Is This Season All But Over For Ipswich Town?

That game away at Bolton last Saturday personified in many ways, all that is wrong with Ipswich Town football club.

The performance matched the lethargy and indifference which is synonymous with seemingly every aspect of the club these days, and it is a very sad reflection on our proud football history and magnificent past.

Tommy Smith has finally called it a day, after eleven years with the Blues and who could possibly blame him?

Our defence has been anything but wonderful this term and yet even when he is fit, he cannot get into the side so this opportunity to join MLS side Colorado Rapids is an offer he simply could not refuse. He has been a loyal servant of both club and country and there is little doubt he will be greatly missed.

Manager Mick McCarthy appears to be going through the motions too. His tenure is nearly up and investment in the squad is as minimal as it always has been under his stewardship.

I firmly believe however, that if he had been rewarded with even half the money that Roy Keane and Paul Jewell were able to splurge on players, then we could well have been back in the Premier League by now.

Yes, it is true that owner Marcus Evans got his fingers burnt a couple of times and consequently went in search of the kind of man that loves the challenge of doing things on a shoestring but I doubt whether even McCarthy expected it to be for quite so long!

There is also the counter argument that spending oodles of cash does not guarantee you success, as Derby, Middlesborough,Leeds United and even Norwich will testify but without it, then you really do need a great motivator and an awful lot of luck!

Huddersfield Town defied the odds last season but as soon as they got in the water with the big fish, they also began to spend big!

Bournemouth only have a ground capacity of around 12,000 but they still managed to invest in their future – even when they were a Championship club and let’s face it, Marcus Evans certainly has a bob or two!

Yes, I know he is carrying the club debt and I know that wage bills are rising rapidly but staying too long in FC Mediocre is not achieving anything and people start to talk with their feet.

We are now six points adrift of those playoff places again and going nowhere in particular it would seem.

Like a little boat drifting on a big sea we will have to avoid sinking without trace, as as others clubs of similar size, continue to spend, as we just continue to lend.


Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich