THERE are some nights in football when it becomes clear there is no way back for a manager.

It was evident after the 3-0 defeat at Grimsby in 2002 that the George Burley era was coming to a sad end.

When Roy Keane snapped back at fans as he made his way towards the tunnel after a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Portman Road in January 2011 you knew his days were numbered.

Similarly, after Paul Jewell failed to show for his press conference after the late 2-1 capitulation to Derby at Portman Road in October of the following year, it was inevitable the announcement thanking him for the job he’d done and wishing him well for the future wouldn’t be too long in coming.

Tuesday’s night’s dismal 3-0 defeat to Hull City may not mark an imminent end to Mick McCarthy’s spell in charge but it can now only be a matter of time.

The defeat itself to a struggling side which had previously won only three away games in the league in two seasons was one thing, the manner of the performance another, but in the wider context it was yet another frustrating evening for long-suffering fans, who saw their side fail to score at home for the fifth game in a row for the first time in the club’s history.

That the official attendance of 13,031 was the third time in four matches that a new lowest home league crowd in nearly 20 years had been set tells a tale.

In the context of all that it was little surprise that the atmosphere turned toxic as Hull coasted to what will probably be their most comfortable victory this season.

McCarthy was, as on so many occasions over the last couple of years, informed in no uncertain terms what many supporters think of the football under his management, told to get out of the club and booed off.

Successfully completed passes were sarcastically cheered and relatively unthreatening shots on target over-celebrated.

At the end, McCarthy held an impromptu meeting with his players on the pitch and apologised to them for his presence having led to the off-field unrest and to emphasise the importance of sticking together in tough times.

What was one of Portman Road’s bleakest evenings seemed to mark the point of no return in the long-running rift between fans and McCarthy.

Afterwards the Blues boss said he could do nothing to address that other than to win matches, but things have gone well beyond that and persevering with the current situation is doing nobody any good, the club, the fans, McCarthy, who would no doubt quickly get another job elsewhere in the Championship were he to move on, and owner Marcus Evans.

With the season all but dead from a competitive perspective - Town are neither going to reach the play-offs nor go down - the international break which follows tomorrow’s game at Bristol City might be the moment to part company, although McCarthy, whose contract is up in the summer, says he has no intention of not seeing out the season.

The former Ireland manager will almost certainly feel he has been treated harshly by fans and he may have a point.

In purely league position to budget terms he has overachieved in most of his seasons at Town, having initially pulled off a Lazarus-like recovery with the Blues destined for relegation.

But his pragmatic approach has never fitted with the mythologised ‘Ipswich way’ and his brusque, earthy demeanour isn’t in keeping with many fans’ idea of an ‘Ipswich manager’.

Of course, a change of boss will be no panacea and more needs to change, not least the Blues’ budget in a division which becomes richer and more challenging every year.

Tony Mowbray is understood to be the club’s preferred potential successor to McCarthy but would he be willing to leave Blackburn, who he currently has at the top of League One and who would probably be better resourced if they go up?

A popular former skipper and coach, Mowbray would be a unifying figure and that’s what the club desperately needs after such a fractious period in its history.

Someone who will play a style of football more in keeping with the club’s traditions with young players progressing from the academy at the heart of a process of developing a team to challenge in the manner Burley did 20 years ago, albeit in a much-changed division.

But first a line needs to be drawn under the current schism between fans and manager - and increasingly the club itself - before that process of renewal and rebuilding can begin.