My Honest Assessment of Ipswich Town

A disastrous season nears its conclusion as my club Ipswich Town are staring down the barrel of third division football for the first time in over 60 years. Here's my view, as a SBRL season ticket holder.

Trev Chalobah (left) and skipper Luke Chambers during the 3-0 derby day defeat at Carrow Road.

From the days of conquering Europe, securing a historic FA Cup victory at Wembley to languishing 12 points adrift at the foot of the championship. In short - we're in a mess. A colossal one. And yet, fans have not felt so connected to the club in years. But where has it all gone pear-shaped? Many people point the finger at owner, Marcus Evans. The corporate businessman - originally from Suffolk - bought the club in 2007, and invested around £44m, inheriting the clubs then £32m debt. Things looked promising, as the blues had been dicing in the play offs for many seasons after their relegation from the Premier League and European venture in 2002. However, after the controversial appointment of Roy Keane as manager, he left Ipswich in the worst state possible - in the relegation zone, cutting player contracts (such as the ever-prolific; and now arch rivals Norwich City striker Jordan Rhodes) and in a financial mess.

From the outside, it's quite easy to point the finger at the McCarthy debacle. Firstly, he chose to leave - walking out after a play-off clause in his contract was triggered (as we couldn't mathematically make the play offs anymore) - he was NOT sacked. He was also NOT "hounded out" by Town supporters, as so much of the mainstream media reports. The amount of articles, tweets and social media posts I have seen about how Ipswich fans "hounded out" the "overachieving", now ROI manager is ridiculous. Please remember, this is the same bloke who told his infamously own fans to "f*ck off" after Town took a last minute lead in the East Anglian Derby at Carrow Road in 2018. This is the same man that put the club through a humiliating FA Cup loss to the then non-league Lincoln City on national TV. Many called for his head then, but he survived another season. But his departure was just the tip of the iceberg.

McCarthy left the blues in an awful state - both on and off the pitch.

After over 5 years of McCarthy football, it was time for a change at Portman Road. Barring one miraculous comeback from almost certain relegation in 2012/13 & play off semi-final defeat to that lot up the road in 2014/15 - what have Town fans had to cheer about? We haven't won the derby for 10 years, we haven't conquered an FA Cup tie since 2010; and the football was beyond atrocious. Mick left the club in ruins - key players contracts run down to the bone, with weeks left on their deals - a side built around loanees and cheap deals, crowds dwindling around 13,000 the LOWEST home attendance for many decades); and the fans felt insulted by the lack of ambition and drive shown from both the bench, and the owner - Marcus Evans.

The club as a whole needed a new direction. And with that, the then Shrewsbury gaffer Paul Hurst - who had just lost a league one play off clash a day before - was announced as the man to take the reigns at ITFC. Exactly what the fans were demeaning - a young, "hungry" manager who had proven himself at a lower level. Dubbed as #ANewEra, there was a sense of expectation that this, after 17 consecutive years of championship football; is the right avenue Town desperately needed to get back into the top flight. In reality, it turned out to be quite the opposite. Hurst tore the core of the squad apart - a squad that had drifted to a steady 12th place finish last season. He began by letting highly rated players such as McGoldrick (now scoring for fun at Sheffield Utd), Webster (a rock in Bristol City's back line), Waghorn (Derby frontman fining form) & Joe Garner (who denied town a vital, vital victory at Wigan with a goal right at the death) leave - McGoldrick on a free transfer. That, added with loans returning to parent clubs (Celina, Carter-Vickers & Connolly etc) - took 40 goals and several clean sheets out of the team. Replace them with 9 "hungry" league 1 & 2 players, the end result is not promotion. It's relegation. The belief, or expectation that a squad revamped with lower division players on a low budget could compete; and overcome many many established championship sides is fictional. And yet, things looked so positive after the first few games. Fans were pouring into Portman Road, the atmosphere was great, and we were playing football that was better than his predecessor. Hurst secured one victory in 14 games and was subsequently fired after the 2-0 away loss at Elland Road. And before you know it, Paul Lambert arrives in Suffolk.

Paul Hurst's new era did not go to plan.

The ex-Norwich boss - arguably their greatest manager of all time, took over from Hurst from seemingly nowhere. The reaction was mixed, with some Town fans laughing at Norwich City that their very own hall-of-famer manager has crossed the border to join the enemy. The reality was that Lambert has had limited success after his back-to-back promotions with Norwich - he got fired from Villa, left Blackburn and departed a relegated Stoke side. Would the tables be turning, or would our slump reach a new low? Unfortunately, the latter looks more applicable.

No reasonable Ipswich fan expected the situation to improve under Lambert until the January window. He inherited the same Hurst-era squad, it would've been unrealistic to expect an instant turnaround in fortunes. Lambert mustered one victory before the January transfer widows opened - but struggled to make many significant signings. Loans and short term deals were the order of the day - Will Keane from Hull, Alan Judge from Brentford (permanent), Collin Quaner from Huddersfield, James Bree from Villa (along with free agent James Collins, recently training with Villa) & Callum Elder from Leicester. On paper, they were not the type of players that save you from relegation; with respect.

Things looked so bright at the start of the season. Gwion Edwards celebrates opening the scoring in the East Anglian Derby at Portman Road in September 2018.

On New Years Day, we went ahead twice against Millwall at home in a crunch relegation 6 pointer. We went onto lose 2-3. The amount of last minute goals we went on to concede throughout the season was unbelievable. Fans got acclimatised to having a rock solid defensive line and yet we couldn't not see out the simplest of games. Fast forward to the Norwich game at Carrow Road, we go behind after 1 minute. We have a lot of the ball. But silly defensive errors cost us again and we lose 3-0 in a game that flattered the hosts, who didn't get out of second gear. On a side note - the "decade of dominance" that Norwich fans proclaim about has very little baring. After 10 years of the blues not winning a single game against them, they are still behind in the all time record (ITFC : 60 wins, NCFC : 58 wins).

Marcus Evans' lack of investment has seen Town drop to the summit of the championship, and surely facing League One football for the first time since the 1960's.

And now, after defeat at home to Reading in a huge, huge game; the curtains have surely been drawn. 12 points adrift of safety with 11 games to go, no team has ever survived from Ipswich's position in the history of the championship. And yet, Ipswich haven't sunk to the third division since the 1960's, something which Norwich have done recently and came back from immediately with Paul Lambert at the helm. But football is a different game now, and it will be a huge challenge for Lambert to rebuild this Ipswich side that are clearly hurting. But we, as fans - will be there through thick and thin. 23,000 attendance at home for a bottom of the league side is unbelievable support, and crowds will come if prices aren't ridiculously priced (cough,Evans). This club has the most loyal and patient fans in the country - build it, they will come.

In summary, the situation we are in is due to wanting change. Change has happened, and it has back fired. This is not a case of "be careful what you wish for", its much more than that. It's about enjoying football again, going to the game with your friends; having a good time. These kind of things have been absent from Portman Road of late, and yet relegation to League One for the first time since the 60's may be a bad thing on paper; it could be the greatest wake up call this club has ever had. COYB.

George Mattock