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Gerken: You'd Not Think We're Second Bottom From Changing Room Buzz - Ipswich Town News

Dean Gerken has poured cold water on rumours of dressing room unrest as Town look to end their 10-game winless run at Birmingham City today.

While gossip claims manager Paul Hurst and assistant Chris Doig have fallen out with some players, Gerken insists the mood in the camp remains positive.

"If you walked into our changing room in the morning you wouldn’t think we are sitting second bottom in the table and winless,” he said.

"The buzz about the place is brilliant, which it has been since the gaffer and Doigy came in.

"The music’s on, it’s bouncing and everyone is having banter. Within the group we have belief and not having won a game is something we want to fix.

"You could go into our changing room and you wouldn’t know if we were top or second bottom. That might sound like I’m just giving you some spiel but it’s not, it’s the honest truth. It’s the same with the buzz around the training sessions as well.

"It all comes from the top. The gaffer and everyone else has been brilliant. They tell us that we need to win games but there’s also consistency in the way they act and it only helps the atmosphere around the place.

"No one is sulking and there’s no difference between the players who start and those who are on the bench. I know from personal experience that isn’t always the case at other clubs.

"The gaffer gives enough positive feedback for everyone to know they have a chance of playing and it’s been the case since day one.

"We also know that if we do well when we play we are going to keep our place in the team.

"There will always be changes for tactical reasons and there’s nothing anyone can do about that, but there’s a good level of consistency with the gaffer and Doigy.

"Of course they are on at us about winning games and none of the players are shirking their responsibility, but when people are in a consistent environment it’s not up and down, up and down, up and down. People tend to perform to the best of their abilities.

"We’re getting some way towards where we need to be. Okay, we’re not winning games but when I’m in goal looking at what’s in front of me I don’t feel as if we’re being pulled from pillar to post, which I have felt at certain times earlier in my career.”

Gerken has featured in three home draws and just one defeat, at Hull, since Hurst’s surprise decision to replace Bartosz Bialkowski and is set to make it five successive appearances at St Andrew’s today.

He looked back on his recent run of games and said: "Brentford was a game of two halves. First half, it was like playing against the Red Arrows. I didn’t have a great deal to do in the first half, apart from a couple of basic saves, but their movement was amazing.

"I haven’t come across movement like that in this league many times. I was just watching and after the game I had a headache.

"We changed the system in the second half and you wouldn’t have thought Brentford were lying second in the league, although I’ve still got to say they are the standout team from all those we have played this season.

"We even had a great opportunity at the end to actually win the game, so we know we can do it. There were plenty of positives to take from the Brentford game because we made it into a game.”

"We need a bit of luck and goals. When you’re flying and a good ball slides across the face of goal it will often go into the net off a defender, but things like that aren’t going for us at the moment.

"But you make your own luck, you keep plugging away and in our case the snap shots will become goals.”

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