| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage 09:09 - Apr 12 with 13395 views | tpsontour |
Evans knows you're miserable now
IPSWICH PAY FOR DECAY AND NEGLECT
Neil Ashton
THE glory days are long gone.
Outside the ageing main stand at Portman Road, ground staff are sweeping away another season of misery.
Chip papers float like kites, plastic cups rattle along the gutters and rainsoaked ticket stubs remember visits from Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and local rivals Norwich City.
It will be a good while before Ipswich Town fans hurry excitedly down Sir Alf Ramsey Way for another Old Farm game.
Years of decay, neglect and dreadful decision-making means the Tractor Boys, beaten 2-0 at Brentford in the week, could be relegated from the Championship at home to Birmingham tomorrow.
This is the death of another great club, with Ipswich steeled for their first spell in the third tier since 1957. Back in those days it was called Division Three (South) and when they left they never thought they would be back.
In 1992, with John Wark sent for the first photoshoot in his tassled Umbro shirt, Ipswich were founding members of the FA Premier League.
The decline has been sharp. Fans trade on memories, relying on parents to pass down stories about Bobby Robson's Uefa Cupwinning team of Terry Butcher, Arnold Muhren andFrans Thijssen in 1981.
The 2000 play-off final, when George Burley's progressive side beat Barnsley 4-2 to reach the Premier League, is cherished by another generation of Suffolk folk.
What has happened since is a chronic story of club mis-management, skewered by the catastrophic ownership of Marcus Evans.
If you didn't know otherwise, you would think it was deliberate sabotage.
Beyond the vanity appointment of Roy Keane, Evans has tried all different types. Paul Jewell was given a go because of his CV at Wigan, Mick McCarthy's success in the Championship was another attraction, and people were saying all the right things when Paul Hurst was at Shrewsbury.
Hurst, who won a single game, was fired after 149 days.
McCarthy, a decent and respectable chap, did his best under testing financial circumstances. The fans could not stomach the football but McCarthy finished 14th, ninth, sixth, seventh, 16th and 12th without spending a cent.
Evans (left), caving in to fan fury at the end of last season, has been regretting the decision to get shot of him ever since.
He eventually turned to Paul Lambert, still getting jobs even though he has won 19 games in three years.
Ipswich are heading down because they are anchored to the foot of the Championship on just 27 points.
Next season, just like Sunderland, Portsmouth, Leicester, Norwich, Forest and Leeds before them, they will have to press reset.
Some in the Ipswich dressing room have shown little or no aptitude for a relegation scrap at a club with fine football principles and history.
It brings to mind the famous dressing-room line from defender Rufus Brevett when West Ham were condemned in 2005.
He said: "You'll care about it when the fixture list comes out next season."
For Ipswich, winners of the old First Division in 1962 and the FA Cup in 1978, that means some pretty grim trips.
League One football means visits to Burton, Fleetwood, Gillingham, Oxford, Shrewsbury andAccrington.
They will also enter the Checkatrade Trophy for the first time, with group games sorted out after a mid-June draw that can be easily missed.
First they have to get Birmingham out of the way.
The die-hards will turn out in force, with another 15,000 expecting another 90 minutes of torment.
This club's decline is staggering because 62 years of history will be wiped out when relegation is eventually confirmed this season.
With apologies to their long-suffering fans it means that John Cobbold's famous quote gets yet another airing.
Cobbold, chairman when Ipswich had decent teams under Ramsey and Sir Bobby, joked: "The only crisis at Ipswich is when we run out of red wine in the boardroom."
If only.
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:14 - Apr 12 with 6299 views | factual_blue |
It was 'white wine'.
Shoddy journalism. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:15 - Apr 12 with 6287 views | JackSted |
A bit overdramatic but I respect him for addressing the McCarthy issue properly unlike the usual BCWYWF sheep [Post edited 12 Apr 2019 9:16]
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:17 - Apr 12 with 6271 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:15 - Apr 12 by JackSted |
A bit overdramatic but I respect him for addressing the McCarthy issue properly unlike the usual BCWYWF sheep [Post edited 12 Apr 2019 9:16]
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A bit of artistic licence, but not much. It's probably the closest I've seen a journalist get, as opposed to the BCWYWF rubbish we normally get (as mentioned already).
