YAWN!

Addition to above:Ok, we bought Marccus, but many of our acquisitions were bargain basement gems.

it is likely that other teams will strengthen for the push towards the end of the season. I doubt we have enough to stay in 6th spot after Xmas. It does seem that our club is happy with a top half finish and to be fair this is so much better than those seasons where we were on the brink of relegation. However, it is obviously frustrating as some of the players we have been getting in (Coke and Toure for example) are clearly not Championship standard. Toure looks like a classic League 1 player and as for Coke.....

i'm happy that we no longer flirt with relegation but can clearly see fans frustrations. We shouldn't be signing the likes of the named players above. It's only weakening our squad, not strengthening it. Regardless of what Milne has said I could see us selling Murphy, Bru, Bishop, Smith, Hyam for the right price. You can guarantee we will get in freebies or very, very low cost players to replace them too.

I just hope we somehow come 6th this season, win the play-offs and reinvest properly in the squad when we come back to the Championship (which we inevitably will). A season in the Premier League would do this club a great deal of good. It seems a very far-away dream but it could happen.

Think MM leaving would be potentially disastrous for the club too. Most of these players have been brought in with MM's tactics in mind. Another manager will try to change the way we play and with the players we have that could prove catastrophic. I can't see a new manager having much money to spend either. MM is the best man for the job at the moment.

If we are going to invest in a player I'd love to see us sign someone like Linus Wahlqvist (plays for IFK at right-back). He'd cost something in the region of 500k but would be well worth the money. At 19 years old, he'd be an investment for the future too. Give him a couple of seasons and he'll be worth much more than that. That would FINALLY allow Chambers to return to his real position and would allow defenders to rest once in a while. Piotr seems ok, but this guy seems built for the Championship and built for our style of football.

We need to strengthen if Bishop is not going to play this season , McG is lost to injury. Those are the clubs two most creative players ,players who can unlock a door , but their bodies can't cope with the McCarthy method of when you play for me you go to war. Natural talent is ruined by the demands he makes. Tragic.

Cyclone sears sounds better.

mm does need creative players,that does not suit his stlye. we made the play offs last year because murphy hit a gold spot.hard work and playing out of position is all we are ever going to get from this set up,along with frebies.
On the other hand ME has made great investment in this club,how ever you dress it up we owe him £80 million. I think what we have is what we are going to get for a long time to come. You younger lads will just have to lower your expectations.

Nobody's for sale? Well, our two attractive players are only here on loan anyway， so there is nothing to worry about...

I think we'll add a player this January.

Hunch.

We have just lost Connolly dirtyboy, so we do now have space in the first team squad.

Warktheline and your mates are you completely void of any humour.

Hi Have huge respect for the job MM has done, but there comes a time when ME has to start digging deeper? We have a team mainly made up with other peoples cast offs..... and they are cast offs for a reason . However a mixture of undoubted class and the team we currently have could still do the job. So time for ME to invest in a at least a couple of quality players.....otherwise I do see MM/TC moving on if the opportunity arises?

Guentchev - what would be the point of bringing someone of that ilk in. MM won't play him. How will we ever achieve the vision of a percentage from the academy if they will never get the chance to play - if they are decent they might go out on loan and never come back. I have a season ticket and support the academy but can't see any change happening. Even last season Kieron Dyer was saying about the potential in the academy but it's not coming out to the team. Giles and Coke are not good enough to help us compete for promotion. Knudsen does not offer enough often enough for this level either. His long throws offer no threat whatsoever and usually result in a counter attack by the opposition leading to a goal against us.

Ive supported Town since the 60s,seen some bad times but seen many a good one too,legendary managers and players..Pride guts,determination ,and ambition.The club is evolving,like everything else in life.UNFORTUNATELY,the proud Suffolk Punch is evolving into something more akin to Muffin the Mule.!.getting stuck in middle of road and no one with the carrot to get it moving forward .OK we are not fighting relegation,and MM [thats Mick Mc Carthy not'' Muffin Mule''] pulled us out of what looked like sure dive into league one,but things get very stale if mid table Championship football is the best we can hope for or all the club are happy with .

If we dont invest in January in at least one QUALITY player we aint going nowhere, simple as that.

We are so close but need that extra and if the manager or owner can not see that then they get what they deserve.

I think we have seen already Hull , Boro , Derby and Brighton pretty much control games against us - with afew decent stand out players - they will , I am sure be amongst the top 2 and play offs - so those final 2 places are where we seem to be pitching at - and it is a long list of contenders - if teams around us , invest in the January window and we just keep the same - I cannot see us making the play offs
Workmanlike players will not get us promoted - so the midfield is where we need to strengthen - Strikers are ok - we just get bossed in the middle of the park , by the 'better teams'
With Bishop injured , Hyam out , McGOLDRICK - Forever out - options are slim - so a goal scoring creative type would be welcome - we either look at loannee from a prem club or stick it on a struggling team like Bolton or Div one - George Moncur be worth a look a punt , I think Zac Clough is a decent striker . need some flair !

