Town captain Luke Chambers says last season’s seventh place finish was by no means the “bit of a disaster” it has been made out to be in some quarters and believes the Blues will benefit greatly from Teddy Bishop and David McGoldrick available during the campaign ahead.

Bishop, who recently turned 20, only featured in the final weeks of the season after suffering a succession of injuries, most significantly a hamstring problem.

McGoldrick tore his hamstring in December and also only came back into the first team for the last couple of games.

Chambers believes Bishop has the talent to go a very long way in the game: “Teddy could be anything if he keeps his head on his shoulders and listens to the people who can influence him at the football club in a positive way.

“He could be earning 50 grand a week in a year’s time in my opinion, he could be absolutely anything.

“As long as we can pass him the ball to his feet, hopefully we’ll see the best of him in the next few months.

“David McGoldrick’s another one, we missed Didzy last year, we missed Bish. Last season, if you put them into our team maybe that takes us to sixth.

“We finished seventh last year. We’ve been made to feel that it was a bit of a disaster, but I think in terms of what was spent by the football club and with the budget we’ve got, the gaffer’s performed absolute miracles over the last two years.

“You can understand the frustrations of fans maybe, that we want to be up there in the top six, but no team has got a divine right and all we can do is continue to improve from last year and give ourselves the best chance to achieve the top six again.”

He believes finishing seventh last year has been undervalued with the Blues in mid-table wages-wise and having paid little in transfer fees: “When you sit back and look at it, considering where we are, we should be nowhere near that. We’ve performed miracles.

“Yes, we might not have played the best football at times but at the end of the day football is about results and we finished seventh and we were very, very disappointed not to make the play-offs, but unfortunately we didn’t have quite enough.

“But with Bishop, with McGoldrick coming back, we’ve added Webster, hopefully we’ll bring a few more in, they’re going to be big players for us this year if we can keep them fit.”

In addition to Bishop, McGoldrick and Webster, Andre Dozzell, Town’s scorer in Saturday’s 1-1 friendly draw at Cambridge, has visibly grown in confidence during pre-season, having made two appearances for the first team towards the end of last season when he netted a debut goal at Sheffield Wednesday.

“It’s always going to be the way, he’s a 17-year-old boy coming in and playing with men and Championship football,” 30-year-old Chambers added.

“He can’t compare that to anything he’s ever experienced on a Saturday on an U18s pitch or in an U21s game on a Tuesday night when there are 30 people watching.

“It’s a completely different way of football and the Championship is like no other division, physically it’s very demanding and he'll get that. If you’ve seen the size of his dad he’ll end up being a big boy.

“He’s graceful on the ball, the way he put the ball away today was fantastic, he’s showed some brilliant touches on the ball, his awareness on the ball, you can’t speak highly enough of him.

“He’s very, very young and it’s a brilliant thing to be a part of his development and trying to help him through. He’s very, very willing to learn and listen and I’m sure in the next couple of seasons he’ll be a big player for us.”

Chambers says he and the rest of the squad would welcome further signings: “It would be extra help, extra competition for places. There’s no one in the squad that should be happy without competition. We need competition all over the pitch and I think we’ve got that in most areas.

“No one’s got a divine right to start football matches, so everyone knows they’ve got to work, especially with the gaffer. If you don’t put the work in in pre-season and in training every week, you won’t be playing.

“The lads are trying to improve every day and you need competition. Maybe [we were hit by] the lack of squad size last year when there were injuries to the likes of Bishop, McGoldrick, Murphy at times, they’re massive players for us.

“Maybe the likes of Derby or whoever spending £30 million have got three or four in reserve that are a similar level to the players they’re losing out on, that’s the difference, but that’s what we’re up against.

“As the gaffer says, we know the remit and we’re just ready to prove a few people wrong again this year.”

He says gaffer Mick McCarthy doesn’t involve him when he’s making signings: “Not particularly because I know how difficult it is for us to sign players at the moment.

