Well according to Mick he was was more than happy with the starting front 2 and thought we were the better team but didn't capitalise on our chances. Make of that what you will. Personally I feel Sears had to start tonight. Giving Murph a break from starting wasn't such a bad idea, although he shouldn't have taken the penalty so soon after coming on and with his dip in form IMO. Felt that he'd miss it. Tabb should be dropped for Saturday along with Bialkowski.
Well, since 2015 we've won four, drawn one, and lost six. Not promotion form, sure, but it's not dreadful form. I only refer to it as a blip, and as a poor year so far, in the context of our September-December form before it, which was admittedly a run of form we're unlikely to see again for a while. I also think it's a redundant point to make about our near-misses and 'bottling' from ten, five, or even a few years ago. With the nature of the game nowadays, our squad, managerial, and coaching staff are always changing and bringing in different experiences, achievements, and failures. I don't think the league positions and results of football clubs matter to the playing staff as much as it possibly did decades ago. We don't have a 'curse' on the club and therefore I don't think we have a 'mentality' at the club.
my biggest concern, and it has been for a long time, is that MM never seems to approach any game with a must win attitude. Its always must not get beaten. He doesn't seem to have the confidence to say to his teams we are better than them and go out and prove it. I don't see our rivals having that 'negativity'
Absolutely spot on!! Mick could have Messi and Ronaldo but at least one would be on the bench to accomodate the hard working headless chicken Tabb!! We need to be going out to win games, going to not lose a game is sooo bloody negative, i think MM has taken us as far as he can but without the willingness to bring in pace/flair we are not good enough!!
Nuggs spending nearly 15 years in this hell hole of a league I would suggest is a curse and a damning indictment on the whole football club! There has been precious little strategy or vision being deployed over the past 15 years as we have lurched from one debacle after another. Yes there are a few green shoots of recovery but I don't see the big vision thing or a footballing philosophy that underpins a serious strategic plan. All I see is a streetwise manager drafted in to save our sorry arses and cobble together a mish mash of a team with the smallest of investment going in and hoping for the best. This is what Ipswich Town has boiled down to and it's a very sorry state of affairs!
It's a valid point, tractor bhoy. The cautiousness and conservatism of our play, particularly in the make-up of our midfield and the poor distribution from our defence, cannot strike much fear in the opposition. However, we weren't really complaining about this when it was that ideology, and indeed similar line-ups, that ground out results in the latter half of 2014. This style of play has got us to where we are, challenging for promotion. Now, I hope McCarthy swallows his pride and realises that a degree of change and attacking impetus is needed in the games ahead. The starting line-up was a miscalculated gamble. I only hope the rest was worth it for the upcoming double header.
You misunderstand me Warky. I'm in no way supporting Marcus Evans' lack of investment and his poor running of the club, and I am certainly not suggesting that we're doing well over the past 15 years. My point is that I believe that the results and near-misses from this club will have no, or little, psychological effect on our current playing and coaching staff, because they are not responsible for what happened years ago.
The Fans still wear the scars though nuggets and it just can't be helped that after tonight the new found glory seekers will keep well away from Portman Road. There will be no more than 17000 on Saturday for example. I have been Micks biggest cheer leader but even I am now beginning to wonder if he has taken us as far as we can go with his hoof ball tactics! They served us well when we needed a solidity and a scrap but we should be evolving not digressing! Attack should be the mantra now not dogged defence! Anyhoo I shall reserve judgement until 5pm on Saturday!
Yes, we do have to stick through the side, through thick and thin. We've endured a long time in this Championship, more consecutive seasons than every other club in this division, who have had either a promotion or a relegation (often both) in the past 15 odd years. We've been too good to go down (although we've come close a couple of times) but crucially not good enough to go up. My point is, we have not bottled it yet. If we go into Portman Road despondent and glum, than that frustration can rub off on the players. Despite the last two results, we are in the best position we've been in since the Joe Royle days. Again, one point off the top six! What a change from before. Now I know you've been supportive JWM, and you've shown more faith and patience than most, but I'd prefer to be optimistic than pessimistic (and if you remember the Keane days, I make a very depressing pessimist). Now if we go on a terrible run of form and finish mid-table, you can come back on here and call me an idiot haha but while we've still got a chance, I'd like to keep the faith and hope the players can deliver.
Gutting aint it!! Wish you wasnt beginning to sound like me, wish you were ripping **** out of me for being wrong!!
Its hard to be optomistic tho nuggets, when you know your gonna be served up with negative hoofball and a midfield with zero pace/zero creativity and zero forward thinking!! Mick has dine what was needed at the time, made us hard to beat and picked up valuable points but i dont think he is capable of taking us up. I may be wrong and i hope i am but i just cant see it, not unless he changes his philosophy!!
Mick's doing it on purpose, he knows he can't cut it at prem level and doesn't want to lose his cushy job. It's sabotage I tell ya.....sabotage
I hate to say it, but i told you so..... Mick was never the man to take us forward - yes, he's done a great job up util now, but his limitations are well and truly exposed. He's not a good tactician and he's extremely stubborn. He's also very one dimensional, he doesn't do change very well, and that will hinder our chances. If this season ends in a whimper, then he has to go at t'end of the season and give a younger manager a chance to take us forward. As much as a lot of people dislike him and his arrogance, you have to take your hat off to Howe, and his footballing ideas. yes, they've spent quite heavily, but they have spent extremely wisely and and brought in a minimum amount of players (as opposed to Mick who has brought in an abundance of journeymen who are really not up to the standard). Am i being over negative? Maybe, but when you've been in this fantastic position of finally being promoted, what do you do? Instead of evolving and tweaking a few bits here and there to keep the momentum going, no... you stick with what you've been doing for the last 6 months, the same players (bar a couple) the same formations, the same tactics...and frankly it's bordering on dillusional behaviour. Other teams have found us out, and Mick doesn't know what to do...dillusional i tell ya.
