| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. 10:32 - Feb 22 with 976 views | bsw72 |
I’ve been watching Ipswich Town since before most of the keyboard warriors currently dismantling the manager on X were even born. 45+ years of this. Bobby Robson’s glory days, the UEFA Cup nights, the slow painful drift through the divisions, and the genuine disbelief when Kieran McKenna started putting something real together. I’ve seen enough cycles to know exactly how this goes and that knowledge doesn’t make it less frustrating, but it does make it easier to keep some perspective.
Here’s the thing about coming back down to the Championship with the squad we’ve retained and recruited. Yes, we should be pushing hard for an immediate return. Yes, the expectation is entirely reasonable given the quality that’s still in this group and the financial muscle that Premier League relegation actually provides through parachute payments. But I’ve sat through seasons in the third tier wondering if we’d ever find our way back to relevance, so I know how quickly things can unravel if you lose your head.
What genuinely concerns me more than the inconsistent results is the way it’s splitting the fan base. The expectation of dominance is understandable given what we’ve assembled, but football doesn’t work on paper and the Championship is exactly the kind of division that will punish complacency and expose any lack of cohesion. Some supporters seem to forget that plenty of well resourced sides have found this league an absolute graveyard for ambition.
The older hands among us have seen this cycle play out more times than we care to remember. Optimism, expectation, disappointment, recrimination, rebuilding. Repeat. What’s genuinely different this time, and I don’t say this lightly, is that for once we have real financial breathing room. Parachute payments, a squad with actual Premier League experience, and a manager who has already proven he can get this club moving in the right direction. That’s not nothing. That’s actually quite a lot compared to previous rebuilds I’ve lived through.
So yes, I’m frustrated that we’re not running away with it. Of course I am. With this squad and these resources the Championship should be there for the taking and anything less than automatic promotion would be a serious disappointment. But I’m also old enough to know that panic and division in the stands rarely helps anyone on the pitch, and that discarding faith in something with genuine foundations is how clubs end up going backwards rather than forwards.
McKenna has earned credit, nobody is disputing that, but there are real questions being asked now about whether he has the tactical flexibility to grind out a Championship title winning campaign when sides have had time to work him out. That’s a fair conversation to have. What tempers it though is the brutal reality of timing. Replacing a manager mid season in a division this unpredictable, with a squad that needs continuity and belief, is a gamble that has backfired on far better resourced clubs than ours. Sometimes the cure genuinely is worse than the disease. So the questions are legitimate, the frustration is justified, but pulling the trigger right now would want to be based on something more than a rough patch and some restless terraces.
Im bored of the infighting and name calling on here, come on you Blues. |  | | |  |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 10:38 - Feb 22 with 915 views | StokieBlue |
First line:
"I’ve been watching Ipswich Town since before most of the keyboard warriors"
Last line:
"Im bored of the infighting and name calling on here"
Whilst I agree with the sentiment it's not as easy as you make out as your own post shows. People will always disagree, some will be absolutely crazy in their views and analysis.
Most will be somewhere in the middle, fair criticism without overreaction. Yesterdays performance deserved criticism but calling for McKenna's head is obviously nonsensical at this point.
SB |  | | |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 10:41 - Feb 22 with 880 views | bsw72 |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 10:38 - Feb 22 by StokieBlue |
First line:
"I’ve been watching Ipswich Town since before most of the keyboard warriors"
Last line:
"Im bored of the infighting and name calling on here"
Whilst I agree with the sentiment it's not as easy as you make out as your own post shows. People will always disagree, some will be absolutely crazy in their views and analysis.
Most will be somewhere in the middle, fair criticism without overreaction. Yesterdays performance deserved criticism but calling for McKenna's head is obviously nonsensical at this point.
SB |
Trust me, I don’t think it’s easy but I am bored of it all. | | | |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 10:49 - Feb 22 with 823 views | darkhorse28 |
We’re probably a similar age. The issue is, Watford lose their heads every three seconds. And recently they’d spent 60% of a decade in the top flight.
You ca crumble when you panic. You can crumble when you think a manager is elite, give him £200 million and a contract worth more than even Barcelonas coach.., both are true.
There is no silver bullet. No recipe. You have to have elite execs and elite Mayer and coaches to be elite.., there is no compromise, and the prism of results doesn’t filter for romance, or how anyone feels.
