Our poor form in November spawned a monster and it has cost us a possible trip to London. I don't think there is any need to panic though, these things take time and over the last two seasons I think the players can say "I don't owe you anything".
Quite likely, I know it's over for this season but I hope Kenny and the team don't think "I started something I couldn't finish". Is it really so strange to be disappointed at falling just a little short when you consider where we were when Kenny came in?
In the current climate, money changes everything and I think there needs to be some serious investment over the summer because we are not short of being a title winning side. We spent most of the 90s going nowhere fast and I don't want to go back to those days again.
The worst thing that could happen would be a black cloud to descend over the club where missing the play offs is seen as a failure. Yes, we will be disappointed but we need to maintain the optimism if the last two years because such a little thing makes such a big difference.
For DW.
Bravo sir.
I sense a degree of churlishness regarding Ipswich's performance today, I thought Mick had them set up perfectly. Was it easy on the eye, no, did they achieve their minimum aim with a degree of comfort, yes. And the latter point is all that matters at this stage. He has done a great job there and the difference between his team picking up a point today and our team picking up nothing either last Saturday or in midweek is arguably what separates him and Ken at the moment.
Why we failed to get the win today:
- Poor team selection, you put Edwards in a midfield two and you immediately cede all control of that area, it doesn't matter who you're playing against. Over seven years he's been here, four permanent managers plus TC, and none of them seem to have worked out that he cannot play there. Given that McDonald can't defend what was he supposed to be cast as, a defensive midfielder? We badly missed Price being on for a pass constantly and the defensive work he does, big error by Ken.
- Since we switched to two forwards we have gone more direct, I don't mind this in the short term. It's not necessarily how I want us to play forever but for now getting as much ball as possible to Sako, Dicko and Afobe has to be the way forward, we can just batter quite a few teams at this level for sheer goal power doing that. However with Ipswich fielding four massive defenders this was never likely to be as fruitful today, we won virtually none of the long balls forward.
- Sako having an off day, it happens and castigating him given what he has done for us this season is just silly. But we rely on him a lot, especially when the game is flat and today he couldn't provide anything.
- Another softish goal, there was an element of ill fortune about it but ultimately it was a routine set piece, we won the header and still conceded.
- We still struggle to cope with teams pressing us all over the park as a Mick team will always do.
Why we look set to fall short in the wider sense:
- The transfers haven't gone right. Had we got Afobe in before the season kicked off I really think we'd have been right up there challenging for automatic promotion as he is that good, we probably wouldn't have totally collapsed in November playing inadequate loanees and Leon Clarke as our lone outlet up top leading to easy pressure on our back four, we'd have outscored teams. I'm delighted with Benik as a long term investment but him arriving five months later than ideal has affected us. We don't have the central midfielders to play 4-4-2, Rowe and Saville having zero impact between them hasn't helped us here.
- Jackett hasn't got it right at key times, surrendering the initiative to Middlesbrough on Tuesday and the Edwards selection today, messing around with the back four earlier in the season, not changing his principles sooner during the horror run, persevering with Doherty for too long, these are all errors that have cost us points. He gets a hell of a lot right, I like him and I have faith in him leading us to a decent push for promotion next season if all the right elements are in place, but he has made mistakes and if he takes the plaudits when we're winning he has to come under some scrutiny when we analyse why it hasn't quite gone absolutely right.
- Players still learning about this league, this is a first proper season at this level for Batth, Price, Iorfa, Hause and Van La Parra, they will all be stronger for the experience. Perhaps you can add the manager and coaching staff to that as well in the sense that they have never been involved at this end of the league at the business end of the season before either.
- Deadwood impacting on what we can afford to do in the market, with them all gone this summer there is no excuse for us now, we need to address our shortcomings, be ruthless where necessary and look to add the right players to turn us into a genuine force at this level rather than flitting around 7th-8th place.
