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Bishop: Everyone is Behind the Manager and Still Playing For Him and the Club
Friday, 19th Feb 2021 12:40

Teddy Bishop has confirmed that he and his team-mates remain solidly behind beleaguered Blues boss Paul Lambert, even if the vast majority of supporters have joined the call for him to be dismissed.

Town go into tomorrow’s home clash with Oxford United having won just one of their last six league games and amid growing dissent from fans who believe club owner Marcus Evans should be looking to replace Lambert at the earliest opportunity.

The inconsistency does back a lot further, of course, with Town only achieving five wins from their last 16 league games — or, put another way, collecting just 19 points from a possible 48. No matter how much you sugar-coat the stats it is form that indicates the current campaign looks like ending in disappointing fashion.

But Bishop is quick to defend Lambert, stating: “At the end of the day the manager can only say so much. When we cross that white line it’s about performances and ultimately the performances from the boys haven’t been good enough.

“Everyone is behind him and still playing for him and the club. We just want to turn this form around. The manager doesn’t play in the games so it’s about the 11 players on the field. To a man, the performances haven’t been good enough recently and we need to turn that around.”

Asked if the players were feeling the pressure and that was affecting their displays, Bishop added: “I can’t speak for everyone in the group but I suppose it is quite evident to see the confidence isn’t there and there is a lot of pressure at the moment. But personally, I feel confident at the moment and I’m ready to go.”

On the subject of fans’ feelings, Bishop continued: “I try to stay off social media really so I wouldn’t say I’m in touch with supporters. But you obviously hear a lot of the stuff that is going around and frustrations are understandably high at the moment.

“We shouldn’t be where we are — we’re a lot better than that — but the important thing is that there are still a lot of games left and we’re in a position where we can push for the play-offs.”

Bishop burst on to the first team scene at the start of the 2014/15 season but almost seven years later he has only managed to clock up a total of 114 senior appearances, due in the main to horrendous luck with injuries that have seen him spend long spells on the sidelines.

Now, with his 25th birthday on the horizon, he is one of the more senior members of a Town squad littered with younger, less experienced players. He laughed: “It’s funny because I never say that I’m still young — it comes from other people I suppose — but that’s just because I should have played a lot more games than I have done throughout my career.

“I am maybe a lot more experienced than some of the other players so I look to take that on to the field with me and try to lead a few of the lads.

“I do a lot more talking on the pitch these days than I ever did in the past. You could say I’ve found my voice and that comes with confidence. But there’s another kind of leadership that you can have and I felt it before I got injured this season.

“If we need something to happen, people will look to me. They will give me the ball and I’ll go and try to make something happen.

“That’s another way of leading and imposing myself on the game. I’ve never really doubted my ability, it’s just that there have been a lot of bumps in the road for me over the last few years. I believe in myself and I still believe I can be a really good player for the club.”


Photo: Matchday Images



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Wickets added 12:45 - Feb 19
Sorry Teddy and i am sure you mean well but that's a bit of a fib !
1

trncbluearmy added 12:45 - Feb 19
Teddy you are to good a player to feel you have to play silly games.
Should imagine Jackson(unlucky) and Nolan(deserves his punishment) may not agree

Just concentrate on being the best player at the club







1

positivity added 12:48 - Feb 19
not sure nolan, chambers, huws, jackson and donacien agree with you teddy!

however, any player put in this position has to say that, the alternative is being banished to the u-23s/left out/sent to fleetwood etc etc!
1

Coco added 12:48 - Feb 19
basically admitted he is out of touch.
2

arc added 12:50 - Feb 19
It's, what, five years since we spent a summer terrified that Liverpool or Arsenal were about to pay £10m for Teddy and steal away the player who was clearly our future? How sad it's been to watch his struggles since. Another player like Dean Bowditch and Byron Lawrence before him with such promise who couldn't quite get it together. False dawns. Sigh.
5

CrockerITFC added 12:52 - Feb 19
Sorry but Nolan was right, we're still in a pandemic, Lambert fully knows this unless he's overplaying his symptoms for sympathy. Nolan should not have travelled if he wasn't in the line-up.
-4

Ipswichbusiness added 12:59 - Feb 19
What do you expect a player to say to the media in this situation? He can hardly say the opposite!
5

SE1blue added 13:02 - Feb 19
I hate to doubt you Mr Bishop, but when the club now has an environment where it's 'say the wrong thing and you're with the U23s' or 'Tell them everything is OK and you play', these words seem barely believable right now.

