Deffo the worst squad in my time (50+ years), this club is only heading in one direction under ME and it ain't fecking up!! Time to ramp up the protests, ME OUT!!
Rochdale away
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Another frustrating match.
Again, no urgency and no cohesion in our play. Ward pissed me off with his negative throw-ins always going backwards, players afraid to shoot when in good positions and panic in defense. Every team we play look better than us. Rochdale players were comfortable on the ball and passed and moved in the right way. Simple stuff but even the ability to do simple things evades our team. Our headers are aimless whereas other teams manage to find a team mate with their headers. We're static at throw-ins with little movement offering options. We take the safe, backwards choice more often than not and the important forward passes generally don't find the target.
It's unbelievable to watch really. Professional players who do nothing but play football and yet can't do the basic things that you can see being done better in Sunday League.
Here's to hoping that there will be a big cull in the summer.
Again, no urgency and no cohesion in our play. Ward pissed me off with his negative throw-ins always going backwards, players afraid to shoot when in good positions and panic in defense. Every team we play look better than us. Rochdale players were comfortable on the ball and passed and moved in the right way. Simple stuff but even the ability to do simple things evades our team. Our headers are aimless whereas other teams manage to find a team mate with their headers. We're static at throw-ins with little movement offering options. We take the safe, backwards choice more often than not and the important forward passes generally don't find the target.
It's unbelievable to watch really. Professional players who do nothing but play football and yet can't do the basic things that you can see being done better in Sunday League.
Here's to hoping that there will be a big cull in the summer.
I'm just so incredibly pissed off after years of this utterly predictably crap, and still we have people who say Evans is a wonderful owner and saviour of the Club and we have one of the best squads in the division when its obvious to a fool that we haven't, Christ you couldn't make it up.
This season is over, the players are not good enough and Cook has no chance of changing that, next season will be no different unless ME does one. If ME stays It will be more bullshit smoke and mirrors if he Sells up at least we have a little hope.
I’m pretty much done with the bullshit of Evans and struggle to care about the club while he is at the helm, i do feel sorry for Cook as I think he has be sold a dummy.
I’m pretty much done with the bullshit of Evans and struggle to care about the club while he is at the helm, i do feel sorry for Cook as I think he has be sold a dummy.
Is it wrong of me to feel smug that I haven’t been paying £10 to watch our expansive passing game on I-follow? However, on the other side of that, when we are allowed back in the ground, I’ll be there if I can get a ticket. It’s strange what football & more specifically, Ipswich does to us fans
Any manager taking us on under Evan's ownership can't fail to understand what a thankless task they have in hand.He's no doubt being paid handsomely for the privilege and in the knowledge that if he fails he can force the situation to get paid off.No sympathy from me I'm afraid!
Fair comment, I’ve said before that Evans pays managers well so they will accept being a deflector shield and I see no reason why Cook is not the same.
You are right the problem is you have seen us be successful and played football which entertained to get you hooked, I'd bet if any of us had started to watch town in the past 13 years, we would have probably followed them
I think next season with fans back in unless we’re in touching distance of the top there will be very ugly scenes the like of which we’ve never seen before at Portman Road.
Nice to see the Owls thumped MIck ‘Be careful what you wish for?’ McCarthy’s Cardiff last night who have nosedived since he gave an arrogant run of interviews.
Have to say, if Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday are both in the division next season that’s two huge clubs and Bolton may make a return. League One may start to get a bit crowded with clubs who ‘deserve to be in a higher division’. I would expect Salford to be hugely competitive whenever they come up too.
Have to say, if Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday are both in the division next season that’s two huge clubs and Bolton may make a return. League One may start to get a bit crowded with clubs who ‘deserve to be in a higher division’. I would expect Salford to be hugely competitive whenever they come up too.
