| [Blog] Time To Toughen Up Town Written by ChickenMcGreal on Monday, 7th Nov 2011 13:24 Those of us expecting some early fireworks on Saturday at Portman Road would have left with a belated Halloween horror show from Town firmly etched into our memory for no doubt a very long time to come. To be fair though, it was just one performance to add to a string of terrible performances over the last five years. Supporting Ipswich Town these days brings out every ounce of passion that each of us holds and let's be honest, if you're not passionate about the club, why on earth would you wish to continue to part with hard-earned cash to watch what we've had to put up with for too long now? Already, there are some fans calling for Paul Jewell's head and although I do not agree with this, I can understand why to a degree. There is already a very alarming pattern being followed that was seen in the days of both Jim Magilton and Roy Keane in that we appear to be going nowhere fast. I, like you, came into this season with a lot more hope than I held at the end of last season with that side then being more-or-less replaced. After a fine win at Bristol City, we hit a little patch where to be honest we were poor at home to Hull and Southampton and even worse away at Peterborough and we were told the side needed to gel. It seemed that as results got better, the side gelled quicker than expected but just as quickly, it ungelled! Much was made of our particular formation that was winning us games, more was made of it when we started to lose games again. Players signed were cited as being too old and we look very much 'one-paced'. While at times we have looked slow and lacking width in particular, there are two other concerns I personally hold and that is we never seem to have a 'Plan B' in games and as Jewell very much knows himself, we are just too soft! We learnt on Saturday that having genuine width gave us a little something extra (but I stress little) but the soft side of Ipswich Town Football Club I'm afraid is a deep-rooted problem that goes back several years. Think of all the cup semi-finals we have lost, those play-off defeats and the big games where being victorious was the rare occasion rather than the norm. I have always regarded the club as being too soft, too nice, something I had hoped Roy Keane would change but ultimately couldn't for whatever reason. Maybe the way of life that Suffolk and other localities that surround the club are generally too nice. We certainly do not have that 'fortress factor' that we always want at Portman Road at present, the same kind of fortress you might find at West Ham or a big city club in Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield or Liverpool to name a few. On Saturday when Billy Sharp was applauded by us all it was certainly a moment to make us proud to be Town fans, but there was no need for the players to be equally as generous on the pitch. How hard did Doncaster have to work for any of their three goals? It is also very worrying the amount of times we have conceded three or more goals in a game since that horrible, horrible defeat at home to Norwich at the end of last season. I am very much behind Paul Jewell myself, but he needs to sort things out and soon or else come the turn of the year, we could start to get worried with the thought of yet another relegation fight. I do quiz his selections at times, but that's not a personal thing and it's one of the great reasons of being a football fan. We all have our own opinions rightly or wrongly and each and everyone of them should be respected. But when I hear him say that he sees what goes on in training to help select his sides, well maybe he should start having a look at what goes on in a match to see where things are going wrong (or occasionally right). I didn't like to see Colin Healy being made the scapegoat on Saturday after just 28 minutes and Jewell himself has again said he could have taken any one of a number of players off. How about letting Healy have the whole of one game to prove himself and take off Leadbitter, who has not done much over the past five or six games? But he will of course know better and this is why he is manager of Ipswich Town and I am not. One final observation I have, and this is a football thing in general, I honestly believe very few players actually care for the shirt they're pulling on these days as very few last beyond two to three years. As a supporter of 33 years, I should be used to the fact now that no player will ever have the same passion and love for ITFC that I have or for that matter, any other supporter. They will tell you and the manager will tell you that any given player does care but we, like just about every other club you care to mention (unless you are Liverpool and Steven Gerrard or Manchester United and Ryan Giggs) are just a stopping off place on any one players' career path. Sorry, they don't share my inner passion but they could at least pretend for 90 minutes once the cross that white line. So all I can do is continue my support in the hope it does get better but at this moment in time, I've seen little to suggest that this season will end up any differently to the last five or six before. Please prove me wrong Town! Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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