I think thats the point, in a nut shell everyone is trying to make. The MM miracle is starting to appear as a new manager bounce and nothing more. We're all still behind MM but that confidence he brought seems to have been shorn off. Going back to basics and making us hard to beat and thus avoiding relegation was MMs mission statement for this season - In the past few games I've heard reports full of misplaced passes and defensive errors. The worst thing of all is yesterday when that equalizer went in i lost all hope of getting 3 points. In context of where we were, theres no reason to be worried but we do seem to be on a slide back to danger the danger zone, and the teams below us are catching up quick.
Football is not all about formations though is it! The bottom line is that we just haven't got the quality in this squad of players and you can talk about formations till you're blue in the face but it wont hide the fact that this is the worst Ipswich team in a generation! We have no pace in the side, no one that can produce a decent free kick or corner, no creativity and above all too many in this squad who go missing in games! This is a toxic combination and it will take a while for Mick to sort this out and not simply a change of formation! Do you honestly think that Mick doesn't know that we lack in quality and isn't looking to bring in better players! While he is busy doing this we just have to get on with what we've got but to criticise him after just 3 months and 25 points on the board is just not right. I think you will find that Luongo went back before MM arrived but lets be honest he hardly impressed during his time with us so no great loss!
No roast dinner today, using up what is left in the freezer (last pay packet was on the 22nd Dec..bloody xmas)....Spag Bog...just finished was good though..!
I have this theory regarding our midfield; Martin & Edwards are getting pelters from all corners, reason, Edwards is not good enough in that position anymore, he lacks confidence to take the full back on, his passing is woeful & his crossing is almost non existent. I am sure I read either on this forum or TWTD that Edwards did not put a single cross in the box yesterday, that is shocking. Martin, he has plenty of endevor, does not lack confidence, passing on the whole is sound but his delivery/shooting is not good enough. Saying that he does try at least to do what he is out there for. Any way back on track, because Edwards contribution is zero in the final 3rd this is making us look pathetically weak out wide, replace edwards with someone who can deliver in the final 3rd & I am sure a lot of problems could then be solved. Martin for me is not as bad as most make out, often he gets in all the right places but more often than not at the moment fails to convert. Most good wide players conversion rate is probably relatively low 20-25% ie. 1 dangerous decent cross in 4 or 5...It is only the top players (international standard) when this percentage may rise. Hope this makes sense....has a PTC post feel about it...!
I think you are probably right, I would prefer to have a winger who attempts crosses in the hope that some of the turn out well (Martin) rather than one that doesn't do anything! (Edwards)
JWM, McCarthy definitely sent Luongo back, not that I'm saying it was a big mistake but him as an option now would be a real plus!! It's not about formations it's about balance which formations can help and Micks current favoured midfield is probably one of the most unbalanced midfields I've seen!! 1 player who's doesn't look overly confident on the left wing 2 defensive midfielders and a RW who is just not very good!! We have more options in the squad to try and improve this i.e JET, Drury and even Carson, now I know they're not in favour but given the abject performances of our midfield it's worth giving them a go!!
I agree with that and I know Martin can be very frustrating but as you say and as I've said many times before most wingers have very little end product those that do are in the best teams in the world and even alot of those go missing during games!! But I do think he does offer the team something for me you've got to take Edwards out of the team and put Martin on the right. Edwards is really puzzling, he was very ineffectial under Keane as a winger putting in similar performances as he is now and then attacking wise he was brilliant as a RB, I just thought this was PJ's influence (or Keanes however you see it) but clearly not I do not understand how a player who looks to take opposition players on rampaging up and down the pitch, beating players for pace and skill delivering decent crosses into the box looking like he would make a great winger when actually put on the wing looks so abject, if I was Mick I'd be putting a rocket up his backside given the level of his attacking performances as a RB!! But Edwards seems immune to this, I think JET has done as much this season as Edwards and he has hardly played, yet JET is not in the squad because he's not delivering!!
