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Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference
Written by Marcus on Monday, 14th Mar 2016 08:53

Over the last two decades Portman Road has changed from being a buzzing place with exciting football to graveyard shift at a library. What can be done to change this?

When managing director Ian Milne says we have enough supporters in the ground he misses the point that supporters drive success as much as the team does. He needs to stop seeing supporters as customers only and needs to see them as being integral to the good of the team - the 12th man on the pitch.

The only way to achieve this is by having a cracking atmosphere on match days. How is this achieved? By having a packed stadium with exciting football.

Over the last two decades Portman Road has gone from being the noisiest and most intense stadium in the country to a library on match days. Partly this is due to changes in the design of the new stands but also there hasn't been much to cheer about.

There's a quiet acceptance we don't have the money to compete with the big boys. Ultimately what Marcus Evans invests is his own choice - as long as the team isn't facing liquidation, we're doing OK on that point.

Manager Mick McCarthy has valued success over style. This is a dangerous approach, while there's grudging approval when things go well, there's an underlying disapproval when things don't and that's getting louder. Yet when there's a hint of playing a more passing game (like against Forest) the reaction from fans shows just how desperate we are to experience more of this.

McCarthy did the impossible. The club was in a shambles when he joined - I don't need to repeat comments on the problems with the two previous managers but it's clear one didn't have a clue how to run a club like ITFC and the other didn't have the scruples to motivate players from the rut.

Ipswich have NEVER been a team that buys their way to success. McCarthy is taking a pragmatic approach - personally I think he needs a couple of midfielders who can add some excitement to the game. Kévin Bru is an example of how a bit of spark is admired by the fans. Think back to some very average players who added flair to the team and how there were loved by the fans Pablo Couñago and Martijn Reuser being perfect examples. Just how much are we craving a couple of continental flair players right now.

While their contribution was unreliable the spark they added to the game got people on their feet - we really need players like that now. I personally think McCarthy can still be the person to lead us forward. He's built a solid team but he needs to accept that more of a spark is needed to excite the fans.

Ian Milne and Marcus Evans need to accept that a full stadium puts Ipswich at the centre of the local community and motivates success. Small changes can equal a big difference.

Ultimately the management team know the market and McCarthy is one of the best managers at Championship level. We're building really slowly - the first team is slightly better each season (injuries permitting) and more young players are developing after a period of the academy failing to develop players up to the standard. It is a long game but do we as supporters have the patience for that?




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carsey added 09:41 - Mar 14
I have to take exception with your comment in paragraph 9 "He's built a solid team....".
I would suggest this team is anything but soild - 1st game of the season 2 - 0 up vs Brentford result 2-2. Bolton a week ago 2 - 0 up result 2 - 2.
I could go on but you get my point.
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Marcus added 09:59 - Mar 14
... compared to where we were under 'he who must not be named' and Jewell, we're solid
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carsey added 10:11 - Mar 14
Marcus - that may be so but that was then and this is now and at the time of writing we have conceded almost as many goals as we have scored giving us a +1 goal difference. The top 6 all have +15 or better which is a massive advantage when the end of the season comes. Solid for me means we are hard to beat and don't concede many goals particularly when 2 - 0 up with most of the game gone. Hull and Middlesborough have conceded 7 and 6 at home compared to our 17 and that for me equals solid.
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70s_Legend added 10:11 - Mar 14
I'm not sure how this season can be marked as any kind of progress. I have enjoyed very little of it and certainly won't be rushing out to buy the end of season highlights DVD. Our season has been based around one loan player who is mainly injured.
Oh and I take great exception to Reuser being described as average.
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MVBlue added 12:12 - Mar 14

"the noisiest and most intense stadium in the country to a library on match days. Partly this is due to changes in the design of the new stands"
These stands are 12 years old. What era are you talking about?

Must say Mick is losing fans now. He had Daryl Murphy flying on all cylinders papering a few cracks. But we haven't moved forwards unfortunately. We're becoming like a poor mans everton, rebuilding without making progress into the top 6.
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Marcus added 15:30 - Mar 14
MVB- the Burley era.

