 Ipswich made only one major signing during the off @-@ season , buying Hermann Hreiðarsson from Wimbledon F.C. for a club record £ 4m two days before the season commenced . Television pundits Rodney Marsh and Mark Lawrenson both agreed relegation would be the obvious outcome . Ipswich surprised the doubters ; they sustained a high league position and narrowly missed out on qualification for the UEFA Champions League , when the team failed to win on the last day of the season against Derby County . The fifth @-@ place finish gained the club a UEFA Cup place and earned George Burley the title of FA Premier League Manager of the Year , an award that until 2010 had , in every other season , been given to the manager of the Premier League champions . 
