Despite Town's miserable start to the new season new boy Wes Burns remains in confident mood and has even insisted: “We can still win the league.”

The Blues are sitting in 22nd place in League One without a win in any of their six league games this season and have also lost in both the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy, making it eight outings without a victory.

Tuesday night’s 2-1 home defeat to West Ham’s U21 side was the latest setback for manager Paul Cook as he looks to find the winning formula that his much-changed side have been unable to find so far this term.

But ex-Fleetwood player Burns, 26, is confident that better times are ahead. He knows the longer Town have to wait to record their much-need first win of the season, the more likely fans are to air their frustration, as some did after Saturday’s 5-2 hammering by Bolton at Portman Road.

Burns said: “As a team we may be lacking a bit of confidence but with the calibre of player that we’ve brought in this summer we are still looking for our first win.

“I’ve said it myself in the dressing room and I’ve said it to the coaches as well — we just need a game where we might not play particularly well and it’s not a great game either, but we score a scruffy goal in the 90th minute and we go away with a 1-0 win.

“That’s the type of result that we need at the moment to kick-start our season. We have not won in eight games now, including the cup games, and Tuesday night was very disappointing.

“In terms of the confidence, we all know we have the quality of players to go on and win this league if we can sort out the problems that we do have.”

Cardiff-born Burns, a Welsh U21 international, was the first of Cook’s 19 signings in the summer transfer window, arriving in early June. He added: “I was the first one through the door and at the time the squad was very thin. When I first came into training there were only six, seven or eight of us in there and that was including players from last year.

“At the time, looking around, we were very thin on the ground. But the project that was described to me by the manager and Mark Ashton, when they got in touch with me over the summer, was really a no-brainer for me. I wanted to be a part of what they were building.

“It was a transfer window like no other for the club. Like I said, when I came in for the first couple of weeks there was only a handful of us and we couldn’t really put on proper football technical sessions because of the lack of numbers.

“We were drafting in younger players from the U23s to bolster the numbers so it was also a pre-season like no other as far as I was concerned.

“It was very strange because week by week we were adding new faces — one here, a couple there — and it was constant like that until the window closed at the end of last month.

“A new face would appear from time and it was like a breath of fresh air as we saw the squad taking shape. As the weeks went by the squad was going from strength to strength as each signing was made.

“It was literally a case of going from one day to the next virtually knowing another new player would be coming in. We were all in the same boat, not knowing the area and trying to find places to live, so that made it easier for the players to bed themselves in.

“We were all going out for food and coffees together, chatting away and comparing notes on how we were getting on with finding the best places to live in the area.

“The fact that we were all total strangers in unfamiliar surroundings seemed to make the settling-in process that bit easier.

“It’s still an ongoing process and each house that comes on the market is proving to be of interest to a lot of the lads. We can all see each other refreshing the estate agents’ websites to try to be first with the latest news on what’s available.

“We’ve even been to view some of the same houses. People are coming into the dressing room saying they went to view a house and the other guys are all asking where it was. When they hear its location there are lads saying ‘Yes, I went to see that one’ and stuff like that. It’s been a bit of fun at times.”

Photo: Matchday Images

BaddowBlue1 added 10:34 - Sep 16 One game at a time, lets grind out a WIN first and take it from there!
9

Suffolkboy added 10:39 - Sep 16 COME ON THEN! Find the conviction on the pitch , epitomise the ‘excitement ‘ of the new start and a new home by getting together over a game of football ,as well as a cup of coffee ! We ARE WAITING and expecting ! COYB
7

BlueBlood90 added 10:47 - Sep 16 Lets just worry about winning a game before we talk about being champions.
12

chepstowblue added 10:54 - Sep 16 I actually think the same, although we're also certainly capable of relegation as well. I'll stick with my pre season prediction of 8th. Defeat at Lincoln on saturday and in my head I'll be writing them off.
0

inghamspur added 11:08 - Sep 16 Stranger things have happened but not with this manager, Wes. Hirst had a similar start to his reign and was moved on. PC has had the same start to this season and we cannot ignore the fact that he only won 4 games since he took over last season, when we were sitting 5th and ended up 9th!! I thought he was a good appointment and thought he would do well, but there is no smoke without fire and his record is there for all to see.

7

Rootshall91 added 11:19 - Sep 16 But really? I hope it happens but it sounds a bit deluded given the current circumstances.
4

tractorboybig added 11:25 - Sep 16 cook is rolling them out now. bit like clutching at straws
2

SpiritOfJohn added 11:30 - Sep 16 It's mathematically possible, but unlikely unless we go on a long winning run that starts soon. Meanwhile, back in the real world I like Burns going forward, but does he have any defensive responsibilities and when will he be fit enough to play for 90 minutes?
6

raycrawfordswig added 11:30 - Sep 16 Don't know how much patience the owners have got it's their final decision about cook it comes down to them even if the crowd turns.
3

Linkboy13 added 11:35 - Sep 16 I was all for Paul Cook when he was appointed but i did not realise he relied so heavily on his coach Liam Richardson. The system he is playing is proving to difficult for the players to grasp and would be more beneficial if he changed to a simpler 4411 or 442 . Burns has been excellent and looks a championship player to me. Bonne also has shown the attitude and desire that most of the other players have not shown if we are to get out of this league. Evans has not shown the passion and drive to be a captain for me and im not sure if he's worth his place in the team unless they change to a four man midfield.

