Much To Do About Nothing Again For The Blues

Perhaps the only thing that could make this season interesting is a relegation dogfight and even that seems most unlikely.

The reality is that Town have under-achieved this time around and players on loan are only trying their damndest, with a view to improving their career prospects with other clubs; or conversely, convincing their parent clubs that they are worth keeping!

Tom Lawrence is a good example. He is disappointed that his own club Leicester City, who are currently striving to avoid relegation to the Championship, have not contacted him.

Admittedly, they have won their last two Premier League fixtures under new interim boss Craig Shakespeare but what about the rest of his loan spell when he was scoring for Town for fun?

I think he will stay out in front to the end of this campaign as our top scorer and we all know that even if The Foxes are less than interested, there will be a number of other clubs who will outbid us for his signature. He may like it here to a point but can we blame him if a bigger club comes in?

Bigger clubs these days exist not just in the elite league but also much further down the football pyramid and even lowly QPR could probably do the biz – such is our sorry state financially.

We have a very rich owner in Marcus Evans, who appears to be using Ipswich Town football club as his plaything.

This is a very sad reflection on a club with a proud football history and the fact that our owner refuses to give manager Mick McCarthy the chance to prove his real worth in the transfer market, is a futile exercise for both parties in my view.

In truth, Mick McCarthy has been a little unlucky in that he has had far less dosh to dish than Keane and Jewell and yet in the first couple of seasons, the Blues clearly exceeded expectations.

This is no longer the case of course and the finger of blame must be pointed – not only in the direction of the manager but also towards the owner too because he has switched the financial tap off!

Mick knew what he was getting into when he took on the job so my sympathy for his present predicament is rather limited.

I have even less sympathy for Marcus Evans and his public relations sidekicks, who bestow the virtues of the club, only to do the complete opposite to what they suggest.

If there is such a thing as a football politician then they exist here at Portman Road. Promises are easy to make and even easier to break and when they talk about investment in the club, it is mere rhetoric and little else.

Tomorrow we are away to Barnsley and I think a draw is probably on the cards. For people who still do pools coupons, surely Ipswich is your very best bet and given our current state of football ambivalence, who really cares that much anyway?

Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich