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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ 02:08 - Apr 21 with 3512 viewsThe_Romford_Blue

Players like Tabb, the Hunt brothers, Paul Anderson, Berra and Smith. They weren’t the best players in the league. But they never once disrespected the shirt. There was never times when I wondered ‘do they care?’

How much I’d give for our current crop to even have half the heart, battle and resilience of that team. No matter how Paul Cook has started, the current group of players ought to be absolutely disgusted at themselves for the lack of pride they have in both their work and our once-great football club. The end of the season can’t come fast enough. Get rid of them all other than Flynn.
[Post edited 21 Apr 2021 2:48]

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:52 - Apr 21 with 609 viewsThe_Romford_Blue

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:28 - Apr 21 by wkj

Not really revisionist though is it?

Knudsen didn't have the attributes to play the pressing game as well as the others he mentioned. It doesn't mean he didn't have qualities elsewhere - but he would never have been able to play the press - arguably the best football during Mick's time here.


I respectfully disagree.

Knudsen having the most assists in our whole team one year was a good example of his ability to get up and down the flank. To say he was in ‘two banks of 4’ as AM had said when I replied to him.. I just don’t think that’s fair. He used to bomb forward and was probably better at the attacking side of his game than actually defending imo.

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:53 - Apr 21 with 604 viewsmonytowbray

I honestly didn’t think we were that bad a side under Mick, never did, just needed a change in direction.

Cue Hurst selling our best players in each position.

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:55 - Apr 21 with 602 viewswkj

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:52 - Apr 21 by The_Romford_Blue

I respectfully disagree.

Knudsen having the most assists in our whole team one year was a good example of his ability to get up and down the flank. To say he was in ‘two banks of 4’ as AM had said when I replied to him.. I just don’t think that’s fair. He used to bomb forward and was probably better at the attacking side of his game than actually defending imo.


And, as previously mentioned - he did over commit at times and was often caught on his weak side because of it. Again, not a bad player - but could not play to the same calibre as Cressi and Mings, so the system changed.

Crybaby
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 12:00 - Apr 21 with 587 viewsThe_Romford_Blue

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:53 - Apr 21 by monytowbray

I honestly didn’t think we were that bad a side under Mick, never did, just needed a change in direction.

Cue Hurst selling our best players in each position.


The weird thing was a lot of us knew we’d get worse when Mick left (because he was clearly having us overachieve results wise with a bottom 5 budget). However, that still didn’t mean he should’ve stayed. Because the bigger problem was becoming that games were boring, the fan-manager relationship had gone stale and the season ticket numbers were started to fall through the floor. No matter what has happened since with Hurst and Lambert, Mick still had to go as the whole club needed a shake up.

The bigger problem was always Evans. And now that issue has gone, with new players next season (this sorry bunch have no fight whatsoever - as alluded to in the OP) I really think we will start to be back on the up as a club and some positivity will sweep through Suffolk once again. Both on the pitch with results and off the pitch with excitement.

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 12:03 - Apr 21 with 579 viewsThe_Romford_Blue

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:55 - Apr 21 by wkj

And, as previously mentioned - he did over commit at times and was often caught on his weak side because of it. Again, not a bad player - but could not play to the same calibre as Cressi and Mings, so the system changed.


I didn’t mind Knudsen. I just think his biggest negative, no matter what system it was that we would play, was that he wasn’t Cressy or Mings - two of the best Left Backs to have played in the Championship over the past 15 years. Whereas Knudsen was affective and alright for what he was, he was never going to be selling for millions after us. He just wasn’t that ‘exciting’.

Which actually leads back to my OP.. the Hunts, Tabb etc were never exciting players (very affective though at times) but the heart that they had is a million times the heart of our current squad. I miss them.

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 12:04 - Apr 21 with 576 viewswkj

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 12:03 - Apr 21 by The_Romford_Blue

I didn’t mind Knudsen. I just think his biggest negative, no matter what system it was that we would play, was that he wasn’t Cressy or Mings - two of the best Left Backs to have played in the Championship over the past 15 years. Whereas Knudsen was affective and alright for what he was, he was never going to be selling for millions after us. He just wasn’t that ‘exciting’.

Which actually leads back to my OP.. the Hunts, Tabb etc were never exciting players (very affective though at times) but the heart that they had is a million times the heart of our current squad. I miss them.


I cant fault the sentiment of the last post - which I hope leads to a great new crop of players on the books next season. Too many of our current lot have no concept of success - only pressure from the past.

New Manager, New Board, New Players and New Hope.

Let's just hope ITFC's curse isn't something more super natural.

Crybaby
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 15:01 - Apr 21 with 549 viewsArnoldMoorhen

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 11:52 - Apr 21 by The_Romford_Blue

I respectfully disagree.

Knudsen having the most assists in our whole team one year was a good example of his ability to get up and down the flank. To say he was in ‘two banks of 4’ as AM had said when I replied to him.. I just don’t think that’s fair. He used to bomb forward and was probably better at the attacking side of his game than actually defending imo.