Just seen the highlights. Martins miss was terrible, it seemed easier to score. Loach was beaten on his near post for both goals, feel he could've done better with the second. Now that Orr has gone back I can see Mick going with Chambers at RB and bringing Kisnorbo into the centre. I've always said Cressy could do a job on the wing so I echo your sentiments on that Jonah, it's just that we don't have a decent left back to fill that spot right now. If Hewitt is good enough to start making that RB place his then it could also be the case that we could use Smith or Chambo at left back, pushing Cressy forwards.
We narrowly/unluckly lost a game that we could/should of won...........it happens...it does not mean anything its football.........MM has be here a couple of months so how can he be judged on that either way..........we are not back in the ****....we are still in the **** but now its round our ankles and not round our necks like it was before MM arrived.
Lets face it weve been on the slide as far as performances go for a few weeks now, dreadful against Brighton, and poor against both Bristol City and Barnsley at home, and again yesterday. We lack genuine quality all over the pitch but at least MM is recognising the deadwood and starting to get them out of the team, JET is a waste of space and has been left out and Martin cant be far behind on current form, his miss yesterday was inexcusable even the City fans I was talking to afterwards couldnt believe it. More infuriating is his refusal to make a simple pass to a better placed colleague which is costing us goal chances, he attempts to score himself with the obvious result which is borne out by his goal tally this season, he is a poor quality player full stop. We dominated the first half then got caught early on with a well taken goal in the second half, from then on it was fairly humdrum stuff and a draw looked nailed on but then Steady scored in the last minute with no-one getting in a worthwhile challenge he had all the time in the world. These old habits of giving away late goals have to stop or we are going nowhere, the Barnsley match was the same. Hopefully we can stay up and I dont think that is a formality then MM can get the team he really wants together in the Summer.
I said in a post last week. For me the main issue is that we have let go of a striker who looked like scoring on a regular basis and signed 3 that dont look likely to be able to do between them what DJ done on his own. Its the kind of bizarre transfer ideas that have been often repeated under the ME era. We either go mad to sign average players or refuse to stretch the additional 100k to get a player that will make a difference. DJ may have turned us down but I would rather we got the offer accepted and be rejected than not even be in the running. I honestly dont think we look tighter defensively. Going by our last 3 or 4 home games we have looked just as frail as we have done for the past couple of seasons. The only difference is that Jewell tried to get his team to pass out of trouble and MM likes to get it out with direction and aim less important. This may seem like a safer option but as we saw under Keane, if it falls straight at the foot of an opponent its not safe just delaying the situation. its different ways of trying something with the same overall result. For me, I failed to understand why MM kept going after strikers but having thought about it for a few days I think I would have issues with whichever 3 players he brings in because overall the squad is poor so he gets players in to fill one 'problem' position and leaves holes elsewhere but in all honesty we have problem positions everywhere on the pitch (and I do mean everywhere) Not all are first 11 problems but there is poor depth everywhere. I hope that make sense as I couldnt find the way to describe it properly. Basically it boils down to the fact that he can realistically bring in 3 or 4 faces whilst really we need 7 or 8 so its papering over the cracks. Its not MM's fault. It again goes back to the strange way the ME era has gone for either chuck money everywhere or cut the budget back so tightly its impossible to work with. Instead of spending 20m in the couple of seasons and next to nothing since, a steady 5m a year could have seen us build a squad thats capable. Im not confident we will stay up. I remain confident that MM will not settle for anything less that what the players can offer. I believe he has a better chance of galvanising the squad than Jewell, who seemed almost too nice to be managing a team in trouble. I dont doubt that MM is capable and competent at his job, albeit possibly not in a style that excites me personally, and I think he will get more out of these players than possibly anyone else can but no matter how much we polish over the facts, we aint that good
An interesting stat here (not that I like stats) but from PJ's first 16 games we got 27pts from MM's we've got 25pts!!
