Berra Could Be On His Way Out Of Town

Let us be honest about it. Christophe Berra has been a loyal servant of Ipswich Town football club but maybe the parting of the ways is nigh and if it is, then we must be grateful for his input over the last few seasons and move on.

Manager Mick McCarthy brought Christophe Berra to the club on a free transfer, following his release by Wolves in the summer of 2013 and initially he looked impressive but that was yesteryear.

The Scottish defender is approaching the last few months of his contract and despite saying last week that the club would be taking up a 12 month extension clause in his deal, it appears now that McCarthy is no longer certain the defender will stick around and the game on Sunday away to Nottingham Forest, could be his last in a Town shirt.

McCarthy explained, ‘Look, it`s been widely known that Christophe has got a desire to be back up in Edinburgh because of his daughter. I met her on the pitch after Saturday`s game and I said to him, I can see why you want to go back!’

What we tend to forget in football, is that footballers are at the end of the day all human being, who suffer from the same highs and lows as the rest of us and if a player has ‘home thoughts from abroad,’ this is perfectly understandable.

Like a lot of the squad at Ipswich Town these days, they are all very likable people but that could be our achilles heel. It has been suggested, by more than one former Town player, that they are all perhaps a little too nice and listen to everything the manager says respectfully but sadly cannot think outside the box.

They follow instructions to the letter and there is no room for ingenuity because they are trained to DO and not to think.

This maybe a harsh criticism of the management team but I am sure there are elements of truth in it because it is a rare thing to see players having pop shots from outside the penalty area, when there is nothing much else to go for. The tendency instead, is to play their way into trouble with over elaborate build-up play.

Unselfishness is great in life in general but if you are a striker and getting paid to score goals, it is probably not.

Town will miss Tom Lawrence when he moves to pastures new because part of the reason he has scored so many goals this season is because of his natural instinct to shoot on sight and many of his goals have come this way. You do of course need a good eye for goal too but often that comes with confidence.

As for Christophe Berra, I think it would be the perfect end for both parties if he was to move on. He is too slow these days and far too accident prone to be relied on at the back.

Thanks for the memories Christophe, now get back over the border fast, while you are still a citizen the United kingdom!


Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich