Mediocrity – pieces falling out of place for Lambert at Ipswich as fans want change

Ipswich Town’s relegation to League One in 2019 offered hope to the club’s loyal fan base following some woeful form in the Championship under Mick McCarthy, followed by Paul Hurst, who left Paul Lambert to fix an awful start to their campaign.

The club’s maiden season in League One looked to be a cruise. However, one year later Ipswich are still in the Third Tier and struggling under the same management.

Pressure has piled up on Lambert and his coaching staff as poor performances continue to amount to mediocrity at one of English football’s most historically successful clubs. With fans and local papers calling for the Paul Lambert reign at Ipswich to cease with four years left on his contract, what has gone wrong for a club who should have been promoted easily?

Ipswich Town’s woeful form and style of play is characterised in a recent 1-0 defeat at home to Peterborough United. In this case The Tractor Boys conceded no shots on target, did not have one until the 75th minute and still lost.

This result angered the supporters, however their anger was multiplied when Lambert said that he thought Ipswich played well and that he was proud of the performance.  These statements continue a pattern of similar comments after dreary losses which suggests to supporters he is showing no acceptance of responsibility.

Poor discipline has also been a key feature of the club’s recent results, illustrated in Kayden Jackson’s 10th minute red card against Sunderland which was an awful stamp. This is the fourth sending off the club have received this season, none of which came for defenders.

Kayden Jackson sees red for an awful challenge vs Sunderland (Ipswich Town FC)

The squad selections have also been a contentious issue in Ipswich’s tenure in League One, with problems over formation and also Lambert changing the squad regularly, depicted in the eight separate central strikers featured for Ipswich in the past two campaigns alongside twelve different wingers. The announcement of the squads an hour before kick off each match day has now gained the reputation of “Lambert bingo” from some supporters.

This also applies to added pressure from the supporters over the formation the team should be playing in. As many fans believe they should play with two strikers. This theory is supported by evidence from Ipswich’s fruitful beginning to the 19/20 campaign in which a strike partnership between Kayden Jackson and James Norwood was formed and was a big reason for their dominant start.

Lambert has reverted to a 4-3-3 formation as of late, with various central strikers playing. To give the Scotsman credit, the formation had success at the beginning of this season as Oli Hawkins started through the middle who demonstrated fantastic hold up play, with an especially good performance coming in a 4-1 win away at Blackpool.

Oli Hawkins demonstrated impressive hold up play for Ipswich in the beginning of the season (George Wood/ Getty Images)

Additionally the form of Welshmen Gwion Edwards on the wing was scintillating toward the start of the season. All five of his goals this season coming then, highlighting skill and speed as his main assets as he made great runs down the sidelines.

However this form has ceased. With Oli Hawkins set to undergo knee surgery and out of the team, Ipswich have a constant battle finding a solo striker to fill his boots, but cannot. The dangerous Kayden Jackson of last season looks timid as a solo striker, and his partner James Norwood has had a season marred by injury and a drink driving charge.

The signing of Norwood had all the bearings of a quality acquisition at the beginning of the last campaign. He has never found sustained form for Ipswich, contrasting to his excellent performances for Tranmere Rovers the season prior to his move to Suffolk in which he scored 32 goals in all competitions, the most in English football in 2018/19.

Many fans believe the Englishman is not clinical enough. The vast difference between his glittering form and his form at Ipswich amounts to claims that it is a lack of good man management from Lambert that has overseen a decline in Norwood’s play. 

Squad selection woes continue in defence, especially in that of the centre back position where Ipswich are seemingly overloaded but struggle to keep the ball out of their net.

With the options of club captain Luke Chambers, Luke Woolfenden, James Wilson, Toto Nsiala and Premier League loanees, Mark McGuinness (Arsenal) and January addition, Luke Matheson (Wolves), it would appear that Ipswich’s two best centre backs are seen in Luke Chambers and Luke Woolfenden. 

Woolfenden impressed the club to a great extent last season with his performances in his first season as a regular for Ipswich being one of the scarce positives in a dismal season. His quality led to a contract extension at the beginning of this season much to the joy of the fans.

However, starts have not been as plentiful as they and Woolfenden would have hoped, especially after the player gave an interview speaking about the bad performances and appeared to be dropped as a consequence. 

The biggest debacle of the Lambert reign at Ipswich comes recently as reporter Phil Ham was exiled by the club. Ham from fan news site TWTD was banned from going to press conferences under Paul Lambert’s instructions, after the team news appeared on the site the morning of a game against Lincoln.

This led to backlash from fans over the manager’s decision. With the Ipswich Town Supporter’s club releasing a statement over “the seeming stagnation of their club”.

Lambert also, in recent weeks, has refused to speak to reporters after still suffering the symptoms of his positive COVID-19 test result. Whilst not speaking to the press, Lambert appeared in several Scottish papers speaking about his availability in regard to the impending sacking of Neil Lennon at Celtic to the bemusement of local papers.

A few weeks later, Lambert also appeared on Football Focus, discussing his symptoms of COVID-19. This led to pundit Stephen Warnock speaking of his experiences under Lambert as a player at Aston Villa. Warnock immediately stated they “didn’t see eye to eye” and that Lambert was “reserved” with his players and that all good managers should be personal. 

These words from Stephen Warnock further stocked the fiery rage of Ipswich fans and local paper, the Ipswich Star, who pleaded with owner Marcus Evans over the sacking of Paul Lambert. But the club still remain focused on his management and believe that he is the right man for the job.

Ipswich’s form will have to drastically improve and Lambert will hope the loan signings of Luke Thomas, Josh Harrop, Troy Parrott and Luke Matheson will help towards this. If results do not change, time may be up for the Scotsman at Portman Road.