| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road 13:41 - Nov 29 with 5852 views | BonneNIL |
That's what it felt like yesterday.
The enthusiasm of a new manager and ownership change, alongside a brand new "Championship" quality squad has pretty much evaporated and yet it's only November. Yesterday a massive cloud of negativity, disappointment, and disillusion hung over the crowd in a way we've not seen since the end of Mick as manager. The general feeling around the ground was pretty grim, people were tetchy, fed up, and to a point angry at what they were seeing. The win, which should have been something to celebrate felt much like a defeat after the final whistle, as we'd put together yet another frankly dismal display and against one of the worse teams in the league who can feel unlucky they didn't come away with something.
The question I raise is, given how bad yesterday felt, and talking to people during and after the game who felt much like that, will the new owners and Ashton be worrying? This isn't just about where we finish for them, the business revolves around keeping supporters happy, selling ST and shirts, and enthusing people to turn out. Ipswich supporters generally will accept a bad result if the game was fun and the football reasonable but yesterday the impression I got is the majority are fed up with the current situation and I can see a loss of ST numbers next season IF this continues. We won and people were still angry because we played poorly. There was nothing to get excited about outside of the wonder goal. We struggled to beat the bottom side at home and we looked bad doing it.
How much money are Gamechanger and their pension fund prepared to lose on this? They have spent £40mil on the club, a bought a raft of expensive players, and expensive contracts and there is absolutely nothing to show for it. This may be an unpopular opinion but had Lambert still been here, with the same squad we had last season we'd be a few places higher in the league because as a team they were just better than what Cook has put together here, and that's not me saying that we should have kept anyone or Lambert it's a sad fact about what is happening here.
Are they prepared to lose the 100mill plus Evans did? Because if they aren't they really should be looking to act, and fast before the goodwill evaporates and we're back down the gates of sub-12k and routinely losing £10mil a year. I don't think signing another boatload of players will fix this either, I think our managerial and coaching setup is failing the club and any investment outside of making changes there will be pouring money down the drain. |  |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:30 - Nov 29 with 1445 views | AlanG296 |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:00 - Nov 29 by tractorboy1978 |
It's pretty pathetic in my estimations though if fans take that view. This takeover is the best thing that has happened to us in two decades. We are a club on a massively upward curve over the next 5-10 years with or without Cook. |
The very least we can expect at home is hard work on and off the ball. Fact is they are outworked by opponents from top of the division to the bottom. The ease with which Crewe strung multiple passes together without challenge yesterday, including for the goal was obvious. And they weren't passes side to side like ours.
The fans and owners want us to be on a journey to better things. Too many players however look like by coming to Ipswich, getting better pay, playing in front of bigger crowds, playing with more skilled players, they've got better things already. There's no hunger, no drive, no intensity. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:31 - Nov 29 with 1435 views | Sawtrich |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:25 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
I don't think anyone that loves the club accepts failure easily. It hurts that we're still in the third tier. But at what point do you acknowledge our place in the pyramid and accept that it might take some time to build something sustainable with longevity and momentum?
Or do those shouting loudest just want us to become a Watford and change the manager every 12 months and wait for one to get lucky for a year? Then what? |
It's a tough call to make I understand but there's no guarantee of success either way. It's a question of is Cook the man for the job whether it's short or long term. As I said on another thread we appointed Cook assuming Richardson would join him. It looks like he misses him and his track record here without him is appalling. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:31 - Nov 29 with 1432 views | Fixed_It |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:23 - Nov 29 by abracaDOBRA_ |
Never understand when fans sitting in other stands have a pop at the SBR fans. They could always go in the SBR and sing themselves? |
Maybe they don't want to. But they were singing.
The SBR was very quiet yesterday though. And on Tuesday. |  |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:34 - Nov 29 with 1421 views | Fixed_It |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:29 - Nov 29 by thebooks |
Yes, strange point this. I had a season ticket in the SAR upper in the Hurst season and it was deadly quiet all the time. The SBR lower was always awesome from that end of the ground. I now sit in the SBR lower, and the support for Cook has been constant, apart from the last couple of games.
