Birmingham City 0 Ipswich Town 1
Mick McCarthy signed in a new Town era with an unlikely away win at Birmingham City to end a run of exceedingly miserable football that has left Ipswich Town cut adrift at the very bottom of the Championship table.
Why it was left so late to make the change has been baffling.
Four games into the new season and Town fans had seen enough to realise that a relegation battle was on the cards and radical action needed to be taken to turn the club’s fortunes around.
The result of procrastination had put Town into an ever deeper crisis. There was lack of a clear vision, a plummeting league position and so many loan players in the squad that unrest from within was inevitable. It needed a strong leader and in Mick McCarthy that’s what Town have got.
With only a day of preparation Mighty Mick made the right choices in team selection and tactics and he has clearly got the work ethic message across loud and clear. The players were acutely aware of what they needed to do to impress the new manager.
Town were right at it from the start and DJ Campbell’s early strike had a touch of class about it. Alf for one would like to see his loan signing made permanent as he is the type of natural goal scorer that Town have been missing for many seasons.
MM had impressed Alf in the way he built his promotion winning team at Wolves. In his first season he stabilised the struggling club and built a solid defensive unit. In his second season he concentrated on building a hard working and balanced midfield. A section of impatient Wolves fans wanted him out, but the signing of two quality strikers in the January transfer window completed his team building and promotion followed.
Mick had a plan, he built from the back, was given time to complete the jigsaw and the rest as they say is history. It may not have been pretty football at first, but they played fantastic football in their promotion winning year.
If Mick repeats that scenario at IP1then Alf and the success starved Town faithful will be ecstatic.
There is a very long way to go on this journey and if Mick earns his one million pound bonus by keeping us up then Alf will be delighted.
Alf's Ipswich Town 