Are Toothless Town Going Down?

Well, it would appear so – unless of course, Paul Lambert can pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat during a difficult transfer window. The Gaffer has already said that we should expect a long drawn out affair with regard to transfer activity, and whether this has anything to do with owner Marcus Evans keeping his wallet firmly in his trousers, or due to players being priced out of the marketplace remains to be seen?

The reality of the situation is this. Town play pretty passing football these days but with no cutting edge and our forwards rarely look likely to score and worse still, rarely manage to get a shot on target! These are worrying times and unless we can find a proven goalscorer fast, we seemed destined for the drop.

It is all so different from the start of the campaign when there was a fresh breeze blowing through Portman Road, with a new man at the helm and lots of new players on display who showed oodles of promise. It was, however,  a very false dawn and even though Hurst came and went as suddenly as a clap of thunder, his replacement is facing many of the same problems. A serious lack of investment and a lack of a prolific goalscorer being just two of them.

Lambert has got the players believing, and even when we were trailing 3-0 to QPR on Saturday the Blues still played with confidence and energy until the final whistle. The sad fact is that pretty football gets you nowhere if you cannot put the ball in the net! I like both Ellis Harrison and Freddie Sears but together they are a bit of an odd couple. Sadly too, Kayden Jackson could out-sprint most players but not with the ball at his feet. Jack Lankester is a local boy with huge potential but he is still learning his trade so we cannot expect too much of him at this stage in his career. Ben Morris is another one who might pull through in the end, but the end is coming too quickly for Ipswich Town football club this season.

I am seriously worried now. The gap between ourselves and the clubs in the safety zone has risen to seven points and with our pathetic goal difference, we can make that eight. We are still leaking horrendous goals born out of careless errors and we would struggle these days to score in a brothel. This is relegation form indeed.

If there is still some hope, then we must acquire a striker who knows this league like the back of his hand and is a proven goalscorer. This is a big ask because the next big question is, who in their right mind would want to come here in the first place? I guess we will have to make do with someone who wants to reignite his career after a long injury – or conversely, a striker who is down the pecking order at his club and has a point to prove.

Time will tell but as things stand, time is no longer on our side.

F.W.  –    editor of Vital Ipswich