Town boss Paul Cook admitted the Blues aren’t ready for the play-offs after a 3-0 defeat at Northampton realistically ended their hopes of a top-six place this season.

The defeat sees the Blues drop to 11th, five points off the play-offs with only four to play. They are without a win in five and a goal in 529 minutes of football.

Having lost 3-0 at AFC Wimbledon a week ago, manager Cook admits thoroughly disappointing Tuesday nights are becoming a habit.

“It’s just a normal one, isn’t it?” he said. “Again, there’ll be no criticism of the players from me now, we’re past all that.

“Our supporters don’t need to listen to me, what you’d consider an experienced manager coming in, I think that’s 12 games from me now. I’d have expected myself to do a lot better, irrespective of any player who has going on the pitch.

“The first level of criticism comes to me, to my staff. I don’t want the players getting any criticism. The fans have watched us for long enough now. The pain, the frustration’s been there for a period of time and eventually, after this season ends, hopefully they’ll see some signs in the club, whatever that looks like, of a positive future.”

Asked whether the players’ confidence is low as a result of the recent run, he said: “I just told the lads in there, you get one football career and sometimes when you play for clubs, the bigger clubs in every league, everyone raises their game to play you. That’s part of the good thing of playing for Ipswich, Portsmouth and Sunderland in this division.

“But it’s also a challenge because you become a big scalp and unfortunately for us, and I’m talking about under myself now, I’m not talking about under anyone else, it hasn’t been good enough. And I won’t be criticising the players tonight, I will shoulder that blame for them.”

When it was put to him that Town aren’t going to reach the play-offs this season, he conceded: “No, it’s not. We came away from home tonight and we started the game so, so well. We were bright, we looked effective. But, like I say to them, the first confidence [hit] or disappointment in games, we always get [affected by that] disappointment.

“As a young group of men, disappointment on the pitch is hard because, I’m talking about my time at Ipswich, no one else, you haven’t got many go-to moments where they’ve been in trouble and they’ve got out of it.

“You’ve gone and crossed the ball, we got in great areas tonight and our quality [was lacking]. But I’m not going to get drawn into aspects of the game.

“The plan for going forward is to be a lot better than we are today, and I’m talking about myself and the staff, I’m not talking about the players.”

What do you want to see from the final four games? “Play, just play. I thought we had a couple of great performances. I thought Andre Dozzell was excellent, I thought Gwion Edwards was as well. And that’s what we want to see as well.

“Again, I don’t want to tell you what’s going on in the dressing room, that’s not fair on the players that, but to manage clubs like ours, it’s a privilege, to play for the clubs it’s the same. But the supporters only want to hear that for so long.

“Unfortunately in transfer windows, you know what’s gone on in the last few weeks, it’s been a difficult time for everyone at the club.

“So let’s all, and from myself, let’s have a bit of manners and a bit of respect, let’s not make stupid, rash statements that people want to hear in football because I think as a sportsperson it’s got to hurt.

“And what you do is go away, let the hurt go to the bottom of your shoes and you do something about it.”

Quizzed on whether he might you look at one or two players over the course of the next few weeks who haven’t featured so far, Cook said: “I’m not going to speak like that. They’re painful these nights now, they really are. They hurt me deeply and I’m sure they hurt a lot of our supporters on iFollow and people who are passionately wanting us to make the play-offs.

“We’re not ready for the play-offs, are we? Let’s have the truth sometimes, the truth hurts a little bit.

“We’re going to be a club in massive transition now, and the quicker that transition starts the better.”

On Saturday Cook was pleased with the performance as Town drew 0-0 at Charlton but pointed out that a decent display has usually been followed by a disappointing one, and that proved to be the case.

“There’s not much to add,” he reflected. “Everyone watches everyone nowadays. If you watch us, you’d generally say we’re soft. Unfortunately that’s something I have to shoulder.

“If my team’s soft, if our team’s soft, that’s us. Ipswich Town Football Club’s a collective. When players go on the pitch they represent us all, I represent the town.

“And the fans know I’m hurting. The people who know me know me. People know me and my dressing rooms know I certainly won’t be throwing players under the bus, it’s not my style. What we’ve offered under me, I’m not talking about anyone else, hasn’t been good enough.”

Did Kane Vincent-Young’s miss early in the second half sum up the game? “I think Kane’s a really bright spark for us. The kid’s doing really well, it’s so pleasing to see. We want to have that athleticism in the team.

“At the end I’m thinking about taking him off because he’s played two games in a short space of time and I’m thinking about the bigger picture. But the bigger picture is you have to win football games and if you don’t win it hurts you deeply.

