Why Ipswich’s fate must be a dire warning to Newcastle

REgrouP and bounce back. That’s the plan and it sounds so easy. It’s why so many get taken in. The idea that a club needs to drop down a tier to regain its centre is a fond one, particularly if the manager is unpopular.

Ipswich supporters wanted rid of Mick McCarthy four years ago. When he left and the club sunk to the bottom of the Championship, some even argued it was a price worth paying. Even if they were relegated, they could rebuild in League one for a year. Start playing better football, take an inferior competition by storm. return with momentum behind them.

That was the 2018-19 season. Now look where they are. Still there. Stranded.

Turns out, Ipswich were not so much better than those around them. First year in League one they were sitting 11th when the pandemic intervened. Last season they were ninth and five points short of the play-offs. Currently, they’re 11th again.

Ipswich have new owners, prepared to invest, but the EFL is a competition defined by the poorest and well-supported clubs cannot milk their advantage.

Far from building back better, Ipswich are trapped by bad timing. Since McCarthy left they have burned through three permanent managers and as many caretakers, with Paul Cook the latest to be sacked, on December 4.

Last Tuesday, Ipswich lost 2-0 at Charlton and the mood turned ugly. Interim boss John Mcgreal sent the players to thank the travelling fans and it almost ended in a fight.

objects were thrown and a fan was apprehended trying to get to the players on the field.

So much for the regroup. And to think there were Newcastle supporters who actually thought it would be good for their club to lose when Steve Bruce was in charge. That would get him sacked and the revival could begin. Yet Newcastle did lose and while those losses eventually cost Bruce his job, it cannot be argued there wasn’t a price to pay.

Eddie Howe has inherited a bitter battle against relegation.

If Newcastle do not survive might they, too, fondly imagine regrouping in the Championship? After all, both relegations in the Mike Ashley era were followed by immediate promotions. With Saudi Arabia behind them, how hard could it be?

The answer: very. The Championship is embracing austerity, too. Stricter financial regulation, ceilings, caps, could be coming — maybe the abolition of parachute payments. Ipswich’s predicament shows there is never a good time to go down. Plus, with football in a state of flux, commonplace misfortune can have severe and unimagined consequences.

Ipswich thought they could step backwards to come forwards.

Not when standing on football’s cliff edge, you can’t.

● RALF RANGNICK has made Chris Armas, former manager of the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC, his first signing as Manchester United’s interim manager. That’s not one to get hearts racing among the overlords of United’s social media channels. For that reason, it might be just what the place needs.