Match Day Thread Town v Brizzle Rovers

Backwards we go, God this is depressing, and with Pompey and the Pool on fine winning streaks, we wont get to top 6 IMO.

PC knows a big clear out is on he cards, many of this team wont be here come August.

 

Let's ****ing hope not, sell the lot of them and start again!

 

It's a win and three points, that's all I'll remember about the game.

 

Not a great spectacle, got £5 worth first 20, then so dreary. Still 3pts it is.

But we move up. So much to sort out, very lack lustre.

I rather think the whole Club's demise has got the squad. Morale dives after a bright spell.

 

I know a win’s a win,but god help us we’re dreadful to watch.

 

It's like ground hog day, I'm a fan of PC but he sounds very similar to PL when he first came to the club, except performances marginally improved under Lambert.

He says its not good enough that players contract situations are left until the end of the Season proceed the following week to say they won't be decided until the end of the Season. PC says he has a particular way of playing that he will stick to, proceeds a few weeks later to give up with that because we don't have the players to do it, he changes it and we are still awful. Announces fans will be excited about the plans for the summer proceeds to be a non event (waiting for this summer to see if anything emerges).

I said it before Lambert was given the sack, this club needs more than a change of manager to turn the tide and the reason he was sacked was because he told the truth to power (PC is still in the ME flattery stage but it will come if things don't change). We have appointed probably the best manager we could under the circumstances and since Cook has come he's had more availability of players than Lambert had for about 2 seasons and if anything we've got worse, there's no managerial bounce.

Whilst I'm someone who has argued for the past 2 seasons that the squad isn't as good as everyone thinks it is, I'm also someone now who wouldn't necessarily chuck the baby out with the bathwater now it's plain to see they aren't good enough. We have talented players we just need to bring some dependable players alongside them to get the balance right.

My concern is as has happened frequently under the ME era we say a clear out is needed, but when push comes to shove the manager isn't backed well enough and often the players who come in are worse than those who have left.

 

Performances didn’t improve under Lambert. Our form got worse.

I don’t think we can judge Cook on anything this season - I can’t understand how Dozzell is in the side but apart from that, he has very few options available to him. We are very poor but still picking up enough points and have a relatively easy run in to make the play offs.

I think the Groundhog Day thing starts in the summer if we don’t get promoted. There was a ridiculous statement this week that the club has made an investment in analytics and it shows that we need to sign creative players. That revelation does not fill me with confidence for our recruitment.

With so many players out of contract let’s hope we are lucky enough to go up this season or get taken over, otherwise next season will probably be another step backwards in the strength of the squad.

 

Yes they did marginally from Hurst to Lambert initially. And they HAVE got worse since PC has come in

 

If you’re comparing only to the few good results just before Lambert was sacked but before that were months of abysmal football and results and a nosedive down the table.

 

There's quite a few of us who've been saying that the quality of the squad is poor and the reasons why, sure there are some who say we've got one of the best squads in the division and easily capable of promotion but this has been proven to be totally incorrect, and I agree that the easy bit is getting rid of the injury prone, aged, and the useless, but with inadequate funds there's no guarantee of improvement so the circle goes on, its hard to believe one man could have such a depressing influence on so many people, Evans out !

 

I would say we’re solid enough at the back and in goal. We have one of the worst attacks in the division but a lot of that is down to coaching and team selections and not necessarily ability. Paul Hurst started the tactic of playing one completely isolated forward up front, which we had altered but then Lambert persisted to a lesser extent with playing one up front and we have never since compressed the space between the units. The lack confidence of the attackers and decision making of midfielders is in such a poor state it would be easier to replace them all than to coach them back to form if that is even possible.

Andre Dozzell is a liability. We saw how the momentum drained out of the side when he made his mistake and he can barely pick out a pass in too many games, which costs us time and again.

Paul Cook has an enormous job on his hands but unlike Lambert I do trust him to make the most of what’s at his disposal and the situation at the club.

Without a takeover though I think we all know that even if we do go up we would be on for a struggle in the Championship. Games that we have scraped to a win in this season would be a heavy defeat at the next level.

 

Must admit, results and (reports of) performances since cook took over have been disappointing. However I'm reserving full judgement until the end of the season.

 

I agree Mike with the state the Club is in far too many people seem to think PC can come in,wave a magic wand and we’ll suddenly become contenders.A bit of patience everyone please!

 

I have been, like others on here, unbelievable patient for 5 years and more, knowing as we all do, how pitiful our club had allowed to become.

I too believe we have to give PC more time. If we notch and scrap another win tmrw, then some confidence and belief will return.
Wonder if Norton injury will keep him out for several games.

 

We're not too bad at the back but still think we need at least 1 first team CB and LB over the summer. Woolfenden and KVY aside (maybe Wilson and Kenlock as back up) none of those player are good enough for a promotion chasing team in this division, let alone the division above. And whilst I've nothing to question Chambers attitude, he hasn't been good enough and doesn't show enough inspiration on the pitch. Part of the reason players like Dozzell haven't shown any consistency and look psychologically weak on the pitch, is because I believe they've got noone to look up to on the pitch, when times get tough there's no confidence in each other that things can change we've got loads of players who haven't proved themselves and then a player like Chambers who if any player has been associated more to our failures as a club I can't think of one.

 

I can't see anyone really having a go at Cook here, I certainly am not, he needs time and genuinely in my time supporting Ipswich (over 25 years) I can't think of a better recieved appointment (including by myself).

What I'm saying is there must be alot wrong with this club if a manager of PCs credentials can come in and not improve things. If he can't succeed at the club we may as well give up. ME has appointed manager with successful CVs but apart from 1 season where we had a striker in the form of his life every other has felt like ground hog day. The longer this goes on the more I come to think that it doesn't really matter who the manager is.

I don't regret Lamberts sacking with hindsight as I believe we have a better manager however as I said at the time I didn't see a point in sacking him because it would be like changing the deckchairs on a sinking ship.

The squad Mick left us with was poor and we lost our 3 best players. Hurst brought in a number of players to replace them who at best had 1 good season in League 1, given the lack of structure above him the job was always to big for him and with the players he brought in relegation was inevitable.

Perhaps Lamberts positivity fooled everyone into thinking that because we had been relegated from the Championship that our squad was of the higher quality in League 1, it wasn't it was full of injury prone players, players who'd not pulled up any trees in League 1 or players who had been associated with failure at our club for a number of years who hadn't had a good season for years plus a load of our academy players. This meant we couldn't strengthen.

Failure in recruitment and squad management (in terms of contracts, some given ridiculously long contracts then others left to run out) has happened for over 10 seasons now. Unless this changes over the next few months I don't think we'll see a difference. Whatever the situation and whoever Cook decided to bring in it isn't an easy task, as we need leaders in the team, I'm not sure you can just bring that many leaders into a squad to make an instant difference, often some of those types of players need to grow through playing for the club.