Lambert And Who Else?

Let’s get real here. If Lambert departs, he will be joined by many others, and most of them have very close Ipswich Tow ties. What most supporters seem to fail to grasp, is that when a manager leaves, so too do most of his backroom staff.

I guess a lot of you won’t miss the General Manager of Football Operations Lee O’Neill, and to be absolutely frank, neither would I. The same goes for his side-kicks, assistant boss Stuart Taylor and first-team coach Matt Gill. In truth, they have no natural links with the Blues and therefore, probably won’t be sorely missed.

It is when you get down to the youth sides and under 23 teams that there is a serious cause for concern. Head of Coaching & Player Development is our very own Bryan Klug. The reason we have Teddy Bishop, Andre Dozell, Luke Woolfenden, Jack Lankester and Flynn Downes in our squad, is largely thanks to him.

Then take a look at our under 23 and youth teams who both incidentally top their respective divisions. The young Blues are coached by Adem Atay and Jason Dozzell, and the under 23 side is managed by  Kieron Dyer and Terry Butcher. They went back to the top of the Professional Development League Two South after a late Idris El Mizouni’s strike to claim a 1-0 victory over previous leaders Millwall. He is another home-grown talent with immense potential by the way.

Now you may be naive enough to think that once Lambert goes these former Blues will stay. This is a fanciful notion because a new manager always wants to sweep to floor clean from top to bottom and bring in his own men. It is often a case of jobs for the boys. Do we really want to see this whole structure dismantled, just because of our impatience to get results?

Owner Marcus Evans has made many mistakes in his time. I am quite sure he would be the first to admit it. But one of them is not his desire for continuity. Stability is the long-term key to lasting success, and throwing the baby out with the bathwater is really not very clever at all.

Now, I may have treated former Blues captain Mick Mills harshly yesterday, when I suggested he was doing nothing more than jumping on the bandwagon but of course, it is much easier to do so, when you share the majority view.

It looks as if the whole world is against Paul Lambert these days, but I am not one of them. Journalists from the EADT have now found the confidence to put the boot in as well and Stuart Watson and Mark Heath also believe in kicking a man when he is down it seems. Like a lynching party, it is usually born out of a tsunami of discontent.

The TWTD’s website posted more disparaging comments about Lambert after yesterday’s defeat, and once again, most of them should have come with a parental warning. And of course, Mills got just what he wanted in the process, and that is to be loved.

Farmerpiles wrote: If only ME took advice like this from Mick and others, instead of Harry Redknapp and Barry Fry. I know, zero chance he’ll read this. Lambert out.

Chrisd: Well said Mick Mills, it’s a pity that our hapless owner keeps listening and getting advice from the wrong people. How this situation is being allowed to keep going on is anyone’s guess?

Therein61: Totally agree with Mick apart from not getting rid of P.L and his pathetic coaches.

I will only seriously begin to judge manager Paul Lambert when he has a full squad to choose from. This is still a long way off, and until we get there, I will continue to take the minority view.