[Blog] Mercenaries
Written by Solly on Sunday, 20th Nov 2011 15:05

There were 1,500 Town fans at the City Ground yesterday. The vast majority will have forked out Â£28 for a ticket, a similar wedge for the coach journey or fuel bills, a few beers and a bit to eat soon starts to add up and at the end of the day they'll have seen a hole in their bank account to the tune of at least Â£60, if they're lucky.

There were 14 Town players on the pitch at the City Ground yesterday. The vast majority will have received an appearance fee, they'd spent Friday night in a lush Nottingham hotel and probably flew home straight after the game; they lost.

I don't mind my football team losing and on paper yesterday's match looks like it was fine away day. Everyone loves going to Forest, the historic stadium right by the river Trent, a 'proper' club, not dissimilar to us in many ways. A tight match which saw us take the lead twice, attacking substitutions by Paul Jewell late on to give the last 20 minutes a dramatic twist, in essence, a classic Championship match. Yes, we lost, but the performance must have been decent?

It wasn't. I was one of the unlucky ones to be stood watching Town yesterday. Somewhat embarrassingly, it was only my first match of the season, but, being a student in Nottingham I hope you'll let me off.

Being my first match of the season though, it was interesting to look at this season's side with a fresh pair of eyes. What I saw worried me.

This is the strongest squad we have had since we were relegated all those years ago - I think that is indisputable. Stockdale, Collins, Bullard, Bowyer, Andrews, Chopra, JET; these are all serious players on serious money. But I would swap it for the pre-Evans era of Billy Clarke and Owen Garvan at the drop of a hat.

They don't care. None of them. They're a bunch of mercenaries, a bunch of seriously overpaid mercenaries at that. Whose idea was it to give Bullard a two-year contract? The number of times he casually gave the ball away yesterday trying some silly flick/Hollywood ball was criminal, but his lack of reaction was worse - he didn't look at all bothered.

I think Grant Leadbitter knows he's only in the side because Jewell somewhat foolishly gave him the armband and consequently his performances are suffering, he looks like the pressure is getting to him. Danny Collins is a class act but to me looks like he doesn't fancy coming back in January so isn't giving it 100%. Lee Bowyer is past it, Michael Chopra is carrying a stone more than he should be, JET is not only lazy but uninterested. Do they realise what Ipswich Town means to us?

I've never seen such vitriol directed towards our own players by our own fans yesterday as the final whistle approached - and it was justified. As soon as Forest equalised there was only ever one winner of that game and it sure as heck wasn't us.

They'll still pick up their pay packet at the end of the week, but they certainly don't deserve to. The sheer lack of fight in us yesterday was appalling. I don't blame Jewell for that - it's the mindset of the modern player. But what I do blame Jewell for is signing all these players. As the summer went on and the amount of new players moved into double figures I voiced concern but was shouted down by people on here. But what do you think all these new players have done for squad morale? Very little indeed.

The saving grace of all of this? Cressy. The only player to put in a wholehearted performance yesterday was my new favourite player. A wand of a left foot, energy to burn but crucially, he gets it. He gets what it means to us, you can tell it means something to him. The noises that Jewell has been making recently about scouting the lower leagues is the only bright spot on our radar at the moment, because players like Cresswell are the sort I want to see in the Blue and White of Town.

I worry that we are slowly losing our identity. In this modern world of Leicesters and Man Citys clubs like Town should stand out as beacons of traditional footballing values. But we don't. We're indistinguishable from any other well financed club chasing promotion and I for one don't feel like I know the club any more. I feel like an outsider.

I imagine those 1,500 committed supporters that were there yesterday probably feel the same way.

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dannym09 added 15:46 - Nov 20 Exactly how I felt yesterday although believe it or not that was cressys worst performance this season.
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BackToRussia added 16:41 - Nov 20 That sounds about right. Well written, too.
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ClassyCranson added 16:42 - Nov 20 Superb blog Solly. The only point I disagree with is that I blame both the players and Jewell for the lack of fight from the players.
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Notts_tractor added 17:39 - Nov 20

On the whole I think this is very fair. But I didn't notice much anger being vented at the players at the end. People just got up and left with a shrug and a familiar feeling of the same old, same old. I'm under no illusions that we'll ever return to a 1981 or even a 2000-2001 level again. But what I would love to see again is a club that brings on its own talent and as you suggest Solly, looks for hungry young players from the lower divisions like Aaron Creswell. You're spot on with the mercenary accusation. When Bullard was desperate to revive his career and get out of Hull he put in a fantastic effort. Since being given a contract he's reverted to the player that Hull fans told us we could stick up our arses back in August. Probably the worst situation we have is in the goalkeeping department, where our no 1 is a phone call away from being taken back, leaving us with the barely adequate ALB. How great was it when we had two young keepers competing for the spot? Which brings us back neatly to the whole thrust of this blog. Shane Supple quit because he was fed up with working with people who didn't give a sh*t. Is there the slightest shred of evidence that this has changed at ITFC?

