Town Go Down To Narrow Defeat Again

It was another narrow defeat for the Blues but perhaps what is more alarming, is that we are struggling to take any points from teams above us in the league.

What exacerbates the situation further still is that each week it seems, there are more teams above us! We are now in tenth – although we do have a game in hand but it is not an easy one and we will do well to get any points from our trip to Derby.

As manager Mick McCarthy said after another sad defeat, ‘Yes, we’ve got to get a result against one of the better sides – one of the top teams and next Sunday would be a good starting point wouldn’t it?’

He was of course referring to the visit of arch rivals Norwich City next Sunday, and if the natives are not going to start getting restless again, then Ipswich must win this one.

The the Tractor Boys can seemingly only beat struggling sides but this is not something that concerns McCarthy too much and he said sarcastically, ‘Yeah and if we end up beating all the bottom 10 teams and we finish above them all then, yeah, I’d be thrilled with that.’

This begs the question, does our manager lack ambition given the fact that by his own admission we have the strongest squad he has managed in his five years in charge?

We know he does not have the spending power of many of the other clubs in this division but is that a good enough excuse? Sheffield United have just come up from the league below and yet with limited resources, they are flying just now.

It is worth pointing out however that the Blues have not been heavily beaten by anyone so far this season and again yesterday, although we lost, it was a narrow defeat against the team that was third in the Championship!

Our performances too have been generally better than last term and only against Sheffield United have we failed to score.

All will soon be forgiven and forgotten, if we can win next Sunday against Norwich for the first time since 2009.

A defeat however would be disasterous for all concerned and a draw would hardly inspire supporters into returning to Portman Road on a regular basis any time soon.

It could be argued that the game next Sunday could be the defining moment for both clubs, so let us hope Joe Garner is back in the mix and we can rekindle our goal scoring habits once more.


Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich