I posted an item under the story headlined 'Taylor: Hewitt “Superb”' this morning and unbelievably I didn't receive an avalanche of negatives.

Cloddyseedbed responded, for which I thank him, but after that there were no further posts which told me I had posted too late for people to read it.

Now, as I was trying to get a discussion going it was an abysmal failure so I decided to use what I had written and introduce it as a blog, this is it.

There is no doubt in my mind we have the potential to be a top club. We have the players, we have the training ground and we have the stadium, all we need is a sort out.

We need to bring back all the loan players and play them here, and put square pegs in square holes not square pegs in round holes simply to accommodate a player who years ago did well for the current manager.

Yes, most of the players are still young but they do have great potential and they will only find that potential by playing games and who better to play games for than the club to which they belong and want to represent?

All you Mick McCarthy lovers please do not give us the guff about there being a great difference between the Championship and Leagues One and Two because I will tell you it is rubbish, hence Preston are in the fourth round of the FA Cup and we are out (again)!

Think back to what the Wolves supporters said about their previous manager when he came here: "He will load you up with useless players". The truth of that was evident when those same players took Wolves down to the third tier and let us beware that there is not a repeat here.

Now please do not tell me he saved us from relegation last year because he was reportedly very well paid for doing that and he did absolutely no different to what Paul Jewell did previously and he was not paid a reputed £1m for so doing.

If we are going to do this and be successful there is only one thing we need and that is a manager who has the tactical ability and the courage to play his younger players and build a great Ipswich side without all his old mates from years of yore.

That man can either be a reasonably experienced manager, an Ian Holloway type, or a young dynamic manager who is champing at the bit. For all you posters who will slate what I am saying without having the sense to think about it let me say to you: forget about the play-offs and promotions because that is not going to happen. If you want to get promoted you need to play football, not just set out not to lose because that way you most certainly will - lose that is!

I am truly sorry to write this but it is time some one tried to bring a sensible thought into these discussions and instead of making momentous decisions as to whether Mick should be playing 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 or whatever, you should be thinking about the future of our great club because that is what I am talking about. Managers come and go and, for me, the sooner this one goes the better.

For you youngsters who were not there, how do you think Bobby Robson achieved such great success? By being tactically astute and having the courage to play all those wonderful young players while they were still kids and by encouraging them to go out and win (full stop).

In Cloddyseedbed's response he mentioned that word 'Evans' and yes, as you say, he is the boss and therefore responsible. This is only the second blog I have written and the previous one was an open letter to that same gentleman when things were first beginning to become difficult during his early blunders. So let us look at Evans's contributions.

After he took over things were a bit difficult at the start of the next season then from January onwards things began to appear better and that improvement coincided with the arrival of a new first team coach, John Gorman, who happened to have been Glenn Hoddle's assistant and, while we did not get promoted, even the then manager's critics could see the improvement and most people knew we would be in the mix the next season.

Not so Mr Evans. He fired his manager and recruited a person whom almost every, wise Ipswich supporter immediately knew was a disaster. It was about this time I wrote my open letter to him.

Soon after, chairman David Sheepshanks stepped down leaving the club with absolutely nobody with football knowledge and appointed the person whom you all loved to hate as chief executive. Disaster followed disaster, Evans sacked his manager and appointed somebody whom we were told had done it before and would get us promoted!

Now I am fully aware that many of you hate the name of that person but stop and think for a moment. That person introduced Cressy to us and one or two others too. Where he made his mistake was in trying to get us promoted too quickly and in so doing went about it the wrong way.

To be fair to that very likeable person he had little option because his predecessor had fired the person who had helped make our Academy great, though at that time he was on the coaching staff and, most probably out of spite, got rid of our best player from the Academy so he had to bring people in.

We were now bottom of the second tier and looking likely contenders for demotion. That manager left by mutual consent and the present incumbent was brought in with the sole object of keeping us in the second tier.

As we all know he succeeded and stopped us leaking goals, that being his forte, so a big thank you to Mick, but that does not say he is the right manager to carry this club forward. He is dogmatic and appears tactically naive. Chief executive Simon Clegg then moved on and Evans appointed the joint managing directors, who this time had no sporting experience let alone no football experience, so we are wandering in very wild seas totally rudderless!

