I would rather that we competed in league one rather than making up the numbers in the championship......one or two transitional seasons every now and then I can accept but just treading water and telling fans to be happy with it is bullshit. They say be careful what you wish for......but I wish Evans and Mick would do one.....if that means we have to get relegated to get a shade of the identity we once had....I’ll take it.
Relegation is only viewed as a positive after the benefit of hindsight. The thought that relegation could be a positive catalyst for this once proud club reflects the apathy, disillusion, and desire for entertainment that has settled over Portman Road these past few seasons. It's a sign of the times, not a real antidote. I am still of the opinion that we can see an exciting and competitive team in this division without the need to exit this division with a loss of dignity. We just need a change of manager and a more competitive budget to bring in a few much-needed recruits. And relegation does not need to be suffered to witness this. Imagine the Norwich supporters reaction. Imagine the attendances continuing to decline. Imagine the loss of jobs at the club. Imagine the inept board and our frugal chairman faced with League One football. You think they would bankroll an immediate return? They'd continue to cut costs and use our new League One status as a reason to do so. Even the idea that we can drop down a division and assume we will consistently win is very presumptious. League One is a difficult league and bigger clubs than us have gone down and been lost to football history. Even Sheffield United, a much-fancied side in the third tier who tried to play attacking football with youngsters, took several seasons to get back into the Championship ... and they had to revert to long ball to do so.
I'm not of the opinion we'd go down and walk the league - however I'd imagine we'd perhaps be a Sheff Utd - struggle but eventually we would return. It is a sad state of where we're at right now in all things I T F C. I'm still of the opinion Mick's doing a good job this season - sure the footy is rubbish, but given the budget and the injuries - am I happy with 12th? Am I f..... - In my opinion we should be absolute minimum 8th, or being like Burley late 90s - play offs 4 years runnings. Problem is the following clubs will want the same - * Leeds * Sheff weds * Norwich * Sheff Utd * Birmingham * Boro * Sunderland * Nottingham Forest................. You then have the emerging sides from the past 20 years and the footballing landscape has changed somewhat. I think if Mick leaves, it will be a massive rebuilding job - that of course could go very well / could also be awful. We'll never know until it happens! Could be the absolute making of us, could be the breaking of us - or low and behold, more of the same. I guess if Mick were to stay, there'd clearly be a far smaller rebuilding job by virtue of this being his squad for a start. Sure, the loanees would need replacing - however I do like the long-term loans Mick generally gets. Celina / Connolly have been very good - Iorfa from what I've heard has on the main been poor with the odd good game. The one thing that I'm certain of is the backing from Evans is surely likely to be the same!? LIke or hate Mick which is fair enough, if a new manager comes in and all of a sudden Evans backs him say 3/4 x more than Mick - then that's a bit unfair on Mick's tenure here. Especially when you consider we were top 2 January 2015 and Evans wouldn't go for it so to speak...... That's why I think I've very much got to the point of MEH. I don't see much changing this summer - I can more or less predict our summer transfer activity right now - be it Mick or no Mick. We'll sign something like - * 3 long term loanees - one VERY good to be the new Celina/Fraser/Lawrence..... one filler ie Iorfa ........... and one gamble ie Connolly * 2/3 players signed for a fee from the lower leagues - value signings. ie your Garner/ Waghorn. We cannot keep pulling rabbits out of the hat........ * 3 free transfers - now I don't mind exploring this market as there are some absolute crackers out there at times. Sure, it's a pile of players disregarded for one reason or another however if the move makes sense - nothing against it. Issue being with this, you're never going to have a 100% success record in this. That's the in. For the out, we ALWAYS sell one player for a fee to balance the books so to speak. So what saleable assets do we have this time around? * Bart. Supposedly signing a new contract, however apparently not yet signed................ COULD happen. If he's not signed by then, perhaps the fee would be lower but SHOULD be able to command £3.5 - £6 mill easily depending on interest. Lets be clear, if Pickford is worth that, you or are I worth £10 mill straight off the bat. He is ruddy toilet.......... * Dozzell - Potentially worth a fortune, however out all season and unlikely we'd A - want to sell or B - a club would come in for a fee. Has legs though I'd say.... * Nydam or Downes - young talented lads, COULD attract a bid. Being English, the age they are, both would fetch a good penny in todays market. Would hope not, but you never know..... * Knudsen - Supposedly one of our better players this term, and could probably in todays over inflated market attract a low 7 figure sum you would imagine. * Webster - consistently injured and now back, not currently able to get into the 11. If silly money comes for a player unable to compete in 38+ games a season, I would very much consider letting him go. Look, I love the lad and want him to stay - however footballers are one injury ( see Luc Nilis vs us ) away from career being over. You have to take that into consideration at times. Players to be released - * Hyam SURELY has to go find a new club. * Bru - not good enough and clearly on far too much hence our inability when we decided we didn't want him to get him to a new club. A C Stewart of sorts. I think our wage bill would really alarm people if we had a proper breakdown of this...... * Bishop. Love you Teddy however see Webster. If we're going to do anything, we need a batch of players fit to do 38+ a season. Having you / Didsy / Webster makes it ruddy hard for the gafa. * McGoldrick - I think considering your wage, age, injuries best for all for you to move on. Sidenote - Gleeson + Carayol, it's up to you to persuade us you're worth another year. I don't mind either of you staying longer if playing well as don't see either of you as injury issues. There we go, that's essentially our summer transfer activity done - May be a little different as the premier league one closes by August 9 this year, meaning the will be a lot happier to discard players, loan one out a bit earlier. We MAY up the transfer spend a little.... Summary - Why is 2018/19 going to be an awful lot different to this? That's my opinion of what we're likely to do this summer............. is it going to be good enough for whoever is incharge to make us top 6? I very much doubt it.
Regarding your summary, Westy, 2018/19 will be different (if a new manager is hired) simply by improving the atmosphere and giving supporters a much-needed feel-good factor. I'm not sure when the last time you saw us play at Portman Road was, but the atmosphere is flat, irritable, and when we are losing, often toxic. I don't condone booing, I think it's detrimental to the team and is pretty childish, but I can understand the frustration, particularly the season ticket holders that still go. A work colleague has a season ticket and on his row in Lower North Stand, it's only him and his old man who are the remaining season ticket holders from the start of the season. I think it's evident that McCarthy has been here too long and hasn't warranted a contract extension by any noteworthy success in the last few years. We were almost relegated last season, we've never had a cup run under him, and the standard of football has stagnated. If Evans gets the managerial appointment right (and considering this is the man who hired Roy Keane and Paul Jewell, it's a big 'if'), then we could still be scrambling around in mid to lower-mid table and we could well be struggling, but a change is clearly needed in management. If McCarthy stays on next season, I dread to think how much further attendances will plummet. Regarding relegation, it still doesn't make sense to me. Why would we want to potentially struggle in third tier football for a number of years? So we can say we've 'got our club back' when we're in the same position now, but a division lower, resorting to more freebies, loanees, and a batch of academy players (not all of whom will be good footballers). Because that's what we'll do and we effectively already do that in the Championship! Put simply, relegation is too risky and we know that it would be financially destabilizing for the club, at a time where we are already operating under a financial model of austerity. We have among the lowest wage bills in the Championship, so it's not like we'd get relegated and be a big-time financial player. And if we're looking at replacing Evans or hoping he'll sell up, then we will be less attractive to an outside buyer in League One compared to the Championship. I agree that looking strictly at the results and the 12th place position, it represents a fairly solid achievement, given the resources, but with McCarthy it's only good on paper. The football, while it's looked like it had improved at the start of the season, has reverted to the negative, cynical, and often reactive football we are used to following. We rarely dominate teams, we don't appear to have any playing identity, and I can count only a few really good performances I've seen over the past three years. For most people now, including me, it's more about improving the quality of football being played. That will not happen under McCarthy, he's had too many chances and the evidence is that he is too stuck in his ways and either unaware or unwilling to try repair the broken relationship between himself and some sections of the fanbase.
