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All Aboard the Directorship
Written by Bluetaff on Monday, 25th Apr 2016 16:22

I look forward to the start of each new season with such vim and vigour - with the possible exception of this one, oddly.

Last season took our collective breath away didn't it? Daryl Murphy turned into a modern day Andy Cole, last-minute wins at Charlton and Watford, smiling faces on the pitch, in the dugout and in the stands! All was well with the world as we hit the heights of the play-off places.

OK so the end didn't quite match our expectations but it was one hell of a ride wasn't it?

Well, this season kind of flattered to deceive, with a combination of truly appalling football and dreadful results at home making last season a far distant memory.

There have been calls for manager Mick McCarthy to go, for owner Marcus Evans to ‘splash the cash’ but there hasn't really been a concerted call for a new or even defined strategy!

The club is stuck in a rut, of its own making but a rut all the same. For at least the last seven seasons we have finished 15th, 13th, 15th, 14th, ninth, sixth and eighth – presuming we finish where we currently sit. With the exception of last season we really couldn't be more ‘mid-table mediocre’ if we tried.

In each of those seasons we have employed three managers who were chosen on the basis that they have managed to extricate their clubs from the doldrums of the Championship and take them into the promised land of the Premier League.

But you know all of this, you remember with much fondness our time under Roy Keane and Paul Jewell which is why there is such reticence in replacing Mick. With who you cry out? Well indeed, when you look to recruit based on past history there is little out there to choose from.

But wait, why do we follow the same tired old routine of changing manager for manager when things aren’t working out? Surely there is another way to work the club and bring success back to the area?

Was it not Einstein who famously said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”? Well, there is another, probably more apt quote from the same man, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

So here I aim to give my tuppence worth, my own personal view on what should be done to shake the club out of its doldrums.

I’m a sucker for the European model and believe that when funds are at a premium, it is the best and most efficient way to manage a club.

Installing a director of football to oversee the management of the club would therefore be my priority; it would be his responsibility to ensure the aims of the club are understood and that the resources allocated efficiently.

By structuring the club from the youngest all the way through to the first team would permit an easier flow of talent from the youth system straight through to the main squad. Barcelona did this to such great effect that when the youth team matured to first team age and level, they were so used to the style and structure it was so much easier for them to integrate quickly.

The coaches are then employed by the director of football at all levels of the organisation to follow this principle, adding in their own style and flavour to improve in all areas.

Having coaches interspersed throughout the club at the different levels, all following the same or similar principles allows for development at a consistent rate. Ajax famously chose a structure for the entire club to follow; with each level playing the same 4-3-3 system it bred familiarity into the entire set-up to such an extent that player selection becomes so much easier.

The random application of player recruitment through the transfer system, as is seen now, tends to bring in the best of what is available at any given moment at that price. So you end up with three players who are exactly the same, in order to then try and balance out the first team you end up playing players out of position – sound familiar?

So in the short term what do you do? Well first off, pick a system that works for the majority of players at the youth and U18 levels. It could be a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 high intensity style that presses when not in possession. Replicate this as best you can in the first team but leave players out who are out of position.

So, across the backline we are missing a right-back, a creative midfield player in alongside our workhorse in the middle and players of requisite pace to stretch the full-backs. Are there suitable players coming through? You might say no but then steal yourself, no not at all… or not yet?

If you have players that just need to settle into the system then your short-term requirement could be covered by loanees. If not, then you need to enter the transfer market for the players that fit those positions – after coordinating with director of football, the coaches can continue with their work.

The side effect is that we would be left with players that simply don’t fit. Move them on! Already you can see the likes of Christophe Berra, Giles Coke, Jonathan Douglas and even Murphy surplus to requirements as a minimum! Add Jay Tabb, Larsen Touré and possibly Luke Hyam… the list goes on and on and before you know it, you have a squad that is balanced.

Everyone knows their tasks, their roles and their positions and has suitable cover to provide pressure. There are no manager’s favourites; there is no manager in the conventional sense!

As the short-term moves to long-term you can then start to improve positions of weakness. You might consider looking at the goalkeeper’s position for example or look to bring through central defenders who are more comfortable on the ball to match your system and style requirements. This might mean saying goodbye to the likes of Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith but this would mean the long-term improvement of the team on the pitch.

For too many years we have allowed promising young players to leave the club because they haven’t progressed through to the first team, haven’t grown enough or just don’t appear ‘right’. It’s a typically British problem where we don’t allow for sufficient focus on these players and somehow just expect them to improve on their own?!

With such a lack of available resources in the transfer market, we need to ensure that the majority of the club’s focus resides with the youngsters – Category One will help, but this is a limited approach to a growing issue.

Proper coaches are required to ensure youth development meets the requirements and needs of the club as a whole, they are not there simply because we have to have them – they are invaluable assets that need to be utilised as such.

When you look at replacements for Mick then, look away from the typical managers that match the profile of those we have employed so far – we need a set of coaches, across all levels of the club.

It might sound daft but Steve McClaren, for example, has been described by so many players as a fantastic coach but a terrible manager, this has been proven with his success in the European model and underneath strong ‘hands off’ managers in Sir Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp.

It’s not a suggestion though that McClaren be brought in, merely an idea as to the type of people and an approach that might be required to turn around the fortunes of our club – all that is then needed is a strong director of football.




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terryball2012 added 19:08 - Apr 25
A good well thought out article but the main problem is that there is absolutely no chance that MM will tolerate anyone having any input-you will that when he was appointed the club wanted Matt Holland as his assistant and MM ruled that out and would rather bring in a yes man in TC. I cannot think from his recent remarks that anything has changed and the club is and will continue to suffer from his actions.

