Tractorbhoy - I like the cut and thrust of debate on here and nothing in this thread has been nasty. Yes we have differences in opinion and I am happy to argue for my opinions the same as you. What is important is that we all want what is best for our beloved Town!
Good post Stretchy. I think we can all agree that changes need to be made but we will differ on whether they should be wholesale or the slight tinker. I think the question is therefore can we make wholesale squad changes now and in the Jan window? Is it wise to try to send 7 or 8 out and bring a similar number in and hope for a quick 'gel'? PJ has already stated he is on the look out for youth and he proved that he can spot young talent with Cresswell. I could name a few I would keep but in general I agree with your 'get rid' list but do have reservations about another complete change in personnal. IF Jewell does keep to his word about youth then I cant see us being able to bring in 4 or 5 to immediately make a comfortable fit in the team
seems to me that a lot of the heated debate and difference of opinion on here stems from the frustration we all feel at the crock of ****e that has been served up for too long. the problems seem to run deep, sack the manager some say. and get who? keep the manager others say. for how long if this form continues? evans/clegg appointed keane who destroyed the team. evans/clegg set the pricing which has helped destroy the atmosphere. but where would we be without evans money? sure jewell has made mistakes, you need youth and pace to succeed in this division, it's a high tempo league. fact is we are not a good proposition for anyone at the moment players,managers,investors even fans. i wish i knew the answers but we are in a rut and i am struggling to see a way out.
It wouldn't be a bad thing if the club actually made a long term plan and put this across to the fans. The last few years have all been about 'operation premiership' and the like, causing unneccessary expectations from the fans. We have a wealthy owner who so far has made it obvious that he is targeting promotion at the earliest possible opportunity, he threw money around the first couple of years but tightened the purse this summer when he realised he wasn't buying what he wanted. I think that the powers that be need to learn that you can't make a promotion winning side overnight and actually set realistic targets for us to reach over the next 2/3 years. For me that would include a top half finish this season, top eight the year after and top six the year after that. The manager could then relax a bit knowing he has time to achieve these goals, and if he succeeds in meeting his target that he won't be sacked, regardless of any horror show performances, results or bad runs of form along the way. Let the fans know the plan too, then the only pressure the manager would have would be to meet his target. This would perhaps lower some expectation from the supporters if they can see that the plan is working and that we are making solid progress. I don't think it would satisfy many though because everyone wants everything today. We haven't finished in the top half over the last couple of seasons so why people think we should be in the top six this season I do not know. We've tried the 'quick fix' route, time to try something different and actually give our club some acheivable direction. This probably won't satsify some people who will say we have put up with it for too long but what other course of action is there to get everyone singing from the same page?
San Diego It has become obvious over the last 3 or 4 years that the senior management at Portman Road do not have a coherent plan for promotion or if they do it certainly isn't working. The Sheepshanks plan of the mid 90s was a masterstroke because it on one hand adressed the fans wishes for premiership football and at the same time gave George the time to assemble a squad that improved year on year. We simply don't have anything like that in place right now. The management just seem to be thrashing around putting out fires all over the place and not focusing on the long term strategy for this club. We have all had enough of broken promises and false dawns and I don't think it is unreasonable for us to now expect a lot better. We need Evans to be less secretive for a start and actually face up the fans and tell us what the "vision" is. We then need a football man as CEO to ensure that the vision is delivered and a manager who has the tactical ability and football networks in place to translate it onto the pitch.
JWM I think the dwindling attendance at Portman Road has been something which has been happening for years and is due to a multitude of reasons, some because of poor management on and off the pitch and also due to the financial climate. I lost my enthusiasm for supporting ITFC when Keane was in charge and even though we are in a rut atm, I certainly am more interested and more engaged in ITFC than I have been at any point in Keanes tenure. Stretchboy I agree with much of your post but with regard to youngsters, this is an ongoing argument since I have been a football fan with every manager ITFC has had. I think given time, if the youngster are good enough, he will introduce them to the team!! I'm not sure I could critisize Jewell over really too many of his signings tbh, perhaps if we were in a different situation but taking everything into account I think one of his strengths has been in the transfer market and yes perhaps tactically has been his weakness, although not in the way that he's defensive or plays hoof ball. Perhaps more not playing to players strengths and sometimes some odd substitutions(although not as strange as Keane). Its clear that he will have to make alot of changes, and IMO this won't occur in January it will be next summer before I think we start to see a team we & Jewell really wants. Currently this is an evolving situation and IMO its hard to judge what Jewell has done so far, we need to be patient and wait for things to settle down a bit more. I hope that now Jewell doesn't put himself under too much pressure and panic buy players in January, from now on we need to be thinking long term and that does not mean instant good results. and I completely agree with the last 2 posts in regard to JWM and San Diego. Although for me currently I'm not convinced that that means changes at the top, I think currently we need to wait and see what happens over the next few months and the past year has been one of many changes, we need things to settle down before we can judge if we are going in the right direction, atm there are alot of things that point towards yes and at the same time there are alot of things which point toward no. But we definitely need a long term plan and perhaps that means ruling out the next couple of years in terms of challenging for promotion, just to get a bit of continuity.
