I posted an item under the story headlined 'Taylor: Hewitt “Superb”' this morning and unbelievably I didn't receive an avalanche of negatives.

Cloddyseedbed responded, for which I thank him, but after that there were no further posts which told me I had posted too late for people to read it.

Now, as I was trying to get a discussion going it was an abysmal failure so I decided to use what I had written and introduce it as a blog, this is it.

There is no doubt in my mind we have the potential to be a top club. We have the players, we have the training ground and we have the stadium, all we need is a sort out.

We need to bring back all the loan players and play them here, and put square pegs in square holes not square pegs in round holes simply to accommodate a player who years ago did well for the current manager.

Yes, most of the players are still young but they do have great potential and they will only find that potential by playing games and who better to play games for than the club to which they belong and want to represent?

All you Mick McCarthy lovers please do not give us the guff about there being a great difference between the Championship and Leagues One and Two because I will tell you it is rubbish, hence Preston are in the fourth round of the FA Cup and we are out (again)!

Think back to what the Wolves supporters said about their previous manager when he came here: "He will load you up with useless players". The truth of that was evident when those same players took Wolves down to the third tier and let us beware that there is not a repeat here.

Now please do not tell me he saved us from relegation last year because he was reportedly very well paid for doing that and he did absolutely no different to what Paul Jewell did previously and he was not paid a reputed £1m for so doing.

If we are going to do this and be successful there is only one thing we need and that is a manager who has the tactical ability and the courage to play his younger players and build a great Ipswich side without all his old mates from years of yore.

That man can either be a reasonably experienced manager, an Ian Holloway type, or a young dynamic manager who is champing at the bit. For all you posters who will slate what I am saying without having the sense to think about it let me say to you: forget about the play-offs and promotions because that is not going to happen. If you want to get promoted you need to play football, not just set out not to lose because that way you most certainly will - lose that is!

I am truly sorry to write this but it is time some one tried to bring a sensible thought into these discussions and instead of making momentous decisions as to whether Mick should be playing 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 or whatever, you should be thinking about the future of our great club because that is what I am talking about. Managers come and go and, for me, the sooner this one goes the better.

For you youngsters who were not there, how do you think Bobby Robson achieved such great success? By being tactically astute and having the courage to play all those wonderful young players while they were still kids and by encouraging them to go out and win (full stop).

In Cloddyseedbed's response he mentioned that word 'Evans' and yes, as you say, he is the boss and therefore responsible. This is only the second blog I have written and the previous one was an open letter to that same gentleman when things were first beginning to become difficult during his early blunders. So let us look at Evans's contributions.

After he took over things were a bit difficult at the start of the next season then from January onwards things began to appear better and that improvement coincided with the arrival of a new first team coach, John Gorman, who happened to have been Glenn Hoddle's assistant and, while we did not get promoted, even the then manager's critics could see the improvement and most people knew we would be in the mix the next season.

Not so Mr Evans. He fired his manager and recruited a person whom almost every, wise Ipswich supporter immediately knew was a disaster. It was about this time I wrote my open letter to him.

Soon after, chairman David Sheepshanks stepped down leaving the club with absolutely nobody with football knowledge and appointed the person whom you all loved to hate as chief executive. Disaster followed disaster, Evans sacked his manager and appointed somebody whom we were told had done it before and would get us promoted!

Now I am fully aware that many of you hate the name of that person but stop and think for a moment. That person introduced Cressy to us and one or two others too. Where he made his mistake was in trying to get us promoted too quickly and in so doing went about it the wrong way.

To be fair to that very likeable person he had little option because his predecessor had fired the person who had helped make our Academy great, though at that time he was on the coaching staff and, most probably out of spite, got rid of our best player from the Academy so he had to bring people in.

We were now bottom of the second tier and looking likely contenders for demotion. That manager left by mutual consent and the present incumbent was brought in with the sole object of keeping us in the second tier.

As we all know he succeeded and stopped us leaking goals, that being his forte, so a big thank you to Mick, but that does not say he is the right manager to carry this club forward. He is dogmatic and appears tactically naive. Chief executive Simon Clegg then moved on and Evans appointed the joint managing directors, who this time had no sporting experience let alone no football experience, so we are wandering in very wild seas totally rudderless!

