Town boss Paul Cook is an affable bloke. And like every scouser I have ever met, he has an infectious sense of humour as well. Nothing wrong with that. I love the way he sees games in the eyes of a supporter, but I am not convinced that being so cordial towards our opponents every week does us any favours. It is almost as if he treats them with a little too much respect, and if he thinks this way, then it surely will influence the way the players think too.
Looking ahead to the League One fixture against Portsmouth at Fratton Park tomorrow Cook said, “What we’ve got to have is consistency and you’ll get consistency from me, and you’ll get my consistent messages to the players.” Does that message contain passages of praise for the opposition, their coaching staff and their supporters because if it does, it might have a detrimental effect on the way we approach these matches?
Showing too much respect to your opponent rarely brings with it good results. On the contrary, it can instil elements of fear. Is this one of the reasons why we throw so many leads away? Unfortunately, some of the best managers in the game have had some of the worst personalities but that is no guarantee of success. Ask Roy Keane – or, if you could, Sir Alf Ramsey!
We have been in front in the league on six occasions so far this season, only to see it disappear. This is a mentality problem and one that I would hope new incumbent Peter Reid can help to fix. We are still left a little in the dark as to how much influence he will have, but looking at our rookie coaching staff, it should be considerable in my view.
If this fails, then I would suggest Ipswich Town do what Sir Bobby Robson did when his team was struggling. He recruited a sports psychologist, and it turned around our season in next to no time!
Our defence seems incapable of defending, and this is a big concern. Apart from that win at Lincoln, and the thumping of an out of sorts Doncaster Rovers side, we have not kept a clean sheet, but I quite like George Edmundson, who I feel will come good.
Cameron Burgess, by comparison, looks sluggish, and I would have Luke Woolfenden back in his place. At 6ft 4 inches, he is a big lad and has been unlucky not to have stayed in the team. The trouble is that Burgess is primarily left-sided, and Woolfenden right, so if you are looking for round pegs in round holes then this probably would not work. You could move versatile Janoi Donacien into one of those central defensive positions, but this would really be rocking the defensive boat.
And talking of rocking our defensive boat, our goalkeeping position is also up for grabs! I know, not many of you will probably agree with me here, but I would have Tomas Holy back – at least until Christian Walton recovers from injury. He organises his defence like a vice-captain.
I watched in horror on Saturday, at the way some of our defenders began castigating Hladky for not calling for the ball and this caused panic in our defence.
I have seen little from him so far to make me feel confident that he is the right man for the job. He certainly does not command his penalty area, and that is an essential part of it.
