The formation was all over the place, line up was chopped and changed regularly. The squad's not good enough and we certainly need a striker or two, central defender and creative midfielder at least. We have a big target man but don't really play to his strengths i.e pace.

^ Quite possibly, we're in exactly the same position as we were six years ago; late October, bottom of the table and a failing manager called Paul. (Jewell on that occasion)

^^ chaddyrovers Regarding Hurst's summer signing, Gwion Edwards has looked good, the Chelsea loanee Chalobah is game and looks to have a good future, but the ex-Shrewsbury boys haven't stepped up to the mark. The 'big money' (Ipswich-style) front man Jackson has struggled to make his mark and we are reduced to him and Freddie Sears up front who scores a goal every year. The striker from Bristol Rovers has been injured most of the time but has shown little. Getting back Jon Walters was a sign of desperation and he's out for six months now. I don't think ME tried to talk MM out of going either, both knew the writing was on the wall. All talk of attractive football and bright new dawns is on the back burner, we've got Lambert in purely to try and survive - whatever the football's like.

You tell me. I think after giving Roy Keane a few quid and seeing the disaster that turned into he decided once bitten twice shy. Since he took over the Championship has become much more competitive and we're not keeping up. Sorry if my Steve Kean comments touched a raw nerve or brought back too many painful memories.

No, the owner was quite clear in his interview after MM went that his role had run its course. Not just because of the fans but because results had been deteriorating for two years.

OK maybe the Kean/McCarthy comparison was a bit far-fetched, I get that. We are also well aware of the limitations of our owner, although he tells managers the conditions they have to work under and they all seem to speak well of him after they've gone. Suffice to say the time was right for him to go for all concerned.

Greetings from an Ipswich outsider. This has been a fascinating few pages to read, especially about Paul Lambert and how people think about him here. From an Ipswich perspective, Chaddyrovers is pretty much on the money and seems to understand the situation here. Most fans knew McCarthy would keep us competitive and out of relegation trouble, but the relationship had soured over the last two years (as it seemed to do at Wolves with him too). It wasn't only that some of the football on display was atrocious (I think we had one shot on target in three consecutive home games earlier in the year), it was MM's constant boasting of his previous achievements and how we were effectively very lucky to have him - for a supposedly bluff Yorkshireman he seemed to have quite a thin skin too. It wasn't really surprising that eventually some fans (not all) turned on him and the relationship worsened rapidly. It sort of reached a nadir in his last derby when he visibly screamed at the fans to "f*** off". Some of the flak hurled at Ipswich fans this season about McCarthy reminded me a bit about the abuse you lot got when Steve Kean left i.e. you have to have been a fan to understand. We are generally a pretty tolerant lot, although certain elements are getting ideas above their station. Everyone had high hopes for Paul Hurst but he seems to have made the cardinal sin of winding up the existing players from the off, and dropping our best, and three times player of the year Bialkowski. We were absolute certainties for relegation under him, we might have a chance under a new manager. In out present position with the complete absence of money to spend Lambert is about the best we could hope for I reckon, I couldn't give a stuff about his Norwich past (make it all the sweeter when we finally beat them). If I was our owner I would have said to him you're here whether we're relegated or not so get your feet under the table and get stuck in.