| Ups and Downs 16:52 - Aug 19 with 1640 views | oldburian |
As one of the longest continuous supporter, first visit 1950, the last 20 years have been the low point of the 70 odd years. With the visit to the crematorium getting nearer year by year I desperately want promotion and parity with that Norfolk team before that trip! I enjoyed Paul Cook's enthusiasm but not his tactics or results. However, the last few months under our new manager has seen the most optimism I have had for a long while. Promotion will not be easy but the right steps appear to have been made.
One thing though that does concern me is what is now referred to as the pathway, I was excited by young Gibbs and was disappointed by the lack of effort to keep him. He is now a regular in some Championship side, if he had stayed with us I am not confident that he would have been a regular with us. And what does that say to our up and coming youngster like Valentine, we could lose him quite easily.
I understand that these academy players cannot expect automatic promotion but I do feel apprehensive alongside the recent uplift in prospects. |  | | |  |
| Ups and Downs on 17:33 - Aug 19 with 1555 views | nshearman1 |
I tend to agree with this, certainly that it's the most positive I can remember since pre-Evans days, a period which equally certainly has been the lowest I have known. I am hopeful that Academy players will come through, but share your concerns - I love McKenna but think he is more minded to take young players from Premiership clubs on a 'pathway' than take our own - we shall see. A different era of course, but when I started watching Town in 1966 I remember a young lad aged around 16/17 playing for us called Mike Mills... | | | |
| Ups and Downs on 17:54 - Aug 19 with 1509 views | Vic |
Agree with you on both counts. Though I confess I hadn’t realised that Gibbs has started every game for that lot up the road this season.
I assume that the desire to get out of Lg 1 is supreme. That inevitably means less game time for rookies. My hope is that once promoted the youngsters who are getting invaluable game time out on loan, plus those who are pushing the first team will get decent opportunities. They have to really is the financial model of developing players for sell on is to work.
I think the last few seasons showed that the youngsters really aren’t the ones to get us up. We cried out for Downes, Dozzer Jr, Bishop, etc to play, but it was just too much for them to do together. |  |
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| Ups and Downs on 19:28 - Aug 19 with 1414 views | BlueBoots |
Sadly, I think the hindrance to the "pathway" for our young players is ultimately the price we're paying for the ending up in this division, and our urgency to get out of it...
In the Marcus Evans era, it suited us to bring the young players through because a) after getting his fingers burnt in the first couple of seasons, ME's transfer dealings were funded by selling players to balance the books, so academy players make cheap replacements, and b) although there was an initial ambition to get promoted from the Championship, there wasn't the investment and infrastructure in place to do it - we just ended up treading water in the Championship for seasons, so a lot easier to blood young players at a club which sadly ended up with zero expectations.
We now have the investment and infrastructure to go out and buy players who are hopefully ready made to get us out of this division; to the extent where we've also brought in players who can come off the bench without significantly weakening the team. So...very few young players will get chances (even off the bench); it does feel like there is is a disconnect between the academy and the first team, but I'm hopeful this is just a temporary measure.
The likes of El Miz and Ndaba are still young in footballing terms, and putting them in a position to play regular football will improve their games more than the odd 10-15 minutes off the bench anyway. Really rate Humphreys from what I've seen of him, but realistically is he going to get game time ahead of Chaplin, Harness, TJJ, Jackson and Aluko? Getting him a full season of football in League Two would give us an even better player next season.
I've always been a firm believer in the old cliche that "if you're good enough, you're old enough" Seeing a young academy player break through into the first team has been one of my great joys of following Ipswich through the years, even when the team has been going through low points, so I totally understand your frustration. I remember going to an away game at QPR...brought a young lad off the bench to play right wing, and one of the first things he did was kick the ball around one side of Rufus Brevitt (who was a pretty quick full-back) and run around the other side of him  That was my first view of Kieron Dyer, and told a mate after the match that day that he'd end up playing for England. Moments like that are one of the joys of being not just an ITFC fan, but a football fan! |  |
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| Ups and Downs on 20:01 - Aug 19 with 1365 views | blueberry |
You know this already, but the club is more important than any player. Just enjoy us playing well and winning games. Players come and go… |  | | |
| Ups and Downs on 20:16 - Aug 19 with 1338 views | north_stand77 |
I agree with you, hopefully we have now turned the corner.
Unfortunately 'them up the road' think Gibbs is fantastic and really important to them ( which made me shudder). |  | | |
| Ups and Downs on 08:57 - Aug 20 with 1074 views | Pinewoodblue |
Remembering the dilemma the club faced when Whickam and Rhodes came through at around the same time and we sold one on is the same thing about to happen with Baggott and Ndaba.
Can’t see them being first team regulars together. |  |
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| Ups and Downs on 09:54 - Aug 20 with 987 views | Churchman |
Although I can only go back to the end of the 60s, and even the was too young to remember anything much about the games, I share your optimism about the direction the club is heading. Upwards. The only sadness is that my dad, who first went to a game in 1938, is too unwell now to see it.
As far as young players are concerned, the system is geared towards the big clubs hoovering up the talent for little or nothing. The clubs under plunder players with ease from smaller clubs for nothing and hope to make a bob or two in resale. It’s a ludicrous system to benefit the few.
As far as Norwich and Gibbs is concerned, it was a good move for him. A step up, whether we like it or not. Given the years of neglect at the club, including the academy and it’s facilities, he’d have been mad not to go.
The solution: exactly what the club is doing. Building from the bottom. I hope one day we have the structures in place to offer promising players a good pathway to a career in football if they have the talent. I think we will but it’s going to take time. How well we do with this depends on how quickly we climb the pyramid and how serious we are about youth football.