I’d find it fairly ironic – and frankly very surprising – if the first song from the SAR would be to slag off the SBR. |
In fairness, there is a group who sing fairly consistently up there these days. Not great in numbers, but you can't knock their enthusiasm. | |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:35 - Nov 29 with 1416 views | thebooks |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:30 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
Yes and the real world is that we were well-beaten by a Rotherham side that's kept faith with its manager for 4-5 seasons, largely kept a core squad together and maintained a clear identity all the way through. Heaven forbid a team that well-oiled would defeat a side still finding its feet. THAT'S the real world that exists. The one people wish existed is the one where this squad yielded 100 points and 100 goals, despite half-a-dozen of our new recruits not arriving until 3-4 games into the campaign. |
That’s because Rotherham have over-performed in the last 4-5 seasons, to the extent that we now see them as a better team than us.
If they were piddling around in mid-table League 2 Warne would have been sacked. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:36 - Nov 29 with 1415 views | portmanking |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:35 - Nov 29 by thebooks |
That’s because Rotherham have over-performed in the last 4-5 seasons, to the extent that we now see them as a better team than us.
If they were piddling around in mid-table League 2 Warne would have been sacked. |
But they are a better team than us? That's a very different thing to them being a better CLUB than us. We are clearly the bigger and better club, but need to build a team to boot. | | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:44 - Nov 29 with 1390 views | Fixed_It |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:27 - Nov 29 by blueboyd |
I think you will find the more annoyed fans are those that have been supporting for years, I have seen people be very pro cook and this is their first season as a ST holder. |
I'd say I am fairly pro-Cook and I suspect I have supported Town for longer than most on here because I am older than most. So not sure your theory stands. | |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:47 - Nov 29 with 1385 views | homer_123 |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:36 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
But they are a better team than us? That's a very different thing to them being a better CLUB than us. We are clearly the bigger and better club, but need to build a team to boot. |
Are Rotherham a 'better club' than Ipswich? Good question.
I'd say yes, as they are over-achieving and have done so for quite some time now.
Whereas, whilst we might be the bigger club - we have consistently under performed for how long now? I'd make them a better club than us, right now. |  |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:55 - Nov 29 with 1371 views | jayessess |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:30 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
Yes and the real world is that we were well-beaten by a Rotherham side that's kept faith with its manager for 4-5 seasons, largely kept a core squad together and maintained a clear identity all the way through. Heaven forbid a team that well-oiled would defeat a side still finding its feet. THAT'S the real world that exists. The one people wish existed is the one where this squad yielded 100 points and 100 goals, despite half-a-dozen of our new recruits not arriving until 3-4 games into the campaign. |
You're missing my point here. It doesn't matter whether you think people's expectations are realistic or not.
As it happens though, Rotherham didn't "keep faith" with Warne. Rotherham United are something like the 50th-55th biggest club in England, in terms of fanbase. Top half in L1 is par for them. During Paul Warne's tenure they've barely ever been beneath that "par" and usually much above it. If, relative to budget, Cook was performing as well as Warne did in his first full season he'd be under zero pressure right now. |  |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:01 - Nov 29 with 1354 views | BlueBadger |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:05 - Nov 29 by Yallop |
Worse than Lambert days? Sorry you must have been at a different ground to me. Similarly Sunderland away last week we were all buzzing in the stadium and we played some cracking stuff. |
It's Lambert repeating itself as tragedy AND comedy.
'Sure we're mid table in the third division, but the match day experience is better'. |  |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:05 - Nov 29 with 1346 views | Skip_Intro |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:30 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
Yes and the real world is that we were well-beaten by a Rotherham side that's kept faith with its manager for 4-5 seasons, largely kept a core squad together and maintained a clear identity all the way through. Heaven forbid a team that well-oiled would defeat a side still finding its feet. THAT'S the real world that exists. The one people wish existed is the one where this squad yielded 100 points and 100 goals, despite half-a-dozen of our new recruits not arriving until 3-4 games into the campaign. |
I don't think that it is unreasonable, given the investment made on and off the pitch, and a manager who has had almost 40 games in charge, to expect a 'real world' where we should;
- be showing some consistency on the pitch rather than consistently relying on individual moments of skill to beat poor teams with a fraction of our resources
- know our best team
- show some tactical flexibility when needed/have a plan b
- build on our wins and put together decent runs of results
- not look like we are set for a 4th season in the third tier
I don't think that anyone in their right mind expected 100 points and 100 goals, but to continue to accept mediocrity, poor game management (on and off the pitch) and huge inconsistency in performances, given the investments made, just makes no sense to me.
