So, here we sit, summer 2010, World Cup just around the corner, cricket and tennis and the Tour de France dominating July and the new season in August. What have we, as ITFC fans, got to look forward to next season?

Well, for a start, some new signings would be nice. We've all heard the rumours: Chopra, Harewood, Gio, Sidwell, McCartney, Nosworthy, even Scholes and Neville have been touted, possibly by the same fans who fancied Batistuta and Ruggeri with Shaka Hislop all those seasons ago.

Truth is, we're being linked to very little at the moment, which either means a) Marcus Evans is on holiday in Jaywick as a change from Bermuda, or b) we're waiting for the freebies and loans.

Now, don't get me wrong, Marcus Evans is our saviour, and without him we'd have been where Palace are now many season ago. The bloke has come in, admittedly not a fan, and basically rescued us from a fate worse than Bradford.

OK, so he's also made Portman Road as expensive as watching many Premiership teams, but I suppose he has to make his money somewhere. My point though is this: with the only likelihood of us generating serious money being through promotion to the Premier League, shouldn't we be pushing on a bit from freebies, loans and players on cheaper wages?

When we went into administration, we were lucky. Admit it. The whole thing was bad enough without ten point deductions being added to our woes. I don't think we'd have survived that first season in the Championship had we been deducted ten points as well.

It then appeared that those in charge of the club were fighting for our very existence and so we suffered player sales and a lack of available funds for player purchases and wages.

For most fans, this was tolerable to the alternative of not having a club to support at all. We got by on decent low-cost signings and some inspired youngsters. Even Jim Magilton managed to get us competitive, swapping deadwood for commitment and not raising expectation beyond a "scrape in at the play-offs if we're lucky" mentality.

But then came Marcus Evans. And with him massive expectancy. Here we surely had the best chance of promotion we were ever likely to get, with a rich owner who was willing to pump as much cash in for new blood as was required.

Suddenly, we were paying over the odds for players, looking at improving the team ten-fold and hoping that, with the money we'd spent, we'd be bludgeoning into the play-off' like a New York Yankee quarterback running full pelt at a paper door.

But it didn't work. Never mind. It's the manager's fault. He was clearly too inexperienced. Let's go for someone with a proven track record of taking teams out of the Championship, someone who got his first managerial break in charge of a side he got promoted first time. He's also an internationally famous player, which should help us shift some shirts, and some season tickets.

And the result? We're even worse than with the freebies and loans we were relying on before. And the manager always seems to have his hands tied behind his back over signings. Because we "have a wage structure in place and don't want to break it".

Fair enough. But then think about ten years ago, when Sheepy gave George Burley permission to sign Marcus Stewart from one of our promotion rivals. It assured us of a play-off place and gave everyone a lift.

OK, it may have been a gamble wages-wise, but we did it and we went up. Surely it's time to do that again? If it means breaking the wage structure, so be it. If it means sacking the manager and going for experience, so be it. But let's push on a bit please, from CHampimid-table mediocrity. We're all worth more than that.

HighSeasBlue added 23:35 - Jun 7 I think you will find the transfer market will be fairly quiet until after the World Cup. Once the big teams know who they have and have not then it will all filter down to the likes us of us as to who is available etc. It will be interesting to see who we get? We need a striker and a right back without a shadow of a doubt. If Keane does not rate Garvan then you can add a creative midfielder into the mix as well. Do we gamble and pay big wages? Marcus Evans has made his money by being shrewd, I guess paying massive wages and hoping is something he goes against................Oh but to see Gio back...................

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kiwiblue added 05:24 - Jun 8 good article cheers. perhaps two years ago if jim bought maynard things would have been different who knows. wages need to be trimmed and players who want to play plus improve are needed now not loans and freebies on big wages who really dont care. they need to be shipped out now.
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hype313 added 09:20 - Jun 8 Good article, I think highseas has nailed it, the transfer market will not ignite until the WC has finished, imagine spending 30m on a player only for him to break his leg. I know we are not in the same market for WC players but we need other teams to shuffle before we can, and also there are quite a few clubs who are looking for investment so that will have an effect should a sugar daddy come into town. I wouldnt get too dispondent town fans, give it 4-6 weeks then we will be in the mix, dont forget lots of contracts end at the end of june so its not worth taking someone on for a fee when in 3 weeks they are free. (im a poet, and didnt know it)

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Mossy added 10:37 - Jun 8 Decent blog. There are bargains to be had, now. Burnley have proved that, with the signings of Dean Marney and Chris Iwelumo. Two excellent players at this level. I think improving our scouting network and bringing in another international scout is the way forward. This club has always had a proud tradition of developing youngsters and bringing in lower league players with hunger. We have lost this. It time we went back to what we are good at. This way it won't break the bank and, we will have a hard working good team. Blackpool have shown the way forward on this, it would be a shame if we didn't learn from them.

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julesbda added 17:16 - Jun 8 nice blog ... we clearly didn't buy well over the past year with priskin and martin and that has cost us big time for a few years !! 2 small points . 1. Bermuda is great ..for a holiday !! 2. the yankees don't play american football ..they are a baseball team ...so maybe we were expected to be a New York GIANT running back :)
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StavangerBlue added 10:07 - Jun 9 IMHO Town have about 11,000 supporters who are "hardcore". Back in the days that was considered a good crowd. The fact last year we were pulling in 20,000+ every home game was great to see and I hope it continues but don't be under the impression we're a massive club. ME isn’t going to get any richer on the gate receipts. I love Town, great history and at times great teams, but since Sir Bobby left we have suffered in terms of building teams and then losing them. Continuity has always been a problem...mainly 1991 team went up to the Prem, got old and thumped 9-0 by Man Utd and then came down again, 2000 we went up did fantastically well and again...got older, broke the bank and came down. Sir Bobby could replace two or three players and keep the team but for some reason we cannot do that at the moment…maybe it is only the best managers that can? Ipswich have at times been frustrating, mainly when we used to sit on the oppositions 18 yard line and pass the ball...sideways...repeatedly and then lose the ball. Shooting is a big problem. We need a striker. Problem is we cannot afford a proven striker. £4m for Chopra!?! Come on. Keane should have kept hold of Rhodes. A Rhodes and Wickham front line would have been outrageous but I guess that is something that will mark Keane’s time at Portman Road. How much would Rhodes be worth now? £4m by any chance?

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Lightningboy added 12:05 - Jun 9 I don't think we should break our wage structure...football is going to implode sooner or later and many medium sized clubs like ourselves are going to be in deep sh1t if they're not careful...players are on ridiculous money,they all need a bloody good reality check. A "good" manager shouldn't have to rely on bucket-load after bucket-load of cash to get us up the table...Lyall,Burley,Royle (and Magilton b4 Evans arrived) didn't have to..why can't Keane?

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