Once we went 1-0 up we would play two deep banks of four and hold on for the 1-0.

We were set up to play counter-attack, with speedy wingers (Fraser, Williams, Cellina) so that we could break quickly, but not to play high press any more. That requires a very quick defender to cover counter-attacks coming back. Preferably two very speedy defenders. We never had that luxury.

It's basically a pitch-map exercise.

High Press is about trying to draw a mistake in the opposition half, but has the weakness of creating more space behind the defence, which is vulnerable to quick counter-attacks.

Mick-defending-a-one-nil is two banks of four, bring the opposition on to you, hoping that a quick out ball to the winger will lead to a chance in the space behind them. If your superstar winger gets injured, and there is no more cash in the kitty, that is a big problem.

In the latter system the attacking variant (if 0-0 in a game you should win, or if 1-0 down (probably to a set piece!) is to load one side, with the full back over-lapping. Chambers was criticised for not doing this enough, but it was probably under orders.

As I've said, I'm definitely not criticising Knudsen- he was much maligned on here, but I particularly valued his last ditch blocks. I can understand why McCarthy changed: I think the Play Off defeat was also a factor as they hit us on the break. The Reading defeat changed a slightly gung-ho approach with wingers to a deeper set counter-attacking style.

Personally I think we had the players to get 28 wins playing gung-ho, and wish he had gone for it, even if we had been dissected every now and then. 3 points for a win makes this the value bet, rather than lots of draws and the risk of the lottery of Play Offs.

But I really wish he had made finding a very quick defender a priority, to replace Mings, kept on Stephen Hunt and Paul Anderson, and played the High Press.
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:15 - Apr 21 with 524 viewsmonytowbray

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 12:00 - Apr 21 by The_Romford_Blue

The weird thing was a lot of us knew we’d get worse when Mick left (because he was clearly having us overachieve results wise with a bottom 5 budget). However, that still didn’t mean he should’ve stayed. Because the bigger problem was becoming that games were boring, the fan-manager relationship had gone stale and the season ticket numbers were started to fall through the floor. No matter what has happened since with Hurst and Lambert, Mick still had to go as the whole club needed a shake up.

The bigger problem was always Evans. And now that issue has gone, with new players next season (this sorry bunch have no fight whatsoever - as alluded to in the OP) I really think we will start to be back on the up as a club and some positivity will sweep through Suffolk once again. Both on the pitch with results and off the pitch with excitement.


Agree completely. Evans was the constant and seemed to never get the line in the sand with owner's input/manager freedom correct.

When we needed someone to say "no" to a manager he was hands off (EG. WTF you selling Waghorn to buy L1 players for Paul!?) but when we needed a "yes" to a manager the purse was too tight (EG. It's January and we're joint top, here's some cash for the last stretch Mick).

And that's before i even bring up the constant need for external advice from rival clubs with potentially bad interests at heart or Harry Redknapp (don't need to even explain the flaws in that one!). The whole thing is a connected web of failure.

Almost all of his choices seemed to stem from deflecting blame or saving money regardless of the outcome. He was a sh1t owner and it still amazes how many bootlicking "Thank you Marcus" posts he got just for funding the club.

What seems like big money to us is a side business venture pot for him, it's all relative and relatively speaking Evans isn't special, unique or worth applause. The guy's continually caught up in ticket tout rackets and although an extreme comparison in nature it's a bit like thanking Jimmy Saville for all the fun runs he did.

I think even having an opinion on things at present is largely pointless. Wait until after Summer when Paul's had a clear out and the owners are in better swing. May as well be judging a plumber on their ability to fix your bathroom before their matey with the tool van arrives!
[Post edited 21 Apr 2021 16:17]

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:20 - Apr 21 with 514 viewsJ2BLUE

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:15 - Apr 21 by monytowbray

Agree completely. Evans was the constant and seemed to never get the line in the sand with owner's input/manager freedom correct.

When we needed someone to say "no" to a manager he was hands off (EG. WTF you selling Waghorn to buy L1 players for Paul!?) but when we needed a "yes" to a manager the purse was too tight (EG. It's January and we're joint top, here's some cash for the last stretch Mick).

And that's before i even bring up the constant need for external advice from rival clubs with potentially bad interests at heart or Harry Redknapp (don't need to even explain the flaws in that one!). The whole thing is a connected web of failure.

Almost all of his choices seemed to stem from deflecting blame or saving money regardless of the outcome. He was a sh1t owner and it still amazes how many bootlicking "Thank you Marcus" posts he got just for funding the club.

What seems like big money to us is a side business venture pot for him, it's all relative and relatively speaking Evans isn't special, unique or worth applause. The guy's continually caught up in ticket tout rackets and although an extreme comparison in nature it's a bit like thanking Jimmy Saville for all the fun runs he did.