Austerity innit. Doesn't work for a football club any more than it does for a country. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:19 - Apr 12 with 6249 views | Benters2 |
Did they mention the filthy North stand roof ? |  | | |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:21 - Apr 12 with 6240 views | C_HealyIsAPleasure |
“He eventually turned to Paul Lambert, still getting jobs even though he has won 19 games in three years.”
LOL |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:22 - Apr 12 with 6218 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
I thought journos were supposed to be cutting edge.
Bit late here Neil. We've all moved on. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:24 - Apr 12 with 6181 views | BlueBadger |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:21 - Apr 12 by C_HealyIsAPleasure |
“He eventually turned to Paul Lambert, still getting jobs even though he has won 19 games in three years.”
LOL |
He has Improved Performances, though.
Mostly in the press rather than penalty box, granted... |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:31 - Apr 12 with 6148 views | iamipswich |
'Some in the Ipswich dressing room have shown little or no aptitude for a relegation scrap at a club with fine football principles and history'
I wonder who this is referring to. Genuinely can't say that any players look to have downed tools, we're just hopeless.
Not a bad article though in fairness. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:35 - Apr 12 with 6106 views | King_of_Portman_Rd |
A lot of truth in there, if a bit sensationalist (Shock) with this particular couple of sentences being the stand out lines that I take a bit of exception with.. Or the wording of it at least.
"The die-hards will turn out in force, with another 15,000 expecting another 90 minutes of torment.
This club's decline is staggering because 62 years of history will be wiped out when relegation is eventually confirmed this season." |  | | |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:38 - Apr 12 with 6065 views | C_HealyIsAPleasure |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:31 - Apr 12 by iamipswich |
'Some in the Ipswich dressing room have shown little or no aptitude for a relegation scrap at a club with fine football principles and history'
I wonder who this is referring to. Genuinely can't say that any players look to have downed tools, we're just hopeless.
Not a bad article though in fairness. |
I wondered that - but expect its more a generalisation based on is not putting up a fight rather than any particular insight into attitudes in the dressing room | |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:47 - Apr 12 with 5997 views | mr_bean |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:31 - Apr 12 by iamipswich |
'Some in the Ipswich dressing room have shown little or no aptitude for a relegation scrap at a club with fine football principles and history'
I wonder who this is referring to. Genuinely can't say that any players look to have downed tools, we're just hopeless.
Not a bad article though in fairness. |
That bit about some in the Ipswich dressing room is basically just lazy journalism. It's very easy to come out with something that, given the circumstances, could be assumed to be true and accepted by those who are not familiar with the bigger picture.
The other "lazy" bit that made me smile was this: "rainsoaked ticket stubs remember visits from Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and local rivals Norwich City". I very much doubt he took a walk past the ground picking up scraps of paper and examining them!
Otherwise, as you say, a good article.
Oh--and thanks to the OP for posting in full, thus sparing us a visit to The Sun website! [Post edited 12 Apr 2019 9:50]
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:51 - Apr 12 with 5933 views | ITFC_Forever |
Don't buy / read the website of the S*n. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:51 - Apr 12 with 5928 views | chicoazul |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:47 - Apr 12 by mr_bean |
That bit about some in the Ipswich dressing room is basically just lazy journalism. It's very easy to come out with something that, given the circumstances, could be assumed to be true and accepted by those who are not familiar with the bigger picture.
The other "lazy" bit that made me smile was this: "rainsoaked ticket stubs remember visits from Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and local rivals Norwich City". I very much doubt he took a walk past the ground picking up scraps of paper and examining them!
Otherwise, as you say, a good article.
