Mick McCarthy was in defiant mood as the blues succumbed to another humiliating defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough.
“It`s always the same, everybody can pick the team for me when we we`re getting beaten… Oh but when we win of course everyone is crowing about how good the defence is! Anyway, even If I wanted to change things, where are all the defenders coming from?’
He is right of course to a point. Football supporters by nature are a fickle lot and we at Ipswich Town are generally no different.
What our guru fails to acknowledge however is that fans have been asking for round pegs in round holes for most of the season and it is not just about bringing in new defenders so much as putting them back into their best positions!
Luke Chambers is a centre half not a wing back where pace alone catches him out time and time again.
He can cross a ball but does not have the speed to play the wing back role with any great conviction and McCarthy should put him back in the middle along side Christophe Berra where he belongs.
Tyrone Mings and Jonathan Parr would be my preferred wing back pairing although Parr he is also excelling in midfield it must be said and does not look out of place wherever Mick plays him. All this would of course mean Tommy Smith would be benched.
The goalkeeping department seems to have a habit of picking itself due to injuries but there is not much to choose between the two of them. I marginally prefer Bialkowski as he does not dawdle so much and is not afraid to command his penalty area when required.
Midfield remains the endless enigma though. Cole Skuse is a stopper and little else and Jay Tabb runs his heart out but often to little effect.
Stephen Hunt has been cruelly compared to a headless chicken but he does provide the energy and no little skill to get our midfield moving in the right direction when he is selected.
Paul Anderson is a strange one. He has moments of pure quality but they are all too fleeting in my view and he goes absent without leave far too often for my liking.
Teddy Bishop exudes quality but he is still learning the game so it is understandable if he does not always perform so well.
Kevin Bru is another fine example of a midfielder who has oodles of ability but our manager seems to find every excuse under the sun to leave him on the bench!
Mick has his favourites of this there is no doubt. We all know who they are and that is one of the reasons why he has not reverted back to the 4-4-3 formation that served us so well a little earlier in the season.
I sincerely hope that the penny finally drops tomorrow and he picks an attacking line up against Bolton at Portman Road because anything less than a win would be disasterous now.
He has aired on the side of caution for far too long and if we are to salvage something from a season that is rapidly ebbing away from us, then it needs a brave heart to rescue our chances.
Frank Weston – Vital Ipswich
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