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The Clock is Ticking On Mick And Town

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I do not want to sound like the harbinger of doom and gloom but having read an open letter from Terry Hunt in the East Anglian Daily Times today, I share his sentiments entirely.

I was born two years before Terry in 1955 but I have never known a time at Town when there was such a collective deep depression hanging over us.

Yes, we have had our disappointments in the past, not least when a footballing superstar like Roy Keane took over and under-achieved and then of course there was the very likable Paul Jewell, who almost took us further down the football pyramid but at least he tried to play some entertaining football in the process.

Earlier in my life as a Town fan, I remember the days of John Duncan in the late eighties and how the gates fell so dramatically at Portman Road when he was the gaffer but I have never known anything quite like this.

It is not just a lack of good results but a distinct lack of good football that is driving supporters away.

Fans can handle the odd bad result but when the team is performing as miserably as we are, then it is clearly unacceptable and there is no point Mick McCarthy perpetually going on about what happened four years ago because what he had then he has not got now and I fear he has lost the dressing room completely these days.

We all know we lack quality but when I listen to Cole Skuse speak after a defeat it is so matter of fact that it is almost patronising. Quite frankly, he does not seem bothered.

Captain Luke Chambers wears his heart on his sleeve for the Blues but let us be honest, if we spoke only of his football ability, then how many other Championship sides would he find a place in?

The natives are losing faith, not only in Mick McCarthy and his same old reasoning for apathetic performances but the support he seems to be getting from the owner Marcus Evans – the Howard Hughes of Ipswich Town football club.

Now, I have always been a fond admirer of the way our club has handled itself with regard to managers. If it was not for this, then Bobby Robson might not have become Sir Bobby Robson or Alf Ramsey Sir Alf!

I am also proud of the fact that two of our former bosses went on to manage England and one of them won The World Cup and the other one came mightily close!

That said, patience is not always a virtue and the clock is surely ticking on Mick McCarthy and Ipswich Town. As William Shakespeare alluded to, ‘Though patience may be a tired mare, yet she will plod,’ and plodding is all we ever seem to do under Mick the man.

I am not calling for his head but I am calling for him to change drastically his approach and treat supporters with the respect they so dearly deserve.

It is not rocket science to grasp that Jonathan Douglas is way out of his depth – or that playing him and Skuse in the middle does nothing but consolidate our defence.

He must start to understand that we can all handle defeat if we play with attacking intent. I know it is not in our manager’s nature to play this way but he has nothing more to lose.

Mick McCarthy must finally realise that the days of self-delusion are over. He must do everything in his power to ensure that we do not waste another transfer window by being so spendthrift and persuade owner Evans to part with some dosh!


Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich

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