Morning ladies, Was lying in bed this morning, thinking about the weekends footy coming up and something struck me (not literally) and i wondered if any of you guys are the same? Firstly i thought about Barça, yeah i now love everything Barça, its how i used to feel about Ipswich. Why Barça i hear you cry, probably because 90% of people around here support Real Madrid, so i decided to support their great rivals, who at the time were 2nd best to Madrid. I do like the banter, so Barcelona was the obvious choice. Secondly i thought about Bayern Munich, have followed Bayern since i was a kid, just love them as a club and i love the Bundesliga. Bayern were always a close second to Ipswich but i now follow them more than Ipswich. I think that as a club, Bayern are fantastic and run superbly, something many should use as an example! Thirdly i thought about Real Madrid, looked to see who they were against this weekend and checked their latest news, this tho was not because i like Madrid, this was because i absolutely detest them and find their current plight hilarious! Nothing greater than seeing the likes of Ramos, Ronaldo and Casemiro sulking, god i hate those 3, especially Ramos! Finally i looked on TWTD to see if we had signed anyone from Sudbury Town reserves or to see if MM had seen the light and realised how much many actually want him gone. Now, not too long ago, Ipswich was always my first thought and i never thought the day would come where i thought about 3 other teams before them. Saturdays were spent listening to radio Suffolk pre and post match and commentary via Ipswich player (obv when lived in uk it was watching home games and about 6 away games per season) These days i dont subscribe to listen and i dont even check scores during the game.If there is nothing better to do i will keep checking but most Saturdays i dont take any interest until tuning into radio Suffolk for post match meltdown, as find some of the calls hilarious! I honestly hate how i feel about ITFC these days, i have lost the love for a club that i thought about every waking day. Do i think that will change if MM goes? Actually no i dont, i think it has gone too far and i think this may be the same for many fans. This is a major problem imo, many of the lost supporters may find there is more to life than wasting £400 ÷ on watching Ipswich each year and they may be lost forever. The club we love has bern on a downward spiral for many years and nobody seems worried enough to do anything about it, typical slerpy Suffolk, people moan but thats as far as it goes. Some have made a stand and refused to go but not enough to make ME take note. I have had enough of the whole regime from top to MM and pray some drastic changes happen before its too late but do i think it will happen? Do i heck! Anyone else feel this way or is it just because i have lived away for 13 years now?
Believe me when I say that there are times I wish I hated Ipswich but I'm afraid it's in the blood and I couldn't break away even if I wanted to I do understand your sentiments tho
Hey Spanish, good to hear from ya! No doubt hear from you more in 36 hours when Wolves have pulled our pants down My thoughts on the matter you've raised are as follows - ITFC WASN'T my original love - that was AC MIlan. I didn't have sky as a child, however of course had channel 4. Channel 4 had footy Italia, Milan had a defence of Maldini / Baresi / Costa Curta + Panucci for a season. What a defence, what a side. Milan 95/96, bar the Bordeaux collapse ( hello Zidane/Dugarry) I was hooked. By this point, I had also mildly adopted IPSWICH! The year before I properly fell in love with Milan as a 9 / 10 year old, we lost 9-0 to Man Utd. What many people don't speak about is the 3-2 win we had vs them that year ( they lost the league by a point ) so when anyone mentions 9-0.......... I think my thought process = * blue favourite colour * EVERYONE supports Man Utd = the team that beat them, I'll go with them.... So I adopted Ipswich and 97-2000, my fascination grew. 99/2000 promotion year I really started to get into it. Anyway, we know the rest sadly I'm a ruddy blue support a bang average side and will die an Ipswich fan..... Like Spanish though, I have to confess to being a lot more MEH around all things ITFC. Part of this is having lived abroad twice now,,,,, part of it is our situation. Sure, we'll moan and say we should be doing better rar rar rar, sadly so will - * Forest * Leeds * Norwich * QPR * Aston Villa * Sunderland * Sheffield Wednesday *Blackburn * Coventry * Charlton * Birmingham. There in lies the problem, what REALLY makes us so damn special? That's not a pop at anyone, however in particular Forest + Wendy - they've been out of the top flight for so damn long... they deserve better..... You have the rise of other clubs the past 20 years which has changed the football landscape - * Wigan * Hull * Reading * Bournemouth * Swansea * Cardiff Fair play to these clubs, they've grown, upgraded stadia, become more relevant and moved forwards. A lot of the old guard have not. Regards our results....... if we lose, I'm not as angry as I would have been under Burley for instance late 90s had we lost 2-1 to Port Vale say. Back then, we WERE a big fish in the division 1 pond. The bottom 10 were very lowly backed, sitting ducks really for sides like us and had we lost to a side like that then yes I would have been more likely to throw toys out of the pram. If we lose now.......... well we're hardly backed, other sides are so I find it easier to accept. It pains me the way we're going, so I am a lot more apithetic to the whole situation now. I love watching others play the game I'd much rather see the game played than Mick's approach.... but often their situation is different and I get his thinking. Don't get me wrong it's often ruddy horrible to watch, even if we collect the 3 points but I get it. That doesn't mean I don't really enjoy watching others play the game in the way I love to see play. There's been a few sides the past 15 years I've LOVED! * Valencia early 2000s * Real Zaragoza when they managed to get the Milito's / Aimar / D'Alessandro. BEHAVE! * Anything Ricardo Quaresma is involved in * Barca UNTIL they became a machine. Much more fun with Rivaldo / Kluivert / Enrique / Figo + the worst defence EVER * Riquelme absolutely BOSSING it for Villareal. I actually LOVE to see special, technical players play the game. The likes of - * Quaresma * Ortega * Aimar * D'Alessandro * Vicente * Overmars *GIO GIO GIO !!! - only thing when you consider this bunch, is they've all had mental issues........ As for Wolves tomorrow, my viewpoint is the same as a very good film I saw on my way back from South Korea recently - MEH.