Marks out of 10 to Mr Evans? I give him two. With this in mind I spend every single penny I can on Euromillions hoping for a very large win it being the only way I can see to get this club out of the Hands of Mr Evans!

textbackup added 12:21 - Jan 23 the following part.... "Now please do not tell me he saved us from relegation last year because he was reportedly very well paid for doing that and he did absolutely no different to what Paul Jewell did previously and he was not paid a reputed £1m for so doing." made me switch off. he did no different to what paul jewell did??? really?!
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JWM added 18:41 - Jan 23 Harry Redknapp! Are you having a bloody laugh! I really think you need to have a word with yourself mate!
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Walk_the_Wark added 20:15 - Jan 23 JWM- not at all. I don't consider it a laughing matter. I take it you think MM was a good appointment, and with time and money to spend will have us established in the Prem playing passing football? :-/
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JWM added 20:19 - Jan 23 MM is not a good appointment he is brilliant appointment and the best thing ME has done in his whole sorry reign! Redknapp is great with a chequebook just ask Portsmouth fans!
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Walk_the_Wark added 20:37 - Jan 23 Hmm… So with a chequebook under MM we'd magically become a passing, attacking team?
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RegencyBlue added 20:40 - Jan 23 My view, for what its worth, is that MM has done as well as anyone could within the financial constraints he is working under! Magilton, Keane and Jewell squandered ME's millions and now ME, who backed some very poor managerial appointments, seems to have decided to spend nothing on transfers. Its his money so its up to him but I cannot see how the current situation, if it continues, helps the club and therefore Evans investment. I genuinely cannot see anyone who could do a better job than MM at the moment in trying to build a team from free transfers and out of contract players. There are question to be asked about the future of our club but only ME can answer them!

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JWM added 20:46 - Jan 23 Hmm...I wonder how Mick managed to get Wolves promoted as champions without them being a passing attacking team! Come on mate we are both Town Fans who want the best for our club. Mick is doing a great job with limited resources and I just wish that some people on here give him credit for what he is doing with a pretty poor bunch of players. We are harder to beat these days and are regularly picking up points I just don't get all this anti Mick bollox! The only other thing I will say is be careful what you wish for cos I don't honestly see who else out there would come here and be as good as Mick.

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Walk_the_Wark added 20:52 - Jan 23 All I can say is I'm sick of the team setting up to defend, and hoping for scraps or corners to get goals. We have potentially one of the best strikers in the league, but he invariably makes his own chances. From what I watch only Cresswell seems to want to make things happen. I don't believe we don't have players who can pick a pass if given license… Mick is dogged, and old school, and clearly anise guy who man manages well- but he aint taking us anywhere

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Walk_the_Wark added 20:53 - Jan 23 * a nice
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JWM added 20:58 - Jan 23 Just be patient and you will get your reward. Rome wasn't built in a day!
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Walk_the_Wark added 20:58 - Jan 23 And my last two-penneth! If anyone can explain his substitutions I'd be really grateful
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Bluetaff added 10:41 - Jan 24 Time and not change is what we require. We are not the force we once were and are a very normal Championship and, dare I say it League One outfit. With the new FFP rules coming into effect it is important that we stabilise what has been an extremely rocky patch over the past few years. The risk of spending to reach the Premier League hasn't paid off and we now need a pragmatic approach. Although Mick isn't everyone's cup of tea, he is at least pragmatic which we have witnessed ever since he took over from Jewell. What we need now is for Mick to carry on laying the foundations that we can hope to build on using the category 1 academy to bolster the ranks in the coming years (exactly as Man Utd did...) By replacing the manager now creates yet another merry go round of players coming in and out of the club using money we haven't got and building more debt we can ill afford.

