Town striker Freddie Sears says he has no problem with former players having their say on the club’s current plight, which sees them bottom of the Championship table and with just one win from 14 games in all competitions this season under new boss Paul Hurst. Ex-skipper Matt Holland, who helped the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2000, used his role as co-presenter of talkSPORT’s Drivetime show last night to share his concern about the current state of affairs at Portman Road.
Asked if he minded former players airing their views, Sears said: "No, everyone’s allowed a say. We could do with a Matty Holland now, playing in the team, but the way the game is today it would cost a lot of money to bring in a player like that.
"Everyone can say what they want but at the end of the day it’s down to the players on the pitch to get the results and try to push this club back up the league.”
Holland, like the current striker a former West Ham youth player, said he had heard Town were already talking to prospective new managers and Sears added: "It’s difficult to hear that. I listened to Matty — I know him, I’ve seen him around a few times and always have a good chat with him — and he’s a true legend.
"He can give his point of view and say what he’s heard but at the same time it’s a little bit hard for players.
"Also, if the manager’s listening to that it can’t be nice to hear. But with the position we’re in right now, bottom of the Championship, people have a right to have an opinion on the club.”
How are things different now under Hurst than the way they were when predecessor Mick McCarthy, who exited dramatically in April, was in charge? "It is different because the new manager has come in with new ideas, good ideas, but the ultimate aim in football is to win games,” said Sears.
"If we were winning games every week it would probably be a lot better. At the minute it’s a difficult period for everyone. We’d like to be in a better position, as I’m sure the gaffer would, and if we were there probably wouldn’t be so many questions being asked.
"I think we all believe in the new manager. He’s a good man and everyone is playing for him. It’s all about results — if we start to get a few wins it will start looking rosy again. But we’re losing games and we’re not getting the rub of the green.
"Saturday’s defeat by QPR was really disappointing but before that I don’t think there have been too many games, maybe Middlesbrough, where the opposition have been better than us.
"I can’t think of too many games where we’ve been really outplayed but at the same time we’re conceding sloppy goals and not creating enough chances to score goals, so it’s going to be tough.”
Following the weekend reverse to Steve McClaren’s men Hurst said he had no problem taking responsibility for his part in the club’s lack of success, but was quick to add that he felt the players should take their share too.
Sears added: "That’s fair. We’re the ones on the pitch and we’ve not been good enough this season. But we’ve used more players than any other club, we’ve not really had a stable team and it has been difficult.
"I could sit here and make excuses but at the end of the day it’s down to the players. We’ve got to take full responsibility.
"It has been different under the new manager and from week one in Alicante we knew it was going to be tough. It’s probably the hardest pre-season I’ve done since I became a professional, mentally tough as well as grinding, but we managed to get through it.
"The manager has come in and put his stamp on the club. He’s made bold decisions. Obviously, Bart’s been left out and also Jonas lately, and sometimes it upsets people.
"But you’ve got to do what’s right for the team and everyone has to keep pushing in the right direction. The most important thing is winning games and at the minute we’re not doing that.”
Asked if there was any truth in rumours of discontent among the playing staff since Hurst’s arrival, he said: "A lot of things go on at football clubs that people don’t know about.
"The manager’s a good guy and he speaks to a lot of players, but sometimes you leave players out and people are going to be upset, they’re not going to be happy.
"Maybe they go back and say something to someone else, and then a story is out there.
"It’s tough at the minute — we’re bottom of the league — so if we were mid-table or near the top of the league I don’t anything would be made of a lot of things.
"It’s obviously tough but at the end of the day we’re at the bottom and people are going to make judgements or there are going to be little things coming out here and there.
"We’re here every day, training and playing games, and people get frustrated.
"Things are said, like after the game on Saturday, but you move on from it. Some people take it better than others and if we were top of the league it would be swept under the carpet a lot easier.
"At the bottom, when you’re not winning and things are not going well, there’s going to be a lot said about the manager and a lot of discontent.”
Is it hard to play under the current level of pressure? "You play under pressure all the time but obviously there’s more spotlight on us at the minute,” Sears said.
"When I was listening to talkSPORT last night, to a certain extent a lot of the stuff Matty was saying was right and it’s sad to see what’s happening at the club.
"But it’s football and there’s a lot of pressure every time you step on the pitch. If we were winning games it wouldn’t be spoken about, so it’s down to the players to turn things around and see where we go from there.”