Why do you want us to be successful? 14:52 - Feb 11 with 4194 views | WarkTheWarkITFC | It's not as stupid a question as it first seems when you think about it. It's something someone asked me and my reaction was the same as most of yours probably just was and then I thought about it. Actually there is some logic there. What do you want from watching Ipswich? What is actually realistic? I think we can all agree we are a million miles off the Premier League. Nothing at all about the Evans reign suggested we might get promoted once he’d got his feet under the table aside from an incredible season in 2014/15 where we still needed a shock home defeat for Derby to scrape into the playoffs. Most of our recent memories have been wars of attrition, football that isn’t pleasing on the eye and punching above our financial weight under Mick. We are never likely to see the days of the 70’s and 80’s again as football has moved on, but as recently as 2000/01 we dared to dream and achieved what seemed like the impossible. For those too young to remember it’s what Sheffield United are doing now, only we went into the last day with a chance of making one of three Champions League spots, not four. Speaking of The Blades, not long ago they were in this division and look at them now. It can be done. But absolutely nothing (again) about the Evans reign suggests an upturn in fortunes, let alone one so dramatic. For me, the novelty of League One has been enjoyable. New grounds. New teams. It is depressing how far we have fallen but I am not desperate to get back into the Championship. What changes? If we were to go up and play better football then great but what says that will happen? There’s no evidence for that. Lambert has been here almost 18 months and the football is worse than when he first joined. So for me, it’s about us having a chance of success, which we do this season, integrating the youth, which we have and yet I am still utterly depressed at the state of affairs because we don’t entertain, we don’t excite and most importantly there is no pathway in place to future success. Just a few unrealistic hopes that it’ll somehow get better if Evans sells up or if Lambert leaves. What sort of dream is that? So what is the answer? What do you actually want? I would love us to go up, push on in the Championship but that doesn’t seem possible. Look at how bad we were last season and how good Luton and Barnsley were, two teams that are now well adrift. Rotherham were almost as bad as us last year, they have known the Championship a lot of late and yes they are a much smaller club but they are happy. They are entertained. They have an infrastructure that might let them go up, stay up and push on. We should be looking to clubs like Brentford, clubs like Sheffield United. That build an identity, a style of play, an ethos and have some hope for the future. We seem pretty hopeless on all fronts. It isn’t the division that’s the problem for me. It’s more exciting being near the top of League One than in the middle of the Championship. It just feels like we are drifting along, further towards disaster and that nothing — not even the sale of Wolf and Downes would help, like it would with other clubs who reinvest and push on. Am I being too dramatic? It seems like a perfect storm of mismanagement, lack of ambition, financial contraints, coupled with how successful we have been in the past that have led us to this impossible position where I am admiring the likes of Rotherham and wishing I could be happy like their fans are with what they have got. Dear, oh dear indeed. |  |
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Why do you want us to be successful? on 18:50 - Feb 11 with 323 views | Darth_Koont | It's enjoyable to watch players and a team develop and up their game. Especially if it's accompanied by winning and even entertaining football. But clearly that's not possible for all teams and also it's got much more expensive for clubs too. I tend to watch a lot more rugby now to get my fix of the top part - and that's helped by Glasgow and Edinburgh being in the Pro14 with no promotion or relegation. They can then concentrate on the players and working on the team and they play some great stuff as a result. Football and ITFC still fills a lot of space in my head and my heart but it's increasingly about the drama/tragedy and the hope that something will spark the club and the sport into being genuinely entertaining for even a season. It's probably a sign of age more than anything but it all just seems so grindingly dull and pointless nowadays |  |
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Why do you want us to be successful? on 19:37 - Feb 11 with 298 views | itfcjoe | I want us to be successful as it gives the whole town and county a lift, which is required I still consider that our rightful place in the football pyramid is alongside the likes of Forest, Derby, Leicester, Southampton and even Norwich - somewhere between 15th and 30th in the league structure with the potential to push on from there if things are going well I don't enjoy League 1, it is beneath us and the sooner we are out of it the better - it doesn't allow us to do anything that I want to see |  |
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