We Need To Bring Him Back

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the EADT, former Town loan striker Macauley Bonne believes that a return to the Blues is not that far off the radar. “Kieran McKenna called me in for a chat the day after that last game against Charlton. We sat down at the training ground with a coffee and had a good chat. He said he likes me, sees me as a hybrid forward that can do a bit of everything and that Ipswich Town is not a closed book. We’ve kept in touch.”  I hope the gaffer has not changed his mind.

Anyone who reads my articles will know how much I admire Macauley Bonne. He has Ipswich blood running through his veins, and it has always been his dream to represent the Blues. In the first half of last season, he was on fire and scored 11 goals in just 16 appearances, and by November he was already in double figures! Then, just as dramatically, his form dipped but in this interview with Stuart Watson, he explains that there were mitigating circumstances for his fall from grace.

His fiancée Chloe Walker reluctantly revealed their heartache in a social media post in December. Me and Macauley have been trying to conceive for just over a year. We’ve had three miscarriages and are finally going through all the tests. This isn’t something we’ve wanted to share for a while now but it’s taken a massive toll on us both this year. You could see in his overall play that his mind was often elsewhere, and his focus had not been where it was before.  Now we know the reason why. Bonne said on the subject: “It was tough – I’m not ashamed to talk about it. Anyone who has gone through that will know it’s not easy. It was test after test. That takes its toll mentally.  But I still had to go out there and try to perform in front of 25,000 people. I’m not making excuses for the dip in form. I apologise for not getting more goals. But I do think if my head was clearer then I would have carried on scoring.”

The article today in the EADT is a fascinating insight into the mindset of a footballer. I have often argued that when a team enters the field, we have no idea what might have happened the night before? It could be a bust-up with the wife, one too many sherbets, or a tragic situation such as this, that will hang around like a dark angry cloud for months on end and can detrimentally affect a player’s performance. Bonne deserves another chance. McKenna has not seen the best of him yet, and I firmly believe, that if he returns to the side he supports, he will not let us down.

I will leave the last few words to the player himself because Ipswich Town is where his heart is.  “Even when Kieran McKenna wasn’t playing me I wasn’t sour about it. I can’t because I improved as a player under him.  He was really positive and I learned a lot. And I’m not just saying that because he’s Town manager and I want to play for Town again!”