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Beginnings
Written by therealtractorboy on Tuesday, 11th Mar 2014 12:32

I am 13 and have started writing for a new school magazine (I would like a career in sports journalism). I am writing about ITFC. The theme for this issue is beginnings and I have worked that into the article whilst summarising Mick McCarthy's reign here.

Beginnings in sport can be everything. Whether it is the first Test of the Ashes, the first set of the Wimbledon final, the sound of the gun in the Olympic 100m final or the first hole of the Ryder Cup, it can be the most decisive moment of the whole event.

When Mick McCarthy was appointed Ipswich Town manager on Thursday 1st November 2013 his task was to prevent the Tractor Boys slipping down to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1958. The beginning of his reign? A tough game against Birmingham at St Andrew's where Ipswich had not won since 1986.

1,054 town fans made the trip to the Midlands to see what they hoped would be a brilliant beginning to a fruitful era under Mick McCarthy. And they travelled home delighted. A first half goal by QPR loanee DJ Campbell was the winner to take three enormous points back to Suffolk.

This Mick McCarthy Ipswich team had grit, something that was missing under Paul Jewell. They had seen off second half pressure, they would have previously collapsed under the leadership of Jewell.

But the honeymoon was soon over. Three days later they travelled to London to face a Crystal Palace team pushing for promotion under their new charismatic manager Ian Holloway. The Eagles went top as they shot five past Town. This was not going to be easy.

Mick was well known in football for building teams that were hard to beat and that would grind out results, this was something that had been missing that season under Jewell. We had been constantly been throwing away winning positions, much to the frustration of the town faithful.

With a defence that had conceded an average of two goals a game, teams were turning up with score one, get one free vouchers and they had only managed one clean sheet all season, in fact, defending seemed a dirty word in Town’s dressing room.

The next couple months had mixed emotion for the Tractor Boys. Despite a 6-0 loss at Leicester, wins against Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Bolton, Millwall, Charlton and McCarthy’s former team Wolves had seen the boys in blue climb out of the relegation zone. Mick was slowly sorting out the defence, things were looking up.

Eight more wins over the rest of the season secured Championship status, they had finished six points clear of the relegation zone and finished 14th, very respectable for a club who had been bottom in November.

The game that secured survival was the reverse fixture of Mick’s opening match, but this time they won in style, three goals to one, including a world beater from club captain Carlos Edwards.

It was a very busy summer of change for Mick, bringing in nine players, including three who had previously been on loan at the club; David McGoldrick had scored four goals while on loan, whilst Jay Tabb and Daryl Murphy also joined the club on permanent deals.

Seven players were shipped out, including the inconsistent Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who was swapped for winger Paul Anderson, and central midfielder Cole Skuse, like Anderson from Bristol City.

As the beginning of the new season drew closer there was a sense of optimism around the club for the first time in many years, the club had finished the previous season in promotion form, could they carry last season’s momentum into this season.

The beginning of the season was not perfect, it was an opening game at the Madejski against a strong Reading team recently relegated from the promised land of the Premier League, and they would have large parachute payments behind them. Jay Tabb scored against his old team but Reading came from behind to win 2-1.

Things slightly improved over the rest of August, the Blues picking up four more points, but it was mediocre, not the start Town fans had hoped for.

On September 10th Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 to Austria and Giovanni Trapattoni was sacked as Ireland manager. Second favourite to take over the job? A certain Mick McCarthy. Was this the beginning of the end for Mick at Town? The fans certainly hoped not.

Mick ruled himself neither in nor out of returning to Ireland, whom he had taken to the last 16 of the World Cup in 2002, he just stated that he expected the bookies' favourite Martin O’Neill to take the job.

But the drama was not over soon, it went on through September. However, the Blues had a brilliant month, dropping only three points and striker David McGoldrick was named the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month.

The Ireland drama was still not over and as the season moved into October was it starting to affect ITFC on the pitch. There were no wins in October and they had even had lost a three-goal lead at Derby.

On October 16th Mick became the bookies' favourite for the job. Many Town fans thought the end was nigh. Mick’s job had only been to keep Town in the Championship, had it not? This was it, owner Marcus Evans could not stand in the way of the Ireland job.

But as the beginning of November arrived, Martin O’Neill was re-installed as favourite with former Town manager Roy Keane to take the job as his assistant. Keane had infamously stormed out of the World Cup in 2002 after an argument with his manager Mick McCarthy.

Could Town now get a disappointing October out of the way and start afresh as a new month dawned? It appeared not. On the first they played Barnsley in a TV match and were atrocious, drawing one-all with a poor Tykes team, it appeared bad form had rolled over in to November.

On November 5th 2013, 369 days after Mick McCarthy was appointed Ipswich Town manager, Martin O’Neill was given a two-year contract at the Republic of Ireland with Roy Keane as his assistant.

The drama was over. Town bounced back to winning ways immediately with a last minute winner at Blackpool to claim their first away victory of the season. Mick and the boys were back in town!