Something is not right. Last season it was the manager and the squad apparently. This season we need to give PC more time.
This squad is undoubtedly the best on paper in the division and yet under PC's leadership we have shown over almost half a season that we are a mid table team with nothing to suggest that we will string together the 5/6 game winning runs that we need to change that.
Yes we have got a couple of very good results - but so have most teams in this division. That's the nature of League One - the best teams put together consistent runs - and we do not seem to be capable of that.
That is the real world that we are living in - and frankly it's not good enough in my opinion. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:06 - Nov 29 with 1338 views | jayessess |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:01 - Nov 29 by BlueBadger |
It's Lambert repeating itself as tragedy AND comedy.
'Sure we're mid table in the third division, but the match day experience is better'. |
"all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice ... the first time as tragedy, the second as farce" | |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:09 - Nov 29 with 1324 views | BlueBadger |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:13 - Nov 29 by homer_123 |
"...we played some cracking stuff."
Agreed - can I ask though, how long do we go with the 'we're playing better football but our points total isn't increasing'? |
If Lambert is the benchmark, we should be awarding him a five year deal soon. | |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:16 - Nov 29 with 1315 views | BlueBadger |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 13:50 - Nov 29 by jayessess |
Yep.
I've always thought that the idea we can allow this season to be "transitional" was utterly delusional. It is very unlikely we can continue to be this poor and still have the fanbase on board for much longer. |
If we finish this season in the third division, we will lose a fair chunk of the playing squad as well and the myth of the 'long term build' will be laid bare. | |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:18 - Nov 29 with 1317 views | itfcjoe |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:25 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
I don't think anyone that loves the club accepts failure easily. It hurts that we're still in the third tier. But at what point do you acknowledge our place in the pyramid and accept that it might take some time to build something sustainable with longevity and momentum?
Or do those shouting loudest just want us to become a Watford and change the manager every 12 months and wait for one to get lucky for a year? Then what? |
You talk as though we are a Championship club with ambitions of over performing and getting to the PL.
We need to get out of this division ASAP, we can't build anything here, we won't be able to retain a squad - if we have to chop and change managers to get out of this league then so be it - the longer term build is what happens when we get out of this league |  |
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:38 - Nov 29 with 1285 views | lazyblue |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:03 - Nov 29 by Fixed_It |
I think the negativity of the SBR Stand is self-perpetuating to be honest. Even the group in SAR Upper were singing 'Can you hear the North Stand sing?' |
More fun in SAR upper than SBR as not so much negativity and away fans right next to us. | | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:40 - Nov 29 with 1274 views | Yallop |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:01 - Nov 29 by BlueBadger |
It's Lambert repeating itself as tragedy AND comedy.
'Sure we're mid table in the third division, but the match day experience is better'. |
We need to stop comparing him with Lambert. That's history.
We have given a proven multi promotion winner in this division 35 games and 1 transfer window thats all. It's a crazy approach to sack him now when we are on the whole playing decent stuff. We've been told that we will be active again in January in the market.
Let's at least give Cook a decent crack at the job. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:44 - Nov 29 with 1266 views | portmanking |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:18 - Nov 29 by itfcjoe |
You talk as though we are a Championship club with ambitions of over performing and getting to the PL.
We need to get out of this division ASAP, we can't build anything here, we won't be able to retain a squad - if we have to chop and change managers to get out of this league then so be it - the longer term build is what happens when we get out of this league |
We just won't get success without building something from the ground up. It just won't happen. The most successful sides at this level have had stability. They aren't your knee-jerk hire'em, fire'em types. There will be a core of this squad that remains for the next 2-3 years. Sure, one or two may need to be sold to balance the books, but they will be replaced by others of a similar ilk. We need to remember Evans is no longer the captain of this ship. | | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 16:07 - Nov 29 with 1241 views | Churchman |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:16 - Nov 29 by portmanking |
You just agreed that we played some cracking football at Sunderland.
To say we had an identity from the outset under Burley is hugely revisionist. In fact, we took quite some time to really see the fruits of Burley's labour - and several rounds of transfers too may I add.
There were times when Burley's teams would look good and deserve more points than they received, but we kept the faith that the tide would eventually turn. What's different now? |
There is a degree of looking through rose coloured spectacles at the Burley era and others. Some of it was turgid and frustrating to say the least. Nobody cheered when Dyer was flogged off because nobody knew at the time how much if any of it would be reinvested. Great days like Marshall’s stunning volley in a 2-0 win at Charlton are counteracted by the miserable play off display against them at the Valley a season later. Even in the promotion season we had a few miserable days, given the runaround by Norwich and a hiding by QPR to name just a couple.