Marks out of 10 to Mr Evans? I give him two. With this in mind I spend every single penny I can on Euromillions hoping for a very large win it being the only way I can see to get this club out of the Hands of Mr Evans!

JimmyJazz added 08:44 - Jan 20 So you're basically saying we were going great guns under Jim and then it all went wrong and no manager since has been as good as Jim (with the help of John Gorman)?
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JimmyJazz added 08:48 - Jan 20 You make some very points, but Jim was clearly not the answer, which I think you realise seeing as how you refuse to mention his name
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JimmyJazz added 08:48 - Jan 20 You make very good points
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BillBlue added 09:34 - Jan 20 Jimmy. My opinion is that Jim was doing OK and would have been successful if left in position with the correct support which, IMO, he now had but what I am really after is your opinion because I feel the time has come where we need a wide ranging debate on the future of our club.
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ulstertractor added 11:01 - Jan 20 I would agree with you to a point BillBlue. McCarthy's remit was to keep us up, and he kept us up and then some to be fair, so it was only right that he carried on in the role this season. Now I can't see us going up this season, with great reluctance I have to accept that we simply don't have the quality, which is highlighted every time we play one of the so called better sides at the top of the table. Assuming he doesn't pull a miracle out of the bag in the 2nd half of the season, shake his hand at the end of the final game and say goodbye. Then look at bringing in someone with more of a passing/attacking approach which I believe is what your looking for with regard to actually trying to beat teams. I wouldn't be anti-McCarthy though, I would agree that the majority of the blame for our current problem lies with ME. McCarthy is simply playing the hand he was dealt. If ME isn't going to back Mick or a new manager in the summer as I suggested, then I can't see how anything will change.

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JimmyJazz added 12:14 - Jan 20 My opinion is that ME is the biggest fan of FFP because it gives him something to hide behind - i.e. not spending money. And yet rewarding Mid-table Mick with 1million for staying up seems extremely extravagant. BillBlue, your points on ME, gradually surrounding himself with people who have no knowledge of football (so as not to voice a different opinion?) makes you see why he was so impressed with RK. Not that RK had no knowledge, but that he too liked to surround himself with people who wouldn't challenge his view.

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JWM added 16:57 - Jan 20 Sorry Bill but I completely disagree with your views on Mick. He is the best manager we have had since Joe Royle who I also seem to remember was not popular with a lot of supporters! Rome wasn't built in a day and Mick has only been here for just over a year and in that time he has stabilised the sinking ship. It amazes me that some bang on about promoting youth and when we do through the likes of Luke Hyam you moan like bitches every time he makes a mistake! Typical Ipswich fans in my opinion and yes I have been watching them since the early days of Bobby Robson! I was there to witness the disgraceful booing that he received after we lost a game to Man Utd! We shouldn't be judging Mick this early as it is completely unfair on him and if Mick left just tell me who the hell would want to come to a club in stagnation and an owner who has no ambition? Good luck with that one!

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Surco72 added 17:23 - Jan 20 Good post, I fully agree with you on how everybody stated how MM had saved us from relegation ,it was Jewells squad and especially one loan that really turned our season around Campbell . This is now MMs squad and is dreadfully average , his signings Dids aside and Skuse to a point have been poor . His team selection and loyalty to certain players sometimes baffling ,as are his tactics and substitutions . Our better players are certainly ones he inherited in the whole Cresswell, Chambers, Smith , Murphy , Taylor for the limited time we have seen him compared to Berra , Tabb, Tunnicliffe, Anderson , Nouble ,SEB injury prone . I applauded MM and TC when he got us into the playoffs at Christmas as I couldn't see how we were there with the team he has assembled and plays week in week out , but we are now slipping back to where I honestly believe our true position is low mid table and certainly no progression to our other two previous managers but a lot less entertaining and negative . JET going after never being given a run in the team that other players have received along with Martin to be replaced by Tabb and Anderson pretty much sums it up for me and the direction MM will take us . He has consistently played hoof ball to a big centre forward Cascarino , Quinn and in 20 years nothing has changed . I really hope he will prove me wrong as any supporter would and I thank him for the steadying job he did for us but don't believe he is the man to take the club forward in his thoughts or tactics in todays football

