I've looked into our form over the past 10 plus games and it really is very poor, I didn't realise how bad we've actually been. From the past 14 games: - 1.36 points on average per game - 21 goals scored - plus 6 goal difference Anyone guess when the following stats are from? - 1.71 points per game - 26 goals scored - plus 11 goal difference
Not a clue! You'll prob say under Paul Cook. There is a case for bringing in a seasoned Ipswich pro alongside him in some capacity, two heads can be better than one, especially at subs time. That said, lets keep behind him and get back to winning ways.
Indeed it's the 14 games which led to Paul Cook's sacking. I'm not at all saying we should sack McKenna, a part of me still feels like we didn't give a serial promotion winner in this league enough of a chance both in terms of time and being undermined behind the scenes. We've just taken a gamble of a highly respected young coach who's learning on the job and its shown the past 10/15 games. The amazing thing is we're still in 3rd as unlike last season we got off to a flier. Given how ruthless Ashton was with Cook it'll be interesting to see what their stance is with McKenna if we don't have success this season. I suspect given its Ashtons man I'd imagine he'll quite rightly be given his full backing. I agree about bringing someone in with experience to support, trouble is we've taken quite an ideological route with everyone seemingly on the same page with how we go about things. I think the frustration is it wouldn't take too many small changes for us to be the real force in this division
It doesn’t tell the whole story though. McKenna’s win percentage is the best of any Ipswich manager since 1937.
He's had 2 runs of really good form when he first took over and at the start of this season. The end of last season and the middle part of this has been poor. Hopefully that means we're due another purple patch at the end. His win % over the last 14 games is 28.5% which is lower than any manager since Jackie Milburn.
While I don't doubt we're in pretty poor form at the moment, context is key. You could take an isolated 14 game stretch from pretty much any previous Ipswich Town permanent manager and get a similar (or worse) figure than 28.5%. Also, you conveniently leave out/forget Paul Hurst and his 6.7% win percentage from 15 games. Even if you shorten that to 14, it doesn't look much better!
All being a bit over dramatic imo, all teams hit a bad patch, we will come out of it, starting tonight, go on a run and catch the other two up!! I have faith in KM, i have faith he will iron out the few problems we have, will find his settled defence eventually and all this will be forgotten!! I still think we are missing a trick with Wolfy, tooooo dodgy at the back, i would move him into a deeper lying midfielder, he is calm on the ball, loves to bomb forward, i think it would suit him perfectly!! Waiting to be shot down in flames now!!
Not too sure about Wolfy in a midfield role,but I agree our biggest failing is lack of a nailed on leader at the back I was disappointed this wasn't addressed in the last window. I also think we are in a good position to catch up with Plymouth and Wendy after our wobble.
We took a bit of a gamble bringing in McKenna, as this is his first job in first team management. So clearly he's not going to be able to draw upon the type of knowledge that a more experienced manager has - who could maybe have guided us through our recent sticky patch and turn some of those draws into wins. However, I've lost count of the number of 'experienced managers' we've hired over the last decade or so who hasn't been able to put a sustained run of form together. It'd be interesting to see where we finish in the league table - and whether we've achieved promotion - but since McKenna has come in, we've played better football and we look like a much better coached team than anything Cook, Lambert, and Hurst put out on the field. Like Hampy says, McKenna does currently have the highest win percentage of any Ipswich manager since the 1930s, albeit at a third division level. I'm with Spanish, in that I've got faith in McKenna. The first half performance against Sheffield Wednesday was probably one of the worst under McKenna. However, both manager and players showed great character and ability in coming back and being unfortunate not to get all three points after that second half display. We just can't seem to reliably score penalties! I believe the next five matches for us are key. We play Bristol Rovers (14th) then four teams currently in the bottom seven. Both Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday have a few games against teams in and around the play off positions across their next five. So, we've got a key set of games that really gives us a chance to put points on the board and close the gap.
Very good spot in regards to Hurst, the small time he was manager when looking through the stats, I must have thought he was a caretaker
I agree all teams hit a bad patch...let's hope some around us start to hit theirs soon as some of those teams have been relentless. The bad patch doesn't concern in that like you say all teams go through one its more how we've gone through it and the late goals are a concern and the fact it looks that bar Morcombe we are being tactically out thought most games. I would have to judge Wolfenden in that position before making comment but wouldn't be something I would consider having watched him. I think we've got a group of really decent young CBs at Town at the moment, all who could play at a higher level. I think the main problems we have defensively aren't necessarily personnel, I think we're asking alot of our defenders in possession and they have alot of possession of the ball, to be switched on defensively whilst having a lot of the ball takes a lot of concentration. Secondly there is often quite alot of space on the wings for the opposition and finally I would say we're quite passive in both boxes, not really sure how to describe this but we like to be in control and if we haven't practiced a particular play it feels a bit like that attacking instinct to get on the end of a cross (both defensively and offensively) has been lost. We actually have some decent players the air but how many times do we concede from crosses and how many to we score from crosses which aren't set pieces?...not many by my reckoning. As I've said sometime I think we can be a bit too methodical in our play and that sometimes takes away the natural instinct of our players because its been drilled into them so much we play a certain way.
Regarding the need for an experienced leader at the back, wasn't that the rationale behind the Keogh signing in the summer? He certainly fits the profile of leader, but it appears his pace has abandoned him in his old age. I'm sure he is a positive presence behind the scenes and in training, but it's a shame he isn't quite there as a potential first team regular. We do look short of a vocal leader at the back, and across our squad, but that's arguably the main downfall of our recruitment mantra. We sign young players that are able to strengthen the squad, but have a strong potential for a high resale value (just look at the Clarke and Broadhead signings in January). The issue being a lot of our players are in the mid-twenties or younger.
Paul Hurst inherited the worst Town side in history and signed a few decent players. McKenna inherited the best players we’ve had in almost a decade and signed a few decent players.
Yeah, that's four wins from the last 15. That's not even play off form, let alone automatic promotion. I think someone said it before, but even if we do get a play off spot - I'm questioning how that'll pan out for us. Promotion certainly wouldn't be a given. As a club, we haven't regularly beaten the 'top sides' in League One this season (or indeed ever since we got relegated to League One).
Time to play 2 up top, sorry nuggets, i know you said it was a crazy idea but what we are doing at the moment isn't working, so.....ladapo and Hirst up top it is then Walton Clarke Wolfenden Burgess Leif Burns Morsy Evans/Humph/Massimo Broadhead Ladapo Hirst/Chaplin
Haha - I never said playing with two up top was 'crazy', I just think we've got better options and quality in the attacking midfield positions rather than centre forwards. I'd go for a 4-2-3-1 formation, for what it's worth, but I think the emphasis on style of play and attacking patterns are more important these days than rough positions on the pitch. The way we play and dominate games, we're going to have players getting forward regardless of our system. I'd try and get us playing the type of football earlier this season, when we were confident on the ball but looked to get it forward much quicker. I'd go for the below, with the hope we can stretch play a bit and break through the opposition's deep block: Walton (although I'm really questioning his first team credentials, looked poor lately) Donacien Clarke Wolfenden Davis Morsy Humphreys (poor lad's thrown in deep end a bit here, but no other central midfielder is currently fit) Burns Chaplin Broadhead Ladapo
