| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here 13:59 - Feb 5 with 10657 views | SomethingBlue |
Look, we can't dress up the recent form and also the disappointment given that at one point there seemed at least a possibility we could run away with promotion. There are a lot of nerves and tension, sometimes weariness, I totally get it, they affect me as much as anyone. Not going to deny or excuse any of the current flaws we see.
But I think McKenna makes a fair point about not getting saddled with historical disappointments. That's difficult I know — it may be in many ways a new club but it's still Ipswich Town, who have by and large royally fcuked the last two decades in plain sight for most of us. But this is the first sign of choppy waters in just over a year of McKenna being here, a stormy patch in what is still a clear upwards trajectory from where we've been, and I think we need to stay loudly supportive and ride this out.
Even if we end up settling for play-offs — it won't be worse than that as we simply don't lose enough games to fall out of the pack — this is a very good team that I'd back to go the distance. Haven't been able to say that for a long time: the fact we can is significant and we need to channel it.
I'm not sure top two is over in any case. One encouragement: we are drawing stupid games but we're not generally losing them and it still feels to me as if we are a tweak or two, albeit with time running out, away from going on a run. I'll be very interested to see how things look in six weeks. For one thing, Plymouth's coming run of opponents are: Pompey, Oxford, Fleetwood, Posh, Charlton, Derby, Barnsley. It's similar to the awkwardness of our run around December. I would be very surprised if we do not make up some points on them over that time.
Bottom line for me is that such a tremendous difference has been made to the vibe around the whole club, and stadium, in the last year. Take the team out of it: we owe it to each other to keep it going, don't we? Whatever happens the end of this season is going to be huge, probably on a knife edge, and the stakes are undeniably pretty high — so let's give ourselves the best possible chance. It's far from over. |  |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:06 - Feb 6 with 2359 views | HalifaxBlue |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 15:16 - Feb 5 by FrimleyBlue |
Sorry but we're about to be taken over by a club who you could say was more of a 'new club' than we were in the summer
KM's had 3 transfer windows at this new club, the squad has had 8-10 mill spent on it, paying out championship wages.
Lambert messed up when we were top, but at least his excuse can be that he wasn't well backed, the club was a shambles etc
KM doesn't have that problem.
only 4 of the players who started yesturday weren't here when KM came into the club, just 4. So this new club bullux is strange.
The reason the ground is full at PR is because people have seen funding given, players purchased and good football, the belief that promotion will be achieved.
if it's not achieved, it won't be long before that new manager bounce has gone. It's just how football works and crowds will begin to drop. |
"KM's had 3 transfer windows at this new club, the squad has had 8-10 mill spent on it, paying out championship wages."
then three paragraphs later
"only 4 of the players who started yesturday weren't here when KM came into the club, just 4. So this new club bullux is strange."
You really are taking your contrarian character to it's extreme now aren't you. Quite the gymnast. |  |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:16 - Feb 6 with 2307 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:06 - Feb 6 by HalifaxBlue |
"KM's had 3 transfer windows at this new club, the squad has had 8-10 mill spent on it, paying out championship wages."
then three paragraphs later
"only 4 of the players who started yesturday weren't here when KM came into the club, just 4. So this new club bullux is strange."
You really are taking your contrarian character to it's extreme now aren't you. Quite the gymnast. |
Not sure what your point is.
He's spent millions adding to a squad he inherited which had already had millions spent on it.
Majority of the side had been here before KM arrived. So it's no its not a new club. |  |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:23 - Feb 6 with 2283 views | peterleeblue |
I blame that Charlton game.
I think a lot of belief sucked out of the team after that game. We need that outcome like a hole in the head. |  | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:33 - Feb 6 with 2256 views | positivity |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 17:32 - Feb 6 by StokieBlue |
Two points there GB:
1). He was calling me out on threads whilst I had him on ignore so I had to take him off to defend myself. In fact he lies or is disingenuous about my posting in virtually every response he makes.
2). The board is totally unusable with Frimleybot on ignore as many posters have pointed out in recent weeks.
Even now he's made an assertion about my posting that he is refusing to back up, just says "spreadsheet" and then sign's off "FB".
So I tried, take it up with him.
SB [Post edited 6 Feb 2023 17:35]
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re: 2) yes, the board's like swiss cheese with him on ignore.
still worth it though for my sanity! | |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:39 - Feb 6 with 2245 views | mrfixit426 |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:04 - Feb 6 by HalifaxBlue |
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that there are clear signs that things should improve under this manager, and under the previous manager the underlying numbers weren't much better than the poor performances.
