And taken Ireland to the QF of the World Cup.... Speaking of Millwall I wonder how Hollloway is getting on?
Well said Westy. You wrote a post similar to how I was going to respond to stretchy but couldn't find the time to write.
Mick inherited a Wolves team that was in complete meltdown (any Wolves fan will tell you) and it took him 2 or 3 seasons to sort them out and to gain promotion as Champions on a very limited budget. He then kept them in the Premier League for 3 seasons again on a very limited budget. So will someone please explain to me why he is limited tactically and why he can't take us to the next level.
I would say we have an average squad for this division, only really Berra is top quality but a talented squad doesn't neccessarily mean a good team, togetherness good man management etc can make up for that. I mean take Murphy, he honestly is really only a very average player but look how much better players play when they are coached given confidence and given a decent run in the team. Our team seem to go from being very good to average dependant on the last results though, I think the arrival on the scene of Bishop and Williams has upped the quality significantly but perhaps more so having a bit of a different style of player than the standard player who does a job. As for Mick, he's the most frustrating manager I've ever known because I think he is a talented manager, his man management is great, as an ipswich team off the ball we are great and I like how he's so consistent win lose or draw but his propensity to not take risks and always err on the side of caution hold him back from being a top top manager and achieving anything great in the game. He done great a Wolves but when they got money and he started splashing the cash their he didn't really improve the quality in terms of personel or style of play.
Hey Warky, i take it , this is the same MM you were doubting and moaning about a few weeks ago? Lmao, you chop and change like the wind, maybe you are bipolar?
The same applies with your idol Burley in many ways! He was great with no money.... But then came Finidi....
Perhaps the same with every Ipswich manager? Have we ever had a manager who when given alot of money spent it wisely? The difference is Burley took risks, Mick doesn't and well the style of football
I take it you weren't a fan then? It was a culmination of factors which took us into administration, poor timing being one of them. Tbh they were bar far the best years I've had supporting town and I doubt we'll ever get to see years like that again, what he acheived at this football club literally was like a fairytale the likehood of we won't see similar again. Tbh it depresses me thinking about it now with the state football in england is in
Er no, you were also doubting MM but hey if your ashamed and wont admit it, then so be it!! Ollie is not doing great at the moment but then he aint been there long, i notice your not asking me how the other manager i wanted is doing
Too true PTC, but I guess you were not around for the even more magical, crazy star-dusted years of the legend that is Sir Bobby! Hey, but dont get too down, we as well as England are playing at their comfort zone level...that is, neither team are world or European class and that is that! Lets enjoy the ride and see where we go. At end lf the day, we are passionate about our club, its history, its simple rural roots, lucky to have witnessed some extraordinary football, and must accept that we will never have the dosh or the manager to be a Chelsea or Man City. But we could replicate the Saints...playing out of their skins and well above their bar. ......with a lotta luck, continued good progress, more ME cash, some judicious new signings next year, maybe in 2-3 years, IMO, is achievable!
No unfortunately I wasn't but the Burely years are certainly ones I will savour particularly that 2000/2001 season where our average position in the league was 3rd with practically the same team who got us promoted. I wish I shared your optimism but even Southampton, although great they are it's not quite the same, they've been invested in heavily and the money in the PL is just ridiculous compared to the rest of the leagues.I think that is the biggest thing, that connection with the fans has gone now even if the team is doing well, football has lost its soul. It's all about results and getting to the PL just for the cash that's the aspiration now
Can I say you had actually given up (along with most others) on Mick at one point and like everyone else said we had an average squad, a couple of months down the line Mick is back to being the Messiah and we have a great squad
A lot of managers take very unfancied teams up divisions and keep them there for a while - Phil Brown took Hull from the bottom of the championship to promotion to the premiership in two seasons, and kept them in the premiership for another two seasons. Ian Holloway took Unfancied minnows Blackpool into the premiership, and then followed that up by taking unfancied Crystal Palace up - Are they both good managers? (even Keane took Sunderland up from being bottom to top in less than a season) - They were the right men, for the right club, at the right time - Which is exactly what Mick has been for us. My point i'm trying to make with Mick is, is that i feel he is only good for 3 seasons max at any one club. He was the right man at the right time for us. He's fantastic at steadying the ship, adding some stability, motivating average players and getting them working their socks off - but i think that is it with him and he is very limited in his tactical abilities. He doesn't have it in him to change games when we are down, and he seems to make the wrong decisions when we are holding out when leading (by taking off a striker and putting a fifth defender is only asking for trouble, and to do that for 4 games on the spin is crazy). We need to change our style of play, and we need someone with fresh ideas, someone to take us back to playing the "Ipswich way" and to win with it. Yes we are grinding out results, but feck me it's boring. Football is an entertainment business, and if i'm going to be spending upwards of £100 to watch them on a saturday afternoon, then i want to be entertained and enjoy the game - nad not have to watch the ball being hoofed to Murphy and Sammon for 60 mins, and have the next half hour with 9 defenders on the edge of our box. If we don't get in the play offs this season, then Mick has to go and give someone else the challenge of taking us to the next level.
We have a squad mostly made up of average players - I'm fairly confident not one of them maybe bar Berra and McGoldrick would make a non-ipswich's fans championship dream team. But the Squad is undeniably very good for this league. Style of play is neither here nor there for me, I think the long ball criticism is overstated, from what i saw on Saturday it would say the long ball is plan B if passing along the middle doesn't present an opportunity. Long balls are a lot more common than I would ideally like to see but it's what works for Mick. Either way, I doubt Mick gave Bishop a clip round the ear for running at the defence instead of crossing from the wing. I know the best we can ever hope for under Mick is surviving in the PL season after season, without any serious attempt at a cup run either. Long term that's not something anyone should be happy with. But right now if it means I don't have to watch the FLS than that's a big positive. What and who comes after Mick is a problem for another day. Next 4 games i'm expecting a minimum of 4 points. We can and do compete with everyone we play against and none of the 4 teams will be considering us as easy pickings.
As I've said before slowly build a team season after season that has unity and spirit rather than just buying a squad wholesale which would have no affinity or connection to the fans. Burley built his team up by improving each season reaching realistic targets and by the time we got promoted we had a squad of players that had been together a while and because we had been in or around the play offs for a few seasons they were a team that were used to winning, I think the downfall was trying to improve on the 5th place rather then consolidating for another season with the same squad. I feel that our team now has a better unity and spirit than for a good few years and the players seem to believe that they can achieve things under Mick, and money would not in my view make things any better.
