 | News
Comment | McCarthy: Owner Remains Very Supportive
at 19:08:04
Hi blues1,
I feel I need to speak up as I am one of those who "don't seem to grasp" guys. And yes - I gasp that every loan player costs money but they cost much less than a permanent player and a quality one too. This is what I meant when saying ME is on the cheap going that often to the loan market.
And to continue on MEs intentions about the Club - I strongly believe he uses ITFC only as a business solution. He would like to keep us at that level so that he can save some taxes from his other profitable businesses and assets. This is the only reasonable conclusion one can make about him. Every single club that got financial injection in the ranges ME did got promoted but us. ME does seem to make one "wrong" decision after another with his selection of a Manager and the way he is supporting his work. And I don't believe a man with his business savvy and money he got can make such bad decisions unless it is intentional. Just some examples:
1. Keep Jim as a Manager knowing very well he just hang his booths and have no managerial experience at all, trusting him with 12M to spent and get us promoted.
2. Replace Jim with Keane - to me only a strategical play to get a big name as a manager to promote his brand. And it worked - we have never got such attention before or after Roy Keane even being top 5 at the Premier League with Burley.
3. Replace Keane with Jewell and dropping on the financial help for new players
4. Hiring a "big name" in MM paying him huge salary but with no financing for new players
All these are examples on bad decision after bad decision when the easiest approach would have been hiring a "big name" right after he got the ownership of Club and give him the 12M or more to get us promoted right away as most of the other clubs do when they get a reach owner.
I hope he proves me wrong (and I will publicly apologize then) but I feel he would keep MM a bit more and when the fans get more frustrated he will replace him with a new Manager who will continue this line of work - with no support for new players and no idea of promotion. I have always been an optimist but now this is what I think... |
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Comment | McCarthy Reaches Four-Year Milestone
at 20:41:00
Hi blues1
I hear you but the way I see things is: getting a young inexperienced and energetic manager approach is a "hit and miss". To all the successful ones you have listed you can add that many more examples of unsuccessful ones starting with Jim Magilton. I am tired of waiting for ITFC to go up and I would like a Manager with higher odds to promote us as since we got relegated we tried so many different options and every time it was: "hiring a Manager with a long term plan" which assumes at least 2-3 years of rebuilding with no success every time. I am not a big MM fan, don't get me wrong, I just don't want to go again with another hiring exercise that will lead to at least 2-3 years of rebuilding with a very low odds it will be successful. My idea is - if ME gives money to MM for permanent players, that process of getting up could be shortened and with much lower risk as MM has done it before. You are saying the Mings and Murphy money was reinvested for loan players, I think the reason of getting so many loans (which I hate) is because has closed his pocket and take the cheap approach as whatever you can call MM - he is not an idiot and he would not be using the loan market that much if he had the funds for permanent players.... |
| News
Comment | McCarthy Reaches Four-Year Milestone
at 19:44:15
blues1 and Surco72 - Agree MM is on the high end paid managers in the Championship but again you pay for what you get (good managers and good players worth more)- and if ME pays that salary to the Manager he should also give him funds to spend on players. Instead he used Jim who was not a Manager at all at the time (very low paid) and gave him the 12M to spent. And then hired Keane who was more of a name to use and get noticed as the Club sponsor (and investor) instead of a quality Manager and also gave him tons of money.
Tell me who should be hired who can do the job assuming no funds for players will be available and I will agree that MM should go. My fear is that getting MM out will leave us with a very unknown and incapable next Manager and for this alternative I don't want to swop MM... |
| News
Comment | McCarthy Reaches Four-Year Milestone
at 19:29:18
grumpyoldman I agree with you to the extent of the different point of view we look at the things. You, as I see by your comment, are really about the attractive football, which of course is my wish and any fans wish for that matter. But to me it is more - "all about getting to the Premiership at any cost" so I would sacrifice the attractive football for getting into the Premiership. And yes - it is a fact that ME subsidises the club every year but not in players although we sold Mings for 8M and Murphy for another 3M and didn't see any of this back to MM for new players and I hope you can't deny that without at least some (I don't talk about crazy money) investment we are never going to get the quality we need to get into the Premiership.
