Former Ipswich Town star KIERON DYER casts his eye over the football world - from Portman Road to the Premier League
If Ipswich Town can get their strikers firing in the goals, we really could be on for a decent season at Portman Road.
Three wins out of three and still undefeated with no goals conceded, no-one can complain about the start the team have made to League One again this season.
So, now let’s hope our strikers can start finding the net to add to the fun.
James Norwood and Kayden Jackson were both in double figures last season, but it was Luke Garbutt who was third highest scorer, certainly none of the midfield.
Now we have midfielders Teddy Bishop, Gwion Edwards and Jon Nolan all finding the net. That’s great. Freddie Sears has also been on target, so let’s hope he and another striker can go on and get say 15 to 20 goals.
Because if two of our three strikers can do that....Wow!
It’s all rightly positive at the moment and I know people say there are stiffer tests to come, but you only beat what’s in front of you and that’s all there is to it.
I’m especially pleased for Teddy to be getting lots of good headlines.
He’s had a lot of injuries over the years and as someone who had my fair share of injuries, it can be depressing at times. And it takes a good couple of months to get back into the swing of things when you return, so he’s made a brilliant start.
It’s funny, when I did some podcasts with Ipswich Town players during the lockdown, both Kane Vincent-Young and Idris El Mizouni, commented on the fact Teddy was one of the best trainers in the squad.
And Town still have plenty of injured players to come back.
It will make it very interesting when these players do return to full fitness. There will certainly be a lot of competition for places.
That’s when you need a strong manager to keep everyone happy. Players get unhappy and miserable when they are not being selected. That’s just human nature.
I think Town have quite a big squad at the moment and maybe a few will go out on loan - or maybe one or two will get sold.
There was quite a fuss about the players who were left out of the squad photograph at the start of the season. But I still counted 22 players in the picture.
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Talking of Idris El Mizouni, I see he has gone back on loan to Cambridge United.
I never went out on loan as a young player, but I can see its advantages. The thing is, not everyone sees U23 football as especially beneficial.
I’m not quite sure about that because Ipswich have put out first-team players in the U23s to give them match fitness. I’m sure they are not alone.
Then again, when I played, you had youth team and reserve team football - and reserve team football was definitely stronger than U23s.
I remember once playing at Bury for Ipswich Reserves against Arsenal - who included Ian Wright that day. I also played against Vinny Jones in a reserve team game. That was an eye opener for a young teenage Kieron Dyer!
So, it’s a difficult one for me. But I suppose in most cases U23 football is usually just young players - much different to a first-team game.
What did you think of the VAR handball decision at Spurs on Sunday against Newcastle?
What a load of rubbish that was. I now call it Video Awful Referee.
I can only assume the people who thought up VAR have never actually played the game because it’s getting ridiculous - especially with handball, as we all saw at Spurs.
If you jump for a header your hands are invariably going to go up. Try jumping with your hands by your side.
It’s madness that if it just hits your hand it’s deemed handball.
For me, it’s quite simple. If someone sticks out their hand to stop the ball, or deflect it, it’s handball and penalty.
If it just hits their hand and they knew little about it, why not award an indirect free-kick in the box? It still gives the team who won the handball an advantage and attempt at goal.
Finally, Leicester’s big win at Man City was a bit of a shock.
Fair play to the Foxes who were excellent, but City look like they are going through a bit of a transition after three or four dominant years.
I wouldn’t write Pep off too quickly, mind you. Although Messi would have been quite useful for them right now!
AS TOLD TO MIKE BACON
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