Ah roit fellow Town fans? As alryut int ut buh? Cold meats and jacket potatoes.... up'a Town!

This will be my first blog, I am a lifelong Town fan and formerly a season ticket holder. ''Former season ticket holder!?'' I hear you cry in disbelief, but no, I have not given up my season ticket, rather I have upped sticks and moved to Barcelona in search of...blah blah blah.

Anyway, horrified to learn there are no live Town games on TV this year I am facing the prospect of not seeing my beloved Town play for a very long time indeed. This is a cruel twist of fate considering how much optimism I and many others felt at the start of the season.

So, I thought this would make a good angle for a blog. Away from the action, endlessly checking the hallowed pages of TWTD for updates, relying on friends and family (both Ipswich supporters and others) for progress reports, and of course, deciphering the comments of Big Mick himself.

My thoughts so on the season so far:

It seemed early on, the start of season optimism dissipated a little after a series of disappointing results but things seem now to have settled down. I was very pleased with the squad Micky boy had put together over the summer. On a tight budget he had assembled a small but strong squad of hardworking players, a good mix of youth and experience - not one strong enough to challenge for the title but one good enough to get us to the dizzy heights of the top ten.

After the last few seasons, a top ten finish to me would be a dream but with the way things are going, if we can maintain current form, then we appear to be giving ourselves a really good shout at putting ourselves right amongst the play-off mix come the end of the season.

Pluses this season would appear to be the form of David McGoldrick, the ever present Tommy Smith, Aaron Cresswell and Luke Chambers. Reports on new signing Cole Skuse have been good and Christophe Berra seems to have shown his worth.

Credit has to be given to Big Mick and TC.

Paul Taylor to come back revitalised after a loan spell with former club Posh and Anderson to make more of an impact as the season progresses? Not heard much about Anderson so far? Am I wrong on this? As the song goes, reasons to be cheerful.

If we are well positioned come Christmas, I feel we will be an attractive option to players looking for a new club. Not in terms of transfer fees (as evidently we don't have much cash to splash at the moment) but an attractive option to players who have worked with McCarthy before, and looking for employment. Unless I am mistaken, I see the likes of Stephen Hunt and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake are still looking for clubs. And am pleased to see continual links with young undiscovered talent, however spurious they may be.

Mick seems a big fan of Tyrone Mings, so he is a player along with Elliott Hewitt that excites me, although Mick's faith in Mings does seem to bring up the inevitable questions of Cresswell's future. I hope he stays but we have to be realistic and if Cressy does move on, then it will be with nothing less then my best wishes BUT If we are performing and performing well, then, we might not have to cross that proverbial bridge for a while yet!

Overall, I think the early season optimism should still be well and truly intact. We have a good squad, results are going well and we are putting ourselves right in the mix, with what seems to be a confident and together squad, led by a talented manager and his assistant that they would all appear to hold in very high regard. Now this seems like the Ipswich I have adored for so long now!

I would be interested to get some feedback on my view of this season, especially considering I have not watched a ball be kicked all season. Also interested to know how Luke Hyam has been getting on. Is Dean Gerken our established number one now, or is this still a position that we need to address? What do we need come January? And are there any flippin live games on telly this season? Frederic Veseli anyone?

Final thought, if all it took for Town to start doing well again, was for me to move hundreds of miles away from Ipswich, will me moving to Timbuktu see us do even better? If so, I'll book a flight now!

Gracias Amigos... Vaya con dios... Come on you Blues!

MunichBlue added 08:01 - Oct 11 Good blog mightytown, I too feel your pain as I now live in Germany and also rely on TV games. We are actually on SKY soon, Friday the 1st of Nov, home to Barnsley! If like me you can not get UK Sky give me a PM and I can send you some links where you can watch on line ;-)
1

cyprustractorboy added 12:28 - Oct 11 munich blue would appreciate a link im stuck in north cyprus have to rely on you tube for highlights coyb
0

Blue041273 added 13:07 - Oct 11 I think you will find that most fans will look on our season from 'the glass half full' perspective. True, there is room for improvement but most will be quietly satisfied that the performances have generally been encouraging. This added to an increasing recognition of the potential developing in the squad gives us a much greater feeling of well being in most supporters. True there are still some who seem to believe that we should be better as if it is our right to be better, if not the best, but most realistically look on any progress as a positive.

0

Premierbluez added 14:05 - Oct 11 Youtube has highlights of all the games several days after the game on the Ipswich youtube account. Of course if you can see it live you won't need that but it is another option if that is not possible.
0

gazzmac4 added 15:27 - Oct 11 And i thought i had attendance issues now i live in MK! A good first blog and its always good to hear we Town fans get around! Ive managed to see 4 games so far this year with hopefully a few more to come (Charlton away included) over the coming weeks. The points you make are good. I think we have had a useful beginning to the season without setting the world alight. Certainly much to be optimistic about and much to build on. The huge plus for me is that i get to attend a halloween party this year and avoid the horrible situation from last year when Sky flashed the league up in front of my mates and we were bottom with 7 points from 13 games. A particularly dark sight over a dodgy dominoes pizza while dressed up as a skeleton as i recall! MM has the guys working hard and i do feel that we are just a little bit of top notch quality away from turning ourselves from hard to beat to real contenders. Some flair in the middle of the park would be good so i would like to see Wordy or Taylor get a run out just behind the top 2 in the near future. Home form is a great bonus and if we keep picking up points away from home then this is always a recipe for success! Fingers crossed our optimism remains after xmas! COYB's!!

0

dannysigma added 15:30 - Oct 11 Same here from Dubai. Crikey we're a well travelled lot.
0

el_granjero added 11:26 - Oct 12 Ah, that's annoying. I've just left Barcelona after spending the last five years or so there. Never did meet another town fan. Occasional trips to the camp to watch Messi & Co made it easier to bear though. The Loch Inn on Passeig de St Joan's a great place to watch the British footy if you haven't found anywhere yet.
1

shoopdelang added 20:23 - Oct 12 Same here from Africa!
0

BlueIrish added 14:55 - Oct 16 I am in Hong Kong and managed to wake up at half-time to see 4-1 against Derby. Instead of drifting back to sleep at 3:00 am, I decided to take advantage of the radio link from here with Alex Mathie and listen to the 2nd half .... Worst mistake ever !
1

Blogs 295 bloggers