In the latest 'Your Posts', Town fan Thomas Lane asks what plan, if any, do Ipswich Town have? We welcome your posts.
I’ve spent the last three years of my life earning a degree in Sports Journalism, spending countless hours studying almost every team across the top divisions in England - from Arsenal to Alfreton Town.
I watched Huddersfield in the Premier League, and Ossett United in the eighth tier in the pouring rain. Oh the joys of Yorkshire football.
Ossett were newly-formed with exciting youngsters, supported by a Manchester-based businessman who gave me my first steps into the footballing world, but they had a style, a plan and a structure that made the fans believe.
YOUR POSTS: Town fans must lower their expectations
Huddersfield were struggling at the foot of the table, but were planning for life in the Championship. They made signings to help them when they got relegated, tied down young stars who would make the step up the next year.
Have Ipswich Town got such a plan? I'm not sure they have. Yet, there are so many teams around them to model themselves on.
As far as I can tell, Town are slowly morphing into a bog-standard League One side, and you know how the story goes at the end of the season. Promotion, and we struggle in the Championship. No promotion, and we look set to lose players like Luke Woolfenden, Andre Dozzell, Flynn Downes and Gwion Edwards.
Whatever the outcome is at the end of the year, it wouldn't cause anger or trepidation from Ipswich fans if there was a clear plan in place. But is there?
Maybe we should model ourselves on Brentford or Peterborough.
YOUR POSTS: 'I've felt more like a customer than a fan''
Posh fans don’t ever entertain the idea of getting attached to their strikers, because they know how much money that will make the club in the long run. Sustainable, profitable, repeat.
Brentford look abroad to Scandinavian and European countries for cheap wonderkids who they can sell big in the future. Look at players like Benrahma and Maupay for example. Sustainable, profitable, repeat.
Or do we model ourselves on teams like Barnsley and Wolves? Identifying a key nation to poach players from to buy cheap and not worry about the inflated fees for English players?
Wolves have Portugal, and Barnsley have Austria! We were renowned for giving Dutch talent a platform to shine on. Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen, Martin Reuser. But where now?
As much as it pains me to say it, why aren’t we looking at our noisy neighbours for inspiration.
Under Daniel Farke, Norwich went out and settled on a style of play (aggressive, attacking football), they blooded youngsters across the park (Max Aarons, Jamal Lewis, Todd Cantwell), and they found talented, but not expensive players across the EU (Teemu Pukki, Emi Buendia).
We have one of the best academies in the country, in an area dominated by Ipswich and Norwich, not some of the biggest clubs in England. We have to believe in these young players.
I plead with you Marcus Evans, figure out exactly what you want from your rollercoaster of a reign with Ipswich Town, and force everyone to abide by it. It might affect us in the short term, but it will massively improve the state of the club in the long term.
Otherwise, this club will fall further and further down the ladder with no rungs to hang onto.
THOMAS LANE
We welcome your posts: e-mail mike.bacon@archant.co.uk
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