Ipswich still has a relatively large squad for the third tier of English football but assuming we buy more, then who can we afford to lose? Although this is very much a team game, some players are much more valuable than others, and who is arguably the least valuable of them all?
Now we get into the realms of subjectivity and speculation and my views will not always conform with yours. There has been much talk of late that both Kayden Jackson and James Norwood are interesting several sides in England and across the border. Yet Fleetwood Town and Dundee United do not have the pulling power – financially or otherwise to tempt Marcus Evans to sell.
If either of his forwards moves to pastures new it would have to be at the right price. If he has learned one thing in his twelve plus years as the owner, it is that you don’t sell your best players cheaply. The same of course applies to Luke Woolfenden and Flynn Downes. Norwood is on a three-year deal with the option of a further 12 months, and Jackson signed a similar contract back in 2018. Downes and Woolfenden have also secured long term deals. Jackson is apparently interesting a host of Championship clubs; including Middlesborough and Barnsley, and the fact that he has not signed a new contract might suggest he is holding out for better terms – or he is looking to go up a division? This one is very much in the balance – although he claims to be quite contented here.
So who would I get rid of if I was manager Paul Lambert and had to off-load some of the deadwood? Janoi Donacien would be top of my list because he has done nothing to convince me of his worth to the team and Myles Kenlock is another liability that should be shown the exit door. Alan Judge might have been good at Brentford but he has massively under-achieved here and he is surplus to requirements, given that we have strength in depth in our midfield.
Paul Hurst recruited Toto Nsiala and although I like his personality I do not enjoy watching him play football. He makes me very nervous and that is not good for our defence – or indeed, my heart! The only other player that I might consider selling is Jon Nolan who was another Hurst purchase. He is an in and out sort of player. He fades from games but there is little doubting his technical ability – if only he could remain focused!
The players who missed out on numbers this coming season is a bit baffling too. I can only assume that Brett McGavin, Barry Cotter, Ben Folami, Aaron Drinan, Ben Morris and Corrie Ndaba are scheduled to go out on loan. I genuinely hope so because there is some real potential there.
So, if we must follow the maxim of owner Marcus Evans and sell to buy, we have enough wiggle room here to make any transactions work in our favour.
