All habits are quite easy to form and last season Town got into some very bad ones. This time around wherever we seem to look good habits prevail. From a resolute defence to an abundance of attacking options, and on Saturday against Tranmere Rovers, the Blues four goals came from four different goalscorers!
Now we are clearly back in the winning habit having won five of our last six matches, and three of them have been away! Last season we seriously struggled to score goals and this was one of the more obvious reasons for our fall from grace. Our defence was decidedly leaky too but this term we have equalled a club record of not conceding a goal in five consecutive matches!
To be sitting proudly at the top of the tree is justified too because the table does not lie and we have arrived here on merit. Yes, we are yet to hit full throttle but if we can continue to pick up lots of points when we are a bit below par then goodness knows what could happen when we find our form!
One of the reasons for this incredible transformation is undoubtedly our wing-backs. Luke Garbett and Kane Vincent-Young have excelled and they proved again at the weekend that they have a goal or two in them too! Manager Paul Lambert has successfully tweaked a few things and we are now seeing the benefits.
Our midfield is arguably the strongest in this division so there are indeed many reasons to be cheerful just now – even though some people might fear the bubble might burst? Personally I am not convinced. Of course, there will be defeats along the way but the start we have made has encouraged the whole squad to believe in themselves and self-belief is an essential part of winning.
I would go further and suggest that technical ability probably accounts for 40% of success on the field and the other 60% is made up of collective self-confidence. There are many reasons why players under-perform and sometimes it relates to things that are happening outside of the game. Alan Judge had struggled with this earlier in the season and only now are we seeing a player who is fully focused on his playing ability.
The good things about Ipswich Town football club these days is everything! We are still undefeated in the league after 10 games and the supporters have returned to Portman Road in droves and we have a fantastic away following, so what is there not to like about this season so far?!
FW – editor of Vital Ipswich
