interesting points as you say, i think its coventry's year to go down. they are perennial strugglers and this has been coming for some time. i think they are a club who need to be relegated before they can move forwards again. whether you do too is up for debate but i do think there will be at least 6 teams down there battling. you may or may not be one of them but you do need to start grinding out some results or like us in 2009, all of a sudden you'll find yourself slipping into the bottom three with only a handful of games to go, and once in there, its difficult to get out. games can slip away very quickly. a lot will depend on your january business but i'm sure the other clubs are saying exactly the same thing
But Jonah is welcome to chip in, because its the Ipswich board. You know, the place where Ipswich fans can debate, Rant, Call the Budgies cheats to their hearts content! If you don't like it, don't come on here.
Wow, after 2 days my thread is back on track. Thank you Superman, you've done a better job than my moderators of bringing things back to the OP (I could of done it myself I guess but didn't think it was retrievable) Some good points have already been raised here and like I said on another post I'm not sure if PJ is up to the job. Like RK before him his starting line-ups and substitution decisions leave me baffled. Sean O'Driscoll or Dave Jones would both be good shouts. Both play a decent brand of football and know the leagues well. Like yellow leadbitter I'm also trying to look at which three teams are worse than us. Only Coventry and Donny stand out and that's worrying.
Depressing times indeed. However apart from the atrocious CB play, I don't think the performance on monday was that bad. I thought we played some decent football at times and had a pretty decent shape. There's not mistaking that we need at least 2CB's in the transfer window. If they are decent and settle in quickly then I am not overly worried about our predicament but if not, then we are in trouble. I thought apart from the back 4 we were llooking fairlly decent. If a new manager were to come in, he would have the same problems, and need to bring in new CB's. Iwould imagine PJ has more of an idea what is out there in terms oof players he needs to bring in than a nnew manager coming in would!!! I do think Jewell is a decent manager although perhaps sometimes not as tactically astute as some managers. Its an odd situation, I am concerned about the present but if we avoid relegation this season I strangely see an bright future under Jewell here. I do question though if we ass a team have the mentality to dig in deep and grind out a result which is worrying. The individual mistakes made defensively this season, I have never seen before in a season.
ptc, you keep going on about the CB's but do you not think that some of the fault could come from our midfield not giving enough cover? At the moment I would rather get two midfielders, one with the vision to unlock defences and another to break up play than bring in CB's. We have two problems, scoring and conceding and this could be solved by having a decent, balanced midfield. CB's are a last line of defence but if play is broken up before the final third they are not as neccessary and can't really make the difference at the other end.
The midfield weren't too bad the other day and it was only really when Bullard was playing that there was a lack of cover from the midfield. If we had a good enough midfield to stop the ball going anywhere near our CB's(particularly Delaney) then yes I would agree with you but we would have to have a pretty good midfield for that to happen.Leadbitter may be a poor player and not very effective as a DM(or any position on a football pitch tbh) but it was not beacause the midfield weren't covering that we conceded on monday or why we have conceded many goals, its down to often terrible mistakes by the CB's or Edwards getting caught out of position. Offensively Leadbitter annoyed me because he never offered himself for the pass when our midfield had the ball but when we didn't he was usually actually pretty well positioned and got back and covered. I also thought both Martin and Murphy did a good job of getting back and covering for the fullbacks, unfortunately Edwards sometimes has a bit of a gungho attitude which can sometimes leave us very open at the back if there is a misplaced pass. You are right we need a balanced midfield and tbh I actually think in the last few games since the Barnsley match we have had this more than any other time this season. I felt pretty comfortable during most of the Nottingham Forrest match(I know we were 2-0 for most of it) when we didn't have the ball until our CB's actually had to do some defending, then it was just one disaster after another. Get 2 reliable CB's in and we will be ok(as long as Bullard doesn't play DM). And unless we sign Andrews, perhaps we could do with a DM to bring in. CB must be the priority area though!!!
I'm not just talking about the last match though ptc. I hear where you're coming from, we do need two good defenders but my point is that if our midfield was more effective they would be almost redundant. A good front six who keep the ball, don't give away stupid possession in dangerous areas and put pressure on the other team would be far more effective than having the best CB's in the world. That's why I say that CB's are the last line of defence but there should be more going on in front of them. Games are, in my opinion, won and lost from the middle of the park. Some of the best CB's in the world will tell you they couldn't do what they do without the help of the guys in front of them.
The whole spine of the team needs strengthening right down the middle from GK,CB,CM to CF we are so powderpuff and slow in these vital area it is just embarrassing. Getting 2 CB's may help but it wont stop us leaking goals like there is no tomorrow. We need a decent Right Back who can Defend for christs sake! Name me anyother club in the league that doesn't have a recognised Right Back! Its a bloody scandel that Jewell constantly plays Edwards there when to be honest he hasn't got a clue when it comes to defensive work. How no one can see that is just beyond me. The spine of the team including the middle of the park is not pressing the ball high enough up the pitch and all teams have to do is quick pass around us and our CBs are easily exposed. Not even Puyol, Terry, Vidic etc would be able to prevent wave after wave of attacks if they were being put under pressure like we are. The GK distribution is god awful with a long aimless hoof being preferred over distribution out to one of our full backs to allow a steady build up from the back. Our Midfield is often completely by passed by the big hoof and we then lose possession and put ourselves under pressure all over again! Football really is a simple game and when you have the right personnel in the right positions all playing under a recognised system where everyone knows their jobs the results will follow. The problem is that Jewell plainly hasn't got a clue on how to organise a whelk stall and is systematically destroying the status of our great football club. I mean how can he defend playing with just 1 striker up front at home aganst a struggling team that hasn't scored in over 10 hours of football! We are a joke with all the short term loans and players over the hill and past it. He had all summer to sort out our defence and he did nothing! JEWELL OUT CLEGG OUT
Couldn't have put it better myself JWM. I still think Edwards has something to offer but only at right wing. And you're bang on with the Puyol, Vidic et al reference.
it isn't always the catalyst though! as i said earlier, i think some clubs need it to happen for them to make a clean break and start again from scratch. we needed it, coventry do too. not sure whether ipswich need to but it would be fun to find out
All I want is my old club back! The one that cared about its supporters, the one that was in tune with its community, the one that wasn't afraid to give youth a decent chance, the one that played attacking and neat passing football, the one that was run on a shoestring but was more the richer for it, the one that the players on the pitch gave their all for, the one that had a coherent plan. Its a shame santa has been and gone!
JWM, That speech was up there with Hugh Grant in Love Actually! Well said and got it in a nutshell how i feel!