The only reason the players should all be behind Lambert, is to physically push him out the door.
3

BeattiesBackPocket added 13:03 - Feb 19
I'd rather see you guys play for the ‘club' not all come off smiling and joking after an embarrassing defeat at home to the likes of Swindon town
2

BeattiesBackPocket added 13:03 - Feb 19
I also don't expect him to say anything differently and neither should he no matter who's in charge
5

Cheshire_Blue added 13:05 - Feb 19
Just what is the definition of 'the vast majority of Town supporters'. A handful of Keyboard warriors on TWTD ?
-4

BlueBadger added 13:08 - Feb 19
Do you reckon he said that with his fingers crossed and then went and had a shower and cleaned his teeth after saying that?
0

MonkeyAlan added 13:09 - Feb 19
Utter bollox. Or none of you lot would play so badly. Either that or you all are really sh!te.
3

Edmundo added 13:09 - Feb 19
Play for the badge, not the manager, Teddy, and we'll continue to support you. But not your manager or anyone above that. You are unfortunately playing for a club held hostage by a chancer.
2

DifferentGravy added 13:10 - Feb 19
Teddy...you are a good player.....just keep quiet, keep fit and get on with the game
2

Sixto6 added 13:10 - Feb 19
Really Teddy ? In that case you are all a lot worse than I thought !!!!
1

runningout added 13:14 - Feb 19
What a load of horse s*it. If this is players playing for manager they all need to look at themselves and choose another career.
2

jabberjackson added 13:15 - Feb 19
It's a shame he has been wheeled out by the PR machine at Ipswich, and told to lie
If everyone is right behind Lambert, then our problems are significantly worse than I thought
4

bluelodgeblue added 13:19 - Feb 19
Presumably he gets a bonus for spouting this tripe?
0

meekreech added 13:20 - Feb 19
True to say that it is down to the players once they have crossed the white lines but if they are not being coached or organised properly they will lose confidence and never play with any risk or passion, being worried about the reaction possible from the touchline and we know that can be vindictive. It needs a management team with a lot more empathy to instill a good mental state where they are allowed to use their own judgment not worry about the odd wrong call because it appears that they are afraid of making a mistake which leads to the pointless continual passing with no end product.
2

TB42 added 13:32 - Feb 19
I suppose the most obvious question here is if everybody is still behind the manager and playing for him, then why is that not really reflected in the team's performances ??
3

Bert added 13:46 - Feb 19
That's what the players allegedly felt about MM. Does this mean that players are loyal to their boss but blind to the reality of what the paying public are seeing in front of them ? I have generally felt that most of our players try hard but this season is different. There is a malaise amongst the troops and it has become too cosy when underperforming. Compare this to the last few games of our relegation from the Championship when the crowd saw a team that were already down but playing for their club and it's supporters. The 12th man can work both ways and currently it is serving to allow players to hide and be complacent. The Northampton game said more about attitude than anything else.



3

OldClactonBlue added 13:55 - Feb 19
God help us if he loses the dressing room then!
4

Pencilpete added 14:07 - Feb 19
actions speak louder than words and unfortunately the teams performances both the drab walking pace football and individuals stupidly getting themselves sent off are not the actions of a team behind their manager
0

tractorlad01 added 14:12 - Feb 19
Obviously he has to say this, what do you expect? Can't believe anyone's criticising Teddy for this.
3


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