Guru, I know Im not the most aggresive supporter on here but I think that if Clegg/ an ITFC employee did sign up in an offical capacity then most of the town posters on here are sensible enough to realise that a barrel full of abuse wont help the situation. One of the most annoying aspects of the club currently is the lack of communication and if you can get that going then there is a possibility of being able to understand even if you cant agree.
ptc, there is a clear reason why our situation gets compared to yours and its because ALL norwich fans can see the exact same parallels between the clubs! its not a comparison we make because we enjoy rubbing your faces in it (though the rubbing of faces in it can happen, i will admit ), its not because we got through it better than anyone could ever have imagined, its because they are incredibly similar situations. honestly, its frightening - you are making exactly the same mistakes that we did... EXACTLY! a year ago under keane you could have used the valid statement that the situations are not similar because you have financial clout and we did not, but 12 months on, you can't even claim that because apart from big wages on loanees i don't see you spending any money at all, and we too spent all our wonga on wages - sibierski was on £25k a week to sit on his arse! thats 10k a week more than our top earner now!! the reason i state jewell has made it worse is because he has not only failed to rectify what were obviously your major failings under keane, he has managed to make you even easier to beat than you were under keane! your squad is older than keane's was. your number 1 keepers this season haven't been owned by your club - this was a big mistake my club made too - we used four keepers that year i think. he has signed crocks on big wages, signed players with personal issues, he's not played your kids which i believe guru and warky have said keane was 'keen' on doing. keane was clearly not the right man for your club but its screaming out that jewell cannot cope. i think most ipswich fans can now see that they are in big trouble and see that the reasons behind it may not be solely down to the current manager or maybe even the man before him but behind the scenes instead. however, it seems there are still some who think that your position can be changed swiftly given a bit of time, a couple of new signings and the same people who got you into this mess are capable of turning it round. well i'd be amazed if they are capable of that, but we shall see. probably not for long though as i fully expect you will have a new boss sooner rather than later.
Excellent work Guru! I sent a message to Clegg and I am still waiting for my reply! I cant think why!
Superman, I dont think we are easier to beat now its just the number of goals that is the difference. Possibly a silly point but I will try to explain. Under Keane we made the same stupid schoolboy mistakes as we do now. The difference is that before we used to be set up to draw a match and used hoofball and the stupid mistake used to lead to a 1-0 loss. Now we are set up to play football and have more attacking sense but as a result we are probably more likely to lose 4-2 (for example) rather than a 1-0. It ruins our GD column but we still end up with 0 points yet I take my seat these days with an optimism that we will try to play football rather than the feeling that I want to go to sleep which regularly happened under Keane. I expected a 1-0 defeat under Keane yet Jewells team is a very mixed bag and you dont know whether to expect us to play or not. Not saying which is better for the club or making a case for the better of the two, just putting my perspective on the issue
I was thinking if Clegg turns us down, I might then contact the EADT to see if they would interested in running a story about how the CEO turned down an oppotunity for a Q & A with an Ipswich town fans forum.
you've lost exactly half your matches under jewell - that makes you easy to beat and easier than under keane in my book obviously i don't watch you lot very often - thank god, but my old man does, though not as often as he used to - he's fallen out of love with the game but thats another issue! he claims he's never seen a worse ipswich team and he's struggling to remember seeing one that is more disorganised, more lacking in fight and which can't pass a ball five yards to team mate than the one you currently have. i've only seen fleeting glimpses on tv but apart from 45 minutes at barnsley, i can see exactly what he means and the opening 45 of that game, well - that is the worst performance from any team i've ever seen. brilliant comeback but all the signs are there. a major overhaul, and i really do mean major, is in order and i don't believe its possible to do that quickly. it'll take two or three years minimum and will definitely require a new manager. jewell just isn't a very good manager i'm afraid.
anyway, good luck guru getting him on the boards! if you do manage to 'hook' him, i'd like to be the first to congratulate him on his excellent work! sorry, couldn't resist
And he is his reply. Stephen, Thank you for your response. All I can do is to assure you that everyone at Portman Road and Playford Road is doing their utmost to change the current situation around. Whilst you may not believe it I do spend quite a lot of times speaking to fans including formally at Supporters Club meetings (I"m at one this Saturday) or informally at any time such as at Hull last weekend or on the train to London this morning or even the Lower North ST holder that I've just bumped into in Cafe Nero in Victoria before meeting an agent. Thank you for your support for the team at this difficult time. Regards. Simon I think i may have hit a nerve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Supers I didnt say that we werent easy to beat just that we arent any easier to beat than we were last season (God what a straw clutching exercise this is!!) Your old man is probably right in everything he says. We do lack fight, organisation and even some basic footballing abilities. I would also say that first half against Barnsley wasnt our worst performance of the season which shows how bad we are. I also agree we are in need of a major overhaul (yet another one) and have little argument against replacing Jewell accept for no matter how bad we are/ he is I cant see why he should be blamed as an individual for Edwards taking an attacking throw in on the half way line with 30 seconds of a match left and passing it straight to the opposition striker who scores against us and our run of defeats go on (was 2-2 before losing 3-2 as a direct result). We werent good that day but even the worst coaching on earth cant legislate for that 1 moment. That is one example of an unbelievable individual mistake that has cost us. We can go through a match without the opposition actually troubling us once yet still get beaten due to a stray backpass or whatever it may be. We are underperforming and some of our play is a shambles. I have no arguments against these facts but I do feel that when (and in all honesty we probably all know it is a when) Jewell is sacked that there are certain players that should go at the same time.
