League 1 - Ipswich Town vs Bolton Wanderers Preview & Matchday Thread

[number 9]

People need to look at another massive issue within the team because today our central Midfield was an absolute clusterfuck, numerous times we lost our shape and there was a chasm of space in the middle of the pitch where there wasn't a blue shirt in sight, Evans and Harper were a major factor in the appalling performance today which heaped even more pressure on the defence. Morsy can't come in soon enough, those Eleven goons out there today should be made to play Tuesday in the Mickey mouse cup.

If it doesn’t improve with Morsy, we’re f*cked like a whore’s c*ck!

Hit the post with that one, 9. The forum automatically changes THE DREADED WORD to c0ck. Even the computerized forum "make up" knows the word is wholly unacceptable.

My apologies. Please delete where necessary.

Deletion requested by Number 9 but declined due to C0CK not being the "C" word.

[marko69]

Deletion attempted, ......., see above.

[rossi]

Don't assume Rossi... I have worked for american firms for 49 years (and continue to be employed by one) so would suggest that I know considerably more about them than you do! I am also at a senior level in such firms so know exactly their modus operandi - don' believe all you read in the papers or on facebook/twitter about them...

Oh, I am so humbled then. How stupid of me not to realise that it's only you who have experience of working for American firms, and it's only you who are at a level senior enough to know their modus operandi. I really must think before I speak

[Blue Wilf]

Oh dear, Rossi - What a condescending, arrogant response to a genuine post. I merely pointed out my view following your rather rude post and backed it up with my experience. No doubt you watched an episode of Dallas and have decided that is what American managers are like. I had no intention of antagonising but it seems to be your party piece. Must be compensating for something in your life. How very sad for you.

[valleyroad]

I've maintained throughout that I dont like Cook.

I said it last season when he completely stuffed up what should've been an easy run in to the playoffs and with his completely naive man management and lack of motivation of the then existing squad. We'd have done better with Lambert.

And I also said it pre-season with his ridiculous clear out and bringing a bunch of strangers in to play together with zero time to gel.

Sooner hes sacked the better.

Have to say i agree 100% on this. Very much my opinion. Would never have been the approach of managers like Warnock, MM etc. These type of managers would have had this club out of League One in a single season.

I’m pretty certain MM would have got us back to the Premier League had he had a different owner to ME and I agree wholeheartedly that NW would have been a success here too, but hey VR 12 September is far too earlier to write off PC who may well get us out of this league in a single season, I certainly haven’t written him off yet.

Ah sorry I missed the end of the Blue Balls post. 100% against sacking Cook. I would give Cook way more time. I have said time and again to judge in Nov/Dec where the team is. It also doesn't need to be in the top 6 at Nov/Dec either.
I do agree though with the rest of Blue Balls post on Cook's approach and what he did last season also.
As I have said many times I rate Cook as a manager at his previous clubs where he has been an outright success. So his style may work in the long run.
The other thing MM and NW would not have done is the level of change to the squad that has taken place. They would have demanded performance levels from Lamberts team and added a few key recruits over the summer, then used the Jan window to improve again. The level of change is Cook's approcah and he will live or die by it

[ashfordblue]

PC He's got 10 games to get it right and start to improve the results for our American owners, and that does not include minor cup games only league games, if there's no improvement when Morsy and Selina are introduced to settle the squad over a possible 8 games, then if its still poor results its goodbye and thank you Mr Cook.

Enter a new incumbent

[Kerry Blue]

We are all disappointed with the terrible start to the season people are calling for Cook to be sacked and it's possible they might be right but would they have sacked Bobby Robson after all he had 6 defeats from his first 7 matches, it will come right in time.

[rossi]

I hope so. So far as manager, I make it 22pts from 22 games.

Last season in league 1, that form would put us 2nd from bottom and relegated .

Make no mistake, it will this season as well.

[Bluemike]

Gary serious question, do you genuinely believe that?

[rossi]

Gary serious question, do you genuinely believe that?

Mike - serious answer - I believe it might if the current situation is not addressed.

We've had the massive change in playing personnel, and in truth although the playing style has improved from last season that's about all.

We are told these are PCs players, that they came here to play for him. Why are they not doing that then?

We are making the mistake of saying PC has had only 6 games - that's wrong, he's had 20-odd games and managed only 4 wins. I could not believe he said that it's not fair to judge him on last season's results - he picked the teams and decided the tactics - but if you go by his maxim then the 6 games this season have been an unmitigated disaster. I know that if I started a new job and performed as badly in my 6 months probation I could not expect to turn around and say that the first 4 months was not my fault - I would rightly be judged on my performance over the whole period and sacked.

