Ipswich game thread

[Steven]

Anybody know why the birch didnt come on the pitch at half time?

It said on the OS that he was going to make a personal thank you for the money raised for his charity run last season. He didnt even come out. In fact there was no half time entertainment at all. He was there becuase he came up int the KOP and gave something which looked like a home shirt to women and had his pic took with her?? Hope hes okay.

Maybe he has lost his voice.

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

If we feel the club lacks a striker... then would it not make sense to now take the bull by the horns,and accept the fact we need to go into debt,and get ourselves a decent striker.Surely there are not that many teams in this division that run at a profit,nor the Premier league come to think of it,plus the fact a top class striker would put money on the gate

Our strikers have proved over the last couple of games they are capable of scoring plenty at this level, today was an off day, conditions didnt help, we didnt get the rub of the green, on another day we would have had a couple of penalties, but everytime we fail to score we cant then resort to the we need a new striker routine. We are not going to score in every game, also both Ipswich keepers had bloody good games, so at least we are hitting the target. Overall in the three games we have played, we have played open, entertaining football at a very high tempo, and most importantly we have shown a massive improvement on last season and with a relatively new and young side we are showing a lot of potential.

 

[fcukcov]

Going into debt is the last thing we need a would rather stay in this division for another two seasons than get into the situation we were in after the taylor era

 

[beltonfox]

I sit just behind where Birch was, he gave a birthday card and signed limited edition shirt to the little lady who must be about 80, and gave thanks for her years of support etc. He seemed very perky.......

 

[foggyhorse]

If we feel the club lacks a striker... then would it not make sense to now take the bull by the horns,and accept the fact we need to go into debt,and get ourselves a decent striker.Surely there are not that many teams in this division that run at a profit,nor the Premier league come to think of it,plus the fact a top class striker would put money on the gate

I don't think it's that simple. I'm pretty sure the club still has restrictions by creditors on how much they can spend.

 

[step]

Going into debt is the last thing we need a would rather stay in this division for another two seasons than get into the situation we were in after the taylor era

If we stay down for one more season we will be debt, in a great deal of debt and I cant see how we will stay in this league

 

[Granite Fox]

If we stay down for one more season we will be debt, in a great deal of debt and I cant see how we will stay in this league

I thought they had halved the wage bill this season in preparation for another year in the Championship. It would be ideal to go up this year before the parachute payments cease, but it more realistic to aim for next season.

If we went up this season we would have a very young and inexperienced squad (can't see Dublin and Wilcox playing on next season) and no real money to spend on strengthening. Even if we did, would we attract the right players (look how Wigan are struggling with lots of cash)?

Another season and Levein would have bolstered the squad further and players such as McCarthy, Gilbert, Williams, Hughes, Gerrbrand, Hamil, Hammond (if we sign him), Wesolowski, Stearman, Sheehan, etc would have developed further and there may be some coming through from the academy (Magunda, Chambers, etc).

 

[BighandJon]

Am I right in thinking that when a club gets religated they are given money to help out with the transition for a period of two years. I presume this is why we are cutting our players wages etc. as after this year this money will stop. :icon_sad:

 

[jb5000]

That's right, I thought I'd heard that if we didn't go up this season that further cutbacks would be neccesary despite the cutbacks off last season though. If that's true, than any further spending now would be madness. If we don't go up we might have to sell someone (anyone of several players we bought for peanuts could develop in to million pounders this season), which would be a shame, but I don't want this club to risk going bust again.

 

[step]

In the first year after relegation a club gets a £6 million parachute payment and a then a £5million payment in the second year. We will receive £5million payment this season, obviously next season we will receive £5million less

With out that £5million the club will be struggling to make ends meet and though they may be able to carry the dept for one season. If we don’t get promoted by the end of that season, players will have to be sold to pay the debt incurred and we will be on that slippery slope which goes one way, and that is down.

To suggest that it is better to stay down for a season while CL builds a team is absolute madness and totally naive. It is better to be a yoyo club going up one season and down the next, Then the manager would receive £20million from the premier and a parachute payment of £6million (Average of £13 million) Then, all being well the manager would have build a team that could get promoted again and then stay up.

No club in English football club can build a team that will compete in the premier unless they have the money to do so. That is why Tim Davies has made it clear he is aiming for and expects city to be promoted this season.

From what I have seen so far, I think he could be right

 

[Granite Fox]

I am encouraged by the way we have been playing, but I still think promotion this season is a long shot - it is a tough league to get out of (unless you are the Trees).

If crowds continue to disappoint (not sure what they budgeted for) and we dont get promotion, then there are bound to be more cuts and that will mean losing good players.