The Not606 Ipswich Town Starting Eleven Debate

I think the criticism of Sheepshanks is too harsh there, Warky.

He played a part in our eventual promotion by keeping faith in George Burley and providing him with a competitive budget, within our means, season-on-season until our promotion to the Premier League. He splashed the cash once we were in the Premiership with the belief that it was the main way to stay competitive, something you can hardly blame him for and you cannot blame him for the failures of signings such as Speroni, Finidi George etc, which he presumably had no say in. He had a lot of passion for the club (still has, I believe) and he didn't miss many games when he was our chairman. Yes, we went into administration under his watch, something he ultimately has to take responsibility for, but that was after ITV Digital collapsed, subsequently plunging numerous clubs into financial difficulty, some of whom are in League One and League Two in far worse financial positions than ourselves. When it came to getting a new owner in, he ensured the financial stability and future of our club by selling to Marcus Evans, who initially bankrolled the team.

He has his weaknesses and flaws, don't get me wrong. However, I would much prefer a man like Sheepshanks running the club, who regularly attended games, had better football knowledge, and a passion for the club rather than our current owner, who is an elusive, immoral ticket tout.

 

For all of his obvious shortcomings and disastrous decision making after that wonderful day Wembley.. He did at least he have a plan and a vision for this club which he communicated and then set about achieving in a well structured programme which saw us finally achieve promotion..

After that he clearly tarnished his name with some calamitous balls ups and you have to feel for Burley who had no safety net given the financial burden the club had taken on in investing in the stadium.. Though he was a very successful chairman for us up until that point and someone (the 1995 Sheepshanks) I wish we had back at the club right now as at least he was able to form a strategic plan and galvanise those around him to execute it.

 

Why in God's name did he decide to spend 20 Million on 2 stands after only 1 season in the top flight? That is what sent us into the astronomical debt not the collapse of ITV digital which was used as a convenient excuse at the time! He should have learned from our history when it comes to building new stands and I refer to the building of the old Pioneer stand as the prime example. We had to sell Mariner, Wark and Gates just to finance it! Anyhoo this is all ancient history now but the effects of Sheepshanks many blunders are still being felt and it will be at least another generation before we properly recover if at all!!