2

Monkey_Blue added 11:38 - Sep 16 He's trotting out the idea in the other bit on here that Morsy and Celina are the key….. what If we hadn't signed them? Would Cook and his players all be saying we've not signed enough players and these results will continue? I tend to take most player interviews with a pinch of salt as they are just saying mainly what they think the club needs them to say.
4

Kirbmeister added 11:39 - Sep 16 Hull won the league last season with 89 points. To get that we would need 86 points from 40 games. 2.15 points per game. Is that possible with this team? Not a hope in hell.
2

juniorblue added 11:40 - Sep 16 Which league is he referring to? All the players need to start showing it on the pitch, rather than issuing these grand statements.
2

Cakeman added 11:46 - Sep 16 Some very sensible comments from Wes. Yes it's probably a very long shot for us to win the league but his desire to achieve it must never be dampened. Who knows it might just happen. His comments regarding him see the squad build from scratch are very valid and it must have been exceptionally strange for him being the first one in the building. It is only a couple of weeks ago that we got our final additions. There is no way all nineteen newcomers could possibly get to know each other let alone build an understanding on the pitch. I'm as hacked off as anyone with our start but we must give it time. I'm not sure about winning the league but I do think we will get promoted. No I haven't been drinking unless they have been putting some strong stuff in the Portman pies!

6

dirtydingusmagee added 11:47 - Sep 16 OK Wes, you may think so, but its very very unlikely, and unless things turn around very soon and we can put a run of wins together we will be hard pressed to make playoffs. We should be making our case, making our luck, but will end up relying on others results to go our way as usual .Cook says a lot, but its all wind , the team selection for the cups has been blindingly awful ,when he claims we need the team to gel .Twice now he has blown a chance.

1

Billysherlockblue added 12:08 - Sep 16 A lot of spin to buy time for cook. Ill give to xmas as i believe cook deserves his chance . However the club needs to come out and support him and assign him a no 2 for tactical conversations. The players need to press and play for the shirt. It is a bad start to the season but there are good players here with the right system. My opinion is 433 firstly. This would help evans and harper with morsey to come in. Cook needs to change it up for Saturday as Lincoln know all ready what cook is going to do 4231. Lets not get too carried away yet although we as fans are sick of it all. Super blues forever 💙

0

Oldboy added 12:11 - Sep 16 I think we can still get promoted, but win the league, no.
1

runningout added 12:14 - Sep 16 Great ethics from Wes Burns.. I'll love this topsy turvy club wherever we end up. Sad but true
1

TimmyH added 12:21 - Sep 16 Not a chance...it's a long old season though and we have 40 games still to play and Blackpool made the play-offs after a poor start. There really isn't that much between a lot of the teams in this league and a consistent run can soon shoot you upwards but currently and particularly with our defence it looks unattainable but I wouldn't rule out the play-offs if and it's a big if we start to find some form.

1

cat added 12:54 - Sep 16 Whether we can win the league or not time will tell, but one things for sure and that's Burns is a quality wide man with goals in his locker. Great signing!
5

cat added 13:02 - Sep 16 Monkey - You are one very depressing character. Spinning your negativity on ‘what ifs and maybes' now. What's your agenda here?
0

JewellintheTown added 13:08 - Sep 16 Who needs opposition fans when we have such pessimistic fans right here! Seems some of you will only be happy if your pessimism comes true. What if you are right? Great, congratulations, well done. So what now? Try getting behind the team instead of wallowing in self pity. Isn't success what we're all after? That's not instant, especially under the last few months conditions.

-2

arc added 13:10 - Sep 16 Sorry, but I just don't like the underlying complacency of comments like this. It's more of "we've got such a great squad, so it'll all be alright." I would rather hear: "we are so worried and we're working our arses off to get out of this situation."
8

Northstandveteran added 13:34 - Sep 16 Spiritofjohn, It's mathematically possible. Probably the sentence I have used more than any other in my 40 years as a town fan 😂
2

Stato added 13:44 - Sep 16 We are Ipswich Town for goodness sake and anything other than promotion is not good enough for me. Fans are only negative because they expect so much more and too right too. Keep demanding, keep expecting and don't be like the happy clappy brigade who politely applaud one failed regime after another. Promotion is what we expect even if via the play offs but let's not have an open bus tour for losing in the playoffs if that happens as that too will be failure.

5

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls