The dust has started to settle on our most disappointing season of Championship football.

Just over a year ago we were 45 minutes from Wembley and despite defeat at the hands of our feathered friends we looked forward to good times ahead.

In the close season we retained the services of our best players, including our magnificent 27-goal talisman Dary Murphy, and bolstered the squad with some terrific new additions from Bournemouth in marksman Brett Pitman and tricky Ryan Fraser.

So where did it all go wrong and should we really be calling for a Mick McCarthy exit? Are the disgruntled punters justified in their appeals for a change at the top?

There are some key questions that spring to mind before the big issue can be resolved: Where did the Mings money go? Where did the positivity and entertainment go? Did Mick really pick three defensive midfielders at home to Rotherham? Where’s Tabby?

One is not privy to all of the financial information but it appears that the Mings transfer money went on improving the contracts of those players Mick wanted to keep and funding wages for loans and free transfers.

Our collective positivity evaporated one Friday night in September at Reading when we lost 5-1 and also lost confidence in playing a more expansive brand of football.

This was closely followed by a stereotypical 1-0 away win at Leeds (if only all of our games could be played on a Tuesday night we would be runaway champions!), and so the pattern was set for the rest of the season - Mick sees himself in the results business rather than the entertainment business.

On to the most damning evidence against MM - the Cole Skuse, Luke Hyam, Jonathan Douglas combo at home against Rotherham. Here was a must-win game against lowly opposition, a chance to boost our meagre goal difference, but one look at the team sheet and it was hard to stifle a yawn before the game had even kicked off.

One is not a betting man but if one were, the pound would go on a hunch that Mick thinks that at least one of these three is an attacking midfield player, and given the goal-scoring prowess of Skuse and Hyam that man must be Douglas.

We are often reminded that Douglas scored eight goals for Brentford in one season, what we can’t understand is how this could have happened. However, that still leaves Hyam and Skuse together and that is one too many defensive midfielders while Kevin Bru and Liam Feeney kicked their heels on the bench.

The jury would have to return a guilty verdict on this team selection debacle. What made it worse is that one persuaded 12 friends to come to this match dressed as Blues Brothers for the afternoon entertainment during one’s stag do - luckily the alcohol helped to numb the pain of watching this stinker.

One guesses that Douglas will suffer the same fate next season as Tabb did this time around. Different class.

Can there be any positives that can be dredged up from this dreadful season of dire hoofball? Hang on, is that the cavalry coming over the hill to rescue MM and bring us out of the doldrums? One can see a cluster of academy starlets emerging on the horizon: Teddy Bishop, Myles Kenlock, Josh Emmanuel and Andre Dozzell and some more following on behind.

Oh, and wasn’t this the season where we equalled a club record of five away wins on the bounce? And wasn’t it proved beyond any doubt that we have a class goalkeeper in Bart (with Gerken also much improved this season). And didn’t we play a match against David Nugent - albeit with him having come on as a late sub - without him scoring a goal? Happy days indeed.

One is proud that Ipswich is still not a club that is known for sacking managers. Sir Alf and Sir Bobby both came under fire during their stewardship and the good times were just around the corner.

For some Mick has gone from Messiah to ‘very naughty boy’ in 12 months, but Marcus Evans has kept faith. Evans has stated that he wants stability and that is what he has got with Mick - has anyone else noticed that our best players are no longer leaving for free at the end of the season?

Dear Mick, there are lots who would like to see a Mexit but you have my cross pencilled into the ‘remain’ box, however please stop trying to force square pegs into round holes next season. We all know you are a stubborn Yorkshireman but they just won’t fit.

Mullet added 12:22 - May 21 That first line is so bad and so wrong it beggars belief. It's our "most disappointing" season, in a season. Where were you before Mick?
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NoCanariesAllowed added 12:29 - May 21 Find myself in agreement with the previous comment. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt and assume "most disappointing" was meant in that melodramatic upper-class "oh my, this is most disappointing" way, rather than actually implying this was the single most disappointing season of our 14 consecutive years in the second tier. (I'd argue 2009/10 deserves that accolade.)