He also ha a bigger squad that he said he wanted, which is going to lead to some seriously pissed-off players. So to me, the outlook for this season is not good - hopefully we will not be bad enough to get relegated; but as for play-offs, forget it, which will mean a 4th season in this dire league.

[barmy billy]

I agree that he shouldn't be judged on last season, but as you say, that makes this season look even worse.

I also agree about the size of the current squad & the problems that will cause with disgruntled players. After all he said about squad size last zeason, I wonder what has changed his mind?

I am not calling for his head, but I do think he is struggling.

[Tangfastic]

I agree that he shouldn't be judged on last season, but as you say, that makes this season look even worse.

I also agree about the size of the current squad & the problems that will cause with disgruntled players. After all he said about squad size last zeason, I wonder what has changed his mind?

I am not calling for his head, but I do think he is struggling.

I can live with this season being different to last. He took over a group of players who were either ageing, injured and weren’t as good as we thought.

But this start is a disaster. I can deal with losing a couple, but we should have at least a couple of wins under our belt even if we aren’t firing on all cylinders.

I think the squad size is due to not getting the right players in at the right time. If Morsy, Celina, Edwards and Walton had come in early, I’m not sure we’d have got the likes of Aluko, Hladky, Carroll and Barry. The big mistake in recruitment (easy to say)was not getting some battle-hardened leaders in at CB and midfield early on. The core of the side was not put in place early enough and yet we were signing mostly front-four players.

I’m sticking with it. If I was given the choice between Evans/Lambert/old squad and Gamechanger/Cook/new squad six months ago - I’d take this, even with the terrible start. We’ve signed good players and they don’t become bad players overnight. It’s up to Cook to deal with the defence and the midfield. It’s like we’re trying too hard for that win. The goals for us will take care of themselves as we’ve got fire-power. Just tighten it up and no need to go gung-ho for 90 minutes.

[Bluemike]

Personally I think it would be wrong to judge Cook on last seasons results, for me there is zero doubt that there was much unrest behind the scenes, partly due to Cook calling the players out in public, some didn't like it, I welcomed it and yes it may well have had a negative impact on our run in, but some have said Cook handled it badly, what does that say about the players ? They downed tools, so much for caring about the fans, what Cook did was for us !!

I pretty much agree with Tang's take on things, I would take this new set up all day long, even if this season ultimately fails to deliver promotion, just cast our minds back to the mind numbing boredom of Saturday after Saturday with zero entertainment value, nobody can argue that we are being entertained, forgetting the results its been good to watch at times.

I feel sure the tide will turn, as many have said, Sir Bobby had a woeful start and was close to the sack while Joe Royle failed to win any of his opening six matches as we went on to finish Third, this squad is comfortably good enough to emulate that.

[Dubai Blue]

My own view is that the Bolton game may well be the turnaround game in our season, just as we all hoped (in a different way of course). Maybe some of the players who joined because of Cook might realise that if they don't learn fast how to play as a team they might not have Cook around for too long. The result is shocking for us and hopefully will have shocked the players at least as much.

I would not be hounding out PC yet, even though I agree with plenty of Rossi & Frosty's comments, I simply don't see any reason not to give PC the chance to get this group playing as a team, and it's really way to early to have any big expectations. A new manager would just be starting from scratch again.

I'm going into my shell until November and I'll peep out then to see how that is going.

[JamessB]

As disappointing as the start has been we're only 6 games into a 46 game season so any talk of PC losing his job seems premature to say the least.

It's a real shame about Morsy's 3 game ban as i think the team are crying out for a player like him - let's hope that he turns out to be most important piece of the jigsaw bringing leadership and steel to the team - with the quality in the squad they should be more than capable of putting a strong run together to get us climbing up the table.

[marko69]

I find it difficult to work out how this Morsy dude is going to change things so dramatically from 5-2 humpings at home to Bolton ——>> to wins?
Edmondson was supposed to be the rubber slam dunk washer that stopped the defence leaking. A rubber with a hole in it more like ——>> useless.

Resting a lot on poor Inspector Morsy I think……. But if he’s the revelation that he’s supposed to be and scores one and provides assists for a MacBonne hatrick, then I’ll shut ma mooth!

[marko69]

I'm going into my shell until November and I'll peep out then to see how that is going.

Dubai…….. you’ll be bottom of the individual league and league 1 if you hide til Nov.

[Dubai Blue]

Don't worry, it's only a figurative shell. Prediction league is getting far to competitive to miss even a few weeks I never thought I would enjoy it so much actually. Would encourage anyone not playing to join.