“As I say, I think we’ve said enough tonight in general, on the game. I thank everyone for the support, the support for the club’s constant, it’s there, so we’ve got to be better, myself included.”

Northampton manager Jon Brady was delighted with his side’s victory, which sees them stay 21st in the table.

“It was a good win," Brady told the Northampton Chronicle & Echo. "The two goals came from two set pieces and that was something we worked on in terms of trying to free up Pete [Kioso] in the box.

“The delivery was on point and he timed his arrival well and I thought it was a very strong performance in the first half.

“We stepped on when we needed to, we closed off lines and we got in a few times in the first half and we also had to weather a few little moments.

“We came out in the second half and we sunk too deep but that's the story of our season a little bit so we had to change our shape and that allowed us to press on a bit higher. I thought thereafter we looked a lot better and it was a good win for us.”

Photo: TWTD

Oldozblue added 00:20 - Apr 21 His inconsistency of messages about the players from demolition derby to the media being too negative along with his hi-pitched-squawking hardly inspires confidence. Sometimes saying less is more effective. A more astute person might have realised a play-off place was a remote possibility and concentrated on the longer term. Why continue to play loan players?
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Jollyblue added 00:21 - Apr 21 Honestly. Call yourselves supporters throwing a new manager under the bus after just a few games. You should be ashamed.
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Henrietta_R_Hippo added 02:21 - Apr 21 "THE PAUL SYNDROME"
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Henrietta_R_Hippo added 02:35 - Apr 21 So what do you think, simply a newly discovered syndrome then ehhh? Because how else to comprehend this, quote "proven" Mr. Cook's very abject & very whole scale performance failure, here, with any remote sense of logic that is (OTHER than "nearly all the players p.t. here are demonstratively lethargic & crap")? lol Why just of the top of my coconut I can personally think of a couple of much better known and more classic syndromes that most football fans should be able to relate to at some point of their fanhood: "Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome", "Bogart-Bacall Syndrome", "China Syndrome", "Delusional Misidentification Syndrome" , "Hero Worship Syndrome", "Irritable Male Syndrome", "Nice Guy Syndrome", "Sore Loser Syndrome" ...and of course in particular as Town fans the strange syndrome which stems from being held hostage, "Stockholm Syndrome". (Metaphorically speaking only obviously, as until recently this hostage taking being performed locally by the immensely football clueless, football indifferent & for many years now solely Scrooge-impersonating ownership of multi multi millionaire Marvelous Marcus. And as such imho some local fans clearly showed signs of Stockholm Syndrome, well since a unwavering number of them unfathomably still outright defended Evans and his dreaded failure ridden ownership here, all the way to the end?!) So again why not just lay back & mellow out, while conveniently boiling it all down to: **The Curse of Marvelous Marcus's Town & it's bugging PAUL SYNDROME** lol ??? .... .... NO? Well then check the following observations, please!: Cook, likable & non I-played-for-some-big-clubs-u-know mostly straight speaking proper bloke aside, HIS odd starting xi (still with loanees at this junction???) and HIS affinity for indefensible untimely substitutions are all included factually not playing any more motivated, more committed, nor importantly notably more TACTICAL WISE/EFFICIENT oh or more GOAL GRAPPING! under him Paul The IIII, than under Paul The III or Paul The II. On the contrary!!! Also finally I must stress 1) argumentatively, and otherwise, there should be no such thing as a periodically "Freewheeling Manager" in pro football (well with the lone exception & unless the team mathematically can neither gain promotion nor steer clear of relegation, as well as him clearly being labeled "interim" when appointed. 2) But worse the over simplistic continuously used argument here that Cook should be exempt from any and all criticism p.t. solely because quote "it's not his signed players" is not only seriously old, old as in archaic, by now imo ...but as whole doesn't really stand up as being great nor a scale-tipping one i any serious court room. In short, in pro business a boss's job & RESPONSIBILITY is largely to get the employers to "produce". And since it's not practically feasible to fire the entire work force/all employers, then for a new boss this, "producing", is NATURALLY expected to not at the very very least be merely at a similar rate (DOH!) but to be at a somewhat better rate! than the one who was just let go and he replaced. Period!

