Without a shadow of a doubt, we have a decent team this season. I like our team going forward- Sears, Fraser, McGoldrick, Pitman, Murphy, Maitland-Niles all have goals in them. However, McCarthy has missed a glaring problem with our team- the goalkeeper situation!! QPR signed Alex Smithies from Huddersfield for around 1.5m. The likes of Hull, Cardiff, Brighton, Wolves, Burnley, Brentford, Derby etc all have strong goalkeepers in place yet we sit with two distinctly average goalkeepers. Bialkowski and Gerken would slot into any League 1 team and look very good, and the bottom half of the Championship would probably welcome either of them. If we are to get promoted, we need our number 1 to know he is THE NUMBER 1!!I honestly don't think McCarthy knows who is better and that is because they are both error prone bang average keepers who do not show authority over their defence. We can score 80+ goals this season, but with these two between the sticks, we will concede at least 50 goals which just is not good enough.

My second issue is the standard of some of McCarthy's signings. I have seen Wolves sign Nathan Byrne for 1m (perfect fit at right back for Town); Fulham have signed Richard Stearman; Bristol City sign Nathan Baker and Liam Moore on loan. All of them have Championship quality. Ipswich sign a Polish bloke for £8,000!!! If you receive a combined £10-12m for two left back over 2 years, why are we not rolling the dice and just going for it!!!! Spend £2m on a rival quality defender like Fulham have done by stealing Stearman from Wolves. This commitment to Chambers and Smith is getting boring, and until we have defenders comfortable on the ball with a good goalkeeper behind them, we will come unstuck time and time again. A defence of Knudsen, Berra, Stearman and Byrne would have been quality accompanied by Dan Bentley from Southend in goal.

What I cannot complain about is the goals being scored. When we get Bru, Bishop. Murphy, Hyam etc back it will enhance the chances we create even further, and I firmly believe we will always have a chance of success due to our attacking flair amongst the squad.

I just wish Marcus Evans would recognise that Mick is the best manager we have had in a long time. Yes, he chucked cash towards Keane and Jewell but they were useless in the transfer market. Seeing an Australian winger as our final signing was slightly underwhelming when I see Derby buying Jacob Butterfield, Burnley getting Andre Gray, Boro getting Nugent or our next opponents Reading getting Vydra and Piazon. I honestly think we can compete against anyone in the league, but I also feel other clubs continue to be 2 steps ahead of us with their squads. I know certain teams are gambling and others have parachute payments, but surely selling a player for 8m could have led to a high profile player joining Ipswich permanently. Only time will tell if my points are valid. Believe me, I do hope I am completely wrong!!

Gutted to hear Stearman gone to Fulham, I can appreciate McCarthy not wanting to many players...Chambers, Berra, Smith and Yorwerth, but in my opinion Stearman's experience and versatility would have been valuable. I have no doubt he would of forced his way into starting 11, and strengthened the team in defence.
The manager gets paid for making tough decisions, the Stearman signing would of been one!

Come on really if you can't see we need a better goalkeeper then something is really wrong. They are both not good enough for a team aiming to get auto promotion as they will cost us sooo many points regardless how good the rest of the team is. Their indecisiveness and flapping at corners/crosses is plain to see as well as no communication to the back 4. How often do you hear either of them shouting at the defence... A top goalkeeper is what we need to complete the team MM has got together without one I think it will cost us.

The statement "some Polish bloke for £8,000" will bite YOU in the bum, gino88 :-) Malarczyk and Knudsen will be very prudent signings, you wait and see. Both have very good pedigrees, and will adapt and benefit from TC / MM 's training. No Balint Bajner there - Brus the pair ! I would say BOTH are high profile signings, just not from this country's perspective :-P

I have just looked at the photo at the top of this report and thought Mick was stroking a dog!

Johny Williams..........the new Dos Santos

@KBsSocks - couldn't agree with you more

........ don't think anyone could knock the squad in terms of numbers - however, a bit more quality wouldn't have gone amiss.

Stearman, and a good, adequate, Championship Goalkeeper would have been welcome additions, and raised hopes somewhat.

Generally feel we have too much of a muchness in terms of limited quality - and numbers alone may well not compensate.

Hope I'm proved wrong - but suspect not. Time - yet again, will tell ........... !!!!

......... won't please too many - but where is the quality Goalkeeping Coaching that we are alleged to have ..??

Haven't really seen too much improvement in the obvious failings of both our keepers to be honest - although Bart may still have the potential to improve.

Gerken has simply found his level - unless the Coaching is seriously failing him ........ !!!