“He just says, ‘Don’t ask me about players’. I said, ‘I’m not asking you, I’ve learnt that, I’ve been with him long enough now'. And when they walk in through the door I’ll be the first one to say hello.”

Meanwhile, Chambers spent some time earlier in the summer working on his coaching badges in Northern Ireland.

“I’m trying to get my badges ready for the transition but that’s a long way off,” he said. “I just wanted to be ahead of the game really.

“It’s becoming more and more difficult, there are more and more obstacles being put in players’ way when trying to make that transition into coaching.

“I thought it was about time to settle down and maybe sacrifice a couple of weeks in the summer and I’m on the right path and I’m at the right club if I then want to continue to do something in the future.”

Photo: Action Images

mickeyjb added 07:08 - Jul 25 Thanks for that insite chambo!!! Is that already lowering our expectations for this season then. Apart from blindly supporting the boys, don't we actually have a right to be slightly concerned for this season, it was septic enough last season, I feel it could be worse this one!
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hoppy added 07:28 - Jul 25 “He could be earning 50 grand a week in a year's time in my opinion" So by that, is he meaning he expects Bishop will be sold by then, or are Town going to be blowing their wage structure apart?
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Benters added 07:50 - Jul 25 I guess its ok getting payed a small fortune for playing da Hoofball ... But what about us poor sods who are expected to cough up £30 on the gate ?
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Len_Brennan added 08:00 - Jul 25 Last season was a disaster in terms of top 6 really being there for the taking, but we made the same mistakes as we has previously & lacked ambition particularly during January transfer window. Spending even a small amount then would definitely have impacted on fan's confidence & enthusiasm and been offset with higher season ticket purchases than we have now, in my opinion.

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poldark added 08:22 - Jul 25 Perhaps if he had to pay £550 a season to watch that c..p he would think differently
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ITFCGloryDays added 08:45 - Jul 25 True that Poldark. This club is being ruined by those in charge. Nothing changes, the same excuses trotted out and dull, unimaginative football to go with it.
2

terryf added 08:53 - Jul 25 Teddy could be earning £50K in a year's time. I think he owes us at least a couple of years first. He'd need to be playing consistently well all season to attract that sort of money from a big Club. Plus if he's that good why the hell is MM playing him wide right when he should be centre midfield as a playmaker. Probably wanting to make room for either Douglas or Hyam to play alongside Skuse or maybe both!!!

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onthehoof added 10:28 - Jul 25 With this attitude and outlook I guess we will do well to avoid bottom three. Lets talk ourselves up.....even if we are not getting the new talent whether its money, unattractive club etc. Without a positive outlook who would want to play here
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carsey added 10:59 - Jul 25 Frankly last season was a disaster in many ways not least because we didn't make the top 6. We also played awful football brought in sub standard players lost supporters and ripped fans off. It's also a lie to say no one has a devine right to start a match when it is clearly not the case at Ipswich with McCarthy constantly playing his favourites even that means out of position. I'm not hopeful but I will once again be there having paid up front for my seat

1

OldClactonBlue added 11:44 - Jul 25 Dreadful to watch. Not even in the Play Off lottery. Yes a disaster. Obviously not a disaster though for an average player who would be surplus to requirements if we did ever get up. He's clearly happy to keep taking his salary whatever.
5

Bluetone added 11:50 - Jul 25 Quote "Luke Chambers said last season's seventh place finish was by no means the “bit of a disaster” it has been made out to be" Strewth we finished seventh and got knocked out of cups by teams from lower divisions who played us off the park; played rubbish football most of the time.and according to you that's not a “bit of a disaster”? The mind boggles.
4

BrettenhamBlue added 12:18 - Jul 25 Is this season going to be a disaster then?
0

jas0999 added 12:33 - Jul 25 Deluded. Terrible football. No investment. No quality. No entertainment. Only two wins in final games against teams not interested papered over the cracks.
6

