I thought you had got the name wrong. I was thinking kevin ! Cannot remember George, but he was here all be it very briefly.
To be honest I couldn’t tell you the relative merits of our players before John Lyall came in. In the 80s I just thought every Ipswich Town footballer was a superstar and would tell any glory hunting local boy who backed Liverpool that Ipswich were the best and that was that! I don’t really think that bubble burst until Mick McGiven took the reins and even then I thought the players were all great and it was all his fault. As for George O’Callaghan, I was at the Watford away game where he did improve the side briefly by getting himself sent off by kicking out at a player. So I suppose he sticks out in the memory. Unfortunately though, the ban was lifted on appeal.
Have you seen the points Southampton get with Downes in the team in comparison to when he isn't, their form goes from automatic promotion form to relegation form. He absolutely bossed the midfield against us and Southampton fans will say he's one of if not the key player in their team, in my mind exactly the type of player we should be getting. Can't blame him for jumping ship when he did we were a mess and he was probably the only player to show any consistency here the previous couple of seasons, he was head and shoulders above anyone else. If he'd have stayed I think our journey would've been different.
I didn't say he's a bad player. But character is important too and that was found to be lacking at Ipswich, Swansea let him go and then again at West Ham he's a fair number of games, so he wasn't brought in to go out on loan and develop, and they've let him go out.
I think we all rated Downes as a top player on his day. Perhaps the Club management didnt help or support his character, personal stuff etc. The very different regime now could well bring the best out of him.
I thought he spent most of the time on the floor when he played us but seen him a few times and looks like a similar type of player to Hirst, a good all rounder plus can play in some of the other forward positions. In terms of Ayling, think he's pretty much confirmed as signed for Middlesbrough but I think we'll need a mix of experience and youngsters as we have recruited over the past 3 years. Very similar recruitment policy to the Burley days.