@gino88, some valid points, although some may interpret your concerns as negativity. I think ' standard' is the wrong word, but I understand your worries when you see others Championship splashing vast amounts of money! The one stand out signing for me is Burnley's capture of Gray, this I believe will push Burnley into serious promotion contenders. I know people on here will shout me down, remarking we 'don't need any more strikers', but for me, when your club is pushing towards play-offs or higher, you can never have too many strikers. We don't know if Evans, or McCarthy, have or haven't decided to spend the sales of Mings, and Cresswell , but I just hope we don't trip at the last hurdle, through lack of extra quality.
When Gray entered the fray for Brentford against us in first game of season, for me, he turned the game upside down.

As far as a goalkeeper is concerned,I think Bart is "adequate" and likely to improve.
In fact the last game and a half that he played,he looked better than adequate.
Any goalkeeper that is better than Bart is unlikely to be for sale in any case.

Surely any player is for sale at the right price ? We should have gone for Amos from Man Utd on a free he will be a great keeper especially at this level . The issue is MM thinks the keepers and defence is ok as he has stated since the turn of the year when we repeatedly have let in weak goals and cost us loads of points . My back for would be a cheeky loan for Guzan ,Parr , Chambo , Berra , Knudsen

All this negativity after one defeat in 7 and 5 wins - God help us if we'd had a poor start.

Kirbmeister ........... it seems that you are one of far too many ITFC Supporters who feel that nothing should be questioned, and everyone should be happy with everything, at all times.

God help the Club if we were all like that. Never rest on the Laurels - is how it has to be, and continuous improvement is essential to be WINNERS.

It's not negativity it's people's opinions and predictions they will be proven right or wrong as the season progresses . Supporters said last season at Christmas the defence / keepers would cost us promotion and the wingers were not good enough , we were top then not negativity a prediction , we ended up scraping into playoffs and have since signed 4 wingers in the summer ? The points we have dropped this season are down to the defence pure and simple we have scored 2 or more in every game which should be enough for 3 points more than not

I'm sick of all this Gerken/Bialkowski bashing. They're both perfectly solid goalkeepers - can somebody remind me of one howling error any of them has made this season? Or even since they've signed, for that matter? I can't. All I ever hear is 'he could've done better there', which is a pretty vague criticism. Besides, no-one's going to have a perfect game. I remembered one bloke constantly bleating on about Bialkowski in every post he made and it seems everyone else is joining in, like some kind of feeding frenzy...


Gino88 - i'm surprised you got two ticks there, pal. It'a becoming tedious having to defend not spunking millions and millions of pounds on established 'names'. McCarthy's transfer dealings have been almost flawless up until now. He consistently unearths gems with minimum outlay. Tyrone Mings was some bloke from Chippenham, remember. You also say - in the next breath "why are we not rolling the dice and just going for it!!!!" It's that kind of recklessness that has caused us - and many others - a great deal of problems over the years...

blueboy1981 - are you familiar with the idea that negative things happen to negative people? If you keep looking for the worst in everything, you'll invariably find it. I have not seen one comment from you outside of these last few days in the wake of the Brighton defeat...

Warktheline - Andre Gray didn't "turn the game upside down", he latched on to one accidental hoof up the pitch. I would not swap Murphy, Sears, Pitman or McGoldrick for Gray, and certainly not 9 million quid...

Surco72 - cheeky loan for Brad Guzan..?! You mean, Aston Villa's starting goalkeeper..?! Good one mate. Maybe we could've swooped in and stolen De Gea off of Real Madrid an all...

manager at Villa doesn't like Guzan... Some that reckon our current keepers are solid obviously must have noticed a few disagreements.... I hope your right for sure :-/

Slambo. ... Villa have just spent big money on a keeper can't see Guzan who the manager doesn't rate staying as number one , also can't see a keeper of Guzan s age staying as a 2 ? But you obviously know more

As for keeper errors Gerks stayed on his line when an attacker was coming through leaving the whole goal to shoot at on Saturday for the first goal , basic keeping taught to keepers from the age of 7

Slambo ............ happy chappie - see it the way you please.

Just respect that others may see you, and like minded people - as the Negatives - because you expect little or nothing. Ever thought of that ... ???

Just stay happy fella - wherever it takes you.

The biggest issue right now is to get most of our players fit.
Using the Evans-McCarthy Scale of Transfer Fees Paid to Assets Sold, in order to afford £2m for Stearman they would have had to ship out McGoldrick for £10m, Sears for £9m, Bishop for £8m, Murphy for £6m, Bru for £4m, Parr for £4m, Emmanuel for £2m, and whatever they can realise for Oar, Malarczyk, Knudsen and Alabi. Some downward adjustments for lengths of contracts.
So on that basis, it's been a thankfully uneventful transfer deadline day.