It's the hope that kills you.. Every now and again we'll win a game/play OK and you kid yourself into believing.. I must admit to having a similar detachment to 'Football' and now only really consider myself a fan of ITFC and not of 'Football' as I can't remember the last time I watched a game that didn't involve us or even MOTD. That said, I also can't really remember the last time I watched a full ITFC game either as my usual dozen or so matches a season have dwindled down so much over the past few years that I haven't seen us once this season [Shame on Me!] I always keep up to date with what is happening throughout the week (read press conference write ups etc.) but perhaps more out of habit than any real optimism and excitement. In fact I spend perhaps the same amount (if not more) following the Seattle Seahawks online (my NFL team) which perhaps shows my level of disengagement with Football that I'm expressing more & more interest in other sports entirely.
I was taken to my first Town match when I was about 7 it would have been the early 1970s,Stoke or Derby from memory?Before Robson's reign had really taken hold but I was hooked from the start.In those days you had to get to the ground a good hour before kickoff to guarantee a decent spot to stand,my Dad with two young sons and stools to stand on often joined by an Uncle and Grandfather. I remember those Saturday mornings waking up with anticipation,a feeling now long gone.I can't imagine supporting anyone but Ipswich,I spent 4 years in Nottingham in the early 1980s when Forest were at their height .I went to the odd game,but couldn't really work up any enthusiasm for watching a match that didn't involve Town. I know in those days it was easy to be enthusiastic about our Club but latterly all joy seems to have disappeared,a combination of MM's awful version of hoofball and ME's questionable ownership style/methods. As I've said frequently I only really remain a Season Ticket holder because of the social aspect of going to the match and a beer with my Dad and brother in law,don't know if I'll continue when they both aren't up to it. What won't change, however, is my lifelong support of Town.
I don't think I could ever throw the towel in completely, no matter how negative things gets. In Spanish's case, living away from the area for a number of years would certainly a key contributor, as well as his complete aversion to Mick McCarthy from the moment he walked through the door in 2012 (if I remember correctly, apologies to Spanish if that's wrong). The Town games I have seen this season are a marked improvement on the dross served up last season. But I'm not rushing around trying to watch as many Town games as I can. In fact, I believe I've seen just as many non-league games than I have Town matches this season. Although nobody can realistically claim the technical standard of football at Stowmarket Town or Needham Market stands up to Portman Road, I have witnessed a number of exciting games at those grounds with plenty of goals and a shared willingness to attack. As for Spanish's alternative choices of football club, I think all of us would prefer to watch the standard and dominance of Barcelona and Bayern Munich week in, week out. But while I can appreciate the technical qualities of those clubs, I have no emotional attachment to them. I think it's easier said than done to cut yourself off from Ipswich Town and willingly support one of the top clubs in Europe. It wouldn't feel right. It would feel too forced. But then again, as one of the younger members on this forum, maybe I'm just bitter that someone can even entertain the notion of actually supporting a successful club. I wasn't around during the years when we actually were a top side! The best I've known is that promotion in 2000 and the 5th place finish in the Premier League (and I was a young lad at the time so I didn't completely appreciate the success). Since then, a handful of failed play off campaigns is the best I've witnessed at Town amid a decade and a half of mediocrity. If that hasn't put me off yet, what will?
For me, supporting Barca was hard at first and i couldnt get the passion but the more i mixed with the locals, the easier it got and the more passionate i got. They all support Madrid and at first i got pelters as Madrid were more dominant but then Barca took over and i was able to dish it out. For me...thats what football is all about, yeah i am an Ipswich fan but here, that means nothing, i have nobody to have banter with and without that...whats the point. Football is all about bragging rights imo but when nobody has even heard of the club you support, its very difficult. So i had to pick a Spanish team to support and why not the enemy of all the locals, as you know, i do like a good old debate etc and i now get plenty of that here. Last season was a trauma but this season is a joy atm! It was not about glory hunting at all, had that been the case i would have chosen Madrid!