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radiogaga added 20:21 - Jan 20 Interesting post. However, I disagree with virtually the majority of what you have written. Purely because I think most of the points that have been made are quite naive and poorly justified, in particular as I have wrote below. You made the point that we need to play our young players and stop accommodating players who served MM well at previous clubs. I presume the latter comment is in relation to Berra playing at centre back and Chambers at right back, but you conveniently ignored the fact that Stephen Hunt is not getting into our midfield, a player who (like Berra) served MM very well at Wolves too. Chambers at right back is an enforced decision, since he can play as a makeshift right back & we do not have an out and out right back who is ready to step up. The fact that Berra takes his place is convenient but does not really justify your argument that MM favours his old players. Hewitt is grossly unproven as a championship standard right back, and is our definition of "superb" anything like a league one manager's? You also chose not to mention anything about Tommy Smith's incredible development under MM's regime, nor have you mentioned anything about Luke Hyam getting so much game time. If and when young players are good enough to play, only then should they play, to throw in young players who are not ready for the sake of pleasing old fashioned fans is stupidity. Football is a results business and unforgiving to managers who take unncecessary risks. As for "the sooner MM goes, the better", to me it completely contradicts your entire post. You were critical of Evans for his treatment of Magilton for apparently being unfairly sacked and replaced by Keane and later Jewell. In your opinion they were both disastrous appointments from minute one - I do not agree with any of this, the majority of our fans certainly did not think Magilton's sacking was a bad decision at the time nor did they think Keane was a terrible appointment when he took over, there is an awful lot of hindsight in your comments there. Anyway, one minute you are saying that you want MM gone after he has worked near miracles for us (He turned us from absolute certainties for League One into top half and play off outsiders with mainly only free transfers)...and replace him with who? After all the moaning you did about Magilton being harshly sacked and the club going into decline by appointing 2 poor managers, does it not occur that perhaps fans like yourself should be careful what you wish for? I for one, do not want MM to go anywhere because he has done/ is doing a brilliant job under very difficult circumstances and financial constraints. He has got the vast majority of our sensible fans enjoying supporting Ipswich again, which has not been the case for a long time. To look for a better available manager would be football's equivalent of throwing all your chips on one number on a roulette table! And your point about Sir Bobby Robson and how he made us so successful? Another key point you did not mention - Robson wasn't getting it right for 2 or 3 seasons, but he was given time to mould the successful team that brought the glory days you are mentioning, which makes your comments about how we should change manager as soon as possible even more contradictory.

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JWM added 20:43 - Jan 20 Excellent post Radiogaga
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Mach_foreignBlue added 00:07 - Jan 21 What an unbelievable loads of bollox ! Perhaps the biggest pile of drivels I've read here for ages. BillBlue you're fully biased person, full of hypocrisy. You did say: 'we need and that is a manager who has the tactical ability and the courage to play his younger players and build a great Ipswich side without all his old mates from years of yore.'....... Your beloved Jim Magilton brought back his mates back in Counago, Miller, Richard Wright and played them. He didn't want to give a chance to the talent we had in Jordan Rhodes as he preferred his mates Counago or pile of s**t in Lisbie. SO STOP TALKING CRAP ! Hypocrisy of the highest calibre ! And all of sudden that's all Keanes fault for selling Rhodes. As for youngsters what about Westlake and Richards? They had been thriving under Joe Royle and all of sudden their progress stopped under Magilton and careers went downhill. Strange, eh? This time 6 years ago that Jim Magilton would waste money on average players in Norris, Shumulikoski and Quinn. What a pity Mick McCarthy cannot have that luxury, isn't it? Yes Mick McCarthy the man who saved us from Jewells disaster. How dare you criticise him and defend Jewell is beyond belief. ARE YOU SANE by the way??? You need to straight your facts. We were dire under Keane but nowhere as terrible as we were under Jewell. Jewells best run of form as our manager came with the team he inherited from Keane. The players who he turned to to get him out of the s**t a year later, when the likes of Bullard, Ingimarsson, Bowyer, Andrews, Collins and Sonko were either discarded or returned to their parent clubs were Smith, Delaney, Hyam, Martin and Scotland. You're trying to talk nicely about Jewell. You've said : 'made his mistake was in trying to get us promoted too quickly and in so doing went about it the wrong way'..... Listen up he made a long catalogue of mistakes, long list of disastrous defeats, first full season 77 goals conceded. We were dead, buried, total disaster. How on earth can you defend the person who had been sending us into oblivion? But hang on, he is 'such a nice bloke' isn't he? And that makes his job for us better than Keanes , eh? I don't care what Wolves fans are saying about Mick. They had been promoted with him, stayed up for the two consecutive seasons and never got relegated. For me it's all up to Evans if he wants to back Mick with cash. In Mick we have the best manager in Joe Royle and long may it continue. In Jewell we had an unbelievable disaster no matter if you agree or not. These are the facts and when you write the next blog stop being biased !