The period I was a season ticket hold was from Lyall's first season until the Burley era, then work moved me away and I now visit when I can (I live in Manila, so not too often).
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Deep_Blue added 20:52 - Mar 14
I agree with much of this, however I feel the part that falls flat on its face is:

"I personally think McCarthy can still be the person to lead us forward. He's built a solid team but he needs to accept that more of a spark is needed to excite the fans."

And in that one snippet is the problem.

McCarthy WILL NOT realise that his way is not the way forward, and for that reason he must go before the damage his style of 'football' has done becomes irreparable.

Oh, and if Marcus Evans can't see this is the case then he can f**k off and take his closed wallet with him too.
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StavangerBlue added 12:00 - Mar 17
Having been a Town fan since the age of 9 (I'm now 40) I have experience of Town down few the late 80s, 90, 00 and now. The change in the design of the stands is definitely a factor. The old Churchmans and North Stands roof acted like a huge boom-box to give the fans singing an almost impossible volume. It created a fantastic atmosphere especially for the games against the likes of Man Utd et al.

Liverpool will have the same problem if they ever redesign the Kop to go along with their new stand. The Kop at Liverpool is big but at the back it has a low roof. This means the back 50 or so rows, if they sing and believe me they sing, the noise fills the ground. BUT THEY SING, CHANT AND HECKLE.

The other thing they do is MAKE EVERY GAME AN EVENT. A time when they can stand and sing "We are Liverpool". Banners, huge flags, scarves and noise!!! Dortmund do the same. Google "Dortmund Yellow Wall" - impressive is not the word. Now both clubs have a single terraced stand which also makes a difference. With the stand split you lose that sense of a large number of fans together. However here is my point.

FANS NEED SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT! I remember being at Oakwell 3-0 down with 5 minutes or so to go. Ipswich fans singing (Miners 3, Farmers 0) and all of a sudden Ian Marshall charges the keeper after a back pass, the keeper panics, kicks the ball against Marshall and it rebounds into the empty net. 3-1. Ipswich fans go nuts! 3 minutes to go, 3-2, Marshall again. Ipswich fans go mental! In injury time, 3-3, Marshall again (hat-trick) and mullet hair styles or round, people standing on seats, the atmosphere is electric and fans are SINGING!!

Now, having been at the away game at Huddersfield recently I cannot say there was a lot to sing about. Our play revolves on a small variation of 2 short passes, long ball over the top and losing possession. Long ball, long ball, poor defence, lack of a midfield…well the list is endless and repetitive. The reason we lose so many games to late goals? We cannot keep possession but you will not keep possession if your game plan is always to take two short passes and the punt a long ball down the channels. What happens is that the opposition learns to deal with it very quickly. What I saw at Huddersfield was dross. My brother watches Stockport on a regular basis and well they are in the Conference North (tier 6) of English football. His judgement, Town were not any better than County – same style of play, same problems.

The club should work with the supporter clubs to make match days more of an event. Get some flags, banners, music, get an anthem, organise the fans that want to sing to be located in the BR stand…it’s all possible. The fans are the 12th man and we could make the difference to every game.

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Marcus added 13:39 - Mar 18
StavangerBlue - spot on. However at the time McCarthy became a necessary 'evil' - he was exactly why we needed to dig the team out of a rut. He's done that, he's restructured the academy and it's working again and we aren't propping up the table and avoided the drop. Fundamental to my belief as Town fan is to stick by every managers not called Keane. Therefore I'll always support McCarthy while he's in charge, yet I hope he 'sees the light' and mixes things up a bit more.

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OldClactonBlue added 13:22 - Mar 22
Moving forward, really. Are you sure you don't want to review that after the performances since you went to press.

I have followed Town since the late 60s, yes we have had a golden period since then but there has never been a period where I have felt completely disconnected in the way that I do now.
The style, the ethos, all it does it drive me away, and many more beside.
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Edmundo added 18:52 - Mar 24
In the wake of the loss of a true legend today, here's a,few of Cryuff's gems that just reinforce my belief that we have lost it here at ITFC:
"Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.
"Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring."
"It's better to go down with your own vision than with someone else's."
"In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender."
"There is only one ball, so you need to have it."
Wise words.
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dreamer added 16:59 - Apr 6
Small changes but no difference. Message to the real Marcus make some big changes
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