Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 16:24 - Feb 12 with 1333 views | SuperCoops | Found this old article: Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert has written an open letter to the club’s fans, thanking them for their support and urging them to back his side to the very end of their battle against relegation. To the Blue Army, On behalf of myself, my staff and the players, I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all the support you have given us over the last few months. The reception the players were given at the end of the game on Saturday was incredible but it isn’t just that, it’s the support you give us during the games and everything else as well. I saw some videos taken in the concourses of the stadium that have been going around, of supporters singing, and it just reminded me that this isn’t a normal situation at all. I think I know all the words to the song now which is brilliant and I couldn’t stop whistling it on Sunday morning! It’s not just that you are turning up in such good numbers but it’s the atmosphere you are generating yourselves in the stands. We want supporters to be able to come to the stadium and enjoy the football and, while we may not have got the results we wanted at certain times, we have hopefully made sure it is entertaining. The stadium never really empties before the end of games, which is always a good guide, and the atmosphere is incredible. Everybody here recognises that — the staff and the players too — and we are all so grateful. I’ve never known a crowd to be like this when their team is bottom of the league. Whether we’ve generated some of that or how it’s happened, I don’t know, but it is remarkable. When you have such a vibrant support behind a goal like we do in the North Stand it can be a like a magnet, trying to drag the ball in, and also can help keep it out, just like it did on Saturday. That is why we all ensure we go to the crowd and thank you for your support, because that’s important. The rapport between the player and fans is huge and that certainly helps us. This is us at the very bottom of the table. Goodness me, what will it be like if we were up at the top? If I wasn’t the manager here I would pay to watch a game from the stands. I’ve only been here a little over two months and the welcome me and my staff have been given has been incredible. When I first took the job I did wonder how it would go because of my time up the road in the past but I couldn’t be more grateful for the support me and my team have here. I love it here and it’s a great club. I remember watching the Middlesbrough game on television in October and thinking to myself ‘dear oh dear, everybody’s asleep’, but nobody can say that now. The one thing which stuck in my mind when I was watching the team from the stands at Millwall, just after I was appointed, was the supporters. I knew then that this wasn’t a normal situation. We were bottom of the table and the lads didn’t look like they would be going anywhere because they looked down and shot to pieces. They needed to be led somewhere. But the support was definitely there and we commented on it while watching the game because it blew us away. It’s just a matter of figuring out what could ignite it. I’ve met so many of the club’s legends and those meetings, with the likes of Matty Holland, George Burley, John Wark, Russell Osman, Mick Mills and Terry Butcher, have all been brilliant. It was great to hear what they think because Ipswich Town has a wonderful past and we should never, ever, forget that. I have met with some of the fan groups here at the training ground as well, including Blue Action and some of the drummers in the North Stand, and they have been brilliant. They pull everyone else along with them and have so much enthusiasm for the club. It’s not just the North Stand, of course, you can feel something growing all the way around the stadium. If I had paid £20 or £30 for a ticket then I would want to go in there and enjoy myself, enjoy the atmosphere and get into the emotion of it all. Regardless of what’s happened on the pitch I would make sure I had a good time and that’s exactly what you’ve done. I was fortunate enough to experience German football during my time at Dortmund and I’ve gone back there since and stood with their fans for games. The connection Ipswich have with Fortuna Dusseldorf is fantastic and it was great to see them here at the weekend. That’s a relationship we need to nurture further. We also need to do more with the younger generation and kids in schools. We have to get them involved in it and that is really important for this club. We want them to beg their mum and dad to bring them back. The beauty of Ipswich Town’s situation is that there is only one team in the town and I think the town needs the football club as much as the club needs the town. As a club we have to reconnect with you, the supporters, and it feels as if everybody is going the same way. We need you all because without the supporters we don’t have a game. Our aim was to try and bring everyone together and hopefully we have done that. We could not be more grateful for the support you have given us. All I’m asking now is for you to stay with us right until the end. What will happen, will happen, but it will be a great ride that’s for sure. Paul https://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/ipswich-town/ipswich-town-manager-paul-lambert-open How times change... | | | | |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:27 - Feb 12 with 1302 views | Bluefish | A great indicator or how he got a long contract though | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:44 - Feb 12 with 1247 views | marchy | Make no mistake, that's a great letter, whoever it was that wrote it. Unfortunately, that's all whoever wrote it's got. | | | |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:49 - Feb 12 with 1221 views | BlueBadger | And people wonder how he got the nickname 'PR Paul', not just here but at previous clubs as well. | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:56 - Feb 12 with 1200 views | Bluefish |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:49 - Feb 12 by BlueBadger | And people wonder how he got the nickname 'PR Paul', not just here but at previous clubs as well. |
FFS I thought I invented that | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:58 - Feb 12 with 1193 views | Fixed_It |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:56 - Feb 12 by Bluefish | FFS I thought I invented that |
You did. I suspect BB is making it up (although apologies if he isn't!). | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 17:38 - Feb 12 with 1134 views | BlueBadger |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 16:58 - Feb 12 by Fixed_It | You did. I suspect BB is making it up (although apologies if he isn't!). |
I'm sure I read somewhere that Stoke fans called him that, but I'm willing to admit I might have dreamt it. Although, I will definitely credit Fishers with 'FOPRP'. [Post edited 12 Feb 2021 17:42]
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 17:47 - Feb 12 with 1121 views | TractorCam | Such a shame, he did seem like a really decent guy then. | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 17:54 - Feb 12 with 1103 views | wkj |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 17:47 - Feb 12 by TractorCam | Such a shame, he did seem like a really decent guy then. |
He rocked up at a charity event in his first year here and he was very personable. He is a decent guy, but a terrible fit at our club. He's distancing himself from the media as he knows they're really the only ones that can put doubt in ME's head, which is quite smart in some ways. What we have here is a man who is grumpy, out of ideas and trapped in a corner. He knows the only thing that can salvage his reputation is success on the field as the PR card is well and truly spent. | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 18:02 - Feb 12 with 1085 views | BryanPlug | [content removed at owner's request] | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 18:43 - Feb 12 with 1035 views | TrumptonBlue | "If I wasn’t the manager here I would pay to watch a game from the stands." I look forward to bumping into him in the North Stand in August. | | | |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 18:51 - Feb 12 with 1024 views | BlueBadger |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 18:02 - Feb 12 by BryanPlug | [content removed at owner's request] |
Because, as I recall, the performances had 'improved'(we were still losing limply though) and the match day experience was 'better'(apparently people enjoyed watching us lose limply). | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 18:58 - Feb 12 with 1016 views | bobbyramsey | No wonder we all got sucked in.... | | | |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 19:01 - Feb 12 with 1003 views | BlueBadger |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 18:58 - Feb 12 by bobbyramsey | No wonder we all got sucked in.... |
Speak for yourself... | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 19:56 - Feb 12 with 966 views | strikalite | Cringe now at "Paul Lambert is a blue" song....fans were just so desperate for a bit of success.. | | | |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 20:13 - Feb 12 with 940 views | pointofblue |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 17:47 - Feb 12 by TractorCam | Such a shame, he did seem like a really decent guy then. |
Everyone can come across as decent whilst things are going well. It's when the chips are down that true colours show. | |
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Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 13:16 - Feb 13 with 807 views | SamWhiteUK | "Our aim was to try and bring everyone together and hopefully we have done that" Congratulations, you have, Paul. | | | |
Lambert's Letter to Fans - Jan 2019 on 13:36 - Feb 13 with 779 views | north_stand77 | Ah.....Dortmund. (Its a really, really big club don't cha know) | | | |
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