DE.

We aren't getting into the playoffs without significant reinforcements in January. Despite £7m being due to come out on a striker we still don't have proper back up for Danny Graham, as shown by Dack being put up front in the last couple of games. Injuries to either of our centre backs or the goalkeeper massively weaken us as well. If we're still competing for a top six place by Jan 1 and Venky's allow Mowbray to bring in a few more bodies then anything can happen, assuming we also keep hold of Dack. As it stands I think our current position is about right, give or take a couple of places in either direction.

He's like a much improved version of Smallwood. Runs himself into the ground for the cause, has good ability and is quite versatile. He's exactly the type of player every team needs. He had a decent season at Norwich last year so I'm pleasantly surprised nobody picked him up before we did.

5 losses in 49 games is a misleading stat when a significant chunk of those games were in League 1 against vastly inferior opposition. You can only beat what's put in front of you but we shouldn't get too carried away with that particular statistic. As far as this season is concerned we're currently 12th, having won 5, drawn 7 and lost 3. I'd say that's pretty good on its own merits. I'd certainly have taken this position had it been offered to me at the start of the season. Just because we're doing fairly well so far doesn't mean we should ignore what can be improved, though. Echo chambers are easy to find on facebook or certain twitter threads, I'd rather this place remained a decent venue for proper discussion rather than posters repeating "in Mowbray we trust" ad infinitum. He's obviously done a good job so far but we should always be looking to improve. I'd be more concerned if people weren't questioning the decision to have an attacking midfielder as our sole striker when there's a £7m striker on the bench alongside our primary target man. It was a strange decision and had Reed not scored that absolute worldie we'd be talking about a 1-0 loss that could have been a draw or win had we started the match with a proper striker.

Agreed. I think it would probably have been 1-1 under Bowyer as well.

Just shows how time alters perceptions. All i remember reading when GB was in charge was how he had the team fighting for the shirt and made us proud to support Rovers again. The king is dead, long live the King, i guess.

How would this have been a heavy defeat under Bowyer? Really harsh lumping him in with those managers.

Apparently Lambert was in the stands watching Ipswich today. Probably thinking about resigning already.

If you'd offered me a draw after seeing that ridiculous starting line up I would have snapped your hand off, so can't complain. We are so screwed if Raya is injured though.

Doesn't look like we've been outplayed by any means, but it's mind blowing that WBA concede 4 in their last game and we decide to line up without a striker.

Strange line up indeed. If we were going to go experimental why not give Brereton a go up top? If we get a result here then I guess we all hold our hands up and say fair enough, Tony's a genius. If not then wtf.

From the Ipswich Star's story on Lambert being brought in... Interesting that he apparently went to Ewood and held up a Rovers scarf. Guess he really misses us? Also from that article... Town owner Marcus Evans said: “In his time at Aston Villa he showed he could work with and develop young players and his teams have always looked to play exciting football. Those attributes fit our ethos here." Does he think the fans are idiots? The last Lambert team to play exciting football was Norwich, 6 years ago. He's not going to start trying again at Ipswich of all teams.

QPR storming up the table now. Three clean sheets in a row, only two conceded in five games. Take note Tony, clean sheets and solid defending are the foundations for success.

Been a good game. Would much rather watch the championship than the PL these days.

I don't think anybody is making a cast iron judgement on BB yet. It's just been a pretty underwhelming start to his career here. Still plenty of time for him to have an impact and hopefully he will, as I can't imagine we'll be buying too many players at that price in the future.

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/34756/mccarthy-no-sympathy-with-fans-who-hounded-me-out

Hurst seemed stuck in two minds as to how he wanted to play. He had a pretty distinctive style at Shrewsbury, but I didn't see that at Ipswich at all. Either the squad didn't want to adapt to his methods, or he felt pressure to play a different way and ended up losing the plot as a result.

As Stuart said, Allardyce would have been a better comparison. Many similarities there and the same arguments going on now on ITFC forums between anti-Mick and pro-Mick factions were had on here for years after Sam left. It'll be very interesting to see how Lambert gets on. For various reasons the knives were out for him on day one from certain posters on here, but two of his signings in Graham and Bennett have become crucial to our recent successes and he was the first manager since Venky's arrived to speak candidly about the very real issues the club had. He pulled no punches and never tried to bullshit, which I respected. He's got a real task at Ipswich though. I'm a little surprised he took it considering the squad and budget. He's either very confident or very desperate.

A section of fans wanted MM gone, but the owner and players did not want him to go, so I don't think that is really "suffice to say". You're right that Evans is renowned for being honest with his managers about the conditions they'll be working under. That made Hurst's whining about lack of investment recently all the more pathetic. He knew exactly what he was walking into, but when he couldn't handle the job he turned around and blamed everybody but himself.

Yep, Very disingenuous to try and spin the Kean and McCarthy situations as anything similar. In fact I'd go as far as to say it's pretty offensive. The reason McCarthy snapped and yelled at the Ipswich fans to fuck off was because they'd acted like absolute dickheads towards him for months on end and fully deserved it. It was very much a case of the fans feeling they had the priveledge to hurl abuse at the manager and never get anything back. The fact itfc1963 didn't mention Marcus Evans once in his post but saw fit to rant about McCarthy's supposed arrogance and thin skin speaks volumes about how certain Ipswich fans simply can't see the bigger picture.

Evans hasn't outright stated there's no budget, but if you read between the lines of what he's said this evening he's basically saying the club has the foundations for success, now they just need the right manager to take what they've got and progress. It'll be a hell of a job for Lambert to get that team anywhere. The squad he inherited here from Bowyer in 2015, as limited as it was, still had far more quality than the current Ipswich team.

From what I read he treated the staff members he hadn't brought with him pretty poorly as well. As far as he was concerned everything from the players to the staff were below what he considered acceptable levels and he made everybody aware of it. Came across as an arrogant prick and pretty much turned everybody against him from day one. I don't think very many tears will be shed around the football club over his departure. I don't remember hearing about Lambert losing the dressing room. Can you expand on that? Evans' comments this evening are making it pretty clear there ain't going to be a transfer budget for January, so Lambert had better be prepared to make do with what he's got.

The problems with Hurst ran much deeper than what was happening on match day. There's no doubt that he had to go. It's been a long time since I've seen a manager that far out of his depth. You can guarantee the same fans who hounded McCarthy out will now be lauding Lambert's appointment though.

If it's Lambert then so much for the beautiful football experiment. Might as well have kept Mick. That said if I see Lambo around I'll get him to spill the beans on what really went on here.

If Bowyer pitches up down here I'll buy him a pint.

Can't blame him if he is. Personally I hope Hurst is there for a little longer, as the supporters deserve to reap what they've sown for a little while longer.