I watched the game yesterday with a couple of mates in the garden. Jesus H Christ on a bike, that was a dull game. We largely ignored most of the second half. What on earth was Cook thinking putting Ward and Edwards as wing-backs? Square pegs in round holes. Chambers and Nsiala spent most of the match launching aimless long balls down the pitch. The midfield is too lightweight without somebody like Downes in there. Parrott and Jackson had a lot of huff and puff, but little actual quality. We lacked threat down the wings until Dobra came on. Hawkins also gave us something a little different upfront.
Seems like it’ll be a slow limp until the end of the season, even though we are playing some of the worst teams in the league.
Seems like it’ll be a slow limp until the end of the season, even though we are playing some of the worst teams in the league.
You are correct. I started going regularly under John Lyall (season we got promoted). After that, there was a bad season - under McGivern but then we had Burley & Royle - both of whom played attacking football. I didn't realise how spoilt I was. It was still good under Magilton but after that it has been a long & painful decline
Absolute world apart, it was so bad under Mick McCarthy that I stopped going to more than the occasional game around Yorkshire or Lancashire and whenever I did go I wished I’d not bothered.
From all the above you’d be forgiven for thinking Evans had come into this with zero experience in the entertainment business, it really does beggar belief.
Lets be brutal about this, yesterday we played the bottom side in the division and didn't manage a sing!e shot on target not one, and on top of that we were second best all over the park, we are quite simply a very poor side who amassed points at the start of the season when other teams hadn't got organised and without those points we would have been in a relegation fight, we have poor quality players in nearly every position that no manager can turn into top performers even in this lousy division.
The thought of Evans still being here next season depresses me beyond words and if this is the case I fear for the existence of our Club in a few years time, the apathy regarding ITFC at the moment is frightening.
Agree completely that we’re a tremendously lousy side but it wasn’t inevitable with the majority of this group of players. They have been badly managed to the point that there is no way back for them but even without the odd addition we have seen Kayden Jackson capable of scoring the past, we didn’t need to be playing Chambers at right back, we could have played anybody else but Dozzell and the only reason we can’t string two passes together or muster a shot on target against the bottom side is abysmal coaching and psychology. I’m going to speculate that what we are seeing now is that with so many players out of contract some of them are just running the clock down.
I think there is a massive issue with mentality and confidence with this set of players. But also a lack of quality. I’ve been slower than some to understand just how bad this batch of players are - but it’s clear that this squad has been largely unchanged over the last few years. With the exception of a few positions, several of these squad players started our last match of the 2019/20 Championship season, when we went down. The senior players are slower and not as good as what they were a few seasons ago. Most of the younger players are struggling with the physicality of League One. Lambert’s signings are notably inconsistent. And to top it all off, it’s a playing squad that looks like a mismatch of preferred playing styles, mostly a defence that want to go long rather than short, and a midfield and attack that would prefer to have it played to feet rather than chasing long balls.
Holy is a solid keeper at this level, but his distribution is pretty bad. Chambers, Nsiala, and Ward look too slow and error-prone, even at this level. Wolfenden looks like he’d rather be anywhere else, although he has the talent. Wilson is solid at this level. KVY is either unlucky with injuries or is a sick note. Kenlock has had a decent run of form, but is he Championship quality? I’d argue he isn’t anywhere near that level. In midfield, Dozzell’s form has plummeted since early positivity. He’s been getting games but doesn’t contribute anything positive, too lightweight in the tackle and not potent enough in attack. His key attribute, passing, has been wasted at this level. Bishop just doesn’t look like a very good player - a shadow of his former self after too many injuries. Skuse and Huws need to retire. Edwards and Nolan do not look bothered and the former is often played out of position. Judge is inconsistent. Sears, Drinan, and Hawkins are a waste of wages and need to go. Norwood is a good striker, but needs several chances per game to score. Jackson has a good record, but again, doesn’t look bothered this season. We should’ve sold the likes of Jackson and Nolan when we reportedly had offers in January, rather than reject them and sideline the players.
I’m surprised the likes of Dobra and Lankester aren’t played more often, maybe when the play offs are beyond us? I can see why we’re not relying on loanees, but if half the squad aren’t getting new contracts this summer, then can we play Matheson at right back, McGuinnes at centre-back, and Bennetts out wide, because they’re all better than the current choices.
