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Comment | Bonne's QPR Future in Question
at 16:40:34
Not for me. I get that he's a local boy but that isn't a reason to be picked for our team. I also can't understand those who think he's a prolific striker. Check out his record. He's played 295 senior games - mostly at lower level - and has scored 79 goals. That's an average of a goal every 3.73 games ! If we are building for promotion and beyond then we must aim higher than him.
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Comment | Bishop: In Monday to Work Hard, the Gaffer's Told Us
at 16:43:31
TB's comments offer an interesting insight into what PC is going to demand of the squad. It has been clear over the last five games that the players have been struggling to grasp the way he wants them to play. They need to learn fast !
I'd like to raise three further issues that I think are significant.
1. After Saturday's game and before PC's post match interview several fans phoned into Radio Suffolk questioning the mentality and attitude of the players. We all know what they mean. For the last three season's we seem to have a squad of brittle, snow flakes. Time and time again they find ways yo shoot themselves in the foot and once they have a set back they seem to have little resolve to rectify matters. There was an interesting comment in yesterday's Times by Hugo Lloris the Spurs goalie to the effect that it is one thing for a player to stand before the media and proclaim their ambition and determination to do better and entirely another thing to see that attitude being displayed day in and day out on the pitch. Just think how often over the last three season's one of our players has apologised to the fans for a dreadful team performance and insisted that they understand our frustration and are determined to put things right only to follow it up with yet another abject display of gutless surrender. Who in our squad would you want beside you in the trenches ? Let me pluck five names out of the air - Wilson, Ward, Edwards, Dozzell and Judge. I am not singling them out because I could easily make the same point by reference to half a dozen others. When they are on the pitch their body language speaks volumes. Half hearted, casual, sloppy. Remember the Lincoln game when Toto nearly gifted them a goal late into the second half. If you can then have another look at the video. Yes his control was wanting but he was put into a stupid situation by Judge who passed the ball to him from distance and in the air from a ridiculous position. Hopefully that sort of inept attitude will be seized upon by PC and eradicated from our style of play.
2. Warm ups. Whenever I watch our pre match warm up it always seems so casual and slack compared to the opposition. Our routines don't seem to have changed in the last three season's despite the results being so inconsistent. Players seem content to chat and joke with each other whilst casually stroking the ball around without much of a care in the world and certainly without giving the impression that they are involved in a professional routine which is designed to heighten their performance.
3. Thoms Holy - I know that a lot of fans aren't convinced by him but I still think there's a decent keeper in there somewhere. But, here's the thing, despite having the huge advantage of the extra reach that being 6'7'' gives you he still seems wholly lacking in confidence. You do have to wonder what the goalkeeping coach has actually done to improve him. Here's an interesting comparison. Nick Pope the Burnley keeper (sadly another one who was released from our academy) is 6'6'' tall and has made a point of studying how other very tall keepers go about their business. He notes that a person that size actually stands differently. Their weight distribution is also different and so when they are asked (as a goalie is constantly required to do) to make sudden and swift movements to the side or to get down to a shot they have to start from a position of balance which will maximise the likelihood of their making the save. Think back to that first goal conceded at Gillingham when TH didn't even seem to react until the ball was past him or worse still the first goal conceded the other night at Fleetwood when Callum Connelly's glancing header just drifted across TH without him seeming able to move his feet or react to it. I'd love to think that both TH and the goalkeeping coach were working hard every day to try and eliminate things like that ! |
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Comment | Chambers: A Disappointment But We've Another Game Tuesday
at 13:08:38
It's all very well to say that we coped fairly well with Gillingham's robust style of play - which we did. BUT all three of the goals we conceded were down to individual errors on our part. For their first goal Dozell gave away another clumsy foul in a dangerous position. Then when the ball was played into our box we had four defenders around the one attacker who still managed to flick the ball on to the far post where we had no one marking the guy who scored. For their second goal Freddie Sears had the ball by their own goal line (!) and then misplaced an easy pass which resulted in their breaking up field and scoring. He then repeated the error for their third goal giving a sloppy and mis placed back pass which forced Holy to have to rush out of his goal to clear to Chambo whose pass upfield was intercepted and ended up at the feet of the guy who then scored (a good individual shot but he should not have had the ball in the first place).