4

Smithy63 added 04:19 - Apr 21 This team has not been playing well since last year and started great at the beginning of the season then somehow pressed the destruct button. Hopefully we can get a couple of decent reliable goalscorers and a couple of decent shotstoppers(goalkeepers). Leave some of the ones out of contract at the end of the season out and put in some under 23's in their place as got nothing to play for apart from pride do to them like they did to judge bye ur finished here

1

bobble added 04:33 - Apr 21 too many pauls have caused us to peter out.
4

Letchworth_Blue added 06:58 - Apr 21 Edwards and Dozzell were excellent.....really?........that's the sort of cr8p shambert used to come out with.
1

stiffy501 added 07:39 - Apr 21 His assistant has just won 4 on the trot at Wigan and nearly got them safe, think we and Paul Cook need him here asap !!
2

dirtydingusmagee added 07:54 - Apr 21 It is strange and worrying that now even Paul Cook suddenly has lost the gift of the gab, and is starting to talk in riddles ,contradicting previous satements ect,He started out with all the positive talk, now he is almost incoherant and talking b#llocks, Sure the players are not worthy of a place at town ,but PC seems to be cracking up under the pressure already.

3

Barty added 08:07 - Apr 21 I am sorry to say that PC has not impressed me one bit so far and his record is appalling but he needs to be given a fair chance
2

docsavage52 added 08:13 - Apr 21 Let's hope with this massive clear out, that there are some decent players who will want to come to this dismal place at the moment. No good clearing out if you cannot get better in, saying that there are some decent pub team players around. Watching last night was like watching a walking football game, no energy at all. Can't understand how he saw that Dozzel was brilliant, may be as he is a master at getting booked and giving the ball away game after game. Not sure about Mr Cook.

2

TractorRob added 08:17 - Apr 21 The fact is that PC took over a team on the edge of the play offs and has presided over the worst set of results in the clubs league history.
3

GatesPerm added 08:19 - Apr 21 It's a good job that those calling for Cook to be sacked weren't about in the early Robson days otherwise we would never have had the best manager this club has had and one of the best managers this country has ever produced.
7

GatesPerm added 08:24 - Apr 21 Then again, their contemporaries probably were but they didn't have social media and could only express their views by writing to the Evening Star!
0

tractorboybig added 08:26 - Apr 21 yawn.................................probably because the manger has failed to do his job since he arrived. Still you can all dream......
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Bazza8564 added 08:27 - Apr 21 Play offs now out of reach, time to properly wield the axe. Hope we will see a younger side last four games and the old crew paid off and leave. Its pointless going over and over the old ground, Cookie is a good football man, but the wasting of time on players who have no future here is gone. Judgey was one of the better ones, so if hes gone its pretty much certain that the list of leavers is going to be long. Chambers, Skuse, Huws, Sears etc etc might as well leave now. We will have greater faith in PC if he takes action now and doesn't wait.....I want to see Nydam Lankester Baggott given the last four, and I promise not to switch off atfter 30 minutes like two of the last three games. Im sure im not alone.

0

Swoody added 08:37 - Apr 21 It dosent matter who is managing this team as the old saying goes you can not polish a turd!
4

bootneckspud added 08:42 - Apr 21 What's really scary is cook saying Dozzell was excellent😳 I must have been watching a different game.
1

cat added 08:57 - Apr 21 It's quite clear from the interview he has had a gut full of the players and cannot even be arsed to comment on them. Player power appears to have been an integral part of ITFC since the MM days and the ‘cosy' bunch probably realise their time is up. Interesting that he denied Captain Calamity is last chance of reaching 400 appearances this season by not putting him on last night, or maybe he's in his plans for next season?

3

martin587 added 09:17 - Apr 21 I'm convinced it's player power that's bringing this team down.You don't forget how to write overnight so how can this squad turn out dire performances every time they play a match.The sooner PC clears out almost every player the better and I certainly would not keep any on as backroom staff as that would be defeating the object.Maybe PC was a bit harsh too soon in his criticism but the truth had to be said so there's no point in crying over spilt milk.These players have had it too easy over the years and many are extremely unfit.PC may have tried many formations but the players are obviously too thick to understand.Given he gets the owners support and gets in the players he wants then I have full confidence in the club and PC a for next season.

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Michael101 added 09:22 - Apr 21 Your hurting the fans are hurting shame the players are not ,they don't give a toss. Off with there heads.
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SpiritOfJohn added 09:29 - Apr 21 Some managers are able to motivate a group of also-rans into becoming title-contenders and others are good at recruiting. PC is obviously not in the first category so let's pray he is in the second.
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Michael101 added 09:35 - Apr 21 Many years ago I learnt that if something hurts me I didn't do it AGAIN ,the player clearly and not hurting ,they don't give two sh#ts .
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ChrisFelix added 09:37 - Apr 21 I'm not surprised the goal keeping coach has left. Tallest keeper in the league who can't control his box. One positive was that Cook didn't become sentimental & give Calamity time against his first club.Read about a number of possible summer signings , playing in our league. All available free & hopefully this time wages will not be a problem
2

runningout added 10:24 - Apr 21 We've been laughing stock for 10 years plus. Getting beat in cups by lower league teams EVERY season was saying we were rotting and still are
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