The past week has seen me angry, upset, philosophical, crying and wondering when any of it will get any easier. That’s the life of an Ipswich Town fan these days, writes Karl Fuller.
I spent the early part of last week trying vigorously to ignore any conversation ITFC related that anybody really wanted to have with me.
After the QPR debacle, I was just too irritated to be bothered really and wish I could just cut the club out of my life.
If only we could end a relationship with our football team like most of us have probably done with a partner at some point in time!
Losing to Leeds was no real surprise. I probably didn’t care enough to even have any feelings about it to be honest.
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I felt emotionally drained and just accepted the inevitable long before kick-off. This is what it has come to, just accepting defeat.
I spent most of Thursday wondering what Marcus Evans’ breaking point would be – as the saying goes, every man has his breaking point.
As I said last week, Paul Hurst was painfully out of his depth and whilst I believe in giving managers time, I also believed that it was time for him to go. I never felt he would be gone before the next international break though.
When news broke through on Thursday of his sacking, I felt a little sad that it hadn’t worked out for him. On the face of it and looking back at his appointment, I was chuffed.
He was my second choice after Tony Mowbray and I was glad that we were giving a young, upcoming English manager a chance.
I had this fairytale notion that he would drag our ailing club into the 21st century on and off the pitch and he would deliver the sort of football that us suffering fans have been crying out for, for far too long.
Within the blink of an eye, Hurst created just about the worst side I have witnessed in my 40 years of supporting Town and this is a real worry for me.
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In the same breath of Hurst’s departure, there was the rumours of Paul Lambert’s impending arrival. The two announcements certainly took some getting used to, but I’m not sure which one outdid the other the most.
Thursday soon became Friday, and all the managerial shenanigans were put firmly on the back-burner as we said farewell to the Beat. The sight of so many fans lining Portman Road to say goodbye showed how much he was loved.
Just as when the news came of his sad passing away, a few more tears flowed, and it was a very sombre day indeed. The Beat will be hurting at the current state of affairs with the latest horror show coming at Millwall on Saturday.
I note that the latest Halloween film is currently screening in Cinemas. John Carpenter’s classic started with two great films back in 1978 and 1981.
They were two great years for Ipswich too. Now on its 11th film, it’s a horror show too many and the same can be said of our performances now.
Paul Lambert has an almost impossible task on his hands I’m afraid. Unless he can find any half-decent free agents, he must work with the hand he has been deal until January.
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It can only be a damage limitation job until then and even when January arrives, he has got a massive task to encourage players to join us.
I feel even this early in the season, we are League One bound – and what a disaster that would be.
Should we be too upset that he previously managed our friends up the road? For me, we’ve got to forget that. He was probably the best man out there that we could afford at this moment in time.
I wanted a tried and tested manager when Mick came to the club, I wanted a young and hungry young manager when Hurst came. I ultimately wanted them both to leave when they did.
I’ve given up thinking about what I want now. I certainly want to wish Lambert the best of luck – he certainly needs it!
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