Cut out these school boy errors and we will at least have a chance of staying in the game. |
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Comment | Town Closing in On Barnsley Winger Thomas
at 14:08:22
I find the two prospective loan signings rather curious. Both appear to have "potential" but neither has nailed down a permanent place at what are two fairly modest clubs and both have had several loan spells at lower league clubs such as ours. It's also fair to ask why we need to strengthen in the mid field when we already have so many similar players. However, and I accept that this may be an overly optimistic take on the situation, I wonder whether it might signal a possible change in our tactics ?
PL has made it clear that he thinks we are hopeless at playing two up top. That's obviously based on his assessment of the players he currently has at his disposal. Maybe he feels that Harrop and Thomas can be part of an effective four in midfield and so allow him to play two up front ? I know that many fans feel we should be playing a 4 4 2 formation but I'm not really convinced that our current squad actually offers the required attributes. If we play three in the middle then my choice would be Downes, Dozell and Bishop but if you try to accommodate them in a four man mid field it means that at least one if not two of them have to play out wide and none of them seem very suited to that in my opinion. So, maybe PL thinks that with Thomas playing wide left and Harrop pushing forward from the centre as a box to box option we can use say Downes and Bishop as the other two in the middle and then have the option of two men up front ?
Then again what do I know about tactics ! |
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Comment | Lambert: Morally I Think Us Playing Football is Wrong
at 12:19:18
This article sums up perfectly the dilemma that I have with PL. Thank you for actually quoting his radio comments in full. He just seems incapable of stringing a coherent sentence together - his explanation of how he contracted the virus is priceless and I defy anyone to actually follow the logic of what he says. Trouble is, that also reflects his post match comments which are often unclear and incomprehensible and I fear that his team and tactics talks must be in a similar vein.
That said he is commenting upon an important issue. I have huge sympathy for anyone who has had the virus and that experience is bound to influence their view upon whether football and the other elite sports should continue to be played. Yes the players are being put at a greater risk than if they were all isolating at home but on the other hand the very fact that the professional game is continuing has a huge beneficial effect upon the mental wellbeing of millions of supporters. Knowing that we are playing at Burton on Saturday gives a focus to my week as do the regular checks that I make on TWTD to see what the injury situation is or whether we are trying to bring in a new loan signing etc. Maybe those actually involved in the game don't really understand just how important it is to the lives of the fans. Whether that is sufficient reason to ask the players to put themselves at greater risk is a matter of personal judgement and like most difficult issues there isn't a definite right or wrong.
As a team we have been doing our bit to uphold the social distancing rules. There's inevitably a two metre gap between our captain and his team mates and our tactics make the likelihood of our needing to celebrate a goal more of a theoretical musing than a practical reality. Also, on that particular point I saw Harry Kane exercising appropriate restraint when celebrating his goal last night so if he and his team mates can do it then so can others.
Finally a thought about PL's position. There comes a point in every managers time at a club when things start to go stale and their "project" starts to drift. I'm not too sure what PL's "project" was but it is clear for everyone to see when he is on the touchline that he no longer has that zest or enthusiasm that he once did. If I am right then it is surely inevitable that the players will be aware of it and in turn be affected by the malaise. A really good manager will know their own weaknesses and that includes knowing when the time is right to bow out for the benefit of the club. I am obviously not alone in thinking that PL should have reached that conclusion at the end of last season. That he appears to retain the confidence of the owner is just very surprising. Marcus Evans must employ dozens of managers within his various corporate structures and I doubt that there will be many if any who have so persistently failed to provide the required results and yet still retained their posts. A change of manager entails taking a risk but given PL's rather abject performance and results over the last two years or so it would surely be a minimal risk. |
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Comment | Town Among Clubs Linked With Ex-Sunderland Midfielder
at 10:19:42
If we are genuinely seeking another central mid fielder then why not aim higher and try to recruit Andy King who has just left Leicester after many years service. He doesn't live all that far away (Rutland) and has experience of this league and of getting out of it and by all accounts is a good presence in the dressing room. |
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Comment | Skuse Signs New Deal
at 16:51:07
I think it's fair to say that we have been on a downward spiral for several years. In terms of the team there has been just one constant - the presence of Chambers and Skuse. The stats are simple and undeniable. They have both played the vast majority of the games during that slide and so have both had ample opportunity to impose themselves as influential players. Neither has done so.
I acknowledge that their off the field influence on the squad and their example to the younger players has some merit but every time I watch our pre match routine it just looks so stale. It seems compulsory that Chambo must run out first with Skuse behind him. When they finish their routine in front of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand Chambo has to be the first to applaud the fans followed by Skuse and then, and only then, do the other players join in. It's as if no one dares to change the routine. They have become talisman but of failure rather than success.