Yeah decent summary Nuggets - last went to Portman Road 16/17 for the 1-1 draw with Norwich. Being a SW supporter living in Bristol, I've only been to Portman Road 5 times I think - away games are where I've spent most of my time / ££££ over the years. Your Plymouth / Brum / Reading / Cardiff / Bristol City are my core, then London / done a lot of grounds actually both Sheffield / Blackpool etc. Barnsley on a Tuesday, Oh I'm hard..... Atmosphere would no doubt pick up no ends. However here's a decent argument - WBA. They HATED Pulis - and sure things weren't going so well this season. However, Pulis left them 17th. Under Pulis they perhaps averaged 22-24k - ALWAYS empty seats at the Hawthorns on match of the day etc. In comes Pardew - sure, full houses, fans probably a lot happier with style of play - however they are now bottom. You say relegation wouldn't be great for us which I agree with - surely it's the same at WBA? Do us fans know best? I'm very old skule I guess in the result being the most important thing for me - and I know we all have different values etc and I won't knock anyone elses. If one day you meet me at a day, we'd have a laugh / beer no problem any of you. Met FieldMarshall at Reading A one time - he was a top guy. If any of you saw me play footy/ watch a game of Sunday league / Sat pm you'd know I absolutely detest being involved in matches with Peter Kay av it. I'm a cm who likes to have the ball at feet / pass / find space.
I'm not doubting your support for the club, Westy, or anyone else's on here for that matter. I understand that with the money involved in football these days, it is ultimately a results business. I agree that in the case of West Brom, it's looking likely that they'll suffer relegation, but the Premier League is very cut throat and any of the bottom half of the division could go down. I think West Brom were right to sack Tony Pulis, and I think you'd find many West Brom fans would agree with that even now, but Alan Pardew was not exactly the most inspirational of appointments. How that man continues to get jobs in the top division surprises me. In terms of beneficial sackings though, look at West Ham. Playing fairly sterile football under Slaven Bilic, who had been there for years, and were sinking towards relegation. Now they look a new team and should avoid the drop. And this is with David Moyes, a man whose recent managerial career is filled with more failure than success. In the case of McCarthy at Ipswich, if we had more than the one play off season under McCarthy, I would appreciate his success more. If we had not had such a poor season last year, where we finished only four points off relegation, then I'd be more supportive. If the standard and style of football was more entertaining, then I'd be more open to the idea of giving Mick a contract extension. However, the last three years has seen no real progress, a decline to near relegation, and a reversal to negative, dour football. We are crying out for change, we need to bring fans back to the ground, we need a feel-good factor around the club, and we need a fresh, new take on our squad and a clear philosophy in place. Mick's done good things here, he stabilised the club and we got to see a play off campaign for the first time under Evans' ownership, but we have done nothing of note in the past three years and the match day experience has steadily declined. My main, long-term concern at the club is Marcus Evans and his ownership. He personifies the stagnant underachievement that we have experienced over the past decade. While McCarthy is a big problem for many supporters now, and is the easiest to remove and replace, watching more attractive football under a tight budget could result in a battle at the bottom half of the table. Evans may be wary of pulling the trigger on Mick, who is a very effective lightning rod for criticism at the moment, in the event that fans become frustrated at Evans when a likeable, new manager struggles under budgetary restrictions by stamping a new playing identity on a squad desperate for investment ...
On paper Mick has done a good job, which is why when my friend came to the match last weekend said 'given the resources Micks had at his disposal he's done pretty well, I don't understand the animosity from Ipswich fans towards him.......he understood completely after watching the match, well actually it only took him to half time to understand.' I would have no problem with us finishing midtable given the resources Micks had at his disposal and on the whole actually his recruitment has been very good and our academy seems to be coming up trumps at the moment but it's the fact when I watch us play there seems to be no direction, it's boring, there's no attempt at developing a squad and given the amount of good young players we have coming through there should really be a feeling that when we watch the town that something is being built with a collection of young players who could go somewhere. What is Mick actually trying to achieve with these players, he certainly doesn't look like he's developing them or the way we play. Thanks Mick for stabilising us but we need a manager with vision who wants to build a young team and develop them as individuals and a team to punch above their weight and take risks.I'd prefer us to stay in the Championship for another 10 years with a manager with that philosophy than have to watch that rubbish for another 10 years even if we manage to grind our way to the PL and then park the bus every game to try to stay there. George Burley's Ipswich team was all about that, giving youngsters a chance, yes buying good players but there's no doubt we punched above our weight but it was the philosophy of developing us with young players who were comfortable on the ball and played together for a number of years and the collective unity of the team that got us there, we believed we could take the game to anyone, it wasn't about spending a shed load of money on really good players or going into games thinking we're not as good as this team so we'll have to sit back and hopefully we'll get a bit of luck and nick a win. I don't care about being in midtable, I just want to watch a team where there is that hope that we are building something for the future. They say it's the hope that kills you, unfortunately for us it's the lack of hope with how we play that makes us so boring and negative!!