As of the examples of other Managers with limited funds being able to play more attractive football and getting good players - I don't know who exactly are you referring here but I can guarantee - none of those would get promoted. Just look at the promoted clubs in the last few years - Leicester, Watford, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Fulham, Cardiff, Southampton, Palace, Hull, Swansea, Reading, even MMs Sunderland and Wolves, and etc. with maybe the exception of Bournemouth (to some extent only), tell me who was promoted without spending huge on players? It maybe unfortunate but the reality is that you need to spent money these days to get to the Promised Land. All the "attractive playing" low budget clubs are maybe nice to watch but will not go up. That is also based on facts... |
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Comment | McCarthy Reaches Four-Year Milestone
at 17:38:57
Guys! Let us think and not just "boo" at the easiest target - the Manager! It is not Mick who we should blame for the lack of success during the last couple of years. It is the lack of available funds given to the Manager.
Mick has proven himself as a great Manager getting us out of the rock bottom in the first couple of months of his reign and the to top 6 with basically no money invested. Yes - his style is not nice to watch but this is really what can work at this Championship! During the last two seasons he virtually spent nothing and still brought some good players in. Just compare this with the "tons" of money that Jim and Keane spent bringing expensive but not worthy players. I bet if Mick had the 12M Jim spent we would have been in the Premiership already.
Another way of looking at the managerial situation - if we assume Mick goes, then who will replace him? If no funds are available, don't expect sir Alex Ferguson or suchlike. It will be somebody, who will be presented as "young and ambitious" but in reality - "cheap" and he will lead us nowhere.
So to me the problem is with Marcus Evans, who I thank for letting us out of the Administration and investing so much, but unfortunately not where needed, and now for some reason he is reluctant to continue doing this where it is really needed. And let us face it - to compete with the "Newcastles" and "Villas' type of reach clubs unfortunately we cannot do without funds and this is where we should concentrate our critics - not to the Manager.
This is what I think and I bet I will be "awarded" with quite a few negative "likes" for my comments but this is the truth... |
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Comment | Town 1-0 Nottingham Forest - Match Report
at 17:12:26
Even if we do it the difficult way we manage to grab the wins at the end of the day these couple of games. And this is really what the strong teams do. We must keep it this way. Next comes two away games and if we claim 4 pts at least we are in a great position for the fight for the 5th and 6th place.
COYB |
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Comment | The Fat Lady is Certainly Clearing her Throat - Notes for Nottingham Forest
at 15:04:13
Kikapu
In this instance they are right. It is unfortunate that other teams fans respect our manager more than some of us. And the fact is - we really have a great manager, which is not very common for us in general. From Sir Bobby era on I cannot think of so many great managers with the exception of John Lyall, Joe Royal, and George Burley to some extend (here he was more of an icon rather than a good manager as we saw his performance elsewhere). So my say is - we need to acknowledge the fact that we probably have the best manager in the Championship and not moan about his style or his transfer strategy (which is not even his own).
I hope he will stay here for the long run and to answer the coming question from the Mick haters - if Mick goes who will come? Probably somebody young and risky who may drag us years back...
COYB |
| News
Comment | Dozzell on Target for England U17s
at 14:09:01
Agree itfchory! I really believe Andre will eventually become the next Jason for us and this is thanks to Jason. He was a great player for us and now he will bring his son to us as what I hope to be another Jason! Looking forward to the time when that comes true!
