 Despite the acquisition of the young Malcolm Macdonald, Robson could not save the club from relegation to the Second Division, and he left them in November with the club sitting eighth in the Second Division.He discovered he had been sacked not from the club itself, but from the headline "Robson sacked" on an "Evening Standard" placard outside Putney station.He moved on to Ipswich Town in 1969 and it was there that he established his reputation as a successful manager, supported by the club chairman John Cobbold and then later by his brother Patrick Cobbold.