Vital Ipswich readers still hoping for success this season according to latest poll
Ipswich Town’s 1-1 draw at Coventry City on New Years Day signified the halfway point of the Coca Cola Championship season. With 23 matches played out of 46, Vital Ipswich has been seeking your views on whereabouts Ipswich will finish after the next 23 games.
Town began the Championship season strongly with 18 points from their first 10 matches, but after a serious slump in form – including a run of 6 straight defeats – they only managed to collect 10 from their next 13. Having looked like genuine playoff contenders as recently as November, the Blues now seem more like relegation candidates as they begin 2011 lying in 19th place on just 28 points.
Vital Ipswich therefore decided to use the halfway point as another opportunity to survey the opinion of Town fans on where the Blues will finish the 2010/11 season. Here’s what you said:
2% – Automatic Promotion
34% – Playoffs
19% – Mid-Table
19% – Lower Half of Table
26% – Relegation Battle
Click here to suggest your own poll for the site!
Surprisingly, despite a growing atmosphere of pessimism and mounting pressure on manager Roy Keane, the biggest proportion of fans in our poll – around a third, in fact – still believe that Ipswich are destined to finish in the playoff places. That will rely upon whether the Blues can rediscover their early season form, perhaps with some new signings in January. It’s safe to say however that with the likes of QPR setting the pace at the top of the table, automatic promotion now looks virtually impossible, reflected by the mere 2% returning this option in our poll.
Whilst optimism remains for many however, there is also a fair amount of negativity amongst other Town fans. Approximately a quarter of those who voted felt that Ipswich would stay stuck in the mire at the bottom of the table and find themselves heading into May battling against relegation; something which unfortunately, if their current form continues, seems a likely outcome. The remaining 38% were split evenly between the two altogether less interesting options, predicting that Town will finish anywhere from just outside the playoffs to the lower end of mid-table.
Curiously, these results are not that different from an identical poll conducted a quarter of the way through the season, despite Ipswich being in a much rosier position back then. Surely few however could have foreseen the manner in which Town have collapsed from that early promise. It will be interesting therefore to see where we are by the time the three-quarter mark rolls around…!
This week’s poll: ‘Do you think Ipswich can beat Chelsea and Arsenal in our upcoming cup ties?’ (See right-hand column to place your vote)
Where do you think we’ll finish this season? What have you made of the first half of the campaign? Check out our review of Town’s season so far, or have your say on this topic by signing up to the club forums using the banner below. You can also share your views on the campaign so far or any Town topic of your choice by writing an article for Vital Ipswich.