If your analysis only goes as deep as looking at results, then a myopic view such as yours makes sense. But anyone watching can see that the struggles under McKenna are not the same as the struggles under Cook. |
Super post.
It's small margins at the moment. If ultimately that means we fail this season, then we have another crack next year. The club is moving in the right direction for the first time in twenty years.
You've also exposed the troll for either trolling, or not being particularly bright. My suspicion is he gets his football knowledge from a few successful seasons on Football Manager. Square pegs in square holes and other nonsense like that... [Post edited 6 Feb 2023 18:41]
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:59 - Feb 6 with 2179 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:04 - Feb 6 by HalifaxBlue |
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that there are clear signs that things should improve under this manager, and under the previous manager the underlying numbers weren't much better than the poor performances.
If your analysis only goes as deep as looking at results, then a myopic view such as yours makes sense. But anyone watching can see that the struggles under McKenna are not the same as the struggles under Cook. |
Which Is exactly why I've not said they are the same struggles.
What I'm referring to is those saying a bump in the road under a new regime. Its not a new regime. And the people who are using that as an excuse for negative results are the same who refused to accept the bumps in the road for the manager who actually was managing under a new regime. | |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 21:39 - Feb 6 with 2092 views | olimar |
This really helped to find a bit more of the positivity that I have been struggling to find over the last few days (and off and on in previous weeks!).
I think my overriding worry is if this style, or these players, or system etc have hit something of a glass ceiling (albeit one that isnt permanent).
Its a technical level of football that is very good and well regarded throughout the division (even if managers love to point out we are the best team for their own psychology), but does it require a technical level that L1 players arent necessarily able to keep up with for sustained periods? i.e. I look at our goals scored and they are dominated by smart one time finishes, often at the end of sweeping one touch moves. It needs a succession of quality to create the chance and then again to find the finish. Which we cant always find.
Equally, after Charlton, there was a concern that we had seen a few games where we hadnt quite got the result we should have done and that, at some point, would that start to influence the belief of the players in the system? Watching the games now, its hard to dismiss the thought that the players are no longer as confident that just being patient and keeping to the plan will get them the result. Because they have seen it infrequently doesnt or that they cant actually keep to that plan on demand, sometimes it just doesnt seem to work.
I hope that we beat Wednesday, get a follow up win over Bristol Rovers and that it reassures that this is simply a blip and, coupled with the new signings, we are back on track and will continue to improve further as the season continues. | | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 01:53 - Feb 7 with 1972 views | Vegtablue |
92nd in the football league.
I like the cut of your jibb, though I'm not sure what you mean by the first sign of choppy waters 😅! We've been a bottom half team in points accumulated over the last 3-8 matches and we've been outside the top six in the last 9-18 matches.
Annoyingly of the 92 teams in the football league, when it comes to either tasting a promotion or hitting the ceiling of the Premier League, we are 92nd by a distance. Admittedly Oldham had our number before they sank below the bottom, but now there is clear ocean between us and the other 91. No other fans in their mid 20s can say they've witnessed a lifetime of their local professional club failing to achieve like we are able to. A counter-argument would be that few other clubs can say they've witnessed as few emotional lows, but then we enter into conversations about whether it is better to have loved and lost or to have lived in a footballing bunker all one's life. Until the day that we stop extending our record in failure, through promotion or heaven forbid the Oldham route, there should be healthy acceptance that fans of our club are going to be more jaded than all the others.
As for me I'll continue to back the boys and believe the unbelievable, and I will reset to the more believable if I need to come May time, but I do so because I'm a glutton for punishment and an idiot. | | | |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 02:24 - Feb 7 with 1961 views | TheMoralMajority |
"92nd in the football league."
That is a seriously depressing stat. Thanks!  |  |
| ...but do signatures really work? |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 05:51 - Feb 7 with 1924 views | Ryorry |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 01:53 - Feb 7 by Vegtablue |
92nd in the football league.
I like the cut of your jibb, though I'm not sure what you mean by the first sign of choppy waters 😅! We've been a bottom half team in points accumulated over the last 3-8 matches and we've been outside the top six in the last 9-18 matches.
Annoyingly of the 92 teams in the football league, when it comes to either tasting a promotion or hitting the ceiling of the Premier League, we are 92nd by a distance. Admittedly Oldham had our number before they sank below the bottom, but now there is clear ocean between us and the other 91. No other fans in their mid 20s can say they've witnessed a lifetime of their local professional club failing to achieve like we are able to. A counter-argument would be that few other clubs can say they've witnessed as few emotional lows, but then we enter into conversations about whether it is better to have loved and lost or to have lived in a footballing bunker all one's life. Until the day that we stop extending our record in failure, through promotion or heaven forbid the Oldham route, there should be healthy acceptance that fans of our club are going to be more jaded than all the others.
