was relieved of his Portman Road duties on Saturday evening, shortly after the big-spending Tractor Boys were held to a goalless draw by League Two Barrow in the FA Cup.

That stalemate added to an already frustrating season for the League One outfit, with their huge outlay on players during the summer not translating into acceptable results on the pitch.

Indeed, despite enjoying a 4-0 victory over Pompey on his return to the south coast in October, Cook’s now former side sit 11th in the table and11 points behind leaders Rotherham.

His sacking sees the Blues’ 2017 League Two title-winning manager miss out on a reunion with former No2 Richardson, with Ipswich set to travel to Wigan on Saturday.

The duo worked alongside each other during their two-season stay at Fratton Park and departed together when Cook left to join the Latics shortly after Pompey won promotion back to the third tier.

Since then Richardson now finds himself in charge of Wigan.

And reacting to the news from the weekend, he said was ‘gutted’ – describing Cook as a ‘Premier League/Championship’ manager.

Richardson said: ‘Surprised, absolutely devastated and gutted for him individually because nobody needs to tell Ipswich fans or anyone else in football the calibre of management on his cv.

‘For me he’s a Premier League/Championship manager so it’s surprising.

‘People look to get out of the division (League One) and in that situation they probably look for Paul Cook and the likes of him.

‘He’ll be fine – he’s very experienced, very robust, very thorough and very thoughtful.

‘I’m sure he’ll already be looking for his next challenge, knowing him, and I wish him well.’

Among the early contenders to replace Cook are Marc Bircham, Neil Harris, Frank Yallop, Frank Lampard, John McGreal and ex-Blues boss Michael Appleton.