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Dalty added 12:48 - May 21 Agree with the above, the article as a whole isn't bad but the first line is preposterous. Regardless of qualms about the style of football, it was our 2nd highest finish in the last 11 years.
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SpiritOfJohn added 13:24 - May 21 I see what you are driving at. I meant disappointing in the sense that expectations had been so high at the start of the season compared to the previous umpteen years. Sorry that was not clear.
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No9 added 13:34 - May 21 It depends on what is condsidered to be 'disappointing' but by & large I agree with the bloggers point slough I am not sure that replacign the manager just yet is the right course of action. Those of us who have been supporting Town for many years always expected the next season to be better than the last indicating a progressive move both in terms of player quality and finishing position. In Sir Alfs days we were spoiled going from Div 3 south to the top of British football in a remarkably short time. It seems a natural progression that, having qualified for the play-offs & bieng beaten by the enemy, the next move would have been to improve the squad to not only compete but to win. This has been relatively successful in as much as Towns away performance has not been good = 34 points from 23 away games. It is at PR Town have failed not just in not winning games= only ONE more point was won at home than what was reaped on the road- it has been the performance of the players that has been the real disappointment. This IS down to the way in which the team has been selected, lined up & substituted, it is not all the players or, th Owners fault. The Owner may control the purse strings but, what goes on, on the field of play must be down to team selection & tactics. I didn't get carried away with Towns performance V the enemy, the game at PR was just won by them but at their place some of Towns'stars' didn't turn up and regrettable as it is it was, in reality one of Towns worst away performances with just ONE attempt on target attempt on the enemy goal & that was Tommy S goal. So disappointing yes, for all the reasons in the original blog but, the most important thing must be to improve the home performances PR must no longer be a place where the opposition can come to & play the game in Towns half.

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Guthrum added 16:33 - May 21 People go on a bout the Rotherham match, but that was only one game, against a side under Neil Warnock on the back of three wins and a draw against sides including Wednesday, Boro and Derby (and who would not lose again until the very end of April). It was most decidedly not 'a chance to boost our meagre goal difference'. The problem was not so much the team line-up as the way they played (slow, poor decision making). And Douglas, when he was allowed to get forward, had the best shots-to-goals ratio at the club this season.

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warkthelint added 20:16 - May 22 I had severe pangs of jealousy watching the FA Cup final and seeing a good, attacking match between two contrasting sides who wanted to win. I felt cheated as i know we have a manager who doesn't have the stomach for a fight in Cup matches and throws the towel in by playing a side essentially put together to exit as quickly as possible. We have a manager who has a deplorable record in play offs... matches which call for a more devil-may-care attitude...but if we really think about it, when was the last time we took the game to the opposition? Town under McCarthy are built to contain the opposition and play defensively...and bore rigid its supporters. Not to mention the number of supporters, young and old, who are turning their backs on the team due to these insipid and uninspiring displays by a manger whose shelf life as far as tactics are concerned went out with the Zeppelin..and i don't mean the Led variety. He doesn't give two hoots about entertaining us long suffering fans..but will continue on his way even if he knows deep down, he has lost the plot and been left behind by modern football. 75 minutes before we launch our first shot on goal ? Are you having me on.....time to move on

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ClactonTrueBlue added 10:54 - May 23 Definitely not our most disappointing season, but not a great season with a lack of quality football for the fans to enjoy. I hope Marcus and Mick get together and decide what must be done to take us up to a higher level and challenging for a top two finish - I don't want to be talking about "top six" before we even kick a ball in the new season. For those who think this is too much to hope for, just think about Leicester before you rush to belittle this thinking. We probably need a few new faces to achieve this, time to spend a little?

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essex57 added 08:26 - May 26 A couple of points over use of the word one. People seem to frequently drag up Bru as the answer to the lack of creativity yes one good part game at Brentford then he was injured and then failed to impress when given the chance a bit to lightweight in my opinion. Micks hand was forced in some respects in relation to the mid field with the long term injuries sustained I was suprised that Tabb didn't get more chances even though ridiculed by lots the previous season he always put in a good shift could hold the ball and run with it. The writing was on the wall early on in the season when we conceded late goals at Colchester and the first game at Brentford why fans expectations became so great at this point of the season I have no idea . The rest of the season we scrapped and dugout some dire results and nearly made it to the playoffs personally I would rather do that than play pretty football and fight relegation or possibly get relegated. Could we of strengthened in the transfer windows perhaps as Milne stated we went after a player and couldn't sign him it's one thing wanting a player another getting them to sign. To conclude last season I attended every home match and 14 away games and look forward with my usual optimism to the season ahead as I have the last 39.

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aidanj added 14:30 - Jun 8 Think the word "one" was used just one too many times IMO
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