2018 has been a terrible year to be an Ipswich Town supporter.
Amazingly, we have only one twice at home this year, against Leeds in January and Barnsley in April.

Combined with a mere five away victories we would definitely be relegated with three games left to play, if the season ran from January to December.

We witnessed the acrimonious departure of one divisive manager, only to discover his replacement to be an unworthy successor. Selling your best players to league rivals has never been a recipe for success.

Off the field we lost Kevin Beattie, our most naturally gifted player. The passing of The Beat was a time for reflection and a little nostalgia. I was probably not alone in hunting for the 1978 Cup final DVD and savouring a couple of hours of real football. What surprised me most was the volume of the singing from the Town fans at Wembley.

More recently I watched the play-off final and was again impressed by the football and the atmosphere. One song in particular was given full voice towards the end of both matches, You'll Never Walk Alone. I wonder if we will ever hear singing like that on the terraces of Portman Road again?

Returning to the predicament facing the current team, this can be summed up by the resurgence in form of Cole Skuse under Lambert. Soon after Skuse was reported to have seen the light at the end of the tunnel he was hit by the worst injury he has suffered at the club. What price Freddie Sears breaks a leg while putting an angel in top of his Christmas tree?

Luckily for us the season does not finish in December, so winning today's game against Wigan could be the start of the turnaround we all wish for. If we don't get all three points this Saturday, there is still next week to get that first home victory on the board. Let's not despair, never say die for we know we'll win again some sunny day.

There isn't much Christmas cheer, but here is a verse to salute the reign of our shortest-serving boss:

Evans hunted high and low
Until he got his man
His task was short and simple
Deliver the Five-Point Plan

He occupied the dugout
As quiet as a mouse
Dreaming of sports scientists
And jobs around the house?

He was our shortest-serving boss
Fifteen played and seven lost
He won at Swansea with some luck
But on rock bottom he was stuck

At 1.65 metres high
You could not call him Lofty
His dealings in the transfer market
Proved to be so costly

His promised high tempo football
Was tricky to attain
And so it was his stature
Matched the shortness of his reign

He was our shortest-serving boss
Fifteen played and seven lost
Another man with Yorkshire grit
Appen as maybe full of himself

monty_radio added 20:13 - Dec 15 Not quite a sunny day, as it turned out!
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