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BillBlue added 07:45 - Jan 21 Oh well, I was hoping for an open 'balanced' discussion but what we seem to have done is brought out the worst of the Mick fans who cannot write their mother language without being rude and aggressive. A pity. As I said at the beginning this was originally a post under the article mentioned but I thought I had posted too late to be read but in effect I was too impatient because there turned out to be a reasonably well balanced discussion, not like we have here. I will try to deal with these two posts but as they have left me totally confused by there narrow vision I will find that difficult. radiogaga. Because somebody holds an opposite opinion to yours does not make their opinion naive. Please explain to me the relevance of Stephen Hunt to Chambers being played out of position to accomodate Berra, the two just do not relate! If I had chosen to mention Hunt then I would have related his case to that of Wordsworth. Secondly playing Chambers out of position, to the detriment of our defence, is not, as you say, 'an enforced decision', far from it, we do have a right back on the books and the point I was making is that he should be filling that position instead of being out on loan. You end by saying " He (Mick) has got the vast majority of our sensible fans enjoying supporting Ipswich again, which has not been the case for a long time". Majority? If that is the case why then is the stadium half empty and the content steadily diminishing? Sorry to disagree with your post but thank you for your response. Mach-foreign. The only thing I can find to say to you is that in my opinion you should try looking at the broader aspect of our club rather than concentrating on individual, conceived, injustices from the past, it is what is happening now we are trying to discuss and to do that we do need, sometimes, to refer to historical events from which we try to learn but not live by them. JWM. Thanks for your response. We never quite see eye to eye but do agree on many things and that is the way it should be. Reference to your comment re Hyam I agree 100% and if you refer to my comment on the article about him you will see my feelings on the subject. Surco, Thank you for your input it is balanced and fairly well in alignment with my opinion. I see you have two minuses but they in themselves should be taken as a compliment. At least two people have possibly read what you have written!

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BillBlue added 07:48 - Jan 21 Sorry Jimmy, I missed you out but knew I had responded to you before. Thanks for you input and there may well be a lot of truth in what you say.
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bigolconnor added 08:15 - Jan 21 Billblue. I am guessing that you are either a primary school teacher or secondary school history teacher or work in I.T. Only someone like that would think that alternate opinion to yours was unthoughtful lambasting. You didn't make a this blog for discussion, you made it to see how many people patted you on the back for your wildly misguided opinion.
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BillBlue added 08:55 - Jan 21 bigolconnor. Sorry friend, you are wrong on ALL counts.
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BergholtBru added 09:59 - Jan 21 Possibly the biggest load of twaddle I have ever read.
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bigolconnor added 11:41 - Jan 21 Exactly my point you teat.
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BillBlue added 17:05 - Jan 21 Nice!
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 22:25 - Jan 21 Radiogaga - excellent post
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 07:25 - Jan 22 Bill - can't agree I'm afraid, for my views pretty much read radiogagas views. One major point I think we disagree on is that you label people who disagree with you as Mick lovers. I can't speak for others but for me it's not about that, it's about common sense. I don't agree with everything MM does, and I would often pick a different side to the one he does, but firstly I think he probably knows more about it than any of us on here do and secondly what I do object to is how some posters, and I include you in this seem to come to a point when they decide they don't like the current manager and then just criticise every decision and take and twist every news item into an anti post. For the record I think MM has done a very job on no money so far. Would I like to see more flowing football at times? Yes but I also don't think we are the kick and rush merchants some claim us to be, in fact sometimes I think we fanny about too much with short passes across the back four and midfield.Lastly your constant comparisons to SBR's era are pointless, they were great but they are gone and football is totally different game now, not saying it's for the better but you can't compare that era with now. Anyway that's my thoughts. Let's hope for a rise in form again asap.