This is 70 odd games, it’s it form and over 4 years it’s obvious where we are.
Two great people at the right time in Mark and KM who built a better culture, with better outcomes.., perfect.
Also. Not elite, and never was, it was just good for the level. If we want to progress, they simply aren’t good enough, and it’s obvious one never will be, based on 35 years of evidence!!!
We won’t be sing any decision soon, and we shouldn’t, we are committed, 100% to this journey.
But you better get in board with change (eventually) if we want to be elite or at least established at the level above.., why shouldn’t we compete with Brighton Bournemouth and Brentford. They were 4th tier very recently!!
The excuses to not make difficult decisions is why we are standing here.., we’ve probably never been worse relative to resources, that’s harsh, but it’s true!
Change is a risk.., and this isn’t the time.., when he agreed to join Brighton - that 100% WAS the time.
If we don’t up at paid more than our annual TV revenue. He 100% is leaving and we’ll welcome it as a club.
If Ashton is still here.., then i’ll be worried. |  | | |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 11:00 - Feb 22 with 800 views | bluebud |
Sorry, I switched off after "keyboard warrior" in your first line. Yes you may have supported us longer than most but that doesn't guarantee you know more or better than anyone else - regardless of how they support the club and your opinion of that.
What genuinely concerns you, so you said, is the division in the fanbase. Remarkable as your first point was slagging off a huge portion of the fanbase. Though you're bored of the infighting!
Slagging keyboard warriors off while posting on an internet forum. Yeah, ok bro. |  | | |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 11:13 - Feb 22 with 764 views | bsw72 |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 11:00 - Feb 22 by bluebud |
Sorry, I switched off after "keyboard warrior" in your first line. Yes you may have supported us longer than most but that doesn't guarantee you know more or better than anyone else - regardless of how they support the club and your opinion of that.
What genuinely concerns you, so you said, is the division in the fanbase. Remarkable as your first point was slagging off a huge portion of the fanbase. Though you're bored of the infighting!
Slagging keyboard warriors off while posting on an internet forum. Yeah, ok bro. |
Impressive that you switched off at the first line yet somehow managed to read, analyse and respond to the entire piece. That’s quite a skill.
For the record, I didn’t slag off keyboard warriors, I used the phrase to establish context around the noise that surrounds any club going through a difficult spell. If you read that as a personal attack rather than a general observation, that says more about how you approached it than what was actually written. I also didn’t criticise how anyone supports the club. That’s entirely your own addition.
As for the irony point about posting on a forum, yes, noted, though I’d suggest there’s a fairly obvious difference between posting a considered opinion and spending your afternoon aggressively misreading other people’s.
The fact that your entire response was about tone rather than anything I actually said is, if nothing else, a reasonable illustration of exactly the kind of thing I was writing about. You’ve made my point for me more effectively than I did. Thank you. Bro. | | | |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 11:19 - Feb 22 with 734 views | sotd78 |
I'm with you. But then at 67 I've also seen what you've seen. I fear that those who want at it all yesterday won't concur. |  |
| Blue shirts/white shorts - sotd78 |
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| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 12:00 - Feb 22 with 656 views | bluebud |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 11:13 - Feb 22 by bsw72 |
Impressive that you switched off at the first line yet somehow managed to read, analyse and respond to the entire piece. That’s quite a skill.
For the record, I didn’t slag off keyboard warriors, I used the phrase to establish context around the noise that surrounds any club going through a difficult spell. If you read that as a personal attack rather than a general observation, that says more about how you approached it than what was actually written. I also didn’t criticise how anyone supports the club. That’s entirely your own addition.
As for the irony point about posting on a forum, yes, noted, though I’d suggest there’s a fairly obvious difference between posting a considered opinion and spending your afternoon aggressively misreading other people’s.
The fact that your entire response was about tone rather than anything I actually said is, if nothing else, a reasonable illustration of exactly the kind of thing I was writing about. You’ve made my point for me more effectively than I did. Thank you. Bro. |
Thanks for the cope......bro.
What you did is try and legitimise your opinion (before even giving it - very manipulative) over everyone else by denigrating them as keyboard warriors, while not having the self awareness that you're using a keyboard and that you are now, since answering my initial post to you, coming across as a real keyboard warrior:-) [Post edited 22 Feb 12:01]
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| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 12:31 - Feb 22 with 560 views | bsw72 |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 12:00 - Feb 22 by bluebud |
Thanks for the cope......bro.