Oh--and thanks to the OP for posting in full, thus sparing us a visit to The Sun website! [Post edited 12 Apr 2019 9:50]
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Tell us what it *is* like in the dressing room then. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:59 - Apr 12 with 5863 views | mr_bean |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:51 - Apr 12 by chicoazul |
Tell us what it *is* like in the dressing room then. |
No idea, but the implication is that the players haven't been putting in the effort on the pitch.
I haven't seen much to suggest that the players haven't been up for the fight. They've just not been collectively good enough! | | | |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:00 - Apr 12 with 5847 views | Darth_Koont |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:14 - Apr 12 by factual_blue |
It was 'white wine'.
Shoddy journalism. |
Yes, it's a bit loose with the details. But overall it's a sign of how we're perceived and how low our stock is in the football world once you stop being a Championship club.
I think we're in for a hard dose of reality. For me, the most relevant part was the Rufus Brevett quote about relegation: "You'll care about it when the fixture list comes out next season." |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:03 - Apr 12 with 5825 views | ElderGrizzly |
Ashton is mates with Simon Jordan and McCarthy if it helps with context |  | | |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:07 - Apr 12 with 5780 views | chicoazul |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 09:59 - Apr 12 by mr_bean |
No idea, but the implication is that the players haven't been putting in the effort on the pitch.
I haven't seen much to suggest that the players haven't been up for the fight. They've just not been collectively good enough! |
He literally says aptitude not attitude, so you agree with him. | |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:09 - Apr 12 with 5756 views | itfcjoe |
Sadly, we have become a nothing club in the national eye for a few years now.
The only national exposure we have had was Mick leaving, and it's obvious to the outsider how that now looks.
And we are now a big club dropping into the 3rd tier - that is now our story like it was when Leeds, Norwich, Forest, Southampton, Sheff Weds, Leicester and Sheff United did.
What will define us now is how we bounce back from this, if we do. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:11 - Apr 12 with 5724 views | Darth_Koont |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:09 - Apr 12 by itfcjoe |
Sadly, we have become a nothing club in the national eye for a few years now.
The only national exposure we have had was Mick leaving, and it's obvious to the outsider how that now looks.
And we are now a big club dropping into the 3rd tier - that is now our story like it was when Leeds, Norwich, Forest, Southampton, Sheff Weds, Leicester and Sheff United did.
What will define us now is how we bounce back from this, if we do. |
Sadly very true. | |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:15 - Apr 12 with 5684 views | mr_bean |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:07 - Apr 12 by chicoazul |
He literally says aptitude not attitude, so you agree with him. |
Mea culpa.
I misread "aptitude" as "attitude"! | | | |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:17 - Apr 12 with 5633 views | C_HealyIsAPleasure |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:03 - Apr 12 by ElderGrizzly |
Ashton is mates with Simon Jordan and McCarthy if it helps with context |
Not really, hard to argue with much he says there - aside from where there’s been some obvious artistic licence of course | |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:20 - Apr 12 with 5566 views | Bluefish |
When we journos learn that the real football fans already know this stuff and the remaining Ipswich fans don't want to hear this stuff and will get all angry about it. Expect another Twitter melt down and lots of personal abuse to the journo |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:20 - Apr 12 with 5580 views | Mullet |
He's a budgie isn't he that bloke?
History being wiped out?
Also anyone using the term "Old Farm derby" in anything other than a derogatory fashion should be dealt with. |  |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:21 - Apr 12 with 5569 views | chicoazul |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:03 - Apr 12 by ElderGrizzly |
Ashton is mates with Simon Jordan and McCarthy if it helps with context |
Please do tell us what in this factual, simple article needs contextualising. | |
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| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:25 - Apr 12 with 5520 views | chicoazul |
| Sun on Evans-If you didn't know otherwise you would think it deliberate sabotage on 10:20 - Apr 12 by Mullet |
He's a budgie isn't he that bloke?
History being wiped out?
Also anyone using the term "Old Farm derby" in anything other than a derogatory fashion should be dealt with. |
I've always thought it was quite a funny term. | |
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