As for somebody suggesting the Duncan years offered more hope, I have to disagree. I was there and they were largely awful. Hoofball badly done managed by a nice man that was beyond clueless in front of less than 10,000 miserable people. A couple of seasons of that took some stomaching.
A legacy from Robson’s time, theclub had a sort of identity throughout all that time and Burley’s team began to play to a pattern when Magilton, Holland and D Johnson got going with existing characters like Scowcroft, Naylor and R Wright. I liked that.
A chunk of this clubs identity was destroyed when it went bust. The rest was flushed down the pan by Evans and his bozos. I am sure things will improve for us. It all feels like early steps in a long journey for me. Cook is if necessary a dispensable part of the journey, but I hope they are clear sighted on who to replace him with. [Post edited 29 Nov 2021 16:08]
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| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:05 - Nov 29 with 1167 views | HighgateBlue |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:05 - Nov 29 by Yallop |
Worse than Lambert days? Sorry you must have been at a different ground to me. Similarly Sunderland away last week we were all buzzing in the stadium and we played some cracking stuff. |
It really depends what you want out of your football club. Is "some cracking stuff" and zero goals is good enough? Surely what's most important is getting enough results together to get us out of the third division, no?
The results are worse than under Lambert, and the money spent is very significantly more.
Cook must be the real PR Paul given how many are still in his corner with the results he's cooked up this season and last. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:29 - Nov 29 with 1140 views | gazzer1999 |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 14:05 - Nov 29 by Yallop |
Worse than Lambert days? Sorry you must have been at a different ground to me. Similarly Sunderland away last week we were all buzzing in the stadium and we played some cracking stuff. |
Buzzing and playing cracking stuff, Sunderland 2 ITFC 0. Yeah right. |  | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:38 - Nov 29 with 1129 views | Yallop |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:29 - Nov 29 by gazzer1999 |
Buzzing and playing cracking stuff, Sunderland 2 ITFC 0. Yeah right. |
If we are focusing on results only then there's no need to be concerned about yesterday. | | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:38 - Nov 29 with 1128 views | gazzer1999 |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 15:40 - Nov 29 by Yallop |
We need to stop comparing him with Lambert. That's history.
We have given a proven multi promotion winner in this division 35 games and 1 transfer window thats all. It's a crazy approach to sack him now when we are on the whole playing decent stuff. We've been told that we will be active again in January in the market.
Let's at least give Cook a decent crack at the job. |
One transfer window, what planet you on? he just signed 19 players in that one Sir Bobby never signed 19 players the whole time he was here. 19 and he can't get a tune, its abysmal and you know it, stop defending the indefensible. | | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:41 - Nov 29 with 1120 views | Yallop |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:38 - Nov 29 by gazzer1999 |
One transfer window, what planet you on? he just signed 19 players in that one Sir Bobby never signed 19 players the whole time he was here. 19 and he can't get a tune, its abysmal and you know it, stop defending the indefensible. |
How many did Mick sign? How many did Burley? I don't see how pointing at how many Sir Bobby signed as relevant.
He's had 35 games and one transfer window. That's a fact. | | | |
| A massive cloud is back hanging over Portman Road on 18:47 - Nov 29 with 1106 views | xrayspecs |
I think that is a total over-reaction.
This season has been frustrating and many fans will have hoped for us to have been at the top end of the division rather than where we are now.
I thought we were good at times yesterday and disjointed at other times. Had Chaplin, Bonne x2, Edwards taken decent chances, that could have been a four or five goal win.
I would also add that I have not enjoyed going to Town games as much I have this season for a long long time. And irrespective of where we finish in the division, we have had more memorable moments that most of the recent seasons combined.
Wycombe away
Portsmouth away
Doncaster at home
Last minute equalisers against Sheff W and Morecambe
Last minute winners against Fleetwood
That Celina goal
Bonne stalking the Sheff W keeper.
We are linked with and signing players who are better than those we have lost.
Rotherham aside, we could have won pretty much all of the League games we have played this season. I thought we were the better team against Oxford, Sunderland and certainly on a par with Plymouth. [Post edited 29 Nov 2021 18:51]
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