Columnist NoCanariesAllowed returns with a look at the Ipswich yo-yo.
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And so it`s come to this?
There we all were back in early August 2008, bright-eyed and exuberant, making our lofty predictions in anticipation of a season which – in the eyes of many Town fans and neutrals alike – offered Ipswich a genuine prospect of promotion to the Premier League. Now in March 2009, amidst the malaise of the dreaded ‘credit crunch` and Britain`s coldest winter for many years, Ipswich Town seem to have sunk under the tide of negativity as well. Despite promotion still being possible, seemingly every Town forum and chat room appears filled with exasperated supporters baying for the head of the manager, while our own fans have been jeering the team and, on one occasion, even seen to be fighting amongst each other in the Portman Road stands. Even EADT editor Terry Hunt attempted to determine the agenda in February by waving the ‘Magilton Out` flag on behalf of the local newspapers. Where did it all go wrong?
Leaders have often said that no man knows the challenges and decisions they face until one is actually put into their chair. That may be so, but it seems a lot of people currently believe they know far better than Jim Magilton. Town`s slow start to the season rolled on into a slow first-half of the season, before chugging into the new year facing the prospect that it was now unlikely to ever make its original destination. With so much money invested in upgrading the Town machine over the summer, to see it falter throughout this campaign has been a wrenching disappointment for so many of the Ipswich faithful. As this has unfolded, many have come to point the finger at Magilton`s management, criticising his signings, his tactics and his capacity to motivate the players. With Town`s mediocrity prevailing over a larger and larger spell, their voices have been echoed by many more against the manager and the club has become surrounded by a sense of disunity and unrest. I write this having spent the last two hours listening over the internet to Town`s embarrassing 3-0 home defeat to Southampton, now in depressing anticipation of the usual swell of negative outcry likely to make its return after a brief reprieve.
What is the cause for this state of unrest? Unlike many fallen greats and surprise strugglers – most notably Charlton, Southampton and Norwich – Town are not in a state of crisis which threatens to pull the club into the third tier of English football or, even worse, out of existence altogether. Looking at the Championship table as of3rd March, Ipswich currently lie in 10th place, 5pts off the playoffs (albeit with several teams around us having one or more games in hand). Perhaps surprisingly, Town are only 3pts worse off than they were after 36 matches last year, and indeed have had one of the best away records in the Championship this season. Outsiders might consider any suggestions of ‘failure` somewhat ludicrous, particularly with two months of the season still left to play. However, judging from the comments of many disenchanted Town fans, it is not our mid-table position which has led them to feel so frustrated. It is the fact that this has happened despite sizeable expenditure in the summer, despite radical changes in the squad, and is occurring with Town playing poor football of inconsistent form, particularly in front of the home crowd, which leaves little hope of even matching the progress made last year. The phrase “a wasted season” has been cited on many occasions, and this I can empathise with on some level.
It is however easy to get carried away – Town were spoilt by an unusually-tight Championship last season which left us one point away from a playoff finish despite claiming a points tally which, on any other year, would never normally have entitled us to be finishing anywhere near that close. The Portman Road crowd was also spoilt with a freak 52pt home campaign that was always going to be very difficult to match. None of these things ever gave us any entitlement to anything this season. Last year is null and void with regard to this campaign. It must be said that there is a tendency for us to expect toomuch of our once great club, to assume that we are one of the Championship`s big boys. This is particularly the case since Marcus Evans` takeover; gaining the ability to compete financially in this division does not automatically bring success or make us a leading contender for promotion. On some level, the raising standard of competition year-on-year in the Championship may mean that the takeover only allowed us to avoid becoming like Southampton or Norwich rather than enabling us to join Wolves and Birmingham at the top. Whether we like to admit it or not, the Championship is not an easy division.
I say this not particularly to defend Magilton. I have personally stuck by the Town manager all through the season and have constantly been willing him to prove his doubters wrong, but I will admit that his is a position which has become difficult to defend. With the new squad initially seeming to take a long time to gel, the tinkering has now continued far into the season – perhaps counterproductively on several occasions – without yielding any consistent success, and at this stage, it is now probably unlikely to do so. An unwanted long ball element has crept into Town`s game over time, and this has been poorly executed by a side which in most other circumstances would probably be best thought of as a makeshift combination, playing people out of position and making for very uninspiring football. Despite a few decent scoring matches (such as the 4-1 win at Crystal Palace), the front line has often looked toothless or simply failed to take its chances, while at the back, one has become tired of the oft-cited “defensive errors”. On a further note, many have bemoaned the loss of Town`s youth element since the takeover; despite the FA Youth Cup victory in 2005, the talent from this side and its successors has never seemed to gain an opportunity this season without being farmed out to a lower-league club on loan. I share many of these frustrations and must admit that, rightly or wrongly, there are several things about Magilton`s approach which I personally find myself questioning.
However, though I have some scepticism of Magilton`s approach this season, I do still hold faith in him in awareness of the potential for a change of fortunes, and would welcome it with open arms should it ever manifest itself. Sadly it has to be said that Town have suffered from a multitude of ‘false dawns` this season, the latest being the mini-run against Nottingham Forest and at QPR. One cannot however rule out the possibility of just one well-timed run ultimately paying off, particularly as many of the teams above us have frequently failed to capitalise on chances to reinforce their positions in the table. One need only look at Preston, who sandwiched their 3-2 win over Town with losses to Southampton and Nottingham Forest, or indeed Wolves, whose recent form has seen the table-toppers drop points against Plymouth, Coventry and Norwich. Despite the sentiment of some Town fans though, I don`t believe any turnaround can be generated at will with a managerial replacement in the present circumstances, particularly as success for Town this season is currently looking unlikely no matter who is in charge. I do not wish us to settle for second best or more poor football. However, I would say that provided that we do not slip into genuine trouble (which is highly improbable), one favours the stability of letting the existing system run its course, either until Magilton is able to properly turn things around or until the natural interval of the close season allows for cold hard analysis, and if necessary, the development of a new order for the next campaign. Several clubs have made managerial changes during the course of this season, none of which can be said to have experienced a miraculous or lasting turnaround as a result, and some for whom the decision may be seen to have had the adverse affect of destabilising the club. I have often cited last season`s experience of Leicester City as good cause for thinking carefully about what changes should be made at the top.
In saying this, I have attempted to maintain a level head. Sadly, the same cannot be said for some of Town`s ‘fans` whom I have encountered over the last few months, the behaviour of whom in the face of the team and the manager`s shortcomings has on occasions been nothing short of cringeworthy. Should Magilton actually lose his job, be it before or after the end of this season, I will find myself wondering how much the team`s struggles under his management have been his responsibility and how much they have been influenced by an unsettling atmosphere at matches where our fans have been clearly divided. I know not all Town fans have been making such protest against the manager, and indeed it may only be a minority, but it is a very noisy one. I do not doubt any person who claims to love Town and hold its best interests at heart, but as much as paying match-goers are of course entitled to air their views, it must be said that jeering the players or giving them nothing to look at as they gaze around the stands for inspiration other than “MAGILTON OUT” is unlikely to make a positive change. As far as I see it, this is ‘support` of a very counterproductive nature. What I find perhaps even more embarrassing than this, however, is the stunningly fickle nature of some of our fanbase at times this season. I was at Loftus Road in February hearing the chants of “Super, Super Jim, Super Jim Magilton” ringing around the School End as Town romped to a 3-1 win, completely stunned in the knowledge that less than a week earlier, there were fans protesting against Magilton before the win over Nottingham Forest at Portman Road. These same fans subsequently came out into the online community after the QPR match actually attempting to claim credit for supposedly applying pressure that was causing our season to turn around. No doubt these same elements will now be reverting back to their original tack and stating that their protests are newly justified. While the team`s form yo-yos on the pitch, the attitude of these fans seems to yo-yo in kind off of it. Surely this confused attitude is not helping anyone.
I am not calling for Magilton to be sacked. Then again, sharing the frustration of all Town fans at present, I am also not claiming that he has been successful this season, or that his position should never be considered under threat. However, I am tired of seeing the same protests being dragged up and unsettling everyone. The determination to see Ipswich Town succeed has been perverted in the minds of some by a belief that this can only happen under a new design, and in their conviction, their actions to try and force this ‘change for the better` could potentially stifle any chance the existing system has of working. The anti-Magilton army`s cause is, to an extent, self-fulfilling, and this I cannot abide by. One would feel far less shame in the direction of Ipswich Town this season if we were to reach the end of the campaign having failed to make any progress on last year`s finish yet comporting ourselves with enough dignity to accept the superiority of the competition and, if necessary, to bid Magilton a graceful and appreciative farewell. Instead, the actions of some of our fans have created a rather melodramatic farce which can visualise only ‘failure` based on our own high expectations rather than any genuine threat of relegation or financial collapse, and which leaves people like myself feeling rather embarrassed by it all.
I can only conclude by stating, albeit somewhat cliché or overly optimistic, that it isn`t over yet. With change within the club seeming highly unlikely given the internal statements of support for the manager and the limited time left this season, there seems little point in bemoaning our existing setup or trying to rock the boat at this stage. Perhaps more significantly, as the mini-run against Forest and QPR has shown, things could turn around for us this season very quickly. Let`s just get behind the lads, because you never know. They may yet prove the doubters wrong.
~NoCanariesAllowed~
