Yeah Garvan was cack for us but isn't it funny how him and now Delaney are playing out of their bloody skins for the team top of the league! NOT!
Garvan playing well means nothing to me he went along time ago(rightly so imo) but i agree Delaney looks like a better player than we saw....
As a Town fan who first started supporting the club in 1973 I am just completely bewildered and yes bloody angry at what has gone on over the last 5 years. I thought the John Duncan and Mick McGiven years were pretty awful but nothing can prepare us for the horror show we now find ourselves in. Successive managers have wasted a hell of lot of money in signing dross and at the same time letting go the young talented players that we already had here! No manager whoever good they are is going to turn this thing around in a matter of weeks! It will take 2 or 3 seasons to even become competitive and that depends on what league we find ourselves in next year. We have given ourselves a very good chance of staying up with McCarthy at the helm and given time he will sort it out and get us back on an even keel. I expect a few more heavy beatings this season but we have to get behind MM as there is simply no alternative. 1.5 points a game is what we need to avoid the drop and for every heavy beating there will also be a good win and the GD doesn't really matter now. There is so much that is wrong with this club from the top down and I only hope that once this nightmare season has ended we survive in this league and then some harsh lessons are learned.
Marcus Evans' time here so far is nothing short of a failure. We have been going rapidly backwards since his arrival and the blame has to lay firmly at his doorstep. It's embarrassing to have the financial clout we have and to find ourselves getting weaker season after season. Mick's record in the championship is outstanding and so long as Marcus finally realises what is needed to compete in this league and makes things happen for Mick on the transfer front then I have faith that we are looking at a brighter future. If Mick finds his hands are tied when it comes to landing transfer targets then I fear he could do no better than the previous managers.
San Diego I think its a bit harsh to lay all the blame at ME's door for all of our ills. He saved this club from financial ruin and has invested a lot of money over the last 5 years in transfer fees. Its hardly his fault that the managers have squandered it all on absolute cack players. You can blame him for not being a "football person" and you can blame him for wanting to get promoted too quickly hence the "big name" managers. He will learn the lessons from this season of that I am certain. I think he is trying to do the right things but his inexperience of how to run a football club and then surrounding himself with others who are just as inexperienced has been his downfall. How much better would it have been if Sheepshanks had stayed on as CEO for a couple of years after the takeover to ensure a smooth transition. I do blame Sheepy for playing a big hand in our decline and he deserves a great deal of criticism but at his heart he is an Ipswich fan and he knows the game.
Trouble for me is that previous managers under Marcus have had players that they really want down at Portman Road only for the deal not to be finalised. It has left them with taking second/third choices and have suffered because of it. Marcus has spent money on the club and came in at a time when we really needed it, I won't deny that but he has got it all wrong in terms of transfer policy. First he gave Jim loads of money when the team only needed a couple of players. Then when that cash was wasted, along with what Roy spent, he tightened the belt at a time when investment was needed. It's all arse about face and I hope he has learnt his lesson and will give Mick every opportunity to strengthen the team.
Sorry feel an essay coming on, it depresses me to talk about the current situation talking about past players is much more interesting: Have to agree with the list of players we sold or got rid of. For me we should've kept Garvan, McAuley, Rhodes, D Wright and Walters. Garvan certainly wasn't/isn't cack, alot of people don't seem to appreciate players who are slow and have an ungamely running style but his other points, his passing, positioning and movement and vision were the best in our team, you don't get many players (playmakers) like him anymore. His defensive play IMO whilst he wasn't great was over criticised, defending isn't just about running around alot and going in hard in the tackle often his positional play made up for his lack of strength, pace and soft tackling abit like Carrick. Should never have let Rhodes go, end of. Should never have let Wright go, end of. We haven't had a proper RB on a permanent since. IMO he should have been offered a new contract and made captain. Walters we got a half decent price for although Stoke say he is a bargain. But everyone was keen to sell because he was out of form, but who was in form under Keane?everyone looked crap!! Under a better manager I'm sure we would have all wanted him to stay whatever the price. McAuley should have been offered a new contract much earlier. IMO he would have made a big big big difference to us last season. Though despite his form for Palace I still rate Delaney as one of the worst defenders I have ever seen!! And can't complain too much about Trotter, I thought he looked terrible for us whenever he played and tbf we offered him a contract.
Completely agree with this. I like that he has always given his managers time and backing and hasn't involved himself on the pitch stuff but although most of ME's decisions seemed ok at the time on the surface of it, they were the wrong one's at the time. Like you say I think he gave Jim too much money too soon where we should have gradually evolved. Perhaps a big part of this was bringing in players who probably were on alot better wages than those already at the club, may have caused disharmony!! Then when Jim went what we needed was experience but ME appointed a man who had Jim's weaknesses only x10. No doubt ME's biggest mistake was appointing Keane who wasted money etc and we had this stupid thing of getting to the PL at the first opportunity. Then when the squad needs major changes (when PJ came in) and money spent on it he tightens his belt but still keeps the ridiculous notion of PL at the first opportunity hence the experienced freebies. Then when this doesn't work after spending money on wages we really tighten our belts and play hard ball over transfers at a time when we need strengthening which left us short of numbers and leaders on the pitch but I think ME realised this and then sanctioned all the loans but it just goes from one thing to another. There's no long term thinking aligned with short term decisions, to me it seems we go from lots of money on transfers to very little, lots of money on wages to cutting them dramatically, experience didn't work so then we go for youth when actually a balance is needed. We should have had the policy we currently have i.e playing hardball over tranfers etc from the day he came in but doing it this summer was detrimental!!