As perhaps the most senior member here, I too would find it difficult to throw the towell in totally. In spite of the grim fare served up week-end in/out. What has changed over past 50 years is the very character of the club, its passion, its heartbeat being the Cobbold family, its extraordinary run of punching way above our heads, little old Ipswich from the Suffolk sticks, putting Liverpool to the sword ffs!...that's what stirred me as a young boy aged 10 on my wooden box & rattle. Everyone was involved, cared about, supported...as I type,...... Bart keeps us in an entertaining game, we have given it a go at times, and played to our rare strengths....a draw would be nice. MM needs to go. Come on you Blues!
ITFC For Life! I'll always support Ipswich, I get up early every Saturday morning when really I should be catching up on sleep. It's not been good lately but football moves in cycles and you always have to hope that your turn is coming. I'm paying more for streaming access and although the matches aren't great it's still good to be able to see my team play after many tears of listening to commentary. Marcus has changed our football club and I blame him entirely. Poor choices for Managing director and not being personally involved with communication to the fans has alienated many and made us feel disconnected. High prices and low investment doesn't help and just adds to the overall feeling that we are all just punters now. I admire Barca because they do like to use their academy, got no time for Bayern though who's only transfer policy is to buy the best players from the rest of the Bundesliga thus continually keeping them as the strongest in their one team league.
I've certainly lost the passion for following Ipswich and football in general over the past few years. With Ipswich because of the fact I actually haven't enjoyed going to a football match in about 10 years other than the company and for football in general because of the money involved. I'll always support Ipswich being born in the area and having a family who have always supported them, since being taken to a match as a 5 year old in the mid 90s I've been lucky to see us through the Burley and Royle eras and even to an extent under Magilton where all manager kept the traditions of producing teams on a budget who punched above their weight. During the reign of those managers you'd.have the odd boring game but 9 times out of 10 you'd turn up on match day knowing you were going to be entertained with a team that would attack the opposition no matter what. I had a season ticket or attended 10games + (when i moved away from suffolk) a season during those years, it was like an addiction if I was free and able to get to Suffolk on a Saturday I would go. Now I have to force myself to go every once in a while through some form of loyalty so I can claim I still support Ipswich. Unfortunately all those values which made me proud to support a unique club like Ipswich have been eroded over the past 10 years and particularly due to the negative tactics Mick uses. He's been good for us in many ways but if I can't enjoy the matches what is the point. One thing though when I have children even though I no longer live in the area they are free to do what they like with their lives and be of any political persuasion but they have to support Ipswich and no other club otherwise I would disown them!!
Always found that interesting, my two sons were not born in Ipswich and grew up 'supporting' other teams, it was up to them. In no way did I ever try and convince them to support Ipswich just because I do, in fact they couldn't, I was born, bred, schooled in Ipswich, first season ticket at the age of 10, all my friends supported Town, its in my blood and my roots, how could they possibly love the club as I do? ITFC would never be as special to them as it is to me, simply couldn't be.
I like Betis and they are only an hour and half away but there would be no banter with all these Madridistas, it had to be Barca! They can also put you through the mill like Ipswich tho, just watched them scrape a win against Alaves, very lucky!
SD Barças academy has been **** last few years and had to splash the cash! Whatever you say about Bayern...the club is run perfectly and is an example to all other clubs, they were even able to pay for the Alianz about 5 years early. A massive massive club, with the largest amount of members in the world (correct me if im wrong) which is run like clockwork. The Germans have sorted out their football from top to bottom and i really admire it!
You're bang right about Bayern. I read somewhere once the academy target per season = 3 players capable of playing for Bayern the NEXT season and in the squad 3 players to be able to play Bundusliga 3 players to be able to be a professional Ridiculous.
I wonder what our academy target is... 1 player capable of warming the bench for 9 months 1 player capable of being a sub in L1 1 player capable of a forward pass to another team mate
Haha makes you wonder - but we do seem to be having several coming through at the minute. I think Mick's given them a go of sorts - not Joe Royle esque but after Keane made the fantastic ' decision ' of offloading Klug - I'd go as far as saying Mr Keane sent the academy back years in time. Klug's an utter genius. I think though, even if Mick does stay next year ( surely he's off ) I think MORE will get a chance next term, and various players will get more of a go this. I'd go as far as saying Knudsen MAY be quite a saleable asset - so perhaps Kenlock for instance may make LB his own next season. You'd hope Dozza would be an automatic. Others in the 18 surely.
