By James Cracknell
May 2 2006

James Cracknell gives Singing The Blues his own unique look at the worst season for Town in 40 years.

In writing this review of Ipswich Town’s 2005–2006 season I tackle a great challenge: making it more entertaining than said season.  Let’s face it, we Town fans didn’t expect much from this campaign and a disappointing season is exactly what we got.  Having said that, a dull season at Portman Road has certainly been a rarity in the last decade or so and I for one believe it to be merely a blip on our way to regaining Premiership status (oh it will happen, and sooner than most of us think).  Given the adversity Town have had to face this year, it could have been a whole lot worse. 

 

Back in the summer, the spine of our magnificent promotion bottlers was ripped apart and whisked away to the usual plethora of mediocre Premiership teams.  Although as I mention it, I would like to congratulate Darren Bent on his performance in a Charlton Athletic side now bordering on the copyright of Ipswich Town circa 2002.  Come to think about it, suing the Addicks on that basis might be a nice little money spinner.  Hey Fab, pack your bags you’re off to the Valley!  Alright back to the point, for Darren Bent now to be on the verge of a World Cup spot is a noble achievement indeed.  Good on the lad.

 

So after the decimation to our almost successful squad of last season, Big Fat Joe was forced to go shopping (albeit confined to the 99p stores) for a new backbone to our team.  Significantly however, the only area which didn’t require new faces was central defence.  Ironically, the big failing of our last term has turned out to be the saviour of this term. DeVos and Naylor have emerged as a solid pairing.  As ever, Royle’s purchases were a mixed bag.  We got Forster, Parkin, Sito and Peters; plus a few more that were added later and a couple of loan spells.  Of course, the remaining gaps in our squad were filled by members of our FA Youth Cup winning side.  No less than nine made their debuts this season.  The array of talent produced by our youth setup never fails to amaze me and I am sure it is this factor which continues to keep us in contention, while other clubs in a similar position to ourselves have floundered (say hello Leicester City and the rest – you know who you are).

 

The total number of players utilised in this campaign was an astounding twenty-eight.  Seventeen of these got their name on the score sheet (and not one of them called Proudlock).  It was this inconsistency in our line-up and in individual performances which was the root cause of our downfall, caused by an unwelcome combination of injuries and suspensions.  Forster especially became more familiar with the stands at Portman Road than he did with the hallowed turf.  This year, more than ever before in recent memory, injuries really hurt our chances (so to speak).  And alarmingly, so did suspensions.  Have we become a dirty team overnight?  I don’t think so, but the evidence speaks for itself: sixty-five yellow cards and five reds (not one of them justified – bloody refs).  All of this added up to an uncharacteristic Ipswich Town season.  The turning points were dictated by these injuries and suspensions.  The game at home to Preston was the first such case.  After Psycho was suspended, DeVos was crocked and Forster forced to admire the paintwork in the Britannia Stand for the first time; Town fielded a team held together by sticky tape.  After finally putting a run of results together in the New Year, helped by some new faces, Town faced a critical match against fellow play-off hopefuls Wolves.  Unfortunately our attack had less impetus than a pint of beer in a cocktail bar; after Alan Lee joined Forster, Parkin and Haynes on the sidelines and a loan move for Ricardo Fuller was delayed by technical irregularities.  Unable to take our chances in a match we dominated, Wolves won all three points.  The next month put paid to any lingering hopes we had, in two more matches against play-off contenders that yielded one point after finishing both games with only ten men.    

 

Throughout this struggle it has to be said that the fans have been terrific, averaged as we did 24253 at home - third in the Championship only to Sheffield Wednesday and that team up the road (what the hell?! are they giving tickets away now?!).  Talking of Norwich, performance of the season has to be the one at Carrow Road.  It was too damn long since we had given those canaries a stuffing and after the injustice at Portman Road in September, we played them off the park at their place.  The icing on the cake to that performance was a last minute winner from the man who had been hacked down the whole match, Danny Haynes (I’m sure he would have headed it in if his hand hadn’t gotten in the way).  All of the youngsters brought into the first team this year should be applauded because without them I could easily have been writing a post-mortem of our relegation.  Some of them have become regulars, some have made just made fleeting appearances, but all have made valuable contributions.  In Lewis Price we have a fine young keeper.  In Shane Supple we have an even better one.  Comparing this good fortune to the fate suffered by our old friend Kelvin Davis has been one of the few things to raise a smile over the last nine months.

 

It’s great to see Fabian Wilnis finally get the credit he deserves by winning the Supporters’ Player of the Year award.  It’s even better to see that he’ll be sticking around for another year yet.  One man who won’t be around next year is Jim Magilton.  His age has finally caught up with him, but you’ve got to respect the contributions he has made to the club over the years, not least in a certain play-off semi-final a few years ago.  We’ll miss ya, Jimbo.

 

Now after all is said and done we’re 15^th, our lowest league finish in forty years.  We had nothing left to play for going into the last game, but then, did any team in the Championship this year?  I believe it no coincidence that in Town’s dullest season for years, the consistently most exciting division in English professional football has failed to deliver a climax.  Call me arrogant if you like but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ipswich Town own this league.  When we’re off our game as we have been, the whole division suffers.  But it won’t happen again.  There’s been enough evidence of a good team since the New Year to suggest we’ll be right up there causing chaos next term and I’m confident that we’ll be back and ready to resume ass kicking duties in August.  Thanks for reading.

 

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