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Stretchyboy added 16:16 - Jan 22 I actually agree with the original poster, i'm definitely not an MM fan - actually, i think he's fantastic at doing one job, and that is stabilising a team, and making them difficult to play against. But he's only a 1-2 season man. He doesn't have much of a clue tactically and he's not a man to evolve a team and bring them to the next level. Unfortunately i think he's now too old in the tooth for this game (in that his style is old fashioned) - we need a new young vibrant manager and coaching team, someone with ideas from the 21st century, and not a manager akin to playing boring football. I want to see some entertainment back at Portman Rd, and not a lacklustre display with 10 defenders.

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tractorboyz82 added 08:55 - Jan 23 Good blog billblue don't agree with everything the way I look at it is if MM had the money to spend Roy had we'd be doing a lot better MM has done a great job to stabilise us but I fear aslong as ME is running thing we'll sit mid table for many more years most of the blame should lay with ME.About time we had an owner we know not mr invisible
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gazzmac4 added 10:01 - Jan 23 I cant really agree with alot of the stuff you have posted either Bill Blue, unfortunately. Your comments about healthy discussion being lost also dont ring true. You have posted a blog, asked for a healthy debate and then immediately written off all sides of the argument that dont agree with yours! Its a debate, we all have differing opinions. The main thing i pick out of your blog is the tendency of Mick to pick up his old Wolves players nased purely on sentiment. Now ill admit this went terribly under Keane, however i for one think that almost all of MM's old wolves players have been good. To say Berra is being picked based on sentiment is crazy. He and Smith have been superb in the majority of games they have played. Hunt has been useful too and SEB was FREE (yes, FREE) and even Nouble who actually cost us only cost 25k. These are excellent signings given the outlay we have had to go through to get them. To say Mick should leave because of these signings is scandalous! I do however believe there is some merit in your suggestion we use the youth. Hewitt clearly has potential and players such as Hyam, Cresswell and the ever present Tommy have all played their part. Square pegs in round holes maybe in Chmabers case but the guy is a born leader and is the only viable right back option we have at the moment i believe. What are peoples thoughts on a 3 5 2 formation? Smith, Berra, Chambo Hewitt, Hyam, Skuse, Cresswell DMcG Murph Having people like Hunt, Taylor, Wordsworth, Nouble would give us options off the bench too. Funnyold blog this one. Not really sure what i make of it!

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Walk_the_Wark added 12:03 - Jan 23 Billblue- the best thing I have read on here for ages. I absolutely agree with all of your points. MM was a terrible appointment. Yes- he kept us up- and well done. After that he has nothing to offer. His negativity and tactical ineptitude will see us lower mid-table until he goes. Unfortunately ME seems to have little knowledge of football, and as long as the books are relatively balanced, and we are not relegated, he will be happy from a business point of view and MM will stay. I firmly believe we could have appointed Redknapp at the time. Holloway would have come. We have already missed so many opportunities to sign a footballing manager! Such a shame MCarthy didn't go to Ireland.. In the meantime MM will continue to be 'hard to beat' and the likes of you and I will continue to be dismayed with our football. It's not about money. It's about the managers approach. I firmly believe we have all the players we need to be doing considerably better if they were managed properly.

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Walk_the_Wark added 12:13 - Jan 23 And to all those who say it's about the money, and that 'it's a different game today' etc. Just look at Man Utd. What more proof do you need of how differently the same squad can perform with a change of manager... Alex Ferguson was a master at not getting beaten- but also played every game to win- it's not impossible. Teams which are promoted and stick in the premiership- such as Swansea and West Brom are set up, and playing like premiership teams BEFORE THEY GET THERE. We need a modern manager with a modern approach, which focuses on stability, good man management, passing flowing football, and the desire and belief to win. Unfortunately MM has only two of these attributes. I don't believe we would be much different to watch if he had £20m to spend- because he simply does not have the footballing brain we need

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