Ipswich Town begin their 2021/22 campaign with a home fixture, and that is how their season will end as well. There is expected to be a bumper crowd at Portman Road for the opener against the newly-promoted Morecambe on August 7th.
The Shrimps beat Newport 1–0 in the League Two play-off final at Wembley on the 31st of May last year, and they will come to Suffolk in a confident frame of mind. That said, the start for the Tractor Boys has been relatively kind and next up is a trip to the Pirelli Stadium to face Burton Albion.
The whole month of August is, on paper at least, less than daunting, but as we all know, football is not played on paper. In the last two seasons in League One, we have found ourselves as the pace-setters, only to fall away badly as the season has progressed. Who really knows what the future holds for a club in such a drastic transition? We can only hope for some consistency on the field and a healthy points tally that might take us to within touching distance of the Championship again come April next year! A steady start and a strong finish might work in our favour here.
There is every reason to be upbeat, however. The deadwood has been removed from the heart of the squad and we can now start to rebuild again in earnest. It will take time. You cannot carry out a complete overhaul and expect instant success. As things stand, we only have two new players in the building, and the sooner this is rectified the better. New chief executive Mark Ashton is confident that new players will be arriving here shortly, and I hope he is right. If we are to gel as a team, then the nucleus of the squad should be in place before pre-season kicks in.
Ashton is not the kind of man to panic. He has seen it. Done it. Got the T-shirt. He said on the subject this: “We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to get a number of players in and I’m quite hopeful we’ll have some new names arriving fairly shortly. Paul will be given the squad and team he needs to win games. If we do that then the fans will be behind us.”
The most challenging aspect of the fixture list comes at the back end of the season. Our last four games are particularly scary. On the 15th of April, we have a tricky game away at Rotherham United before confronting Wigan Atheltic three days later at home. Manager Paul Cook’s right-hand man, Leam Richardson, will be wetting his lips at that prospect! Next up is Crewe away on the 23rd, followed by our last home fixture, and the final game of our 46 game campaign, against Charlton Athletic, who I expect will be there or there abouts, come the end of the season.
