Lambert: Important to Listen to Fans Wednesday, 21st Nov 2018 19:33 Town boss Paul Lambert has explained why he asked fans - including the recently-formed Blue Action group - to meet with him at Playford Road last night to discuss the atmosphere at home matches. “It's a really big club and it has been in the years gone by,” Lambert said when asked about the invite. “As I've said before, history is great to have at any football club, but you have to leave it somewhere. “When you get a club with history behind it, you tend to find it's got a big fanbase behind it, which this club has. “I just felt maybe there wasn't a connection too much there, it was lost a little bit. I came up with the idea of getting the fan groups in and have a chat. “You have to listen to these fans as well. I know there's a really good end, with the singing and the drums. Use it to your advantage. It's important to get their views on it as well, to make the club move, because the club has to move. “It can't keep staying in this flatline level of 'It's Ipswich, it's nice and easy'. You have to move with the times. “With the way the modern day game goes, the younger generation fanbase, you have to get them through as well. We need an end where it's going to be really vibrant and go for 90, 95 minutes - enjoy yourself, dance around, jump around, music, drums, singing, regardless of what happens. “They pay an awful lot of money so I want to hear their views on it and where they thought we can make a better atmosphere. The guys were really good. They just want the team to do well, and we have to connect with that.”
Lambert says an energetic and positive atmosphere is important as the Blues look to improve on a woeful 2018 record at Portman Road where they have won only twice. “No wonder [opposition teams] say it's good to come here!” Lambert said ruefully. “You have to get rid of that tag. “There's got to be people coming to Ipswich saying 'This is going to be really tough'. You have to get that feeling back. “In the past, it had it. You have to give the club back to the community. My job is to try and make it vibrant, because the support is there. We just have to get them back in. “We need them - as I've said, without the supporters and the players, there's not a game of football, everybody would be made redundant, you guys [the media] would have nothing to report! “It's the one team in the town. We need everybody to go together, and if we get that, we'll be stronger. Reflecting on his meeting with the supporters, who have plans in place for Friday evening, Lambert added: “I think they'll be great, the atmosphere will be great. We have to perform as well. “As long as you see a team that's willing to give it a right good go, we can't predict the result like I always say, but as long as they see everything that's coming, I think they'll get right behind it.” A crowd of 20,000 is expected at Friday’s match with the club having reduced ticket prices with the game live on Sky. “It's great,” Lambert continued. “We need the support, I've always said that. You need the support and we've got a massive fanbase behind us and we have to get them into the stadium and enjoy themselves. “They pay a lot of money to come and watch, and if you pay a lot of money, regardless of how the game goes, we'll try and give them something, without a doubt. “Enjoy yourselves as well, leave all the negativity on the outside and come into the stadium and get your money's worth. “Whether that's singing or jumping around, make the stadium vibrant and we'll try everything we can to give them something back. If we play the way we have been of late, hopefully that'll happen. Lambert says he’s aware of the initiative led by Karl Fuller, which has seen fans buy tickets which have been distributed to charities and schools with the club matching their donations. “I heard,” the Blues boss added. “I think there's got to be a connection with your supporters and the football club, that goes without saying.
“Supporters are vital. Without them, and the players, there's no game. You have to have the two components to match each other. “If we can bring that connection together - which we're on a little road at the minute to bridging - if we do that it's going to be a powerful stadium to play in." As well as last night's chat with fans, Lambert also had lunch with Blues legends Terry Butcher, George Burley and John Wark at Playford Road recently, having held similar meetings at some of his other clubs. “I spoke to a lot of the Aston Villa lads that had won the European Cup as well,” he said. “I played at clubs where there are big iconic players too. "Up at Celtic, there's the Lisbon Lions. I don't think that'll be done again - [all but one player born within] an 11-mile radius, a team winning the European Cup, all from Glasgow. They're part of Celtic's history.
“The Villa lads are the same, winning the European Cup was an incredible achievement. I also recognised that this is a big football club with iconic players, it's won the UEFA Cup, the great team that's won the FA Cup as well. “You can't ignore that past, you can respect history. But there's got to be a point where you leave it. We have to try and create our own. We're never going to be as good as them because that's another level and another era, but what we can do is try and make our own, if people give us a chance with it and don't look back. “Their days have gone, unbelievable footballers - big Terry and George, John Wark, Mick Mills, Russell Osman, the two Dutch lads Muhren and Thijssen, Cooper in goal, Beattie - they're all legends that will never be forgotten. But we have to have a chance to do our own." Does he bealieve there’s already greater unity at the club than was the case when he first took charge? “I think that's important. It's a fabulous football club, with fabulous support behind it. I think when you start to lose people going away from football and then not coming to the stadium, there's a problem there. “For me the important thing was to try and reconnect that, that feeling with the football club and the supporters. “Without the supporters and the players, there's no game for anybody. We certainly need both of them. Even if they don't feel good coming to the game. “In the game, have a really good time, because you pay a lot of hard-earned money for it. So it's important that they enjoy themselves as well. “We recognise we have to give them something to try and entertain them as well, but also they're a massive part of us sustaining the level we're at. If we can do that, it gives us a fighting chance.”
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