Jon Brodkin
Ipswich Town fans shudder at the thought of it. Not even the idea of employing Nicolas Anelka as director of team spirit could fill them with more dread. ”It is,” says one supporter, ”a nightmare scenario.” And that is putting a gloss on matters. The scenario, of course, is ending up in the English Division One play-offs.
In the past three seasons Ipswich have collapsed there without so much as a stroll down Wembley Way. Now the doom merchants can sniff a repeat. Sure, manager George Burley’s side are sitting pretty in second place after their 1-0 win over Fulham at the weekend, but their recent form has not been consistent. If Manchester City win their game in hand, Ipswich – whisper it – will drop to third.
Yet if Burley is feeling the strain he is hiding it impeccably. It seems cruel to talk to him about the play-offs, akin to waving a bottle of wine under George Best’s nose. But the Scot, perched on a sofa in his office, could hardly appear more relaxed.
”There’s no doubt there is pressure,” the 43-year-old says. ”There is added pressure on us because people get the picture that we are dreading the play-offs. Teams like Wolves and Birmingham and Blackburn would be pleased as punch to get in the play- offs. We’ve got this thing over us that we’ve got to finish second.
”Of course we want to but we’ll certainly not worry about it. The fans and the media feel you can’t go through that again, but I’ve always believed you finish where you deserve after 46 games.
”Where you need luck is in the play-offs and I don’t think we’ve had that against Sheffield United and Bolton. I felt we were the better team in both.” Both ties, cruelly, were lost on away goals.
Burley, not surprisingly, is hardly a huge fan of the play-offs in their current guise. Good for keeping things alive, he concedes, but probably in need of a tweak. ”People have said if you finish third you should go straight into the final instead of having to play two games,” he says. ”That might be something which gives you an advantage.”
Certainly last year’s episode was harsh on Ipswich, who had finished third, a point behind Bradford. Had Wolves scored rather than hit the post against Paul Jewell’s team on the final day, Ipswich would have gone up. But it was carelessness as well as bad luck which cost them.
Three of the last five games were lost, notably a home match against Crewe, and this month’s results hint at another untimely failure to kill teams off. First an unbeaten run of 18 league games was ended at Portman Road by Portsmouth. Then Ipswich were held at home by Blackburn and defeated at Wolves, failing to capitalise on Manchester City’s slip. Graduates from the Novotna school of choking? Burley says not.
”It’s been disappointing as far as points are concerned but not in terms of performances,” he explains. ”Some of our football has been outstanding – as well as we’ve played all season.
”We went to Birmingham and Wolves and completely outplayed them but unfortunately didn’t get the wins our football deserved. That’s where we’ve lacked. But we won’t be changing our tactics or style.”
While Burley, a member of the great Ipswich teams of the Seventies, is in charge there is more chance of cloned pigs flying. ”Football-wise we’re the best in the division,” he says. ”I wouldn’t swap us for anybody, even [league leaders] Charlton. Ipswich have got a style and the supporters want us to play in a certain manner. The chairman, the directors and I want that as well. I was brought up as a youngster by Bobby Robson at Ipswich and I won’t change it.
”Maybe if we went route one and used long throws all the time we might win where other times we won’t but I believe in the way we play and I believe we’re good enough to get promotion with that.”
Burley is convinced this is the best squad he has had since he took over a side tumbling out of the Premiership in December 1994. After all the heartbreaks it is also the most determined. Kieron Dyer has been missed but his 6,5-million fee has enabled the astute manager to bring in several players, including Marcus Stewart, signed for a record fee of 2,5-million from Huddersfield Town.
Among the staff and most fans there seems to be a genuine optimism. ”Football supporters tend to look on the black side of things,” says Philip Ham, editor of the fanzine Those Were the Days. ”But everyone is looking to second and not even considering the play-offs.” Few neutrals wish them ill.
But much as Ipswich’s stylish football is a help, it also looks their greatest hindrance. Jamie Scowcroft, the England under-21 striker who has suffered through all three play-off defeats, explains: ”Teams literally change their system and their personnel just to stop us, and sometimes they do that quite effectively. We work in training on trying to get round it but it’s a question of being patient. I think that’s probably our biggest problem.”
As Burley says: ”That’s what we’ve got to overcome to win promotion.”
The good news for Ipswich is that they are hardly alone in inconsistency among the leading lights. And apart from Charlton, whom they play in their penultimate match, they meet no one in the current top seven before the season ends.
”I think against some teams the fans just expect us to turn up and win,” Scowcroft says. ”They’re nervous of us finishing in the play-offs and if we do finish third some people might see that as a bit of a disaster and a failure. The expectation is high.”
The need to go up is also great, with the club losing more than 1-million a year in the First Division. Their success is all the more impressive given the enforced sales of players such as Dyer and Mauricio Taricco.Whatever happens, Burley knows Richard Wright will be hard to hold on to. He expects England manager Kevin Keegan to take the goalkeeper to Euro 2000 – ”I know Kevin’s talked to Richard and other people and I’m almost sure he’ll go” – but for the time being all eyes are on second spot.
‘We’ve only got one aim and that’s to finish in the top two,” Scowcroft says. ”We’ll be bitterly disappointed if we don’t. But if we get in the play-offs, so be it. Losing the last three has been a hard pill to swallow but winning at Wembley would certainly be a good way to go up.”
If it comes to it, fourth time lucky, perhaps.