NorseBlue added 17:39 - Nov 20

Not a fantastic performance yesterday, but a better one. I would have agreed with this blog if it had been written in Keane's time, but there was an awful lot of players hurting on the pitch yesterday, and not just Cresswell. You could see that Bullard is as frustrated about the way he is performing as us - he clearly needs a break - and we missed Andrews. But Bowyer had a decent game (it pains me to say), and the service that Chops got was non-existent. He can't score if he doesn't have the ball. And I have to say that players like JET seem lazy, but simply are very tall and have a different style of play. They don't need to rush around, because one stride for them is three strides for someone like Carson - and on that point, I was delighted to see him back in the team but thought he looked lost in the diamond system Jewell is obsessed with, and completely ineffective.

The lack of height in the team is problem again and again - teams keep scoring against us from set-plays. No amount of time on the training pitch will increase the players' height! Collins - who's not enormously tall himself for a centre back himself - clearly still made a difference, but with Cresswell and Edwards on either side - 5'8"? and Ingarmarsson beside him, we'll always be in trouble with corners and free-kicks. And the midfield cover isn't much better - Bullard, Leadbitter, Carson, Bowyer are on average 5'8" themselves, and with a front two around 5'9" or less, 'Houston, we have a problem'.

Jewell needs to be more flexible in terms of the system, and he needs more height, pace and muscle in the team. Then we will stop giving away games when 'under pressure' from simple free-kicks or corners, and be able to be more incisive ourselves.

Great atmosphere in the crowd yesterday, and yes, football is expensive but still cheaper than the nearer Â£40 you have to pay for Portman Road tickets for a decent seat. Matchday ticket prices in general need an urgent review.

Garv added 19:01 - Nov 20 Norseblue speaks A LOT of sense. Balanced, non dramatic and realistic. Well done for having a brain.
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Jewell_do added 20:21 - Nov 20 Brilliant blog Solly. I spent Â£120 on the day of Millwall with ticket, travel etc. When I still see a very average player in Leadbitter getting a start and the armband whilst seeing out his contract I wont going to another away game for months. As you say it's become a club I dont recognise.
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Daleyitfc added 20:28 - Nov 20

Good blog. Though I feel Jewell has to take the bulk of the blame for recruiting that 'type' of player, rather than the younger, hungrier and cheaper lads from lower down the pyramid, that, in a flash f inspiration, he now thinks would be a good idea. Unlike Keane, Jewell is not inherently evil, but like most ex-footballers, he is inherently thick as a brick : and getter thicker, so it seems.

Jonnosdreadlocks added 04:16 - Nov 21 They wouldnt fly home from Nottingham. You can blame Sheepy, he sold the soul of this club to ME.
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awayfan added 13:34 - Nov 21 Thanks for this blog. I agree with the part about the club losing its identity. However I do believe that, whilst it may not always be apparent, most of the players do care - a lot - about the performances & results. I agree with all of NorseBlue's comments.
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irishtim added 16:21 - Nov 21 Great blog. Pity i dont get to see us play more than once a year with being irish but cant understand the players jewell bringing in. id rather struggle with youth & passion than strugggle with what we have. Youth wont progress unless given a chance so lets see hyman o connor murray for starters getting a chance & forget ellington & leadbitter
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fanofblue added 14:55 - Nov 22

Very good blog,our support away from home is brilliant and they deserved better than what was served up yesterday.I had an uneasy feeling about signing the likes of Bullard and Bowyer,last paypackets and all that.Cresswell has been our best player by a mile this season,has a grat delivery and puts in 110% every week.We need to be looking to sign players of his type not journeymen coming to the end of their careeers.

fanofblue added 14:57 - Nov 22

llewej_tuo added 20:15 - Nov 22 " I'm under no illusions that we'll ever return to a 1981 " CORRECT ...
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oldegold added 15:15 - Nov 23

I absolutely agree. I yearn for the team that should have been i.e 2005 FA Youth cup winning team that should have gone onto great things but very bad management, bad buys and mediocre performances have wrecked the spirit of what was once a fine and fighting club that punched above its weight. Now we couldn't even punch our way out of a paper bag. By the way, I've been a supporter since 1975 and haven't jumped on the bandwagon. These are not good times to be a Town fan...but they're still my beloved team. Such a shame...