Chief executive Simon Clegg has admitted that the Blues’ 15th-place finish was far from where he wanted or expected Town to finish the 2011/12 campaign. Clegg admits that yet another mid-table finish constituted another season of underachievement for the Blues.
The Town chief was amongst a number of Championship figures asked to look back on the season for the programme for the Championship play-off final which saw West Ham beat Blackpool to gain a place in the Premier League. He wouldn’t be drawn on which other sides he felt had failed to live up to expectations but conceded that Town were amongst them: "It would be inappropriate to list other clubs who have underachieved but I’m certainly prepared to admit we have.
"Mid-table is not where we wanted — or expected — to end the season.
"As for next year, our aspirations remain the same. We feel we can be contenders, along with most of the other clubs in the Championship.”
Reflecting on the season’s best Championship performers, Clegg cited Southampton frontman Rickie Lambert and Reading manager Brian McDermott as his player and manager of the campaign: "I will go for Rickie Lambert at Southampton, who was voted Player of the Year by his fellow professionals. He scored twice against us at the start of the season and kept on scoring.
"It’s a results-driven business,” he added, "and Reading finished top of the table after an extraordinary run of form, so I’ll go for Brian McDermott. He lifted the club after losing in last season’s play-off final and deserves all the accolades he gets.”
The Saints’ early season victory at Portman Road was for Clegg the most notable opposition display: "Southampton winning 5-2 at Portman Road in August.
"I can remember speaking to Paul Jewell after the game and he said that Southampton would be in the promotion picture come the end of the season. They were ruthless on the night.”
His most memorable individual performance wasn’t just down to footballing reasons: "Billy Sharp for Doncaster when they won 3-2 at Portman Road.
"He scored one of their goals but it wasn’t just his display, it was more about the occasion as it was only a week after he suffered the tragedy of losing his baby son.
"He was given a terrific ovation by our fans and it made me very proud to be involved with Ipswich Town that day.”
As for the season’s most impressive Championship youngster, Clegg was tempted to pick a Town player: "If I can’t say our own Aaron Cresswell, then I’ll go for Jay Rodriguez at Burnley.
"We were interested in signing him last summer and he showed what we missed out on when we played them in November.”
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