What really makes me even more worried about all of this is that you get the feeling it is inevitable that in the fairly near future they will be handed the roles of Head Coach and Assistant. They would be a fairly cheap option and we know how important that will be. |
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Comment | Harry Steps Down
at 16:03:35
Harry, thanks for the most informative and entertaining pre match writing available to Blues fans. Your love and passion for our club was always self evident. I once called into a certain book shop in Bath and struck up a conversation about the Tractor Boys and hey presto, we were off ! I also fondly recall a chance meeting in the Greyhound before the home game with Bolton a couple of years ago. Lovely memories. Thanks again and you will be sorely missed. |
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Comment | Nsiala: It Doesn't Matter What League You Come From
at 16:51:54
I rather like Toto. He's far from being an accomplished central defender but I get the impression that he knows that himself and doesn't pretend to be something that he isn't. He always has a mistake (or three) in him but plays with his heart on his sleeve.
I think he makes a fair point about the blame that has been heaped upon those players that arrived from Divisions 1 and 2. Of course it was unrealistic to bring in so many newcomers at the same time and expect them to gel but shouldn't we look rather more closely at the calibre of the experienced Championship pro's that they joined. There's been much talk about the quality of the four experienced pro's who left, Garner, Waggy, Webster and Didz. However that still left us with the following : Bart, Gerks, Chambo, Knudsen, Skues, Ward, Spence and Freddie. In my humble opinion the only ones we could expect to rely upon over a season were Bart and Freddie (and none of us expected Bart to have such a dreadful time). When played in a particular system Skues can be effective but the others had all proved that they were not really up to the required standard and consequently none of the newcomers had the benefit of settling into a competent Championship team. In short, they needed help to make the step up but didn't have the team mates to provide it.
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Comment | Chambo: I Can't Wait for Disastrous Season to End
at 17:04:15
I have supported Town for 55 years and hate to criticise the club or anything connected to it and, in fact, this is the first time I have vented my utter frustration about any individual player. I get it that Luke is a good club captain and that he does a lot of things off the pitch which are to his credit BUT everyone who dons the shirt on a Saturday afternoon has to be able to justify their selection and frankly I don't think that can be said of Luke for the last two seasons at least. Check out the videos of the goals we have conceded over the last couple of years and you surely can't come to any conclusion other than he has been found wanting time and time again. He has not only been weak as an individual but in my opinion has rarely shown any true leadership qualities. Despite his PR as the focal point for the team he is often very quick to point the finger at and berate others.
Many years ago a trusted work colleague offered me two pieces of advice both of which are I feel rather apt for Luke. The first was that your greatest strength in life was to know and acknowledge what your weaknesses were. The second was that growing old does not automatically provide a person with experience and good judgement. Both of those things have to be earned. When I watch Luke on the pitch I see a player who lacks pace, is often flat footed and regularly gets caught out of position and, sadly, who doesn't seem able to make up for those deficiencies by his tactical nouse. In short, and I don't really like saying this, someone who is well passed their sell by date as a Town player. If Luke really was the wise old pro' he purports to be then he would surely recognise his own faults and weaknesses and, for the greater good of the team as a whole, would stand down and let someone else take his place. |
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Comment | Chambo: I Can't Wait for Disastrous Season to End
at 11:08:05
This is so frustrating ! If I remember correctly we spotted this lad when he was living in the Cayman Islands. A year or so later his family (all of whom are good quality athletes and footballers) had moved half way around the world to live in Suffolk so that he could join our Academy. Am I alone is assuming that we might have "assisted" that move ? If I am wrong then I apologise to him but if I'm right then what price a little loyalty.