That's much easier said than done, stretchyboy, and you know it. Firstly, we're in this 'fantastic position of finally being promoted' because of the style of play, the staff, and the players. It was only a couple of months ago we were all very pleased with what Mick had brought to the club, on great form, and there was a degree of a feel good around the place, while you sat arms crossed grumbling away. Promotion was always going to be tough and an unrealistic expectation but no, because we've dropped out of the top six and lost two games in a row for the first this season, you're suddenly Mr Prescient. Yes, Mick's stubborn and negative, and yes, I think he should adapt and change. Hopefully he will on Saturday, as he has proved before he can tweak the starting eleven. Now, who would you like as our next manager? Of course, what football fan wouldn't like to see a young, progressive manager come in, shake up the club, get us playing football with an attractive ideology, and achieve promotion? Having sat through a lot of games this season, I'd love to see a return to short-passing, adventurous football, believe me! But that style offers no certainty of promotion, and it's be naive to suggest otherwise. It's also unfathomable that, come the end of the season, Evans would sack McCarthy (which would cost a lot of money), hire a young manager (which would likely require patience), where he would have to overhaul the squad to one befitting that of a team comfortable with a different style of play (again, time and money), all on a limited budget within the confines of FFP. Like it or lump it (as we often do on a Saturday afternoon), McCarthy is here to stay unless he walks of his own volition, and, as we're sitting one point off sixth and still in this unlikely promotion race, why would he walk away? The truth is, McCarthy has made us competitive and we're having our best season for several years. I'm trying to enjoy the play off race, which only the most stubborn of fans would suggest we're out of, because over the past 15 odd years, we haven't had much to shout about and it's rare to be this far in the season and still be in with a chance of promotion. The 'journeymen' Mick has brought in is largely due to the financial restraint he is working under, and it's something his successor(s) would have to cope with too. The harsh truth is, we're no longer a big club. We're not a 'sleeping giant' but a comatose club stagnating after a series of poor managerial appointments and a financial largesse that has crippled our finances. We're certainly not entitled to promotion and to naively think a progressive manager could come in and do a superior job than Mick, with no real budget to work with, is wishful thinking if you ask me. Am I happy with our current style of play? Unfortunately, when you play negatively but don't win, it's never good viewing. Am I happy with our recent form? Of course not. But I'm going to stick by this club, support the team, and hope we can overcome the odds and secure a top six finish. Call me an idiot come May, if we fail to get promoted, which is likely, but at least I'd be supporting the side rather than waiting for a possible 'told you so' moment.
Really MM has got us within 6 points of top with plenty of games to go.......and people are just writing off any chance to get promoted.......I really hope there will be some humble pie served..............it's frustrating that we didn't win the last two games but it's not the end of our season by any stretch.
All valid points Nuggets, and i totally understand where you're coming from. But, one decent season does not necessarily make progression. Yes, we're finally in contention of a play off place - but what happens next year? If we do somehow make it up, do you honestly think these players can handle the premiership? And what if we don't make it, will the likes of Tabb, Murphy, Skuse, Hunt et al be good enough for another promotion push? In short, no! We need to to start from the bottom (youth) and build a team that can evolve and grow together, rather than pick and choose a few seasoned pro's that can't get a contract from somewhere else. Mick is not building a team, he's patching together a few misfits that can't get a game and squeezing every ounce out of them. This may well be all Evans' doing, and Mick has his hands tied, but either way, the buck stops with the manager, he's the one that picks which players to buy/loan, and he picks the squad, and he picks the tactics - i can't have a go at Evans, as i don't know what he does in the boardroom, but i can say my piece about Mick, as he's the face of our club.
Precisely Weighty, it does make you think if people have conveniently forgotten the perennial disappointment and relegation dogfights we witnessed over the past several years. I know we all support the club on here, and we've got different ways of showing our frustrations, but we've spent next to nothing since Mick has come in, while cutting costs. We shouldn't expect our side to be seriously challenging for automatic promotion and booing the players off every time we drop points at home. It's this ingrained pessimism and heightened expectation of constant victories that has made Portman Road such a fickle and depressing place to be at sometimes. I'd of thought some supporters would be more hopeful and optimistic than this. Yes, Mick's made some mistakes and his starting eleven last night was a miscalculation with the benefit of hindsight, but if Murphy scored that penalty, we would have got a decent point. but show me a top eight team having a great run of form right now. Even Norwich couldn't beat Wigan, a team seemingly destined for the drop.
Stretchyboy, true, one season does not necessarily mean progression, but it's a start and certainly a welcome change from the guff we usually put up with, right? You seem to be criticising Mick for cobbling together a team chasing promotion, while doing it with a limited budget. We have the temerity to push for promotion, that should be supported. Yes, the players aren't of great standard, but for every Mings and McGoldrick we bring in on the cheap, we're going to get some limited players because we're relying on cast offs from other teams. Of course we'd be favourites for the drop, should we go up, but I'd love Premier League football! Who wouldn't? Last time we went up we certainly put a few noses out of joint and surprised many. If we get promoted, massive if, then at least the cash flow would improve and if we do get relegated, we'd be able to approach a more progressive manager and give him the funds to make a decent go of building something, as you suggest. But as it is, if we sack McCarthy and try and build something different we're doing it on a tight budget and our results will likely become inconsistent. If this season has proved anything, it's that we're an expectant bunch and don't seem to have a lot of faith, on the whole. A few more seasons nobly building a team (no doubt selling off our best players to balance the books) will likely result in mid-table, not promotion. We just cannot finance the type of project you're thinking, and for it to do any better than what McCarthy is doing now, in my opinion.
