, Opinion: Mistakes made, how do Ipswich move forward?

Opinion: Mistakes made, how do Ipswich move forward?

The Ipswich faithful were divided last season, some felt relegation would work as a factory reset, others were not so sure.

The most important thing was to be an immediate return to the Championship, and after the first three months, most had already mentally seen Town promoted. A good transfer window had seen Ipswich sign an enigmatic frontman in James Norwood, a talented right back (wing-back) in Kane Vincent-Young, a gargantuan ‘keeper in Tomas Holy as well as Will Norris on loan from Wolves to fight for that No. 1 shirt. James Wilson even arrived to tighten the defence!

Ipswich looked as though promotion was on the cards, yet willing acceptance of international breaks made the campaign stall, and precious few points were collected in November, December and January. February saw a team who were in automatic contention slip to 9th, and the natives getting restless.

Paul Lambert divides the fanbase, now known as ‘PR Paul’. Lambert signed a new five-year deal in the middle of the slump, but this did not see a return to form, it did not provide a confidence booster as designed, in fact, quite the opposite.  Constant soundbites about the fans remarkable away attendances and passion being ‘not normal’ were wearing thin. A crowd not well-known for vocal negativity began booing in late February, and with the suspension of football, Ipswich are presently outside of the play-off places, let alone the automatic spots.

Stuck in COVID-limbo Ipswich fans are settling into the suspension, expecting a return to League one at some point being a mini pre-season for the next league one campaign, sadly.

So what corrects the mistakes?

You could argue that only a couple of mistakes were made. The arrogance of ‘walk the league’ being every opponent’s team talk was definitely a factor. Indeed, I have never seen teams so pumped to play against Ipswich before. Every week, the opposition fans had a cup-final mentality, aggression from Oxford fans in their mid-fifties post-match felt like a derby day.  So the first correction is ‘respect’.

International breaks, to qualify to postpone a game you need three players called up, two of Ipswich Town’s internationals were Armando Dobra and Idris El Mizouni, both talented footballers indeed. Neither were first-team regulars, the third being an out-of-form Alan Judge. The fans all felt that playing the game without these three would not have weakened a team full of confidence.

Formation and rotation – neither should be a huge factor, but when arriving at Portman Road hearing that 5…6…7 changes have been made will always upset the fans. In the previous two seasons, Ipswich had seen a lot of talented players leave, each time a lesser player arriving or ‘trust in youth’ being touted. I would love to see more of our talented youth, but they cannot do it alone. With Luke Chambers and Cole Skuse both in their thirties, the youth can work around them but when young players are not playing consistently they cannot find form, or adapt to the situation.

If football returns and the season is completed, behind closed doors may suit Ipswich. No negativity from the fans could work as a secure environment, but if they do not creep into the play-offs, many of the talented young players will be courted by teams higher up the leagues. Then you start again, further behind the newly-relegated teams and those missing out this term. Just ask Sunderland fans how it works, they won the Championship in their fanbase before kicking a ball in the competition! That season ended with relegation then it was the same in League One before allowing standards to slip and missing out on promotion. Sunderland are still in League One as are many teams once touted as ‘big clubs’.

If I could sign one player?

Every fan plays this game but I will be honest. If the current squad are fit, there is no place that should need strengthening. I feel the defensive unit is good enough, the midfield is overloaded, and in League One Keane, Sears, Norwood and Jackson should be good enough. If I could make one signing I would bring in a psychologist to convince the players they are good enough as, currently, it doesn’t appear that they know it.

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