I wrote the strangest post of my TWTD life today: “Do you have no romance in your soul? No love in your heart?”

Odd words for a football message board, mostly used for discussing the latest disappointing performance, strange managerial decision - or cheese. But, for some reason, the prospect of Kieron Dyer in blue again stirs deep-seated feelings in me.

My season ticket has never felt better value than when Kieron first broke through into the Ipswich first team as a 17-year-old back in 1996. Fresh from the youth team, he looked as fragile as a Ming vase back then, but light on his feet, lightning over 20 yards and with a lovely ability to caress the ball to one of his team-mates. He seemed skilled beyond his age.

Bigger teams like Sheffield United and Bolton struggled to push him off the ball, because of an incredible sense of balance and a willowy frame which seemed to flex against their muscular challenges.

I know all of this is laced with nostalgia, a rosy glow, but it is how I remember it. So his return (albeit 12 years later, after 33 England caps and endless injuries in stop-offs at Newcastle and West Ham) naturally brings back so many of those memories.

Among the debates that have followed, one of them has a ring of “What did the Romans ever do for us”. Why do I feel this way about the return of a player who last played for us when I was in my early thirties and he was only 20? Not sure, but maybe it’s because of football fantasy, love of the beautiful game - not the functional one.

For one thing, he is Town through and through. Who could forget the tearful 20-year-old after the play-off semi vs Bolton in 1999, being consoled by George Burley, in desperate disappointment after the final whistle? In these days of highly paid, passing-through football stars, with zero warmth for their club or fans, such connection is worth millions.

Kieron also brings a reminder of the lovely passing team which Burley was constructing all those years ago, the team which eventually made it into the top flight the season after Dyer left.

And he represents the kind of talented ball-playing midfielder I had almost forgotten existed until Jimmy Bullard joined the Jewell revolution. Dyer is an enduring symbol of Town’s glorious past as a creator of talent, nurturing youngsters from schooldays to England team.

Sadly for Dyer, his post-Town career has been littered with injury problems. The fact that he has only played in 250 games during those 12 years away (barely more than 20 matches a season) speaks volumes.

But, rose-tinted or not, the possibility of seeing Dyer play for us again fills me with optimism. Some have argued on the TWTD forum that we achieved nothing when Dyer was here before – that his departure allowed us to bring in Jermaine Wright and that he was a more inspirational player. Why should we get excited?

I would argue that Dyer was a teenager for most of his initial seasons with Ipswich, that it was Marcus Stewart who made the difference to our promotion prospects - and, besides, that where Wright was functional, Dyer represented fantasy.

We all watch Ipswich Town because we want them to succeed. But we also want beautiful football. Last Tuesday night, our disappointment at defeat against Reading was softened for me by Connor Wickham’s stunning consolation goal – and the further realisation that we have another incredible young talent to enjoy at Portman Road.

We aren’t going to get promoted this season, and we are looking safe from relegation yet either. The arrival of Dyer for a month (hopefully more), alongside Jimmy Bullard, can bring a few smiles back to Portman Road. But they also raise hopes that we can watch artists at work at Portman Road again, after two or three years with greater emphasis on the artisans.

It’s a romantic notion, I know. But maybe, just maybe, if Dyer enjoys his time back home and comes back next season, free of injury, he might just do what he failed to do before – and lead us into the Premiership. Now that would be fantasy football.

ernie added 23:47 - Mar 11 Jermaine Wright more inspirational? p*ss orf!
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PimsOclock added 10:33 - Mar 12 A very well written blog. Kierons appearances in the first team coincided with my early ventures to Portman road sans parents, sat in a wet family enclosure for £4 watching some really top notch football! I truly hope that we can really start enjoying some football the way it used to be played, creating chances, scoring goals, having fun! Dyers last game for Ipswich was the greatest football match I have ever witnessed at portman road, and mostly because of Dyer's contribution. Welcome back Kieron. P.s. Agree with ernie about wright. The words Barn-door and Banjo spring to mind!!

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fourth added 20:05 - Mar 12 Yes, well, I suppose that Kieron has cost about 1 million per game for West Ham so far, so the romantic approach doesn't really work. West Ham, in the shape of Avram Grant are not fools, and I wonder just what he has left. He is a committed player who has physically given his all and is unlikely to rekindle past glories. I was lunching with a French top league basketball player last week, aged 27 who said that he was week in week out...tired and feeling that his body was no longer responding to the demands. One can well imagine.

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SouperJim added 09:22 - Mar 14 Fantastic blog. What have we ever achieved with a "functional" team? Nothing. It is not the Ipswich Way, which is not just an idea, it is a reality for our club and our fans which really matters, as Roy Keane found out.
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