Town boss Paul Cook has said that being a manager in the modern game is a very unforgiving business. In this respect, he could consider himself to be very lucky!
Would Watford for example, have tolerated a head coach who has presided over 31 matches and has won just 8! Worst still, his newly assembled squad find themselves 15th in the League One table and 12 points adrift of those automatic promotion favourites?
I think not, and this applies to lots of other clubs, up and down the leagues. Patience is not a virtue.
To put things into perspective, we are chasing Wigan and Sunderland who are 11 points ahead of us. They are the big guns in this division, and that is who we’ve got to follow. We knew this complete overhaul of our squad would cost time, and as I have said before, it will be Christmas – or beyond, before we truly start to gel. It is early days in a long season, but we have to step up fast.
Cook explained in his conversation with the official website that the nature of the game has changed and that nobody in the game has much patience anymore.
“That’s football today. None of us can change that. I think some of us, who have been in it probably a bit longer, the most would probably like to think they have become a little bit immune to it. It is that strength of character, that strength of mind that can get you home.”
He is right of course, but only if you have a board of directors who remain patient. They control you. You don’t control them. Cook was brave to do what he said he would do and make wholesale changes to his squad in the summer. We have one of the best groups of players in this division now, but they have to start proving it and that means being mentally strong as well as technically good.
Paul Cook still has time on his side, but the longer this indifferent form continues, the more troublesome it becomes for him. I genuinely want him to succeed, but it is up to the players to make this happen. When they go onto the grass, there is very little more a manager can do.
If we were to win away at Portsmouth tonight, then that disappointing result at Cambridge would be quickly forgotten. We would leapfrog over Pompey in the process and perhaps even sneak into the top half of the table. That would be good news for all of us!
As I have said many times before, until we gel and gain some momentum, we will have to rely on lady luck to get us over the line. I expect Lee Evans to return in midfield this evening, and I think that Conor Chaplin should retain his place in midfield. Bersant Celina still seems a bit off the pace.
Given the validity of your comments, Ipswich’s timing in winning 4-0 at Fratton Park today was brilliant.
Getting that 3rd goal made all the difference.
Connor Chaplin had a cracking good game too!
The Portsmouth match was the 12th, out of 13 this season, where we took the lead. Top of the table form if we can sustain it and put teams away consistently.
I was delighted with the performance Richard, and this was a master class in finishing. We have to keep Macauley Bonne at all costs. He is the best loan player we have ever had and his heart bleeds blue! Now, it’s onwards and upwards one hopes because this was just the kind of result that everybody needed.