 | News
Comment | No Moves In or Out Before Deadline But Tuanzebe Set For Trial
at 21:55:02
Some ridiculously negative and ill informed comments on here. Anyone remember deadline days of the McCarthy-Evans when if we were lucky we might persuade a thirty something has been journeyman to join on loan? We have a great squad of players who have already proved we can hold our own in this league. Get a grip please! |
| News
Comment | O'Neill: Brexit Will Increase Bigger Clubs' Interest in Our Youngsters
at 11:58:14
Let's face it, none of our managers under Evans have been genuinely interested in playing our kids unless forced into it. McCarthy was the worst offender. The kids are brought in, show some promise and are then replaced by journeymen loans or free transfers. Two of the better ones in my opinion have been Lankester and El Mizouni - both looked like real prospects but are now way down the pecking order. Under the great man SBR John Wark made his debut vs Man Utd at 17 - I think he played pretty regularly after that.
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Comment | Edwards: We Understand Fans' Frustrations
at 12:13:52
Lots of talk here about putting in a shift and nicking something. Sounds like we're back in the MM era!
Really struggling to see where the goals are going to come from ... |
| News
Comment | Lambert: Lankester's a Huge Talent
at 16:33:45
Sometimes seems managers can be over-cautious in using young players. Wasn't John Wark thrown in for his debut vs Man Utd at 17? Didn't seem to harm his career or the team.
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| Blog
Comment | Where Did It All Go Wrong for Paul Hurst?
at 17:59:34
Interesting read but a tad unfair at the outset. I'm sure Evans told Hurst he would have to sell players first to finance his evolution/revolution. That would have meant selling the high-value players like Waghorn, Webster, etc. If Evans had been more generous then PH could have kept some of the better players and the outcome might have been better. I've been surprised and disappointed to hear about some of the poor man-management but maybe that gets exaggerated when the team is losing. |
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Comment | Town Hoping to Complete Roberts Signing as Webster Move Set to Be Confirmed
at 10:55:01
Happy enough with this if the Webster money can be reinvested (a rather big if based on Evans' track record). At least these deals are being made quickly which is a refreshing change from the MM era. Roberts has an impressive goals to games ratio for a winger albeit at a lower level. |
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Comment | Bialkowski's Poland Crash Out of World Cup
at 08:00:44
The reality is that Hurst will have to sell a couple of players if he wants to spend on strengthening. Bart's been our best player for the last two seasons but we'll have to consider cashing in on our most valuable asset given only one year left on his contract. That said, I'd rather we sold our other World Cup player Knudsen. |
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Comment | Paul Hurst’s Time at Shrewsbury — A History in Seven Matches
at 16:22:02
I loved the quote for the end of the Mellon era which sounds kind of familiar:
“Another lifeless, dull performance really. We can have plenty of possession and play it sideways in defence and midfield but have few ideas in the final third, the team lacks pace and creativity and we look disjointed”, “The dreadful football tops it all off, why not go for it against a struggling team?” |
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Comment | McCarthy: Tuesday's Atmosphere Was a Disgrace
at 17:31:09
As usual he completely ignores the criticism of the way he sets teams up and the dull football, defend-first lack of ambition, etc. At least Chambers acknowledged this. Also, no remorse or acknowledgement of the arrogance and abuse he has shown to supporters. The Ipswich fans are among the most patient anywhere - something is very badly wrong. His attitude is disgraceful! Can't believe now that I welcomed his appointment. |
| Blog
Comment | Keeping It in Perspective
at 13:05:43
I liked your blog - interesting and well written. For me, this does reinforce the need for smart football-savvy people running football clubs together with a lot of cash, usually from foreign investors (Bournemouth a good example).
I do, however, have reservations re your last comment in response to others. Seems to me the club is run without much in the way of supporter consultation or communication in general (apart from trying to sell tickets). There are plenty of times where MM has disrespected fans, e.g. selection of poor teams for cup games, refusing to explain team selections, stating he'll move on given opportunity elsewhere, and above all playing awful defensive football at the expense of providing even a modicum of entertainment. |
| Blog
Comment | Are You Moaning or Giving Your Opinion?
at 11:57:08
Football is all about opinions and some opinions are indeed moans. Independent sites such as TWTD play a valuable role in letting supporters give positive and negative opinions. Those that are thoughtful and articulate are more interesting to read but there's still a role for less reasoned comments and ranting, cheering, etc. As TheSelkirk and others have pointed out it's tiresome, however, to see the kind of 'tribal' comments that try to put contributors in pro or anti camps. Most of us are 'true' Ipswich fans for better or worse.