I think even having an opinion on things at present is largely pointless. Wait until after Summer when Paul's had a clear out and the owners are in better swing. May as well be judging a plumber on their ability to fix your bathroom before their matey with the tool van arrives!
[Post edited 21 Apr 2021 16:17]


Phoning Peterborough for advice was a definite highlight of the Evans era. It's just beyond stupid. Don't bother getting an experienced CEO, just phone a rival and wing it.

Truly impaired.
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:21 - Apr 21 with 515 viewsPhilTWTD

On which note, Noel Hunt was there last night if people haven't read my match report. Seemed to be scouting for someone.
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:24 - Apr 21 with 502 viewshype313

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:21 - Apr 21 by PhilTWTD

On which note, Noel Hunt was there last night if people haven't read my match report. Seemed to be scouting for someone.


I read that, but also Stuart Watson seemed to think there maybe an opportunity here as he's currently out of work?

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:52 - Apr 21 with 491 viewsEsseeja

I would NEVER let Jay Tabb or Jonathan Douglas into this side EVER again, I'm sorry but since when did this forum actually see something in Tabb? How!?
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 17:18 - Apr 21 with 469 viewsChurchman

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 10:50 - Apr 21 by ArnoldMoorhen

Stephen Hunt didn't "retire" out of Ipswich. He was on tv as a pundit a few weeks into the next season begging one of his fellow pundits (a manager, I can't remember who) to give him a go "Do you need a winger?"

Mings was sold and was replaced by Knudsen, and Mick went from high press to two solid banks of 4, with us playing on the break. Up to that point first Cresswell and then Mings had been the extremely quick cover defender which had enabled us to play high press. Knudsen wasn't quick enough to do this job, and nor were any of our other defenders.

So the strategy changed so that we would be the team who suckered others and hit them on the break. Fraser, Williams, Cellina and Lawrence were brought in to enable that, as you say injuries thwarted the strategy.

The problem with sitting deep with two banks of 4 was that we were perceived as one of the big teams in the Championship under Mick, and many teams were quite content to also play negatively against us, especially at Portman Road. Which then rendered the threat on the break less effective.

Mick McCarthy knows a lot more about football than I do, and his approach post the Play Off defeat may have been the most likely one to see us competing with the resources available. But boy, was it dull. Really, really dull. Whereas Stephen Hunt chasing defenders like a Jack Russell on the edge of their box and then laying it off to Murphy was great fun to watch.

I was bemused that nobody came in for Stephen Hunt, and that Anderson had to drop down a League having been the top assist-maker that season.


I know people look back to the halcyon days of MM, but you are right. It was dull, thin fare. MM made the most of the people he had, but funds starvation meant he was often taking punts on frees or small fees which was limiting. In 2014/15 we began to look like a decent side in and around Christmas. A particular home game I remember against Middlesbrough we played properly throughout. Hello I thought, we’re in here! I felt the boost of a Stewart-esq signing in Jan would have just refreshed it. As it was, the agricultural style ran out of gas. It was all too reliant on Murphy and McGoldrick making something of nothing.

After that season we became tedious beyond belief. In the autumn Brighton murdered us at home and for me it was a sign of things to come. MM got the best out of a lot of his players and would have got us promoted, but his football would have got slaughtered in the premier league as it did with Wolves and Sunderland.

Knudsen - I thought there was a player there. He was brave, good tackler, heck of a shot, good character. Yes, he made the odd mistake but I felt the criticism was OTT, because he wasn’t as good as his two predecessors.

The ‘proper blokes’ MM phrase just became a bit annoying after watching inept people like Douglas struggling round the field at home against dross.
[Post edited 21 Apr 2021 18:52]
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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 18:35 - Apr 21 with 438 viewswkj

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 16:52 - Apr 21 by Esseeja

I would NEVER let Jay Tabb or Jonathan Douglas into this side EVER again, I'm sorry but since when did this forum actually see something in Tabb? How!?


Hush your filthy mouth, heretic.

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 20:15 - Apr 21 with 415 viewsHipsterectomy

Put me in the camp of wondering why this group of random players is being celebrated. I also didn't get the Paul Anderson love in last night on the radio. He scored an equaliser in a game against our rivals which we got comfortably beat in overall lol.

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Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 20:50 - Apr 21 with 401 viewsChurchman

Remember a few years ago.. some of our fanbase mocked the ‘proper blokes’ on 20:15 - Apr 21 by Hipsterectomy

Put me in the camp of wondering why this group of random players is being celebrated. I also didn't get the Paul Anderson love in last night on the radio. He scored an equaliser in a game against our rivals which we got comfortably beat in overall lol.


Anderson sort of did a job for McCarthy and despite having the most appalling posture for a footballer, always tried. But he wasn’t great. League One standard for me.

I agree, while MM made the best of the bargain basement offerings, they weren’t great. The team had a good keeper in Bart, two decent centre halves, Murphy who was exceptional for a few seasons and McGoldrick who was one of the best footballers in the Championship. They held the team together. What a missed opportunity by Evans in not supporting MM better.

One of the best players at that time was Jonny Williams. He was exactly what we needed. What a shame he was made of glass and that Wolves animal smashed him.
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