I think Axel, O’Shea, Greaves, Cajuste, Broadhead, Delap, Omari, hirst and maybe szmodics good enough to be in a premier league squad. Not seen enough of Jaden yet. Of the others, Leif, Taylor and Morsy possibly ( Morsy more for what he would bring to the dressing room). Burgess and Wolfy - think we could keep 1 or other for squad but not sure. Players that are not good enough for me are. H Clarke, Johnson, Phillips, j Clarke, Walton, Muric, Chaplin
I think we’ve got to keep the faith and trust in McKenna and the players to turn things around. We’ve had spells this season where we look like we belong. We’ve left a lot of points on the table from winning positions and not having the squad depth and quality to see games out, but we’ve at least got in positive positions. Write off the Man City and Liverpool defeats. Points against those clubs were always going to be a long, long shot for a newly promoted side that has spent 22 years outside the Premier League. There are still plenty of games to play and some more forgiving opponents on paper and on form. Beat Southampton on Saturday and hopefully we can move ahead of Wolves. We’re a side expected to struggle this season. I’m not expecting these lads to put in great performances week-to-week. And it’s unrealistic to expect them to do so. The only players, for me, that haven’t looked anywhere near Premier League standard this season is Harry Clarke, Jack Clarke, and Al-Hamadi. Every other player has either had a run of good form or showed enough glimpses of quality to suggest they can contribute to a side that avoids relegation.
That ship has long since sailed. Letting Hladky go for free and then paying £10m for Muric has got to be the worst bit of business in the club’s history.
Agree with you Nuggets in regards to the players. I think we tend to judge players on their most recent performance. How many times have we heard when Broadhead was out of the team that he wasn't good enough and there are certain players who've performed well but haven't been in the team for a couple of games and we say not good enough. I'd say bar Delap and O'Shea (and maybe Davis) there wouldn't be any Prem Teams after any of our players if we got relegated but that's because we've got the worst squad in the league, full of players who've spend the majority of their careers in League 1 and others who are young PL academy graduates who have potential but lack the consistency. I think the band of brothers (I'm talking about last seasons favoured 11) none have let us down this season, all have put in some brilliant performances way above their level. To me the only 1 who has looked like they'd really struggle to compete has been Clarke. And some of those players have really stepped up their game, I've seen some performances that have shown them not just competing but flourishing (Woolfenden, Burgess, Tuanzebe, Davis, Morsy, Broadhead, Chaplin, Hirst) some only playing a handful of games. Even Taylor has come in and had some real positive impacts. In many ways I feel the old guard have shown more consistency than our new multimillion pound players. For me it's only really been O'Shea whose performed week in week out for us. Delap has been outstanding some games but there others when he's not quite on form where he doesn't impact the game enough for me but he is only young. Hutchinson needs to step up more for me, gives the ball away far too much in central areas. I thought despite the score Greaves actually had one of his better games today but for me he gets caught out of position far too often. I haven't liked the look of Muric from day 1 but he does have some attributes which are outstanding as a GK although my biggest concern is for me a GK should be a reassuring presence and he really isn't. J Clarke was one of the best performers in the Champ last season but has looked lost this season. I'm not writing off any of our players yet including the new ones, it's such a tough division, our starting position was on paper we had by far the worst squad, we've had lots of injuries and because of those factors we've signed 15 players since the end of last season, who on the face of it are better players but it takes time for them to understand each others game, we've generally looked more fluid this season on the ball with more of the old guard in the team. The odds are against us. This happened when we signed 19 new players in League 1, it was a season and a half before it clicked. I just hope we cling to survival this season by any means because I do worry about the perils of being relegated.
The biggest thing we need to change is to a settled side playing to a recognised system.We can point the finger at individuals but our greatest strength over the past 2 Seasons was the team spirit,everyone knowing their role and working hard together. If that comes across as too happy clappy well feck you Spanish,you blow hot and cold and seem to enjoy making enemies wherever you go!
At the moment, I don't think our midfield is being helped much by the forwards in front of them. We've backed off the high press a bit, and the press isn't the same from Delap, Hutch and other newer players. Hirst, Chaplin and Harness were all good at putting pressure on the ball high up the pitch, forcing hurried passes and mistakes. Now, the press isn't there and the forwards are losing the ball too often by trying to do too much. I say it every week, Delap gives away too many fouls, in a league where gifting cheap possession back will put you under the cosh. Combine the lack of press with the cheap loss of the ball and you can see why our midfield looks weak.
Completely agree, for all of Delap and Hutchinsons attributes they're young and learning, Hirst, Chaplin, Burns all press superbly and know how to use their strength to the limit, they know each others games and understand the spaces they need to occupy. Passing and moving, Hirst is a far better player than Delap without the ball. I know people have raved about Delap being Kanes replacement being a typical old fashioned number 9 but in others ways I think you can tell he hasn't played there that often and in alot of ways I think his game would be more suited as a wide forward. When he's not on his game he runs into trouble too often and he's the type of player who will stand on the defender because he likes to roll them, if a defender has got your number it's going to be a long night. If Hirst has a bad game because of the runs he makes it still creates space for others to operate in.
Definitely swimming against the tide, and the longer we have to do that it's no surprise that players and managers may be second guessing and chopping and changing and we start getting increasingly anxious. I still think we have 16 more points than I was anticipating... Were currently performing the best of the promoted sides and only need a solitary point swing between now and the end of the season for survival, I think we're in a good spot, shouldn't have any games as difficult as the last 2 to endure now.
Feck me, ok, I will leave you happy clappers to pat each other's back for piss poor performance after piss poor performance. Can't be doing with the tweeness of it all, bless!!
Agreed that the summer recruitment has been a bit hit and miss. O’Shea, Cajuste, and Delap have been the obvious stand-outs (probably our best defender, midfielder, and attacker this season - certainly our most consistent). The old starting eleven from last year have mostly made the step up, although I’d question whether Burns, Luongo, and Chaplin have done enough to warrant starting positions. I think the mistake this season wasn’t making signings (which were clearly needed) or not trusting the old guard enough - but our transfer strategy didn’t focus on bringing in enough Premier League experience to help the team. We’ve bought younger players with an eye for profit and potentially equipping the club with a better chance of promotion if we did get relegated. The signings are all top Championship players - maybe Ashton had half an eye on the future and preparing a better squad for McKenna’s successor to inherit if McKenna does depart this summer. I think we probably need to see past the whole old players vs new players argument too. They’re all Ipswich players and they all should be treated as our squad now. Not all the new signings have been good or consistent. Not all the players from last season have been good or consistent. As you say, we’ve got the squad we’ve got (first Premier League transfer window compared to every other club who have had many - even Southampton and Leicester. Play the best players we’ve got and hope we can grind out enough points to survive. If McKenna’s still with us, I reckon we’ll have another busy transfer window (financial fair play rules permitting).
