Our glorious past should be a BLESSING not a BURDEN
TOWN LEGEND MILLS ON THE WAY FORWARD FOR TRACTOR BOYS
IPSWICH legend Mick Mills admits watching the Tractor Boys’ fall from grace has hollowed him out.
But the club’s FA Cup and UEFA Cup-winning captain is praying for a swift resurrection after they were relegated from the Championship.
Ipswich have gone down to the third tier of English football for the first time in 62 years, a world away from their former glories.
Mills played a record 741 times for the club – most of them during the heyday of the 1970s and early 80s under the late Sir Bobby Robson, whose success at Portman Road earned him the England job.
One of the best teams in the land, Ipswich also finished runners-up to both Aston Villa and Liverpool in the old first division in 1981 and 1982.
But though pictures on the walls will be constant reminders to next year’s players in League One, Mills insists they must cope with the comparisons.
Now 70, Mills still travels the length and breadth of the country watching the team and summarising for local radio.
He said: “For the players coming in and the youngsters, there are going to be pictures around the club and the stadium of former glories.
“And you should never forget the past, they were good times so why forget them.
“That is a big part of the history of the football club. But the future is just as important, or even more important than the past. There is always a past, present and future.
“And the next set of players must be able to handle the past achievements and not feel that they are any kind of burden, weighing them down.”
And Mills is backing Paul Lambert, former manager of fierce rivals Norwich, to repeat what he did at Carrow Road a decade ago and lead the club back into the Championship.
He said: “Paul Lambert has been a breath of fresh air as a person and personality.
“The results haven’t always been there but the atmosphere has been good. He has been in this position before, and won consecutive promotions at Norwich.
“We would like him to do the same at Ipswich, and I think he is the right man for the job.
“There are plenty of clubs comparable to Ipswich that have suffered the same fate.
“I’m not sure we are a Sunderland – they are a massive football club that can compete financially with other clubs and still with Premier League parachute payments.
“But I genuinely think Ipswich are on a par size-wise with seven or eight teams in the Premier League. There is the belief deep down we can get back there one day – it is just going to take time.
“It has been disappointing and it hurts. We are going down to a division that we haven’t been in for over 60 years.
“There has been a decline at the club where things haven’t been quite right – and we all expected a bit more.
“Mick McCarthy did a very good job initially for the club but things went wrong and the change was needed – a bit of optimism came back.
“But it was obvious from very early on this season that it wasn’t going to work out.
“We have known it was going to happen from a long way out. It wasn’t a shock, but no less painful.
“There are still a lot of good things about Ipswich.
“We have a fabulous training ground and stadium, a terrific youth policy that is still flourishing and great support.
“The nice feel about the club is still there, despite everyone feeling raw still about relegation.
“I expect a good year next season.”