Also, let's consider the bigger picture regarding the Academy set up. It costs the club a huge amount to run it. The aim is to produce players for the future - our future. Yet in the last twelve months we have lost Charlie Brown to Chelsea, Ben Morris to Man' City and now this lad to Arsenal ( and worrying reports suggest that Dylan Crowe might be the next one to jump ship). On the face of it we are getting quite a good deal for untried 15 year olds who may never actually make the grade. BUT it's not beyond the realms of possibility that one, two or maybe all of them will in just three years time be first team players at top notch Premiership clubs and worth circa £20,000,000 each. What do we get as compensation for all the hours of coaching and tuition that went to help in the creation of such superstars ? We cannot be the only club facing these issues. |
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Comment | Rangers Would Receive Waghorn Windfall
at 11:11:28
Why do people keep referring to Jack Marriott as having been "sold" by us ? Check out the facts - his contract came to an end and MM decided he did not merit another one. We did not get a fee from Luton (and they only offered him an initial twelve month deal so probably had their own reservations but were prepared to take a punt). |
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Comment | McGoldrick Joins Blades
at 18:16:02
I'm slightly nervous about this. PH has intimated that certain areas of the club weren't quite as professional as he had expected. I'm wondering whether under a new training schedule and fitness programme McDidz might not have the constant injury issues that he had here. Whilst on balance I was happy to see him move on (and clearly that was his decision) nevertheless this might just come back to bite us. |
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Comment | Quartet Could Win Caps
at 11:54:39
So, the male population of Mauritius is just over 630,000. I don't know how many of them are professional footballers but I doubt it's more than half a dozen at most. Kevin Bru is 28 and yet despite this presumed lack of competition he has only won 7 caps ! What a sad reflection upon the current state of our squad at ITFC ! |
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Comment | McCarthy Would Take 42 More Performances Like Norwich Display
at 12:17:55
Daleyitfc, you make a valid point that MM has assembled a squad in his own image but then doesn't every manager do that ? Surely it's human nature to put your trust in the character traits that you see in yourself. Mick is a pragmatist. Most of the squad are people he believes he can rely on not mavericks. If my job depended on other people's performances then I guess I'd do the same as he does. Think of the alternatives like Ian Holloway, Martin Allen, Steve Evans etc. Big expansive characters who like to talk a good game but would you really want someone like that in charge of ITFC ? I wouldn't.
As for Douglas, I can't understand why he gets so much criticism. Last season he was playing in an unfamiliar defensive role in a four man midfield. Hopefully this season we'll see him regularly appearing in a three man midfield with licence to get forward and support the strikers. If so, he'll be all the better for it. The real concern will be what happens when Hyam is fit. In my humble opinion he's not shown enough consistency to be considered a regular starter but there will be calls for him to be installed along side Skues to anchor the midfield. The two of them aren't mobile or creative enough to be in a three man midfield so we'd be back to a four which in turn means that one of Freddie or Grant will either be left out or asked to drop back and play a wide role.
And, what about Pitman ? Give him a run of games and he'll score goals. True, he doesn't look like an incisive striker but he has that lovely knack of getting on the end of balls into the box and now that we have a wide man in Grant who seems capable of delivering such crosses Pit's should be in the starting eleven. |
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Comment | Fanzone to Open at 9.30am on Derby Day
at 12:57:11
Anyone wanting to use the Fanzone should be aware that you cannot do so after you've gone through the turnstiles. At the Barnsley game I went through my usual turnstile for the Co Op stand intending to then walk across the practice pitch to the Fanzone but like about 50 others I was prevented from doing so by the stewards. They couldn't explain the logic of this and simply said this was the Club's match day policy.
It therefore appears that anyone can walk straight into the Fanzone whether or not they have a ticket for the match - or were those of you that used this facility at the Barnsley game required to show your tickets ? If not, doesn't this pose a policing issue ? |
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Comment | FanZone Hailed a Success
at 12:53:20
Phil, do you know why you cannot access the Fan Zone after entering the ground ? On Saturday I and several others went through the turnstiles and then went to the Fan Zone gate only to be turned away by the stewards who said they were not allowed to let us in once we'd entered the ground. So, this means that someone without a ticket can just enter the Fan Zone area and make use of the facilities. How does this affect the current policing issue ? Say a bunch of Norwich fans go into the Fan Zone and cause a disturbance. Will the police regard them as inside the ground (even though they wont have gone through a turnstile) and so not their responsibility or as the Fan Zone is open to the general public will it be their job to monitor it ? This could have obvious repercussions on the current issue before the courts. |
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Comment | McCarthy: Lawrence Can Move On
at 10:40:55
Very amusing comment Suffolk n Good but let's just pause for a breath and consider things logically for a moment. It is surely inconceivable that MM hasn't got a number of loans or permanent signings already lined up. No manager, let alone one of his experience, would run down their squad so near to the close of the transfer window without having replacements in line. Until now MM has conducted his transfer business in secrecy right up until the new signing is paraded at a press conference. That's how I for one prefer it. I hated those days of PJ telling anyone who would listen that we'd put offers in here and there and that a signing was imminent only to feel let down when nothing actually transpired. So, let's keep our faith in MM and our fingers crossed that in a couple of weeks time there are some exciting new faces at Portman Road. |
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