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Mach_foreignBlue added 17:27 - Jan 25 BillBlue we won today you know ? And we are 7th ! Come out and carry on sniping at Mick McCarthy 'lovers'. And Mick isn't the better option than Jewell as he's no different to what was Jewell doing is he? Come out and repeat it !!!
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CharlieITFC added 18:02 - Jan 25 Firstly, I'd like to say that it's nice to read something well written and thought provoking. However, I cannot agree at all. In my opinion, anyone that wants MM out cannot want the best for our club. Who would they get to replace him? If we keep changing our manager, we will stay in mid table obscurity. We need a manager to stick around for a bit and BUILD a team instead of throwing together a bunch of random players. For the first time in years, players actually want to choose to come to come and play for us. Would that have happened under Keane or Jewell? Definitely not. McGoldrick, Skuse, Berra. These 3 players, however you want to look at it, are 3 of our best players. All of which joined because of one main reason. Mick McCarthy. As for comments about the youth players, I must agree with the majority of posters. Smith & Hyam are the only ones who have proved they could cut it at this level, and they play nearly every week. Jack Marriott is going to be our next talent. But he isn't ready, he needs to prove he is, just like everyone else. Mick has turned us from relegation favourites to play off contenders in 14 months. Imagine what he could do in another 14 months?!? And finally, saying a man that has worked wonders at not only our club, but so many others, is tactically inept, is frankly ludicrous. Infact, it just suggests to me that you are totally inept at understanding football at all.

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Fatcatevans added 19:06 - Jan 25 Billblue. You ask for a healthy debate and then when people disagree you disparage them. magilton was a joke who brought in all his old mates and alienated everyone else including the press. He was a loose canon. MM did a fabulous job last year. Both Robson and Ramsey took a while to get it right . Continual change achieves nothing. Mick may be too cautious for some but I see few people suggesting alternatives! And please none of that Holloway nonsense. the mans a show pony. let's stick together.

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radiogaga added 20:49 - Jan 25 BillBlue, I referred to Stephen Hunt not getting in the team because you were saying that, by playing Berra at CB and Chambers out at RB, that it is MM's way of making sure his ex Wolves players can be guaranteed starters which is just not the case. If that was the case then Hunt would be starting every game!! If we are going to talk about ex managers who wanted to play their mates, look no further than Magilton ironically, who you claimed was harshly sacked. As for your comment about the stadium being half empty, there is all too much a touch of irony to this, since you have made it clear that you do not go to games. Instead, you feel you are justified in criticising MM and our playing style, how exactly? How are you making assumptions on these when you do not even go to games? Maybe if one or two fans decided to come along, then the stands wouldn't be so empty at home games. Plus our away followings have also been much better in the wake of the optimism around the club the past year or so. I can accept people having different opinions to me, and my response was certainly not rude or aggressive. I say things how I see them, I actually follow ITFC home and away virtually every game, as do a number of other "Mick Lovers" who are able to see the bigger picture (beyond a couple of bad performances. bad match reviews, bad newspaper headlines) and can see how much better the club is since MM has been around. Quite frankly, we would be in League One now, and potentially in the same kind of mess that Bristol City, were it not for MM, then you would have had something to complain about. I would argue that you are the one who can't accept other people having different opinions to you, from what I am reading. You said you wanted a discussion, that is what you have got, people with different opinions, that's how it works. Bizarre.

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radiogaga added 01:06 - Jan 26 Also, Clegg didn't come in soon after Keane was appointed. He was there first.
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Ipswichbusiness added 19:16 - Jan 27 Bill, I'm afraid that I have to disagree with you on this one; I'm with JWM, radiogaga and dozzells bobblehat here. Under Mr Jewell we were headed inexorably for League One. It was very simple; our defence was an utter shambles. Mr McCarthy sorted that out and brought stability. On a very modest transfer budget, he has now taken us to the brink of the playoffs. That is a huge achievement in a year. I would love to see more youngsters being given a run in the team, but I'm sure that they will get a chance if they're good enough. We will not achieve success by sacking the manager every 18 months. There is no guarantee that the replacement will be any better. The only certainty is that we will have to pay compensation to the departing manager and his staff, money that won't be spent on the team as a result.

