Is Mick McCarthy Facing The Firing Squad?

Ipswich Town managing director Ian Milne has asked the club`s supporters to keep the faith, as an increasing number begin to question the validity of buying another season ticket?

“At the moment it`s still very early days in terms of judging season ticket renewals. It`s up to people to make their own judgments, but naturally I hope they stick with us. I hope they keep the faith,” Milne said after the latest drab draw at Portman Road effectively ended all hopes of those play-off places.

Town currently have just 13,500 season ticket holders and the spiral is heading downwards, as fans consider whether it is worth all that money to see the blues marooned in this league for what seems like an absolute eternity.

Next season will be the fifteenth year of trying but that is half the trouble because in this results led business the football has been extraordinarily trying too!

It seems inevitable that season ticket sales will fall again and perhaps more drastically than first anticipated because the disappointment of going backwards in the table is exacerbated by the poor quality of the football – or ‘hoof ball’ as some have alluded to.

Manager Mick McCarthy remains positive and is only focused on the future and not what might have been.

With reference to the next match against Brentford at Portman Road on Saturday our manager was rather upbeat and said, ‘The games come thick and fast and it`s at the end of the season so everybody`s starting to feel it. There`s every chance there`ll be a few different faces,” which is perhaps an acceptance that those play-off places are now beyond us.

So with Town seemingly on the decline again and playing some of the poorest football seen in decades, what does the future hold for Mick and his management team?

Owner Marcus Evans does not interfere with the football side of things but if gate receipts and season tickets start to fall away, then at the end of the day he is a businessman and will act!

Milne highlighted that costs are going up but Evans will continue to invest in the club. “Regards investment, our players` salary bill has gone up by 25% over the last two seasons. It`s gone up by 15% in the last year. We`ve just spent another £750,000 on the academy and like everything else in football, these costs will continue to rise year on year.’

Rising costs and lower performance is not something that sits comfortably with any owner so Milne has said that Mick and Marcus will discuss the clubs finances in the summer again.

Our manager might be able to fool some of the people some of the time with his defence of the seemingly indefensible but in the end people inevitably see through those delusional tendencies.

And when games and support are lost, whilst playing a brand of football that is more suited to Sunday mornings before the pubs open, then it usually only means one thing.

It is time to bring in the firing squad!



Frank Weston – editor of Vital Ipswich