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14 Years in the Second Tier But Be Careful What You Wish For
Written by ORomeoZondervan on Tuesday, 24th May 2016 10:13

It is true, Ipswich have spent 14 consecutive years in the second tier of English football. Some would be quite proud of this achievement but others view this as abject failure, point to others' successes and believe a change at top is the answer.
However, I think some perspective is required.

For for the last three seasons, we have finished ninth, sixth and seventh respectively, cementing ourselves in the top 30 teams in the country. There are plenty of so-called bigger and more fashionable clubs who haven't achieved this, namely Leeds United and Nottingham Forest.

Have we also forgotten what things were like and what was happening prior to the arrival of Mick McCarthy?

In the Roy Keane and Paul Jewell eras, we managed to finish 15th twice and 13th and it took Mick to drag us from rock bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone in 2012/13 and on to finish 14th. Before he took over, we hadn't won for 12 matches.

Since we joined the second tier, 37 different teams have been relegated, four teams twice or more. In contrast, only 25 teams to date have been promoted, 13 teams at least twice.

But what does this show? Not only that The Championship is a really tough league as teams are far more likely to be relegated than promoted but also that staying put is better than most.

Don't forget that there are teams such as Blackpool, Portsmouth and Sheffield United who have been promoted and subsequently relegated and would we want to be in their situation? I think not.

We compete on a seriously uneven playing field. Parachute payments from the Premier League provide relegated teams with unrivaled wealth (£11 million for Ross McCormack) and Financial Fair Play rules handcuff any team who actually try to adopt them and work within them (c£10 million for Jordan Rhodes...). We have to accept that finishing in the top two is seriously unlikely.

However, as a team we are really not that far away from finishing in the magical top six. Our average end of season statistics for the past 14 years are as follows: Played 46, Won 18 ,Drawn 13, Lost 15, For 65, Against 61, Points 67 with an average position of 10th.

Over the last 14 years, the average number of points to finish in the play-off positions is 73. This season, with two more victories, we would have achieved that.

Maybe 14 years in the same division is too long. But maybe, by trusting in the management who have kept a pretty low cost team competitive and with a bit of good fortune for once, our year might just come after all.

Season Ticket Holder since 1991




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Guthrum added 10:26 - May 24
Good summary of the situation.
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patrickswell added 10:31 - May 24
Leicester City have shown that statements like "We have to accept that finishing in the top 2 is unlikely" have no validity or at the very least, fans don't have to accept just getting 6th place and singing hosanna.

The frustration is that we have built a very solid base over three years but have failed to push beyond that. I know that injuries didn't help us this year, but we could still have been proactive in January and tried to make signings that would have set us up for the second half of the season. Given that many of the architects of our improvement over the last three years have cost nothing in fees, there's nothing that says the next level up needed to be £10 million quid signings either. But there would be players out there who could have made us better and stronger in the run-in, but we didn't try and get any of them in.

The expectations have changed whether you like it or not. Maybe we were spoiled by 14-15, but when fans see things apparently heading in the right direction, they want to see anything and everything done to maintain that. This year, between Evans's penny-pinching, Mick's reticence to make changes when we were stuttering in February-March and the weak mindedness of some key players who've got far too comfortable in their places, we shot ourselves in the foot.

Be careful what you wish for? I wish for a club that does everything it can to continue pushing for promotion. So shoot me...
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Surco72 added 14:05 - May 24
I believe one of the biggest points missed is that it is not the championship that a number of supporters are opposed to although promotion would be greatly accepted it is the dire poor level of football on display and the clubs approach to the game from the management .
West Ham , Leicester and Man Utd are prime examples of this . Leicester stayed up great achievement but want more the rest is history . West Ham finished in one of their highest positions under Big Sam but the fans unhappy due to the football , this year they have excelled . And finally Man Utd fifth in league won the cup but the style and tactics dire to watch showing that a number of fans are driven by more than just results that MM thinks ?
And for the Blackpool's and Pompeys that have gone down there are also the Leicester, Saints and Scum who went down from championship and came back stronger whilst we have stagnated in the comfort of the championship
10

DurhamTownFan added 18:12 - May 24
BORING! This is the SAME argument trotted out in micks defence all season. I agree that he has done brilliantly to turn the ship around and I'm forever grateful to him for that. But is that all you want? A stable upper mid-table finish every year? This is how we get into very bad, lazy habits.