Paul Cook has not had a great start, results wise, and you compare and contrast to the positive starts both Lee Johnson and the Cowley brothers have made at Sunderland and Portsmouth, and it is concerning. However, it appears both those sides either had the existing quality and right conditions to turn their form around or they made a better managerial choice. As a big supporter of Cook’s appointment, and the demonstrable recent success he’s had at all his clubs, he was arguably the best appointment we could have realistically made at the time. I think he needs to get his faithful assistant back in the summer and they need to drive that recruitment process in the summer. Unlike recent managers, I don’t think they will get sentimental about keeping rewarding the “old faithful players” that have been here for several years. They’ve been well paid during their time here, which let’s face it has mostly been a failure, we don’t owe them anything. It’s going to need to be a complete overhaul. There’s a good squad out of Holy, KVY, Kenlock, Wolfenden, Wilson, Downes, Edwards, Judge, Lankester, Dobra, and Norwood - but there needs to be a new starting right-back, left-back, centre-back, defensive midfielder, wingers, and striker. There’s an argument whether Wolfenden, Dozzell, Bishop, Edwards, Nolan, Judge, and Jackson should be trusted going forwards. With a massive change in mentality and a full pre season under Cook, these players could potentially show more consistency and hit the high levels of form they have shown us at some stage over the last two years. I think it’ll be clear to Cook and the coaches who is worth keeping and who needs to be shipped out come July.
Good post Nuggets, I remember looking at the squad at the beginning of last season thinking if Lambert gets this lot promoted he's done a very good job. The squad is the result of letting too many good players leave and then allowing a inexperienced lower league manager to recruit league 1/league 2 standard players then thinking this squad is good enough for promotion and therefore not investing.
There are definitely good players in there with talent probably above this league but there are just too many who have yet to prove consistency at a high level of football or some at any level....when you look at the number of games played over the past few years by the majority of out first team players it is very low for their age or low high level (by that I mean at least league 1), when you put that many players into a first team who haven't been there and done it consistently sometimes at any level then add all the injuries on top of that it's too much when things aren't going your way there's noone in the team to inspire. None of those players have really earned the right to play, they are in the team often because there is no one else.
I do still think however that with the right recruitment and players brought in around them alot of those players could be good at this level and some even above. Perhaps we will need to be harsh though with players who've been injured as that has also hampered us majorly.. we haven't strengthened because waiting for someone to return from injury. But is it the players who are injury prone or our methods? Whatever it will need looking into.
Although the managers obviously have some say over recruitment, I lay the blame almost completely with Marcus Evans. Mick and Lambert effectively managed their squads with one arm tied behind their backs and I would imagine Hurst potentially didn't have the support network above him to recruit better players when he came in to manage a threadbare squad so recruited what he knew.
There are definitely good players in there with talent probably above this league but there are just too many who have yet to prove consistency at a high level of football or some at any level....when you look at the number of games played over the past few years by the majority of out first team players it is very low for their age or low high level (by that I mean at least league 1), when you put that many players into a first team who haven't been there and done it consistently sometimes at any level then add all the injuries on top of that it's too much when things aren't going your way there's noone in the team to inspire. None of those players have really earned the right to play, they are in the team often because there is no one else.
I do still think however that with the right recruitment and players brought in around them alot of those players could be good at this level and some even above. Perhaps we will need to be harsh though with players who've been injured as that has also hampered us majorly.. we haven't strengthened because waiting for someone to return from injury. But is it the players who are injury prone or our methods? Whatever it will need looking into.
Although the managers obviously have some say over recruitment, I lay the blame almost completely with Marcus Evans. Mick and Lambert effectively managed their squads with one arm tied behind their backs and I would imagine Hurst potentially didn't have the support network above him to recruit better players when he came in to manage a threadbare squad so recruited what he knew.
He's gone, FM! We can all breathe a huge sigh of relief!
It will be fascinating to see over the remainder of this season whether the tension and toxicity lifts and some players we have written off come into some form.