tractorbhoy, do you believe your team is under performing or is it that this is their current level of ability? would a new manager get an instant change from the same personnel, as that is what will be necessary if he doesn't get a transfer window? likewise if jewell stays, is it even possible to get your current crop to play better?
I personally believe that the players have nothing to play for because that most of them know that whatever happens to Ipswich Town Football Club they will be playing probably in the championship, albeit with us or with another club because their contract has been run down. What incentive is there for the players to put their bodies on the line!
That is the big question Superman. We signed a lot of players with big reputations that must have come from somewhere! At blackpool away earlier this season we had 10 players with EPL experience and 9 who had representated their country at one level or another on pitch and didnt have a shot on target.They obvious have played at higher levels and done reasonably well at least but they dont show it very often here. Normally I would say lack of management but if you had seen some of the mistakes that are commited over and over again each match you would honestly be shocked if that happened in a sunday morning team. If a player needs to be trained in opening their eyes and passing 5 yards to another player in the same shirt then it really does make you ask some serious questions about their own worthiness and that is why I am so torn. Surely they should be able to play better than they are but surely if they were that good they wouldnt do such stupid things time and time again. I can see why their is so much annoyance, frustration and anxiety on these pages but I dont see how you can differentiate between the players and the manager when it comes to who is making the biggest mistakes.
good point guru. tractorbhoy, this is why i, and other city fans continue and will continue to make the same comparison. we've been there!! it got to the stage where i, a bloke who played non-league football, genuinely and honestly felt i could do a better job than those pulling on my clubs shirt on a saturday afternoon, and probably would do a better job, then you know the players don't care. it wasn't me just being a fan - 'god, i could do better than you lot' - i genuinely think i would have been better. there is no way i should be better than them, even mark fotheringham!!
The main difference Superman is Mark Fotheringham was a nobody in footballing terms, yet we paid 2m for Leadbitter to be annoymous, 2m for Edwards to be shocking and 900k for Delaney to look like he is new to this planet. Same outcome maybe but at least you can pride yourselves in the fact you didnt spunk £20m away in transfer fees alone to get that useless! Guru, I agree in what your saying but in all walks of life people work for a company that they dont care about and most do as good a job as possible to ensure they can either get out asap or to ensure that they still have an income. I know footballers dont need the cash but surely there should be some kind of professional pride. If I lost my job and could only get the most mundane job on earth as a replacement then I would still want to know myself that I was as good as I could get.
It has become clear that the only way we are headed with Jewell is relegation. We have been going round and round in circles discussing the why's and where for's but the cold hard stats of his disasterous spell as manager are clear for all to see! 11 Defeats out of the last 14 games is just totally unacceptable at this level of football. Any other club would have ditched him by now and to somehow cling on to the arguement that we gave Sir Bobby time when he first took over doesn't hold comparison! The stats say that Jewell is the worst manager of Ipswich Town since the days of Jackie Milburn in 1963/64! At least Milburn established our famous youth academy, the very thing that Clegg and Jewell seem hellbent on destroying. EVANS It is time to take decisive action and remove Jewell now. He looked a haunted man at his last press conference and I say that the poor bastard should be put out of his misery!
I feel I may have it a nerve with my Keane comment, sorry! Super summed it up though. We are easier to beat. I'm not backing Keane up regarding transfers and squad, you're very much right in that aspect, but Jewell has made it significantly worse. Keane abolished the rb position, but still Jewell has had a year to do something about it, yet he still signs old crocks who are well out of date. Granted, experience is a must in this league, but we have 1 in 11 who is a youthful talented player, and that's Cresswell. We have other youth players who are good, but Jewell doesn't give them a chance. That is 1 thing I'll give Keane credit for, he gave players like O'Conner, Hyam and others a chance to prove themselves. We need to stop this fighting because the Norwich fans are laughing at us. Let's just agree that this is a poor time to be a town fan, and we will one day, League 1 or not, be a team we once were!
I also think the Keane giving youth a chance is a bit of a fallacy. Without doubt they featured if you check the records when we had a full strength squad to play with it was normally the youngsters that missed out. The only 1 who constantly got a go was Colback on loan from Sunderland.