I'm still undecided on Mick. If we sign well and start strongly then I'm all for him, but if we have a difficult transfer window and a bad run of results, I'll be the first in line asking for a change. Last year has caused a lot of suspicion among supporters, and we need to pull our fingers out. I don't care how much everyone else is spending. I want my team back at the thick end of the league again!
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runaround added 21:06 - May 24
Spot on Surco! No-one is saying Mick hasn't done well to get us as high in the league with little money spent, however the football especially at home last season was awful to watch. That's what has stopped fans going, not that we finished 7th
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Superblue95 added 11:25 - May 25
There has certainly been more than 4 teams relegated from this division since we joined. I can think of Charlton, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Millwall and Peterborough off the top of my head and I'm sure there's more too
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truthhurts added 13:55 - May 25
I appreciate what this blog is trying to say, but I think a number of supporters are now feeling - in simple terms - mixed emotions towards the club now.

I have had a season ticket since the mid ‘90s so have been through a rollercoaster of seasons. Heartache at missing out on the playoffs, semi-final defeats, that wonderful day at Wembley followed by the most glorious of seasons back in the Premiership, relegation and subsequent failings in the Championship.

The reason why I mention my own personal ‘history’ with the club is to give my comments some solid grounding.

This coming season I have decided not to renew my season ticket. The simple reason for this is the painstakingly boring standard of football served up by Mick McCarthy.

His backers will say he has done wonders for us and, credit where it is due, he created a minor miracle in keeping us in the league when we looked like going down when he first arrived. Yes we have improved our league positioning since then. But. And it is a big But...

He has never been a manager to play attractive football. We are seeing that here at Ipswich, but history backs this up with his previous clubs and Ireland. He can’t blame it on the type of players we have. He has signed a number of wingers in his time with us already, and none have cut it (or been given a fair chance). Ok, this past season we missed a few of our key attacking players for lengthy spells, but even on the occasions they did play, our style was always static at best.

The club have written to me both in email and letter form expressing their regret at me not renewing - obviously every fan in my position would have had the same treatment.

Do I miss not going on Saturday afternoons? Yes. Certainly the idea of it I do. But unfortunately this has been ‘beaten’ out of me somewhat.

The bottom line is I’m not renewing due to the standard of football being seen week after week. Football brings about many emotions. Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t. This isn’t about Ipswich not winning games - I’ve never been like that. This is about entertainment. We always had an element of attacking intent, even in the so-called dark days of Keane and Jewell we always gave it a go.

Super Mick just doesn’t have that in his blood. Never has. Never will.
7

carsey added 20:00 - May 25
@truthhurts you have very eloquently summed up my feelings. The only difference between us is our age and length of service - I was there when Robson arrived and was truly privileged and spoiled by what he was able to produce.
A change in style and attitude is required else I too will stop going.
2

SouperJim added 09:30 - May 26
14 consecutive years of doing "kind of ok". Yes it could be worse, but it could be a lot better. Isn't that what we all dream of, why we go and support our team? I'd like to see my team do better than "kind of ok". While I don't quite agree with the level of criticism many people on here voice, you have to understand the frustration.

In spite of that, you can't argue that Mick has done a good job since he came in and he deserves one more year for me. I hope the owner backs him a bit more, but I also can't really criticise ME's investment to date as he has put millions into the club. If we don't finish in the top 6 next season, then I think it'll be time to give a different manager a chance. Given where we're at as a club and the state of the game in general, I don't think we could sensibly expect much better than being in the play-off hunt, but maybe another manager could bring in a more effective brand of football. Or at least make the ride a little more thrilling than it has been at times this season.

We should never settle for just doing ok. That's what being a fan is all about.
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WorcesterBlue added 12:50 - Jun 2
Interesting blog and I'm certainly not an advocate of splash the cash responses that put the future of our club at risk. However, we need to look to the future and if we continue to overcharge for a dire entertainment offer, then future fans will be put off and will look to the increasingly easy option of being an armchair fan of one of the brand teams. I grew up in Essex in the 70s when all around me were opting for Spurs or West Ham but due to one spot of luck in going to a wonderfully entertaining Town game my allegiance was sealed forever. Given that choice now which way would any football mad kid from the support borderlands go? I rest my case. Which division we are in is less important than how we play in my opinion - football is about passion, entertainment and pride. Not about Mick's ego and safety first football.
1

blue75 added 17:09 - Jun 22
Mick Mcarthy has done a good job. His football is boring and predictable he was the wrong manager at the right time!!! We needed him to sort our players out which he's done. I for one would like to see him walk away and be remembered for good things not what is likely to be come the end of the season. In a ideal world the Ireland job will come up in a few weeks and he'll take it!
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