As for me I'll continue to back the boys and believe the unbelievable, and I will reset to the more believable if I need to come May time, but I do so because I'm a glutton for punishment and an idiot. |
"Annoyingly of the 92 teams in the football league, when it comes to either tasting a promotion or hitting the ceiling of the Premier League, we are 92nd by a distance."
Eh? Sorry but you need to provide some stats before I'll believe that, given our history, incl promotion under Burley followed by our 5th in the Prem.
Unless you're referring to the Evans years alone of course, which would be seriously misleading. |  |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 06:37 - Feb 7 with 1877 views | bobbyramsey |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 05:51 - Feb 7 by Ryorry |
"Annoyingly of the 92 teams in the football league, when it comes to either tasting a promotion or hitting the ceiling of the Premier League, we are 92nd by a distance."
Eh? Sorry but you need to provide some stats before I'll believe that, given our history, incl promotion under Burley followed by our 5th in the Prem.
Unless you're referring to the Evans years alone of course, which would be seriously misleading. |
He mentions fans in their mid-twenties…… |  | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 06:45 - Feb 7 with 1873 views | Herbivore |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 02:24 - Feb 7 by TheMoralMajority |
"92nd in the football league."
That is a seriously depressing stat. Thanks! |
I'm not sure it's fully accurate. I can't recall Spurs or Everton winning promotion or a title over an even longer period than us for a start. It's quite possible it's true of the FL 72 to be fair, although I'm not going to depress myself by fact checking and realising it's right. |  |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:04 - Feb 7 with 1802 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 17:32 - Feb 6 by StokieBlue |
Two points there GB:
1). He was calling me out on threads whilst I had him on ignore so I had to take him off to defend myself. In fact he lies or is disingenuous about my posting in virtually every response he makes.
2). The board is totally unusable with Frimleybot on ignore as many posters have pointed out in recent weeks.
Even now he's made an assertion about my posting that he is refusing to back up, just says "spreadsheet" and then sign's off "FB".
So I tried, take it up with him.
SB [Post edited 6 Feb 2023 17:35]
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I'm at the point of giving up with this board now because he's absolutely ruined it IMO. You can't win - it's a choice of having an unreadable/unusable board or him spamming every thread with his child brain opinions.
I can't believe he's still on here but Blubfish got banned. | | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:21 - Feb 7 with 1777 views | mrfixit426 |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:04 - Feb 7 by tractorboy1978 |
I'm at the point of giving up with this board now because he's absolutely ruined it IMO. You can't win - it's a choice of having an unreadable/unusable board or him spamming every thread with his child brain opinions.
I can't believe he's still on here but Blubfish got banned. |
Yep I'm nearly done with checking in. Every thread is dominated by his over-simplified, childlike ranting. I'm really not interested in reading the views of someone whose knowledge of football is seemingly based on playing FIFA on a PlayStation.
I come here for football chat, not to read relentless, condescending, belly aching. | | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:30 - Feb 7 with 1748 views | Churchman |
An excellent and thought provoking OP.
The reality though is that while the club resource wise is top end of this awful league, the team is not. It is mid table. It’s not a blip or a dip in form or a stormy patch. It’s what we are. The season has been going six months and we’ve been mid table for the last three of those with no sign of improvement. Same good things, same weakness. We cannot hide behind a bit of fog for Saturdays’s result in what was a very important game.
I don’t think we are drawing stupid games. Professional teams with professional players are earning those results. They have worked out our frailty, taken advantage of their opportunities. Yes, we are better than a lot of these teams home and away, but you have to deliver. It’s what good teams like Wednesday and Plymouth do, in PAs case with far less resource.
I honestly thought with the players and support we have on and off the pitch we would challenge for the top two, possibly even run away with it. Maybe that was being over optimistic, but I don’t think so. Our good start to the season was deserved. We’ve not been good enough to sustain it.
I am not sure it’s about the fan base holding its nerve either. It wasn’t the fan base that collapsed at Charlton, Wednesday and in other games. The support here is excellent. Big numbers and patience compared to many others, especially after two decades of nothing bar one season.
