Can Ipswich Still Make The Play-Offs?

This week marked a year since Town's famous 6-0 hammering of Doncaster Rovers in the Championship last season, when Connor Wickham notched an impressive hat-trick. The win moved Ipswich on to 41 points from their first 30 games, igniting hopes of a late push for the play-offs.

Ultimately, it was not to be. From the remaining 16 games, Town only managed to put a further 20 points on the board, finishing in a disappointing 13^th place.

So it was interesting for me to read comments from Michael Chopra this week, suggesting that a late push for the play-offs would not be entirely out of the equation for Ipswich. Being the optimist I am, I was inevitably lured in by the notion and have already started dreaming.

But what would it require for us to finish in the top six this campaign? Well, one of the best ways to work it out is to look at what it has taken in the past for a team to finish sixth.

Nottingham Forest occupied the final play-off position last season with a total of 75 points – higher than it has been in a number of previous seasons.

Reaching that points total would be a tough task as it would require Ipswich (currently sitting on 37 points) to take no less than 38 points from the remaining 16 games. That is at a rate of almost 2.4 points per game – significantly better than the title winning form of Queens Park Rangers last season.

In real terms, however, that would basically require Ipswich to win almost thirteen of their remaining games in a fixture list that still includes Cardiff, Southampton, Hull, Burnley and Middlesbrough, as well as many other tough games. Essentially, it would be a fool who bet on Ipswich reaching 75 points.

Maybe then, we should turn to the table this season and see if there is any chance of the bar being lowered somewhat.

It is Reading who currently occupy sixth place in the Championship on 51 points from their 30 games. That is at a rate of exactly 1.7 points per game. In turn, that points to them finishing on approximately 78 points if they were to continue at their current rate of point accumulation. Definitely out of the question for Ipswich, as it would require 14 wins from the remaining 16 to finish above them.

Finally then, we should look at what other recent seasons have required. In 2009-10, Swansea took sixth place with just 70 points – to obtain that, Town would need 11 wins from 16.

In 2008-09, Preston finished on 74 – just over 12 from 16 for Ipswich, then. In 2007-08, Watford, like Swansea two years ago, also achieved 70 points; while in 2006-07, Southampton managed the 75 that Forest got last year.

Therefore, it would seem, Ipswich would, at the absolute minimum, have to win between 10 and 12 of the 16 games that remain in the Championship this season.

Do I honestly believe that is attainable? Lets just say we are now building for next season.

Peterborough hammering could be a blessing in disguise

Losing 7-1 to Peterborough might well turn out to be one of the best things that has happened to Ipswich in a long time. It forced Paul Jewell into action, as in the aftermath of the defeat, three new players arrived at the club.

We all know about Jimmy Bullard, who will be a welcome addition to a squad that would undoubtedly have been low on confidence. But the signings of Daryl Murphy and Ibrahima Sonko are also very shrewd.

Having been at the Peterborough game, I was almost tempted to not bother going to watch Town play Leeds this weekend, but it must have been the Jimmy-factor that made me cave in to my obviously extremely weak will.

And what a wonderful reward it was for sticking with Ipswich, with the Blues running out 2-1 winners thanks to a dramatic late strike from Keith Andrews. There are certainly signs that progress is being made.

To be honest, I was not too badly affected by the thrashing at Posh. The fact is, the season is still very young, and following what has been a summer of transition, it was inevitable that the team was going to take time to settle down.

There are now some fantastic players in that squad, and all they need is a bit of time playing together to gel, and form an understanding of one another. It would have been easy to dismiss them after last weekend, but Paul Jewell has replaced the departing players with, in my opinion, better ones.

It took a 7-1 defeat to Colchester before Norwich's fortune's turned around, so many fans, including myself, will be hoping that it is something of an omen. Right now, I am very excited about the season that lies ahead for Ipswich.

We have bags of experience in the squad, and in the form of Andrews and Bullard, clearly an awful lot of quality in the centre of the park.

I was hugely impressed with Ibrahima Sonko's début against Leeds. He seemed to command the back four wonderfully, and not only that, he looks to be technically very good as well.

However, I do hope that Jewell's transfer business is not done in the defensive department. If anything, the quality that Sonko showed only served to highlight the lack of quality his central defensive partner Delaney has.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good things that Delaney brings to the team, but what is patently obvious, the man cannot pass for toffee. Sure, he can hoof the ball clear, but when Ipswich play out from the back, the amount of long, floaty balls from him that go astray, is far too many.

I think I read that Town were enquiring about Marko Šuler, and let me tell you, he looks one hell of a player, and would be a very welcome addition to our back-line. But we must be careful, the club's wage bill must be getting quite hefty right now.

Overall, though, it is brilliant to see that Town are making progress, and hopefully they can get better and better. There is still a long way to go, though, because let's face it, even the win over Leeds was not exactly a vintage performance.

Give Town until 15 games have past until judging them. By then the squad should have settled somewhat, and hopefully Town will even be in a favourable league position.

Jimmy's Back!

We have our Jimmy Back! After what has been such a difficult week for Ipswich Town fans, there has been a bit of good news. Well, I say good news, fantastic news. News of the variety that nearly even brings a tear to the eye of the most hardened football supporter.

It has been a long summer, with many ups and downs. All in all, it would probably be fair to say that the majority of signings made by Paul Jewell have been very positive, but there certainly was a time when most fans almost accepted that Bullard would not be pulling on an Ipswich shirt again.

The midfielder returned to training with Hull, and at first looked to be well and truly back in the club's plans, which saw him included on a pre-season trip to Slovenia. Furthermore, a whole host of Premier League club's were sniffing around the one time loanee.

But we did not lose hope – whether it was in desperation, I am not sure, but rarely would two days pass without Bullard's name being mentioned. It had echoes of the Giovani dos Santos scenario after he had enjoyed a successful loan spell with the club.

I will admit, in fact, I was one of the fans that continued to hold out hope that our beloved Jimmy would one day come home – and the feeling when he finally did was miraculous. Almost emotional, I would argue.

It is true, a move had looked unlikely for much of the summer, but the first shred of hope came when it was announced that Bullard had been suspended by his employers, Hull, for a breach of discipline.

At this point, you would expect most players to receive huge amounts of criticism, and the usual clichés about footballer only being bothered about money and not the club to come up. In the Ipswich camp however, a wave of excitement began to appear.

I'm not sure I have ever seen such a large group of people almost collectively praying that someone would get sacked. Rumours began to emerge that he would be, and the possibility of Hull having to pay off his expensive contract was getting to much for Town fans to handle.

Would that mean he would be prepared to take a massive pay-cut and return to Portman Road?

When it was finally announced that Bullard would have his contract terminated, I must admit, I had to physically tell myself that any move was probably still unlikely. Blackburn, Wolves, QPR and a plethora of wealthy Premier League clubs were all being linked with him. The press almost were giving a sense of 'oh yeah, little Ipswich might try to sign him too.'

So surely there was no way he would come to Ipswich now all the big boys knew they could get him for free, right? Wrong. Bullard and Jewell clearly had been in communication all summer, and the former Wigan player clearly had his heart set on coming back to Portman Road.

He has already said that he took a huge pay cut to sign for Ipswich on a two-year deal, and it is likely that if he had held out for a bit longer, he probably could have got himself a lucrative Premier League contract.

It is refreshing to see a player sign for a club because they want to play football, because they love the fans, and because they have a sense of loyalty to a certain manager. In this day and age, I'm not sure there are many players in world football who would do the same.

Jimmy, I think I speak for most Ipswich fans here when I say we are thrilled to have you back, and cannot wait to see you in that blue shirt for another two years at least.

Below is a little video I have found for anyone reading this to savour. Enjoy.

Is there any need to boo your own players?

Ipswich Town’s defeat to Peterborough on Saturday was probably one of the most embarrassing moments as a Blues fan in some time. In what was quite possibly one of the worst defensive performances since the 9-0 defeat to Manchester United, Town crumbled to a 7-1 thrashing.

However, having supported them all my life, there was nothing more embarrassing than some of the chanting by a small section of the club’s fans at the game.

It was an issue that Liz Edwards, chairwoman of the Supporters Club raised a few weeks ago – and in doing so, she became the victim of verbal abuse on Saturday.

In truth, however, that was pretty harmless, with fans merely having a laugh about the comments she made – I can understand that. Albeit pretty spiteful and inconsiderate, that chant was not detrimental to the team, and is, thus, not what bothers me most.

- Read the full blog at TheBallisRound.co.uk -

Scotland Must Stay

A perpetual habit of Ipswich Town's always seems to be letting a good or promising player go each summer for relative peanuts. In recent seasons, especially, it appears to have become a worrying trend at Portman Road.

There are endless players that you could easily go into detail about, but the latest one to keep an eye on is Jason Scotland. Admittedly, the former Wigan striker did not exactly set the world alight in his first season with the club, but then again, nor did former manager, Roy Keane – he still got another half a season.

Reports this week suggest that the Blues and Swansea City have already begun negotiations which would pave the way for the Trinidadian to return to Wales, and indeed, Premier League football.

Now usually that would spark a certain degree of interest from the selling club with the potential for a big amount of money coming their way. Last season when Jon Walters went to Stoke, it seemed a mutually agreeable deal – Town picked up in excess of £3m for the player, and the Potters got their man.

This summer, in fact, Connor Wickham smashed all records with his £8.1m move to Sunderland. Sure, it was sad to see him go, but at least there was a tasty incentive for Ipswich Town fans at the end of the day.

With Scotland, however, all looks to be very different. He looks set to join a group of players such as Alan Lee, Jon Stead, and Jordan Rhodes, who despite doing what appeared to be a decent job, were unmercifully pushed out of the door.

Like those players, Jason Scotland is not a bad player – he has proven many times before that at Championship level he can score goals. Actually, a lot of goals.

When such a situation occurs, it looks a pretty safe bet that there is not going to be a lot of money involved. If Town even recoup what they paid for him it would be remarkable.

Of course, a lot of fans will argue that with the arrivals of Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington, as well as Priskin offering an alternative option, Scotland will not exactly be the first choice at the club. Maybe too, there could soon be another arrival in the striking department with reports earlier in the week that bids had been placed for two unknown players.

The fact is, though, Scotland has been at the club for a season now. In that season, he did manage to notch 10 goals – more than any of the other strikers at the club, and only bettered by the now departed David Norris, a midfielder.

Supposing Michael Chopra was to bag 20 goals this season, Ellington a further 10 – wouldn't 10 more from Scotland be a welcome contribution?

It is also worth considering that he played much of last season as a lone striker. Early indications from this pre-season are that Paul Jewell is looking to play two up front, meaning that if Scotland were to play, there would be someone to share the work load with.

Furthermore, Jewell himself is even said to be happy with how the bulky forward is performing in pre-season so far.

It really does beg the question: how the hell could he ever be allowed to just slip out the back door?

Warning: Bad boy Bowyer is in Town

Some footballers ought to come with a warning sign attached to them when they sign for a new football club, especially those with a bit of a reputation.

One of those is Lee Bowyer, who has just signed a one-year deal with Ipswich Town this week. I'm sure I read somewhere that he was the most booked player in Premier League history, and we all know about his off-field shenanigans with Jonathan Woodgate whilst at Leeds United.

Furthermore, it is worth considering that one of Town's reported transfer targets of this summer just so happens to be Keiron Dyer. Could the ex-Newcastle 'buddies' be re-united at Portman Road?

Since becoming a professional club in 1936, Ipswich Town has forged itself at reputation as a friendly, welcoming family club. A club that, essentially, signs nice players who play nice football.

The managers have been quite mellow too – the kind gentleman that was Sir Bobby Robson, the humble Scot, George Burley and the unobtrusive tactician, Sir Alf Ramsey.

Yet in recent times that all seems to have changed.

Roy Keane's arrival in 2009 reflected that change dramatically. The former Manchester United hard-man came in to replace Jim Magilton. Everyone said it could not work – the two were not compatible. Ipswich Town and Roy Keane could never work...

They were right.

The arrival of Lee Bowyer does seem to be of the same mould, if you like. Michael Chopra did not exactly represent the coming of a moral guardian either.

Somehow, though, both seem like fantastic signings for the club. Bowyer will bring a tenacity to the midfield, whilst also chipping in with goals. Chopra, meanwhile, is a poacher – a striker hungry for goals, someone who knows better than most in the division where the net is.

When the season finished back in May, Town were facing a crisis. It seemed as though half the squad were out of contract and would not be signing new deals.

Add to that the fact that the club's player of the season, Jimmy Bullard, had only been a loanee, and the reality of the situation was that the club was never going to be able to afford his wages. Paul Jewell had an almighty job on his hands.

He has done well though. The addition of Bowyer to the team instantly replaces the work ethic and steel that was ripped from the core of the team when David Norris left for Portsmouth. Ivar Ingimarsson adds the experience and quality at the heart of the defence in the position that was vacated by Gareth McAuley.

Aaron Cresswell, a player courted by many Premier League and Championship clubs, brings the enthusiasm of youth, and could turn out to be a gem from the lower leagues. Nathan Ellington arrived off the back of a disappointing few seasons with Watford – but his most successful years were under Jewell at Wigan.

In total five new players have arrived at the club – better still, they have arrived before the team has even played a single pre-season game. Fans have grown accustomed to no one signing before July, only for a mad rush in late August, leaving the squad imbalanced and the supporters underwhelmed.

Indeed, it looks as though there is more to come, too. This week Jewell has admitted that he is waiting to hear back from clubs regarding bids placed for a further two players – reportedly a winger and a forward.

It is nice to see the attacking options being addressed. For a number of seasons now, the options in those areas have looked depleted at best. Not since Shefki Kuqi six years ago has any player scored more than 20 goals for the club in a season. In fact, few have scored that many in their time with the Blues.

One concern for me, though, still remains defensively. Unlike some fans, I am reasonably contented with the goalkeeping options at the club, but I am still worried about the lack of a recognised right-back at the club – even if Carlos Edwards filled the position well towards the end of last season.

Moreover, there are only three recognised centre-backs in the squad. Ingimarsson is the only right-footer among them, and a man of his age surely cannot be expected to play all 46 games. Damien Delaney is prone to spells of catastrophically bad form, while Tommy Smith, despite having played at a World Cup is still only 21.

Leicester snapped up the main transfer target for that position, Sean St Ledger, so it is back to the drawing board there, unfortunately.

More money will have to be spent. Jewell has done well so far, getting in a raft of players on frees, while only paying half of the figure the club were quoted last summer for Michael Chopra (£1.5m).

And there should be money available. The Connor Wickham sale looks to be a blessing in disguise. At 18, he was never going to tear the Championship apart single handedly, but the £8m transfer fee (potentially rising to over £12m) will give the club a better chance of doing so.

It remains to be seen what Jewell still has in store for the club. So far he is doing well, and if he keeps that up, who knows, this time next year, he could be the toast of Ipswich.