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spanishblue added 03:14 - Jan 28 Radio gaga thanks we've gone from an easy touch giving three points away to teams thinking tough job today it take years to develope exciting talent Hewitt is not ready yet yes he improving the other youngsters again not near ready M M is an excellent manager he has us near the top six goodness me surely that's better than bottom spot good players with class cost money mr Evans has invested would you throw good money to managers who overpaid average players with a reputation burnt out legs could,nt careless attitude I watched a young Irish keeper play in the fa cup final youth version he left gutted by his high and mighty useless manager if you watched my friend his performance was brilliant young need to be nurtured loved and brought on carefully over years Rome not built in 18 months mick you are doing a grand job these hypothetical wizards don't exist pal get a life go and watch the canaries moan at them we love our blues till I die

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Lombokblue added 09:54 - Jan 28 I have hope this year and MM did inherit a disaster. I don't think even PJ could believe how bad it was. But like RK and PJ I am surprised at the rotating door of average players. Within a year of taking over both RK and PJ had changed the entire first team. MM is not so bad but he is loading us up with a lot of average players.
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sirbenofmorlingshire added 10:32 - Jan 28 Almost a crazy debate this one. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what ITFC fans (or most footy fans want) to be honest, I think most of them need a reality check! Reading the forums week in week out, my underlying feeling is that people are measuring our potential success, ability and structure with incomparable yardsticks. League ‘success’ in my opinion has been achieved by 4 or 5 clubs in the past 20 years, these would be Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool – we are NOT comparable to these clubs, yet I get the impression that ‘success in football’ is seen as achieving what these top flight clubs have done and in the eyes of some of our fans, unless we’re on that path or in that ball park, we’re rubbish and unsuccessful and as with the modern football mentality, that’s obviously the fault of every manager who dares take the helm – at ANY club! There was an interesting stat on Talksport some months ago about how many manager get sacked, or have been sacked a season; I’m afraid I don’t have all the facts to hand, but I worked it out as more than a 50/50 chance your boss will get the chop in a single season (was something crazy like 45 to 50 manager in the top 4 divisions getting the boot per year!). This is not indicative of ‘rubbish tactics’ or ‘not having a footballing brain’, its derived from this ridiculous mentality that to be ‘successful’ you have to be in the same league of achievement as Man Utd or Barcelona! Which is so unrealistic it’s not even funny. The thought process of the individual who wrote this article (and many fans on here) is that unless you’re sitting in the top 3 (of whatever league you’re in), you’re crap and the manger should be sacked. What a pile of tosh! This being said, that must mean that ANY manager whose team are not in the playoffs at least (that’s 18 managers in our division) are useless because they aren’t winning anything. What I do agree with is that it’s about time we started to do better. We have all the tools at our disposal, we’ve done it before, so we know it can happen again. However, what some people forget is we have turned a corner under the current management. This COULD be the beginning of us moving up a notch, it’s not the end product of the past 6-7 years (which I’d rather we all forgot about!). I’d also like these ‘we need to pass like Barcelona’, ‘oh the beautiful game’ types, who probably learn their footballing prowess from a Playstation manager game or Soccer AM to consider what the hell will happen if we do go up??? Yes it’d be lovely to be in the Premier League again, but as it stands right now, we’d be smashed week in, week out. Have a look at the nothing clubs in the Prem: Villa, Stoke, Fulham, West Brom, Newcastle… they sit there year in year out NOT being Manchester United, NOT winning doubles or trebles, NOT winning a cup and if they’re unlucky enough, they get a UEFA cup spot which no one wants anyway! Realistically that would be our goal/5-7 year plan and even then half the people here would be moaning, ‘oh we’re out the cup’, ‘we lost 3 games in a row, sack the manager’, it’s actually quite depressing listening to these people. If you want to watch magical football, where passes fly 70 yards to a striker who beats 3 defenders before smashing a 25-years screamer into the top corner, my advice is go watch Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool with their £300 million budgets, global marketing and ruthless Arab owners. Because you aren’t going to get that at Town at the moment/ever/soon! Someone explain to me, what is ‘footballing success’ for Ipswich??? Forget Bobby Robson, ’78, ’81 etc, think about NOW and where we were a few years ago, and where we COULD have been. For me right now, it’s about being top half of the table, being in the position to be able to spend a bit of money on new players, developing the youth system and not being a yo-yo club with a sack the manager mentality. Now that’s my ‘realistic’ vision of our club and personally, I think that’s pretty much where we are and it’s this that needs to be built on and to do that does not mean sack the manager every 5 minutes!

