In his latest column, Karl Fuller looks at the reaction to Mick McCarthy leaving Ipswich Town – and the numerous pundits and fans who have lined up to criticise supporters of the Blues as a result.
Let me take you back 14 years to May 2004.
We have just been beaten by West Ham for the first time in successive years in the play-off semi-finals. As fans of the Hammers celebrated at our expense, the immortal words from the commentator on Radio Five Live within seconds of the final whistle still anger me today – “It’s no more than the West Ham fans deserve!”
What! How about what we deserved? Did we not deserve to win the tie too? For good measure, they had it all again a year later. Did they deserve a second chance? Didn’t we deserve a day out at Wembley?
For those 14 years that have since passed, I’ve often wondered what we deserve and it would seem that we’re just beginning to find out exactly what it is – apparently.
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Ever since Mick McCarthy firstly announced that he was leaving us at the end of the season, and more so since his departure on Tuesday night following our win over Barnsley, every man and his dog has had plenty to say about our situation on social media and beyond.
Brian Deane has become the latest ’expert pundit’ to join Chris Sutton and Clinton Morrison and tell us to be careful what we wish for.
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Some fans of other clubs have wished for relegation to find its way to Portman Road next season, whilst some have even gone one step further and have said we’re definitely getting relegated.
I wonder if these same people know the numbers for the next lottery draw?
The bottom line is, all of these people could be right of course and they are entitled to their opinions after all.
However, it has to be said, how differently would they be thinking if they’d experienced the last two seasons that we’ve endured? The vast majority of Ipswich fans will not have wanted or expected too much since those play-off defeats to West Ham but every fan expects something for their buck each season.
It’s hard to quantify exactly what we deserve, every fan of every club deserves something for money, time and effort put into watching their teams either home, away or both.
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If all those wishing ill against us next term had been inside our bubble rather than rubbernecking in from the outside, they’d share our outlook for sure.
Quite simply, they should not be chastising our path if they’ve never walked our journey.
How many fans of any club would simply put up with the boredom and dire performances of the last two years (with the exception of some games earlier this season)?
How many would accept no FA Cup wins in over five years or a failure to beat our rivals in the same time period (and longer)?
How many would accept their team matching up to the opposition game after game rather than putting them on the back foot for a change, or a run of consecutive home games without a goal or say eleven games without a first-half goal?
If you’re outside the bubble, how could you possibly know how bad it has been?
I accept we’ve no divine right to anything but coming back to what we deserve, all I personally ask for is to at least see a smidgeon of entertainment next season backed up by a plan that we can all buy into.
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