The Ipswich Town Exodus Has Begun!

I signed a petition the other day demanding that we should keep Paul Anderson and after his performances in the play-off’s he deserves a new contract in my view.

Some will say one swallow does not make a summer and his performances over the whole season should be reviewed before a contract extension is considered but he is not the only one currently heading towards the exit door.

Both Stephen and Noel Hunt are in a similar position; along with Elliot Hewitt, Darren Ambrose and Richard Chaplow.

There is the possibility that some of these players will still be at Portman Road when the new season kicks off but if they get better offers elsewhere it is natural to assume they will move on.

Also moving on is striker Jack Marriott, who has just signed a one year deal with Luton Town and there is no real surprise there because he failed to live up to his early promise, as have so many players of late.

Cameron Stewart has just completed an elongated dispute with Leeds United over a three year contract that was reneged upon by former club president Massimo Cellino and after a protracted battle to get what was owed to him, he will receive more than half a million pounds in compensation it is believed, after the case went to the Football Association’s arbitration committee.

Cameron Stewart broke his jaw shortly after joining Town and has not kicked a ball in earnest in the first team yet so what does the future hold for him I wonder?

Then there is winger Alex Henshall who showed lots of promise when he joined us from Manchester City. Once again he has been largely out of the first team picture apart from the odd league cup appearance and the occasional bit of Championship bench warming!

Dylan Connolly is another winger who was renowned for his speed and guile when he came over from Ireland to join us but he too has not seen the light of day so what I wonder is going on?

Are these players under-achievers too or did matters off the field prevent them from showing their true worth?

It is a baffling and at times a quite bewildering state of affairs really because our manager Mick McCarthy has always said that if they are good enough they would get into the team.

Many would argue that hard-working Jay Tabb is anything but good enough and yet the gaffer has promised him a one year contract extension so he obviously sees something in him that most supporters seemingly do not!

Perhaps a more obvious clue to the manager’s thinking is his insistence that what his players do on the training field day in and day out, will determine whether they get a look in or not.

Clearly in this regard we can only assume they have failed to deliver and like Elliot Hewitt, who was purchased by Paul Jewell and was considered to be a star in the making, they have largely disappeared without trace on our football landscape of late.

What do you think of the decisions made so far by Mick the Man?

Who do you think should be sent packing and do you think anyone has had a raw deal?

What becomes of Luke Varney and one or two other players is anybody’s guess so I would like to hear from you on who you think should be with us when the new season unfolds next August?

Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich