When Town defeated Swansea on Saturday, it was justice seen to be done – not just for the manager but also for those long-suffering Blues supporters. The travelling army deserves particular praise. They have backed Paul Hurst – even when some of the more sceptical supporters began to have serious doubts. I admire them immensely for their collective togetherness and they deserved this unlikely victory just as much as the gaffer.
If we are brutally honest about it, Swansea can consider themselves to be very unlucky. They are clearly a classy side, who surely will threaten to take one of those automatic promotions spots before the season is done. Dean Gerken came to Town’s rescue on a couple of occasions and even though in our hearts we know that an in-form Bartosz Bialkowski is a better keeper, we are indeed fortunate to have such a capable understudy.
I was impressed with the never-say-die attitude of the Town players, and anyone who was suggesting that the players were not performing for Hust will surely have to think again. It was good to see Freddie Sears back in the team and back in form and perhaps even more delightful to witness Andre Dozzell from the start!
I was encouraged by the way the team gelled, and there are signs at last that the tide is slowly beginning to turn for the Tractor Boys. Let’s face it, we deserved a bit of luck and if the theory is correct that good and bad fortune even themselves out over a season, then we should be able to expect some more!
Paul Hurst would be the first to admit that he has made mistakes but it is the way you learn from them that surely matters most and on Saturday against Swansea he got the tactics and the formation spot on.
Of course, even he would agree that this is very much a work in progress but at last, it seems, this progress is recognisable. The Swans levelled things with a wonder goal from former Town loanee Bersant Cellini and with not many minutes left on the clock the temptation could be to hold out for a point. Certainly, if this had have been former boss Mick McCarthy running the show, we would have been clinging on for dear life. Sometimes, however, the best form of defence is attack and it was fitting in this see-saw encounter that Town got their noses in front with just moments to spare. Trevoh Chalobah got his head to a corner and guided the ball beyond the keeper and into the net, to the obvious delight of the travelling faithful.
It was also to the obvious relief of manager Paul Hurst and now he can go into the international break assured of getting some good night’s sleep. I still believe that Town are not far from turning their season around. There seems to be a better understanding these days of how Hurst wants them to play and although there are still issues with our defence, we have not been blown over by anyone so far, so I believe it is more a matter of fine-tuning than anything else.
F.W. – editor of Vital Ipswich