Go on Andre!!! |
| Blog
Comment | Back to School
at 21:10:19
All this blog is talking about is stuff you cannot deny. Yet I am a great Mick fan and I was very happy when I heard he was the new Manager after Jewel. I think that under the circumstances with the FFP rules and not being able to spent tons of money for good players, the only way to get out of this Championship (meaning promoted) is applying a style like Mick's as most of the teams in our division are not coping well against such style. I remember lots of the "nice to watch" attacking styles we were playing before and even during the George Burley time when we were having a great team in the Championship we were always beaten at the play-offs - usually by teams with much less quality players and worse style of play but more like what we are now. It was a big struggle for that great team to get promoted and we only did it after what I still call a "lucky" game with Bolton with 3 penalties given. And yes - we were much better off when we got promoted as we played fantastic football at the Premiership level but it was very difficult to get there.
Mick's style gives us much better chance to get promoted. After that... I don't know but to me it is imperative first to get promoted and then see what can we do up there.
Because of all this I think although some people doesn't like the style of play and because we are not playing "Barcelona" style, the most important is the goal - and the goal is to finally get promoted. As you very nicely put it - there are young fans who have never seen us playing Premiership football and this has to change.
COYB |
| News
Comment | Dozzell on Target as Hayes Wins First Cap
at 20:45:26
Great finish by Dozzell !!! We must get him on a firm contract so that we don't lose him. Although his father is a blue and he would most likely be very happy to stay, if a great offer comes from elsewhere, nobody can't blame him for leaving. And with this international performance I guess he is getting lots of attention...
I would love the days when he can do like (or better) than his father for us.
COYB! |
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Comment | Doncaster 1-4 Town AET - Match Report
at 22:38:52
It is really good thing for a change from the previous years that we are getting a bit of a run on the cup side. Even if we are not going to win it with the new players we got it will be vital to have a few extra matches to play for the Capital One Cup so that players like Emmanuel, Kenlock, Alabi, McDonnell, Coke, Touré, Yorwerth and etc, get some official competitive match minutes under their belts. This is critical for their development. My view is - the more matches like this the sooner the really good ones from them will shine and become ready for first team football.
So great to see us progressing in this cup and who knows what can happen later...
COYB! |
| News
Comment | Parr on Target as U21s Beat Coventry
at 16:52:36
If Alabi is promising as he sound like, we should keep him no matter the quality strikers we already have. As other comments suggest, in a couple of years he may just become our next top scorer... and there is plenty of time to see whether he is going in that direction.
On another note I am really pleased about Andre Dozzell's progress. I am watching closely his development as I was a great fan of his fathers'. If young Andre gets as good as his father there is another home grown star coming in! Excited times! COYB! |
| Blog
Comment | Season Preview 2015/16
at 14:21:09
Nice review, and as everybody has their own opinion I don't feel the same way about Wolves being so highly rated and Fulham and Hull (and even Burnley) as well. Everybody is saying "this season will be the toughest". To me last season was tougher than what this one promises to be. Look at the relegated three from above: QPR, Burnley and Hull are maybe the weakest teams possible to go down last season. In addition there is a non settlement going on at both Hull and QPR with Burnley (as pointed out in the article) never should have gone up in the first place. On another hand from the promoted from L2 sides I don't see anybody like Brentford and Wolves last year challenging the play-offs and PM promotion. So we are left with what we had last year. I fear most from Derby and Boro but (again as pointed out in the article) they have also their weaknesses including the fact that Derby's new "stars" may never "click" together and I really don't see Clement as a good manager. It is a big jump from Spain No2 manager to our Championship and he will struggle with that. With the likes of Fulham, Cardiff, Forest, Blackburn not expected to be much better performing this year around and our new additions I am much more optimistic this season. I think we will need to fight with Derby, Boro, the 3 relegated from PM and potentially Wolves and Brentford for the top places and I really see us going up as 1st or 2nd if we gel quickly and get some consistency!
Good luck for all ITFC supporters this time around. This HAS TO BE OUR YEAR!!! |
| News
Comment | Town Again in Ireland in Pre-Season
at 20:55:13
I am amazed about some of the comments about how boring and repetitive the pre-season will be?! It is not about HAVING FUN, it is all about getting the squad together (especially if there are new faces in) and get physically ready for the start of the season. I don't care is it in Dublin or on Alaska if the work needed is successfully performed. I guess nobody will feel bored if we start the season fresh, well trained, good team vibe and understanding, and eventually get a few wins in the first games. So why on Earth do we complain about where the pre-season is?!? |
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Comment | The Ex-Files: Craig Forrest
at 15:27:50
Craig Forrest was more than a legend for ITFC. The whole John Lyall's team was great. To be honest this generation of Town players has lost a few years of potential glory only due to having John Duncan as a manager in the beginning, and the huge mistake of putting Lyall as a "director of football" and letting Mick McGiven killing what was done during Lyall's days after. I hated it - seeing great players couldn't get promoted just because of Duncan and then relegated because of McGiven. If Lyall was appointed a few years back and was let in charge that team could have been much more successful. They were all great players and great as a team. |
| Blog
Comment | The Consolations of Philosophy
at 15:04:58
Completely agree on the approach we must take when going to the play-offs! These are facts on which we MUST build on:
1. We making it into the play-offs by a skin was success, Norwich going to the same play-offs is a failure to go up automatically.
2. Being 6th means there is nothing to lose and everything to gain from (I also remember vividly us missing the top 2 back in 2004 by a nose and losing to a West Ham side, which finished 18 points behind us)
3. Mick McCarthy is the only of the 4 managers leading the play-off teams with actual play-off experience at this (and even higher) level, and by far the best manager out of the 4.
4. Strong defensive tactics (as suggested in the article like the one at Watford) is our main advantage over Norwich. We must make them nervous by not letting them play their "attacking" football and the result will come.
So to conclude I am cautiously hopeful as well but if Mick manages to apply the tactics he knows how to play best successfully for only 3 more matches there is no one who can beat us, despite of the better quality some of the other teams in the play-offs have.
Ipswich have to perform for the younger fans like you everhopeful so that you see the real success as I have seen it back in the 1980s.
COYB!
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| News
Comment | McCarthy Cool With Top-Six Pressure
at 14:11:53
Popeye, completely disagree with you on that. In this Lyall's team we had legends like John Wark, Paul Goddard, Jason Dozell, Mike Stockwell, Chris Kiwomya, Simon Milton, David Linighan even David Lowe, and we had a great goalkeeper like Craig Forrest.
So if you mean Lyall spent no money on his team that is one think but none of the current players are better than any of these I listed from the Lyall's team... Lyall's Ipswich was a really great team and the only reason they were relegated that quickly from the Premier League was they promoted Lyall to a foot ball director or whatever and left the work on that Mick McGiven who was clueless... |
| News
Comment | Dozzell Gets England Call
at 15:54:45
Good Luck Andre!
I really hope he becomes as good as his father and play for us without going to Tottenham which was a loss for us and for Jason too as he didn't progress there! Other than this move to Spurs Jason was a real legend and a great player, which I loved since he scored his first senior goal vs Coventry at the age of 16!!! |
| News
Comment | Lee Signs on Non-Contract Basis
at 14:28:09
I don't agree with the negative comments! AT ALL!!! First off Lee comes on a non binding basis so we as a club don't lose anything even if he does not perform at all! Therefore no harm for the financials.
The reason Mick is getting Lee is more because of his huge experience and his character. All of the young strikers can only get positives from him as a coach when they train altogether. On top of that he has a great personality — a great guy to have in the dressing room. He can inspire the younger players when the things are not going our way. This is more of an indirect impact that Lee can have for us. In addition he is a great scorer so Mick can certainly involve him as an impact player on a game where we are deadlocked or losing. He, by just getting on the field can give a positive vibe and turn things around. And why not scoring some goals — we know he is quite capable of doing that.
Nobody things of Lee as our 20+ goals scorer, we should not expect that from him. What we should expect him to do is get the spirit up and positively influence a losing game.
Come on Alan!!! Show them what can you do!!! |
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