"Slambo"- I can highlight a few examples of mistakes from the goalkeeper and defenders this season. Bialkowski against Brentford in the 96th minute wasn't great decision making, Smith and Chambers caught out with the ball over the top for Brentford's first goal, lack of defensive cohesion for the Preston goal, and then on Saturday, Gerken's positional sense for the 1st goal was poor whilst Chambers chased back like a carthorse, the second goal was a very good ball into the box but Gerken and the defence should have held their defensive line at least a few metres further forward in order to give Gerken more chance of seeing the inswinging ball, and then even for the 3rd goal Gerken's reactions to the header wasn't great. I am more than happy to delve into errors from last season too..... No top goalkeeper= falling short every time.

I can't see why anyone would want to sign johnny Williams! He's so injury prone, and we are playing with loads more width this year. I think our flair comes down both left and right. Mcg also looks to be finding form, something we didn't see last year. His work rate and link up play both Saturday and at donny was brilliant, far more productive than johnny Williams would be sitting behind the main striker(s). We were disjointed on sat, but Brighton were the best side I've seen us play this season (and seen every game home and away). I thought they looked really good. Was that a bit constructive? I see people just moan a lot usually!! ;)

Slambo, agree, I wouldn't spend 9 million on Gray, but many clubs, as we've seen, have or tried!
Slambo, disagree, I would most certainly swap Murphy and Pitman for Gray . Time will tell, but I predict now he scores plenty of goals this season for Burnley, and I also predict he will out score any Town striker this season. Your one line description of his contribution to our opening game is rather misleading.... You appear to have forgot how his pace instantly unsettled our back four!
My early point is this, I sincerely hope we don't miss out this season because we failed to land that extra bit of Championship class, that's all! The one thing that I am certain of is we have at least, in my opinion, the best Championship manager in the division , that in itself will take us a long way, as proved over the last 2-3 seasons.

Sadly this "bashing" of players has been an ongoing issue as long as I can remember over the years since the glory days. There have always been pockets of supporters who like to single out individual players. Currently it is Smith and whichever keeper is playing. Yes we are supporters and are entitled to opinions but if I was a player I would certainly avoid sections of this site. If your constantly told your rubbish at your job what happens, dented confidence and mistakes get made. The players mentioned are in key positions where mistakes are costly.

Also many forget we already operate at an average of approx £6m loss per season so investing large sums of money is out of our reach. Do many forget what happened to us 14 years ago? Some teams are currently gambling massively on their future with their spending this season, and if they dont go up they will be in dire straits. Do we want to go ba k to those days? Am not lacking ambition but have to be realistic. Currently MM and TC are working wonders with a smaller sustainable budget, compared to others, without the aid of parachute payments and with a mid table average attendence. Look at where we were 3 years ago! Let's be positive we have made a very good start winning 5 of our opening 7 games, a trip to Old Trafford. We have a squad with the best spirit and togetherness I have seen since the Burley days.
Lots to be positive about. Onwards and upwards COYB!!

Surco72 - what big money 'keeper have Villa signed, exactly..?! I see Guzan, Steer, Bunn and Watkins on their squad list on the BBC. Either way, Guzan's retained the starting 'keeper spot for the USA's upcoming friendlies, so an international number 1 aint going to sign for Ipswich (at least not yet), loan or otherwise...

Gino88 - Er, I wasn't referring to the defence, just the goalies! For your information, I do think the defending's been a bit slipshod, but I have faith that - with the current personnel - it will settle and regain confidence and performance. Back to goalkeeping issue: I dunno buh, I watched that Lua Lua goal again and he couldn't have placed that better if he'd picked it up and walked it into the net. And yes, maybe Gerken could've been a yard further off his line, but do you not see that these are tiny margins! So easy to point this stuff out in hindsight and almost impossible to really prepare against...

Blueboy1981 - you wheel out 'expectations' out all the time, as if if we aren't picking away at every little fault in the Ipswich side then we have low expectations! What do you expect, exactly? A competitive side, prudently managed - on and off the pitch - and a blossoming youth academy? BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE. I hate to tell you this buh, but Ipswich will never win the league again, or the UEFA cup, and are highly unlikely to win the FA cup - maybe it's you that needs to realign his expectations. And this isn't the fault of Ipswich - that's the fault of the FA for selling the English game down the river 23 fateful years ago. Why don't you put some of your energy and intelligence into lobbying the FA, the Premier League, the blessed government into reforming English football so that small, provincial clubs like Ipswich can have a crack at winning some proper silverware again...