MicksZzzTactics added 12:43 - Jul 25 Nahhh PJisaGoat the word properly best suited for describing this season, around same time next year, is ... drum-roll please ... CALAMITY!!!, disaster's closely related "sidekick"! I'm not a lingo expert lol, but as nouns I believe the difference between calamity and disaster is that calamity is a state of deep distress & misery caused by way of a major event resulting in great loss ......... While disaster is an unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment. :-)

2

Devereuxxx added 13:21 - Jul 25 He's right you know. It wasn't a disaster, just wasn't the progression most people were hoping for. If you think last season was a disaster have a conversation with fans of Bolton, Charlton etc...
5

Gazelle added 14:30 - Jul 25 Seventh in the table was not a disaster but entertainment value was abysmal.
3

runningout added 14:52 - Jul 25 Reading 5 : 1 ITFC to mention one was too much of a disaster for me
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Kesgraveblue57 added 15:15 - Jul 25 In no way a disaster last season Chambers you are supposed to be the captain to drive your side on to better things life in the championship for you and most your colleagues is a comfortable life
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christiand added 15:59 - Jul 25 True it wasn't a disaster, although we finished 7th realistically we weren't getting into the top 6 going into the last 5-6 weeks of the season, it was over by then. Undoubtedly though we played some absolute dross, which certainly didn't warrant us being recognised as a top 6 side either - 7th was flattering in my opinion! The club has a lot of making up to do both on the pitch and off it, as the season ticket sales have shown many of us have now had enough about time the powers that be did a little more to entice us back...not holding my breath though!

3

henryblue added 16:15 - Jul 25 “As long as we can pass him the ball to his feet, hopefully we'll see the best of him in the next few months." So he's got no chance then
2

Garv added 16:49 - Jul 25 Very easy as a player to say it's all about results. He doesn't have to watch it.
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bohslegend added 16:54 - Jul 25 It's becoming a bit of a pastime for certain posters here, take anything that is said by anybody and turn it into a stick to beat the club, the managers or the players with. The selective memories of the "realists" is, let's say unreal. No, we don't have a huge budget because we choose as a club not to put everything at risk by gambling on overpriced players who may or may not make the team better (look at the year on year waste of millions that Derby splash out as an example) and instead we work within the revenue we generate. Last season we finished 7th. That means that while 6 teams were better than us, we were better than 17 of the others including teams who spent a small fortune on signings such as QPR, Cardiff, Fulham etc etc. And I totally agree with Chambo, if we hadn't suffered long term injuries to our three most important players (IMO) Bishop, McGoldrick and Murphy not to mention Bru also, we would have made top 6. And who knows what could have happened then. This season the new players coming in has been slow. Only Webster so far. But to be fair Bishop and Didzy are like new players given the length of time they were out last year. The league is getting tougher and tougher. Newcastle, the Scum and Villa all down. But I recall Fulham dropping and everyone saying they'd bounce straight back up. Despite the great work done by Phil and Gav and the rest of the TWTD team I despair that this site has turned into a forum for anything but support for Ipswich. It's a soap box for moaners.

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coolcat added 18:05 - Jul 25 I agree as well, bohslegend. 7th certainly not a disaster. We were hampered by injuries most of last season which I think interfered with our progress which in turn has an effect on how they play as a team when pieces of the jigsaw are missing. Playing under par and all considered could have been an awful lot worse, which is a testament to Mick and the team. Looking forward to the new season with key players coming back from injury.

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Surco72 added 18:30 - Jul 25 Bohslegend ... Love your opinion on the paying supporters of Ipswich and how bad we are to dare to have a view on the dross we are served up to watch week in week out while you have a view that everything is great without spending any of your money towards the club or watching any games
4

airliner added 18:35 - Jul 25 Is this a joke page ? Being 7th and he's happy? Hope we spend more money .
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