One loss in their next seven meant Town were in the play-offs on Boxing Day, and really dreaming of the Premier League.

There was only one thing lacking, a creative midfielder, Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam were defensively adept but they lacked energy going forward, Anthony Wordsworth was not the real deal in the centre of midfield yet and Jay Tabb was a defensive minded midfielder.

Where were Town going to find such a gem of a midfielder? Was owner Marcus Evans going to open his chequebook when Town had their first real chance of promotion since he had taken over? He had given Keane and Jewell lots of money to spend but they had wasted it. This was a massive dilemma that could shape their season.

The new year began with a draw at home to Charlton and Town failed to claim a 2014 win until January 25th when they beat Reading 2-0. They had passed one stepping stone of January, but there was still the lack of creativity in midfield.

With only six days left of the transfer window it was now or never. It was a never. ITFC left January having only added right-back Frazer Richardson to the squad on loan. They had failed in their quest for a creative midfielder, although they had managed to hang on to their star players David McGoldrick and Aaron Cresswell, both of whom had been the subject of Premier League interest.

Despite David McGoldrick being ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, Town took eight points from their next six games leaves which leaves them in ninth, four points off the play-offs. It is still a possibility they could sneak into the play-offs.

This is a club that has come on leaps and bounds since the days of Paul Jewell. Mick may play a brand of football that is not always pretty, that might reduce attendances; however it is a brand of football that makes this Ipswich team very difficult to beat.

It may not be this year, maybe not even next year, but while Mick McCarthy is at Ipswich Town Football Club, it is a club that is enjoying a new beginning and has a very real chance of returning to the Barclays Premier League.




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cbower added 19:41 - Mar 11
Good effort. as I teacher myself, I wish the students that I have could write as well as you have done! Great stuff.
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tractordownsouth added 20:47 - Mar 11
Hi. I am 14 and would like a career in sports journalism too. I am always interested to read the work of those who would like to do the same. I agree with cbower , good effort!
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therealtractorboy added 21:00 - Mar 11
Thanks
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JohnStirk added 21:54 - Mar 11
Yes good work therealtractorboy, keep it up!
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petermorris added 11:48 - Mar 12
Well written - keep it up. Already looking forward to the next one...
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DanLyles added 18:31 - Mar 12
A very good piece, let us hope Williams is that creative midfielder we all crave and that he stays until the end of the season :)
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NoCanariesAllowed added 16:39 - Mar 13
A well-written start, therealtractorboy. I'm a journalist myself - dabbling between football and non-sports stuff - and I can say you're going the right way about it by flexing your writing muscles at an early age. I don't think I got my first published article until I was 16 - perhaps unsurprisingly it was in the TWTD printed fanzine - but there's so many ways to get your work out there on the web now that the opportunities are only limited by your own proactivity.

Keep up your writing/blogging because it proves both your ability and your interest, and you can include it as voluntary/freelance work on your CV. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it can make.
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warwickblue added 20:36 - Mar 20
An interesting summary of the season to date. You certainly have a talent, which you could easily develop to the standard required for competent journalism. As well as writing, I would also encourage you to read, read and read - not just the sports columns in the red tops; but more the articles in the quality weekenders. You don't have to buy the whole paper (quite an outlay at 13!) but see if you can track down someone who would let you have the Sports supplement each week ( loads of people don't read it and it goes straight in the recycle bin!) Or spend some time reading them online. And try to develop a working knowledge of as wide a field as you possibly can. You should aim to know a lot about some sports but a bit about all... Good luck
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essextractorboy93 added 12:34 - Mar 24
A very well written piece mate!
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leagueonescum added 18:47 - Mar 26
Just echoing the above comments. A great piece, well written too! Nice to see a young man with proper ambition. Well done and look forward to the next one.
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Superfrans added 23:18 - Mar 28
Good work fella, that's a v nicely written piece. I am a journalist, started in local newspapers, did some sports journalism, ended up on a music trade magazine etc. The advice above is good stuff. Try and write as much as you can - when I was your age I used to play football for my local team and submitted a short match report to the local weekly paper every week, it was pretty much always used. I did my o levels and a levels and then went on a full year pre-entry journalism course (run by the NCTJ) and moved to a local paper from there. Local papers are definitely the way in - maybe drop a line to Stuart Watson or Carl Marston at the EADT and ask if you could meet them and ask them some questions, for some advice. Get some work experience (probably when you're a hit older) and help out.
But, for now, maybe start your own blog, publish what you like, promote it via Twitter, Facebook etc and get some cuttings built up that way.
Good luck.
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RoyKeanesDog added 00:28 - Mar 31
Really good mate. Keep at it, and don't get distracted by girls.
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skyblue23 added 14:45 - Mar 31
I've just wet myself with excitement! This feels like the day Alan lee join for his 2nd spell!!!!
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jas0999 added 19:44 - Apr 8
Nice blog. Well done.
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