For the record, I was very pleased with the MM appointment (solid track record, common sense approach) after the dark days of Keane and Jewell. However, for the often-stated reasons - awful to watch and often embarrassing football, outdated tactics, players out of position, refusal to change, etc - I've come to long for a fresh approach with an innovative management team.
This doesn't make me a disloyal fan, nor does voicing an opinion which might be interpreted as a moan. |
| News
Comment | McCarthy Names Strong Team for EFL Cup Clash With Stevenage
at 15:07:44
Can someone enlighten me why MM would feel the need to make the team selection public in advance. Wouldn't happen for a league game and surely gives the opposition an advantage they wouldn't otherwise have? Certainly didn't help last season. |
| Blog
Comment | Mick's Contempt for the FA Cup is an Insult to Fans
at 12:38:49
Good blog JollyJourno!
I'm with alfromcol on this. The policy is a very negative one and hasn't worked yet. Why?
If you aren't a premier league side and don't have a strong squad then chances are that by putting out a weak team you'll get beat. The players selected will know they are second best and that there's little chance of getting into the first team, so they won't be up for it. Plus put together 11 individuals who haven't played together before does not make a team. Result - match lost, move on and concentrate on the league. And no blubbing please!
Fair enough? Not quite. The trouble is confidence is fragile and a good run of form can easily come to an end. An inglorious defeat like this IS embarrassing and makes the whole club and its supporters feel bad, not just the second string. I would argue this is a bigger risk than resting your entire first team for one game. |
| News
Comment | McCarthy Names Team and Hands Digby Debut
at 14:15:51
Not a great deal of pace in that team, particularly up front. Also not sure about the benefit of naming it so early. The comment on Henshall's a bit blunt - not great for a young player's confidence and a tad surprising from a manager often praised for his man management skills. |
| Blog
Comment | What Do We Expect of Our Club?
at 12:56:04
I agree with a lot of what you write and great to see opinions. But I'm struggling a little with
'But when you judge the manager, I don’t think you should judge him on what HAS happened, but what you WANT to happen next'
Surely it is absolutely the right thing to do to judge a manager by what has happened, i.e what has been achieved? The Club needs to move forward, particularly with a 'stronger' squad so if we were to comfortably make the play-offs or even better get automatic promotion this season then that would certainly be progress (of course progress might also be a more exciting, attractive footballing philosophy). But surely you need to view that over a full season to allow for bedding in of new players, system, etc. Unless we get to the stage where it's obvious that's not going to happen then judgement of the manager needs to wait until then.
But I agree that if you don't see progress in the long term or worse things start going backwards then it's perfectly valid to question whether we need a new manager. We should be ambitious and settling for mid-table mediocrity isn't good enough. |
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Comment | Too Many Players Are Too Comfortable in This Team
at 12:58:23
Seems to me that MM started the season with some shiny new toys (aka players) and - perhaps stung by the 'hoofball' jibes - tried to play in a new unfamiliar way to make use of their attacking talents. He got burned and embarrassed at Reading and the experiment ended - back to Plan A. The trouble is, the spell of last season has been broken and the star/crux of the team, Daryl Murphy, has dipped in form so the resurgence hasn't come and the defence remains leaky. Players don't become bad overnight and teams attack/defend as teams, not individuals. In short, the chemistry/balance isn't right as others have allude to.
How to fix that as a manager is the $64m question. You need your players to feel comfortable (and have some confidence they're a regular) otherwise they'll make mistakes and building loyalty/trust is a key factor for a successful team. But you also need players to be on their toes to keep them motivated. It's a difficult balance and I can understand Mick wanting to stick with the same players that have served him well, particularly in defence where reliance on and understanding of a teammate is more important than elsewhere on the pitch.
That said, the team does need freshening up and MM will need to tweak. He may be stubborn but he's not stupid. Time to go back to basics, cut out the mistakes, get a few clean sheets and go from there. |
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