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theobald1985 added 15:59 - Jan 29 i think Walk_the_Wark makes a very valid point for all the slagging he seems to be getting-mick only knows one way of playing and its defensive mostly long ball very boring to watch altough play it well and you will get results but at some point we need to embrace a new vision at the club like swansea did and bring a passing attacking philosophy into the side for entertainment purposes and to keep our footballing souls.we would not stay up playing micks way-we could possibly go up but not stay there i dont think and it would be embarrasing-nobody likes the style mick plays to watch it is only accepted while you are winning.micks propberbly an ok bloke but his style and standards are not what we should aspire to-he said the other week that %100 effort is a basic requirment to play for him and if you can play a bit with the ball then thats good too-well i could play for town if thats the case

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Facefacts added 19:17 - Feb 2 Very interesting blog and debate. Only just picked up on all this. These are the 'hard to argue with' factors: + FFP and how much our club turnover means we will be able to pay players at the next level? + what quality (too poor?) of players are coming through the youth set-up, + Marcus Evans wants a crack at the Premier League. My view: let Mick take us out of this league into the Premier. I agree with those who say there probably isn't anyone better at the moment for ITFC. The Cups aside (no televised moneyspinning replay with Forest this Wednesday under the lights at FPR), I think he is doing very well, and as I write we sit 7th in the table. Then, look at Southampton, sacking Nigel Adkins for this Italian guy. I think that is the model to emulate. Mick won't be able to identify the players we need to thrive in the Premier. Those who succeed in management at the level below the PL top 6 are not the old school British Isles managers. It's a global game with quality but bargain players having to be brought in. Think how many new players we would need to be able to survive in the Premier League! Strikers playing as the one in a 4-5-1 who get one chance in a game and have to score with it. Tigerish midfielders and uncompromising defenders. A superb keeper who regularly saves penalties. We have a long way to go..

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radiogaga added 00:05 - Feb 4 Facefacts - WE ARE NOT IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE YET. Nor will we be anytime soon if we go sacking a manager like McCarthy. Just cast your mind back to 1st November 2012 and look at the table now. If that is not good enough for some of the anti McCarthy folks out there, I really have no idea what is. This championship is so average that if we keep up picking up points consistently, we have every chance of sneaking a play off place this season which would be a remarkable achievement. Give him another year on top and imagine where we are capable of going. We are extremely lucky to have him & TC managing our club, look at the chaos at Leeds and think twice before wishing them out...

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Hegansheroes added 09:32 - Feb 4 Billblue-an excellent blog. I agree with you on virtually every point. When MM was appointed my heart sank as I knew what we were going to get having seen him as a player and manager. I remember one MM comment about clattering the the opposing goalkeeper which just about sums up his tactics. It is a pity that people who disagree with you resort to abuse and seem to dispute you are a supporter. As a supporter I am not satisfied with what is on offer and have stopped going on a regular basis as I prefer to watch Leiston who at least provide entertainment which as one of the MDs said recently is what football is-entertainment. MM it must be said has made some good signings in McGoldrick, Berra and Skuse but also some disastrous ones in Nouble, Tabb and Anderson who really has not been that good although is getting a bit better. Unfortunately football has changed dramatically since Sky came into it and the gulf between the Premiership and the Championship is getting greater every year. Sky rarely show Ipswich because they are not an attractive team to watch which is also reflected in poor attendances and these are the two major sources of revenue. I know from a source close to ME that he wanted to get ITFC into the Premiership asap and then sell. He is not interested in football and his decision to buy us was financial only. As much as I hate to say it I am envious of Norwich in that they do have dedicated and passionate directors and I do not want them relegated, rather for us to get promoted so we can have the Derbies again. So, we may creep into the playoffs but promotion is highly unlikely and if we were to be I think we would be the Premiership whipping boys under MM. Pity that we couldn't have got Poyet & his mate here & MM gone to Leeds or somewhere with us getting compensation, that's just fantasy, bit like thinking MM is a great manager.

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