In our squad and when fully fit how many players do we have who are Premier League standard and who are at 'risk' of a PL club making an offer for?

I would say Bishop has the potential to be a good PL player
Maybe Berra, Sears and McGoldrick - when fully fit.

Thats it.

Boro and Derby have set the standard, to get out you need to spend! they are both a class above us that is plain to see, we as a club will just continue season after season being the also rans, we can get close but never close enough, last years play offs were a perfect example, yes we were there but totally outclassed by the other three! its sad to say that this year again we may get close to a play off but even if we get there its a pointless exercise apart from a few bob coming in, same old same old year after year!

If we are satisfied with a manager who will keep us safely in the championship then we definitely have the right man in McCarthy.

If we want a manager who might get us into the Premiership perhaps we have the manager who might do it.

If we want a manager who will get us into the Premiership and keep us there then we have the wrong manager and possibly the wrong owner.

I have just read through all the posts above and am a bit dismayed at how negative a lot of people are. Don't get me wrong I would love to see some £1million + players come in through the door and improve some of our weaker areas in the team. I would also love this to result in us being on par with Borough and the "top" teams in our league.

But the above withstanding is no one else happy with what MM is doing here? I mean he comes in turns around what is basically a relegation battling side and puts us back amongst the top 6-8, did we not spend quite a few seasons under Burley on the brink (in and about the play-offs). At which point I don't recall too many complaints apart from the few that kept on about Sheepshanks needing to spend more etc, I remember that time being a fairly good time for town.

The unfortunate reality is we are not owned by a sheik, we do not have a world dominating brand that we can rely on for income and our current owner is being careful with his money (who can blame him), he has brought in a manager who in my opinion is doing a damn fine job with the tools he has.

Would he like some big expensive players? Course he would, I think if you asked MM that he would probably call you a four letter word for stating the obvious, but based in the market in which he can trade (sub 100k players) I think he has build a pretty damn good team. Will we make the prem? Odds are against us I would say. Is it impossible? No, plenty of teams have made it with squads that perhaps shouldn't have. Is it good being back in this kind of place again (playoff contenders) you bet your rear it is and long may it continue (unless we do beat the odds).

Come on people enjoy what we have, don't concentrate on what we don't, we have been in a far worse place (a.k.a pre-MM era).

no essays please.. Stick to a few lines if poss.. What a load of tripe. If decent fee forwarded, they are off.. Can only see one player wanted at a good price, and he's not ours

Lets face it, this is a financial investment by ME. If he can keep the club for as long as possible, and he can get it ticking over each year whilst putting in the minimum, then he should be able to sell up at a big profit. I know we are not Man Utd, but you can see what is happening to the value of the clubs. If we get into the prem, it's the icing on the cake.

Beggars belief. The football is dreadful and half the squad aren't up to playing any other way. Far from being a good Manager, Mick is leaving us big problems for the future as Bish, Didsy, Bru and Sears aside (loanees excepted) due to and lack of ability, pace or both this team isn't capable of playing a progressive passing game capable of getting is promoted. Chambers could maybe do ok centrally and Knudsen may improve under a proper coach but we will need to recruit, or promote, a lot of players to get anywhere near the desired standard. Meanwhile, we will continue to churn out this rubbish on the pitch and he will continue to speak rubbish off it.

My goodness cannot believe Milnes comments have brought out so much outrage. We are 6th in the table have a really decent squad and a Manager and coach that are lauded by fans, particularly those of us who go to away games. Perhaps the anti brigade would like us to do a Bolton spend millions ands millions and still not make a return to the Premiership and are sinking fast in more ways than one. It seems I am in the minority on here and have to respect the opinions of others but are things really as bad as most of you portray. I accept the football is not the most attractive but what would you rather have, open attractive football and regularly lose or gritty hard working displays that gives us a chance of a top 6 place. I guarantee that if we make the play offs Portman Road will be near full for the home leg and no one will be complaining then. For me its all about winning however it is achieved that's why I go to watch Ipswich Town. MK Dons play lovely football as do Huddersfield Town to some extent - bet they would love to be where we are. As I say I respect the opinions of others which makes this forum so attractive, but we could do a lot worse than what we have at the moment.

I personally cannot stand listening to this man. Every year we hear players won't be sold, and although nobody will probably be sold in January, more than likely a player who has built reputation with us throughout the season will be sold in the summer. The reason we're going to have to settle with trying to get 6th every year is the simple fact of us not being able to afford to keep hold of our top players or bringing anybody with quality to replace them with, Knudsen not being anywhere near the same level as Cresswell & Mings, with the latter being a bit of a lucky buy from the lower league. Until we start getting some proper quality in to strengthen not just the starting 11, but the bench too then we will not be able to challenge for that top 2, with us having possibly our best chance in a decade last season.