SAD BLUES SEEK DERBY COMFORT
Paul’s bid to reward the fans
IT IS ten years since Ipswich beat Norwich. Thirteen – almost to the day – since the Tractor Boys last triumphed at Carrow Road.
Few expect either of those statistics to change this afternoon as East Anglia’s fiercest rivals clash for the 144th time.
Rarely in that time have these old foes met in such disparate circumstances. Heading into the weekend, Norwich were top of the Championship and rejuvenated under German manager Daniel Farke, their slick attacking style both devastatingly effective and easy on the eye.
Adrift
Ipswich are rock-bottom and seemingly adrift, the optimism of new gaffer Paul Lambert no antidote to a decade of neglect.
The Scot, who led Norwich from League One to the Premier League during a glittering threeyear spell at Carrow Road, used his weekly press conference to hail supporters who have overlooked both his own past and the team’s struggles.
“It’s not a normal set of supporters, this” said the 49-yearold, who has won just two of his 16 games since replacing Paul Hurst in October.
“For me, it’s the first time I’ve encountered a team being bottom of the table, not winning many games and the support never turning their back on it. Normally you get empty seats, protests. Mayhem.
“It’s been great for us, but I can understand what they’re going through. It’s been horrible for them and that’s why it’s so frustrating. They don’t deserve this.”
Lambert, sure to receive a hostile reception at his old club, bullishly insisted he “is going there to win”.
James Collins, the veteran centre-back who joined Ipswich in January, also did a bit of tub-thumping this week.
“It’s going to take something special, but I truly believe we’ve got the manager and the squad and the atmosphere,” said the 35-yearold.
Alan Lee, the former Blues striker who played in the club’s last victory at Carrow Road in 2007, added: “Wherever you are in the league and whatever your situation, these games can be so positive if you win them. It’s a chance to hit the reset button.”
In reality, however, only the most optimistic Ipswich fan will head to Norfolk expecting anything but another bleak milestone on the road to relegation.
It is too late for a turning point. Too late for something special. Even if Ipswich did notch an extraordinary victory this afternoon and survive against all odds, what difference would it make? Next season will bring yet another bottom-six budget, another year of struggle and more cut-rate signings.
Such is life under the ownership of Marcus Evans, and so it will be until he sells up. After years of losses, the reclusive billionaire is no longer willing to blow his fortune on football; an understandable but unsustainable ethos in a division where only the rich and the reckless prosper.
Experience
As the manager says, supporters have backed their players, aware that a bleak record of three wins in 30 games stems not from a lack of effort but of quality and experience.
Lambert, too, has pledged to stick by the club in the event of relegation, an outcome he maintains is far from inevitable. Privately, however, both he and Evans must plan a rootand-branch reboot in League One, a long-term strategy with its focus not on hand-to-mouth survival but on innovative recruitment.
Hard cash will be required, of course, and certainly more than Evans has been prepared to spend in recent seasons. Without that, any plan will founder.
But as Huddersfield proved in 2017 – and post-parachute Norwich to a lesser extent this season – smart thinking can at least mitigate against big fees and handsome wages.
Whatever happens at Carrow Road today, Town fans should cherish the trip. Because without a strategic change of some variety, the 145th East Anglian derby may be a long time coming.