A few examples to support the above. This season alone he has cost the club in thousands of pounds in lost TV income. In the first few weeks of the season we were featured several times but once they realised our style was so dull they cut us out. Secondly his decision to field a reserve team in both games in the FA Cup against a team we should have beaten easily cost the club at least £300000.00 in receipts in the loss of at least one game against a Premier league club.

His style does not encourage youngsters to support the club and this will have a long term effect as these are the future of the club.

Some of the players on the books have rarely been used this year and have cost the club many thousands of pounds ie Coke, Tabb, Toure to name just three.

The players he has brought in to play on the flanks have been forced to play in wide midfield roles rather than as out and out wingers which would give the team greatly needed pace. AMN played with pace in the first few games but since then his confidence has been hit by being forced to play as a defense first player and I am sure both he and Fraser have cost us a lot of money over the season. Pringle is not a wide player and has not featured in recent games and is costing us money and neither he or Feeney are worth keeping on as they do not better the team at all.

He lavished praise on Kenlock and Emmanuel at the beginning of the season and then has rarely played them although we have had a poor player playing at right full back for a long time and after Charlton had given him a really runaround instead of dropping him he dropped his best defender this season and promptly lost 3-1! Since then he has reverted to the old defence.

On the progress of young players there has been little to encourage local players to join the club and although good to see Dozzell progress if I was his father I would send him elsewhere not for the money but the style of play. Other than him there are the two full backs and Matt Clarke but all the others are mid field players so where are the wingers and strikers we so desperately need. We have good academy staff and coaches but I bet they have very little influence when it comes down to it.

The comments by the manager about Douglas and his continual involvement and the decision to retain Hyam on the pitch against Brentford-when he should have been sent off for that horrendous tackle- and then to bring him back immediately after his ban were typical of MM and his arrogant disregard for the fans and disrespect for the club.

I could go on. I have renewed my season ticket nd have no particular wish for the club to reach the Premiership but want the club to return to a club that respects its supporters and play attractive and entertaining football again. There has been no progress this season irrespective of the excuses by the manager and this cannot continue long into the next season without a change. In view of this season if I were the owner I would be reluctant to release funds to the manager as his past record of spending at other clubs has not been great and he says he would be unable to find better players than we have at present! Perhaps that says it all.
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cartman1972 added 23:20 - Apr 25
Good article bud, completely agree, will it happen? Sadly not.
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Penguinblue added 07:16 - Apr 26
Interesting - but for me McCarthy has proved beyond doubt that he does not have the coaching ability to improve Ipswich - his one dimensional hoofball, favouritism, repetition of failed tactics, negative set ups, and not least contempt for supporters mean his time is up.
You can turn the insanity quote round anyway you like. You could equally argue that it would be insane to let him continue. The owner, to be fair, went for 'big' names, Keane, Jewell, McCarthy, the fact that none of them were better than we already has, does not, for me, rule out another change.
We are now stale. Many of McCarthy's favourites do not perform - even when played in their correct positions. McCarthy's actions and continued comments over the goalkeeper, our regular man of the match must even be embarrassing to Gerkin (not his fault).
There is a lot of managerial talent available - I'll let others roll of names in case my suggestions turn you against my thoughts on McCarthy.
All in all it has to be McCarthy OUT
6

Stato added 07:50 - Apr 26
Thought provoking article and as long as the Director of Football sacks McCarthy immediately then I'd be all for it.
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Lightningboy added 10:10 - Apr 26
Please send this blog to Marcus Evans and mark it "in need of urgent attention".

We have one of the best in bringing through youth players - Bryan Klug - we need a more forward thinking manager to compliment his hard work..if McCarthy stays then things will continue to go stale.
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Lightningboy added 10:11 - Apr 26
Oh and btw,George Burley would be our director of football if it was my club.
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BrettenhamBlue added 13:31 - Apr 26
There is one style of play that infiltrates all levels at this club. Hoof the ball up the pitch and run around like headless chickens. Practiced from U14's upwards.

We have become the experts at anti-football and may hold that honour for many years to come. Boring, unattractive, turgid, rancid football that truly makes anyone we play groan and makes other supporters wonder how we still manage to support this club.

Norwich fans are laughing at us. They have their own concerns right now but there is no way they would tolerate this sort of "football" week in, week out. Part of me hopes they stay up as I don't want to see us struggle and lose yet again to the old enemy.

Unless there is SERIOUS investment, I have no hope for next season. More boring football. More sleeping and snoring fans. Fewer fist pumps from chambers and the crowd chanting "we want one" as we set up for yet another 0-0 draw.
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greenkingtone added 16:12 - Apr 26
You are quite right Bluetaff. I enjoyed reading your blog. Sadly I have not renewed and I will choose my matches next season after reviewing the changes in the summer. I fear things will be the same because Mick cannot change.
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grubbyoik added 21:11 - Apr 28
Great article.. Refreshingly positive.. For our club to make even the smallest step forward our owner needs to show everybody at the club from staff to supporters that he is proud to own Ipswich town.. He then needs to stand visibly at the front of our club and lead it.. As it stands our current manager has far too much power.. He seems to be steering which direction we go in..

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WorcesterBlue added 08:39 - May 14
Bang on bluetaff but I can't see it with ME at the helm. I actually think a manager model can work providing they have a holistic view for the club and are supported by a football man above (Burley and Sheepshanks for example). But it must be long term and about player and club development. Mick is never going to be that and will leave a lasting scar in our ability to play football the right way the longer he stays. As to alternatives I'd look to Holland for a director of football (former player perhaps?) and bring in a young hungry football coach a la Phil Parkinson. Let's focus on playing attractive football and developing young talent. If that gets is to the PL so be it but frankly entertainment and pride (along with challenging for stuff) is enough for me after the last 10 years!!
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