What you did is try and legitimise your opinion (before even giving it - very manipulative) over everyone else by denigrating them as keyboard warriors, while not having the self awareness that you're using a keyboard and that you are now, since answering my initial post to you, coming across as a real keyboard warrior:-) [Post edited 22 Feb 12:01]
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Manipulative is a strong accusation. Using personal experience as context for an opinion isn’t manipulation, it’s called framing. Every opinion piece does it. The difference between establishing credibility and denigrating others is one you seem determined not to acknowledge because it’s more convenient to be offended.
The keyboard warrior point is genuinely weak and you know it. The term refers to a specific type of aggressive online behaviour, not anyone who types. By that logic every journalist, author and anyone who has ever written anything is a keyboard warrior. I’ll leave you to work out why that doesn’t hold up.
As for me becoming a keyboard warrior by responding to you, that’s a neat little trap isn’t it. Respond and you’re proving their point, don’t respond and they claim victory. It’s a classic bad faith move and not a particularly sophisticated one. You came looking for an argument with someone who wrote about fans arguing. The self awareness point cuts both ways.
I had no intention of getting dragged into this and genuinely didn’t want to, but when a response so comprehensively misses the point, twice over, I felt I had to address it. I also fully realise that’s probably pointless, which in itself rather proves the original point nicely. | | | |
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| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 16:46 - Feb 22 with 423 views | TheBlueGnu |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 12:31 - Feb 22 by bsw72 |
Manipulative is a strong accusation. Using personal experience as context for an opinion isn’t manipulation, it’s called framing. Every opinion piece does it. The difference between establishing credibility and denigrating others is one you seem determined not to acknowledge because it’s more convenient to be offended.
The keyboard warrior point is genuinely weak and you know it. The term refers to a specific type of aggressive online behaviour, not anyone who types. By that logic every journalist, author and anyone who has ever written anything is a keyboard warrior. I’ll leave you to work out why that doesn’t hold up.
As for me becoming a keyboard warrior by responding to you, that’s a neat little trap isn’t it. Respond and you’re proving their point, don’t respond and they claim victory. It’s a classic bad faith move and not a particularly sophisticated one. You came looking for an argument with someone who wrote about fans arguing. The self awareness point cuts both ways.
I had no intention of getting dragged into this and genuinely didn’t want to, but when a response so comprehensively misses the point, twice over, I felt I had to address it. I also fully realise that’s probably pointless, which in itself rather proves the original point nicely. |
what the heck is this all about ? !!!! [Post edited 22 Feb 16:47]
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| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 17:06 - Feb 22 with 383 views | backwaywhen |
What a perfectly well balanced post , nail on head , I also think the entitlement of some fans that think they know better and more than our management team beggars belief.
Just imagine putting those bedwetters in front of our squad on Monday morning and asking them to put their thoughts and ideas to the squad for our next fixture…. They simply wouldn’t know where to start , yet they knock and berate the players and manager after a poor performance.
How about letting them put things right without some of the absolute laughable negativity on here.
Uppa Towen. | | | |
| Maybe pragmatic, maybe romantic nonsense. You decide. on 20:01 - Feb 22 with 262 views | armchaircritic59 |
Rather like me, I think I was in before keyboards as we know them actually existed! 1963 to be exact. I will say today what I would have said back then. There's nothing wrong with some non abusive criticism. Just as equally, praise should be given when warranted too. Also what remains constant is players should be seen to be giving 100% everytime they pull on an ITFC shirt, not mostly or sometimes. Todays players are paid a kings ransome compared to yesteryears, they should be held accountable if neccessary.
As for managers, well as we know, like owners, they come and go, but usually more so. In KM's case, he had enough in the bank as far as I'm concerned to earn another crack at the Championship this season. If we don't get promotion this time, it's a certainty there will be recriminations, exactly what of course, I don't know, but have a fair idea.
He's got a very long way to go to match the feats of the " Sirs ", and even to equal GB. Some will no doubt be quick to say, it was easier to finish in a European qualifying place in the PL then. I say not, you can be near mid table these days, which is a joke.
What will be will be, one things for certain, ITFC will still survive, and the one thing constant that never changes, supporters will still support, in their sometimes very different ways! | | | |
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