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Hands Off Our Town!
Written by Pessimistic on Friday, 22nd Mar 2013 13:05

I was vilified by many in my last blog for having the audacity to suggest that Town would need at least 51 points to avoid the drop. I was perhaps a bit too optimistic and I think in this extraordinary season, Town might a little bit more. It is all so tight down there that literally anything could happen and we must avoid the drop at all costs!

Now there is no need for anyone to get their knickers in a twist because this is nothing more than an honest observation. As this goes to print, Town find themselves in 19th place, four points off the drop zone, on 46 points. This is not a lot when you consider that are nearest rivals in the battle to reach the safety zone are Barnsley (44pts) and Sheffield Wednesday(43pts) and they both have a game in hand on the Blues.

What has been refreshing of late though, has been the way we have defended. Six clean sheets in nine encounters is worthy of much praise and has been crucial in gleaning points given our fragile attacking options.

That is the good news. The bad news of course is that one of the most vital components has left us again and let's face it, Stephen Henderson has been a huge asset the second time around without doubt!

On the other hand,we all love to see local lads in the team and this does give life-long Town fan Scott Loach, another crack of the whip! I am not convinced however that he is as sound as Henderson but in this amazing season of goalkeeping merry-go-rounds he is once again in prime position.

Personally however, I think Arran Lee-Barrett is nowhere near as bad as some people seem to think. He has also kept a lot of clean sheets in his time at Town and when we have taken big hits; namely Peterborough last season and Blackpool and Leicester this, he was not in the team.

It saddens me that Henderson could not see out the season with us though, as he has improved beyond all recognition since his second coming just a few months back.

Why Sam Allardyce found the need to bring him back to the Hammers is a bit bewildering. I am sure sitting on the bench for the foreseeable future is not what the keeper wanted - even if it is in the Premier League and yet ironically, his good form with Town, has almost inevitably led to this unsatisfactory scenario for the Blues.

So then, what is becoming a very trying season continues in earnest. Mick McCarthy has done a magnificent job so far and believe me, I am the kind of person that tries to use superlatives sparingly! He is a gritty, down-to-earth Yorkshire man, with a big heart. And he was honest enough to admit recently that the sudden departure of Jason Scotland was in hindsight a bad idea. I like honesty. It breathes fresh air.

In this broad church of diverse football opinions, we are, as true Town supporters, all in this together. Tyrone Mings reminded us too, that human decency still exists at a professional footballing level and our aim must be to cull as many points as we can, as quickly as we can so that we can pull away from danger. Only then can we can put in place the building blocks for our next Championship assault, which I feel sure will be more fruitful.

I am proud to be an Ipswich fan and I think in Mr Mick we have the right man at the helm. Perhaps we should take the advice of Ken Blanchard, the business author and consultant, when he became frustrated with the sequacious nature of subordinates and said defiantly, "Don't quack like a duck... soar like an eagle!".

And in football terms, it is never boring when you are soaring up the table with increasing rapidity!




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bath_blue added 13:39 - Mar 22
Allardyce's decision isn't bewildering: West Ham's current number 2, Raphael Spiegel, broke his finger in training with the Swiss Under-21's this week.
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Pessimistic added 14:05 - Mar 22
Thanks for that Bath Blue. That explains everything. He will be sadly missed this time around though so let us just hope Scott Loach can step up to the plate because defence has been our main bright spot of late.
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bath_blue added 14:10 - Mar 22
Agreed: if there was ever a time for Loach to prove his doubters wrong this is it. Hopefully he can fill the gap with ease and our defence can continue its impressive form.
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Fatcatevans added 19:44 - Mar 22
Excellent synopsis! We've disagreed before but you are spot on here With our terrible goal difference I think we might need 54 points to be safe. I'm not too sure about ALB however. I saw him at Brighton last year and a Sunday league keeper wold have been embarrassed! Keep the faith
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Pessimistic added 21:51 - Mar 22
Cheers Fatcatstevens. We are all in this together so come on you blues!
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burwellian added 21:57 - Mar 22
You may want to check who was in goal for the most recent East Anglian Derby... Believe you'll find it was ALB.
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Blue041273 added 08:37 - Mar 23
8 games to go. We may need 8 points to be absolutely safe. This is no time to choke and MM will make sure we don't. 3 points against Leeds and the finishing line will be in sight. Without taking anything for granted I am starting to feel optimistic for the first time this season.

Excellent blog BTW.
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murhtuG added 09:03 - Mar 23
@burwellian - ALB was not the only player at fault in that game (when a not very good Town team were caught by a rising Norwich anyway) and I really think people should stop clobbering him for that one result.

@pessimistic - Excellent blog. Spot on.
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StowTractorBoy added 10:36 - Mar 23
I was feeling optimistic until Henderson went back - I'm not now just hope Mick brings in another keeper.
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Pessimistic added 11:04 - Mar 23
Thanks for the comments guys and like Stow Tractor Boy, I too was feeling is if we had turned the corner with Henderson and back four excelling of late. This does however give Scott Loach his chance again and he must grab it with both hands ( excuse the pun) and persuade Mr.Mick that he really IS the number one!
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Surco72 added 13:02 - Mar 25
I think it is a great chance for Loach to be playing behind a confident back four now used to not conceding . He had some good games early on this season and was heavily criticised due to a couple of high profile mistakes on TV , as i recall were Chambers , Smith and Cresswell who have all excelled recently .
MM will keep us up at a canter ,finishing mid table i believe and a good summer of transfers backed by Mr Evans could see us realise what we should have done over the last 3 or so seasons
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Help added 21:58 - Mar 29
Although I like your optimisim. I unfortunately think Town will go down. Defensively we have improved but without the goals from a certain player we could have bought we are mearly treading water.

Take out the results of a Mr Campbell and we would already be in the relegation mire. I am thankful we had him on board, but feel had we actually retained the player long term we ourselves would be much higher up the table instead of where we are.


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