I sense Ashton and co are a bit lukewarm about academies and if your best talent are going to be taken off you for nothing, I can see why. Historically, it’s a key component for the club and will be going forward, but until the system changes or we get to the PL/high end Championship, we are going to have to accept our best young players will regularly be hoovered up and I think limit what we invest in it.
There’s always the option of taking big clubs throw outs and developing them. Something KM is clearly good at.
This is a rather incoherent rant/thoughts so apologies. |  | | |
| Ups and Downs on 10:18 - Aug 20 with 952 views | timothyeo |
I do think we have zero real intentions to bring our own young players through.
We can't use needing promotion as an excuse as that's been the same for Norwich but they've regularly had young players coming through helping them to promotion at a level above. Gibbs looks set to be the next. | | | |
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| Ups and Downs on 10:39 - Aug 20 with 909 views | oldburian |
| Ups and Downs on 09:54 - Aug 20 by Churchman |
Although I can only go back to the end of the 60s, and even the was too young to remember anything much about the games, I share your optimism about the direction the club is heading. Upwards. The only sadness is that my dad, who first went to a game in 1938, is too unwell now to see it.
As far as young players are concerned, the system is geared towards the big clubs hoovering up the talent for little or nothing. The clubs under plunder players with ease from smaller clubs for nothing and hope to make a bob or two in resale. It’s a ludicrous system to benefit the few.
As far as Norwich and Gibbs is concerned, it was a good move for him. A step up, whether we like it or not. Given the years of neglect at the club, including the academy and it’s facilities, he’d have been mad not to go.
The solution: exactly what the club is doing. Building from the bottom. I hope one day we have the structures in place to offer promising players a good pathway to a career in football if they have the talent. I think we will but it’s going to take time. How well we do with this depends on how quickly we climb the pyramid and how serious we are about youth football.
I sense Ashton and co are a bit lukewarm about academies and if your best talent are going to be taken off you for nothing, I can see why. Historically, it’s a key component for the club and will be going forward, but until the system changes or we get to the PL/high end Championship, we are going to have to accept our best young players will regularly be hoovered up and I think limit what we invest in it.
There’s always the option of taking big clubs throw outs and developing them. Something KM is clearly good at.
This is a rather incoherent rant/thoughts so apologies. |
My father took me in 1950 and we sat in the old chicken run stand. He saw the League title win in 1962 but unfortunately went blind Boxing Day that year as a result of diabetes. When I look at the ground now I think of him and how amazed he would be at the developments.
I notice Gibbs had another good game last night, I just hope we have a decent sell on clause as we did with Downes. | | | |
| Ups and Downs on 10:57 - Aug 20 with 887 views | pointofblue |
| Ups and Downs on 10:39 - Aug 20 by oldburian |
My father took me in 1950 and we sat in the old chicken run stand. He saw the League title win in 1962 but unfortunately went blind Boxing Day that year as a result of diabetes. When I look at the ground now I think of him and how amazed he would be at the developments.
I notice Gibbs had another good game last night, I just hope we have a decent sell on clause as we did with Downes. |
Compensation only as he left at the end of his contract. We won’t get anything else for him. | |
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| Ups and Downs on 11:10 - Aug 20 with 869 views | Churchman |
| Ups and Downs on 10:39 - Aug 20 by oldburian |
My father took me in 1950 and we sat in the old chicken run stand. He saw the League title win in 1962 but unfortunately went blind Boxing Day that year as a result of diabetes. When I look at the ground now I think of him and how amazed he would be at the developments.
I notice Gibbs had another good game last night, I just hope we have a decent sell on clause as we did with Downes. |
Yes, I too hope Gibbs has a good sell on fee. He’s certainly stepped up and is making a name for himself. Bit sickening as he really should be making his name with us.
My dad’s first game was against a team called Street in 1938 and he tells me he sat in The Chicken Run that day. His father took him and he used to go to games in the 1920s and 30s.
I actually sat in the West Stand for my first game. I remember the ground as rather grey with its corrugated cladding in February/March. Loved it from the first moment.
The ground of course has changed completely in my lifetime and it’s odd to think how modern the Chicken Run’s replacement looked in the early 70s compared to its somewhat archaic state now. | | | |
| Budgie. (n/t) on 11:53 - Aug 20 with 831 views | Bloots |
| Ups and Downs on 10:18 - Aug 20 by timothyeo |
I do think we have zero real intentions to bring our own young players through.
We can't use needing promotion as an excuse as that's been the same for Norwich but they've regularly had young players coming through helping them to promotion at a level above. Gibbs looks set to be the next. |
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| Ups and Downs on 12:16 - Aug 20 with 777 views | muhrensleftfoot |
I saw my first game in 1967 - a 5-0 thrashing of Bristol City with a hat-trick from Frank Brogan. We were promoted that year, and then Bill McGarry left for Wolves because he didn't think he could take us any further. Disaster for us, we ended up taking our 3rd or 4th choice manager, who had recently been sacked by Fulham. The rest was history. The decline in the last 20 odd years have been the saddest of my time as a supporter, but it really does feel different now. The club is finally being run properly, and I am sure that there will be investment in the academy, which will bear fruit in the years to come. In the immediate future though, promotion out of this awful league must be number one priority, and to do that, we need tough experienced players. |  | | |
| Ups and Downs on 12:20 - Aug 20 with 771 views | Superblue95 |
Poor form not titling this thread ‘Upson Downes’ |  |
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| Ups and Downs on 14:20 - Aug 20 with 658 views | oldburian |
| Ups and Downs on 10:57 - Aug 20 by pointofblue |
Compensation only as he left at the end of his contract. We won’t get anything else for him. |
That is not necessarily correct. At the time he was our player and compensation had to be paid. A fee was received, whether other terms were part of it was never disclosed. If, at the time, agreement could not have been resolved it would have gone to a tribunal. | | | |
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