It is the players who are underachieving and KM is accountable for that. It’s up to him, them and the coaching staff to sort it out. They have the capability. I am and always have been fully supportive of him. It was always a risk taking somebody for their first go at management but a far better option than a tired old retread. The last thing we need is a manager change. He will be good for us in my view. He seems a ‘good fit’. It sounds a cliche but he really does need time.
The club in two years has taken massive strides. I believe if Evans was still haunting the place, L2 would be our destination, if we weren’t there already. We were rotten to the core. That cannot completely change overnight, but it should be remembered that a remarkable amount has already been achieved. The club will fulfil its potential, even if the team blows out this season. [Post edited 7 Feb 2023 9:04]
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:38 - Feb 7 with 1730 views | SlippinJimmyJuan |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:33 - Feb 6 by positivity |
re: 2) yes, the board's like swiss cheese with him on ignore.
still worth it though for my sanity! |
I don't find it that bad, I don't see the endless stream of madness from them immediately following a result. That's the main thing for me.
You do see a lot of replies from other people to them, but I find it safe to assume that there is nothing worth reading hidden on that hyperlink. Even in my weaker moments where I have given in to my curiosity, I quickly back out because it's like swimming nude in a river of sewage with your mouth bewilderingly open. I don't know why people don't just ignore them and let them shout into the abyss. They clearly crave attention, which unfortunately I have just contributed to by writing this reply. | |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:47 - Feb 7 with 1699 views | benrhyddingblue |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 17:32 - Feb 6 by StokieBlue |
Two points there GB:
1). He was calling me out on threads whilst I had him on ignore so I had to take him off to defend myself. In fact he lies or is disingenuous about my posting in virtually every response he makes.
2). The board is totally unusable with Frimleybot on ignore as many posters have pointed out in recent weeks.
Even now he's made an assertion about my posting that he is refusing to back up, just says "spreadsheet" and then sign's off "FB".
So I tried, take it up with him.
SB [Post edited 6 Feb 2023 17:35]
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Totally agree with your second point. I have him on ignore but he posts so much that most threads, including this one, become impossible to follow. He’s still tedious even on ignore. | | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:48 - Feb 7 with 1694 views | patrickswell |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 18:39 - Feb 6 by mrfixit426 |
Super post.
It's small margins at the moment. If ultimately that means we fail this season, then we have another crack next year. The club is moving in the right direction for the first time in twenty years.
You've also exposed the troll for either trolling, or not being particularly bright. My suspicion is he gets his football knowledge from a few successful seasons on Football Manager. Square pegs in square holes and other nonsense like that... [Post edited 6 Feb 2023 18:41]
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The line about small margins is key I think. It's been a desperately disappointing last couple of months and I started mentally preparing myself for the play-off somewhere between Plymouth 's equaliser and Oxford's winner, but for all that, I think the improvements we need are only smal! ones. 4 defeats in 29 games is promotion winning form, but the lack of ruthlessness in sealing games or seeing out tight finishes is what has done for us lately.
But it can be rectified, and if we stay down, I think there's a good chance that we would do what Plymouth have done, next season. [Post edited 7 Feb 2023 8:55]
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:59 - Feb 7 with 1651 views | Churchman |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:47 - Feb 7 by benrhyddingblue |
Totally agree with your second point. I have him on ignore but he posts so much that most threads, including this one, become impossible to follow. He’s still tedious even on ignore. |
I just skim read those posts to keep the thread continuity, but basically ignore them and look for interesting views, such as the OP here and plenty of others. | | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 09:19 - Feb 7 with 1616 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 08:47 - Feb 7 by benrhyddingblue |
Totally agree with your second point. I have him on ignore but he posts so much that most threads, including this one, become impossible to follow. He’s still tedious even on ignore. |
An example of why it happens.
Stopped posting on this thread on 5th Feb.
Posters then begin to moan about said posts rather than discuss the OP themselves. Then moan when replies follow and the thread goes on to 2 more days of replies nothing to do with the OP. | |
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| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 09:28 - Feb 7 with 1605 views | Leaky |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 15:51 - Feb 5 by FrimleyBlue |
Jokes on you. You can't get radio commentary outside Suffolk. Good try though |
Strange I get Radio Suffolk here in west Cambs. |  | | |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 09:36 - Feb 7 with 1589 views | Whos_blue |
| Fanbase needs to hold its nerve here on 09:28 - Feb 7 by Leaky |
Strange I get Radio Suffolk here in west Cambs. |
On a good day, I can also just about pick up the FM signal just north of Cambridge.
Sadly just another example of unthought out statements may by some on here. |  |
| Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness. |
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