This is the third part of our series where we analyse a few of the top teams in the Championship. We’ll ask the same questions of each one, taking an in-depth look at each side from transfers to tactics, form to chances.

This week we are focussing on Ipswich Town, a club who have a surprisingly decorated history but have struggled to make an impact on the Championship since their relegation from the Premier League in 2002.

Will Ipswich Town be pushing for promotion this season? Let’s take a look…

How solid is the squad? Is there enough depth?

A look through the Ipswich Town squad is hardly a who’s-who of footballing superstars. Although there have been moves made in the transfer market this summer, it’s no surprise that this squad finished 16th in the Championship last season.

In an increasingly competitive league, this squad looks a little lightweight to me, in terms of ability and experience. It’ll take some seriously good tactical and technical work to take this squad high enough to trouble the promotion-chasers in the Championship this season.

There are one or two highlights in there and some of the recruitment may prove effective, but on paper at least, this isn’t a squad to worry the big spenders much.

FourFourTwo magazine have run their Championship League Prediction piece and placed Ipswich in 23rd! I can’t agree with this at all – I think it’s more than a little unfair. Results so far this season are showing that where this may not be stellar Ipswich, they’re capable of grinding out positive results.

Does the manager have enough experience?

In Mick McCarthy, Ipswich Town has a manager more experienced than most. He’s been at the helm since 2012 following a near 6-year spell at Championship rivals Wolves. McCarthy has guided two teams to the Championship title, Sunderland in 2004/05 and Wolves in 2008/09. He certainly turned heads in the Premier League in 2005/06 as the Sunderland manager, but for the wrong reasons – his Sunderland team were relegated in last place, scoring only 15 points all season. This points total is the second lowest in Premier League history.

His Premier League spell as Wolves manager was more successful, where he kept them up for a couple of seasons before finding himself sacked after a terrible third season in the Premier League.

Quite remarkably for a manager at Championship level McCarthy has had some international management experience, leading the Republic of Ireland national team for 6 years (1996-2002) where he guided them to the World Cup in 2002, only losing 3-2 on penalties to Spain. His time at Ipswich has been steady, yet unremarkable. After Tow’s home win against Bolton McCarthy said:

“I don’t think we are one of the best teams in the league but we are a belligerent bunch and we are scoring goals and when we get the players back that are missing, we will be better. That’s five wins from seven games and we’re in the top six. We would all take that. It’s probably beyond our imagination.”

The Ipswich Town’s transfer business

Jury is out, so far. Their promotion rivals have improved their playing squads considerably, whereas Ipswich Town have been forced to shop around in the bargain bucket. They spent around £2m in the summer, boosting the squad with 4 new signings. In addition they’ve added another 4 in loans.

Tom Adeyemi has been brought in to add steel to the midfield. Although he has spent much his career bouncing around the lower leagues, he has solid Championship experience and has been well regarded by previous managers. His start at Ipswich has been blighted by illness and injury, but he is starting to feature more now.

Adeyemi was joined by a duo arriving from Rangers, Joe Garner and Martyn Waghorn for around £1 million each. Garner has a decent goalscoring record, amassing over 100 professional goals. His spell at Rangers was hardly glorious, scoring only 10 goals in 34 appearances. He’s off to a decent start at Portman Road though, netting 3 in 7 so far this season. His energetic style has the potential to cause defenders plenty of trouble.

Waghorn arrived at Ipswich after a good couple of seasons at Ibrox, where he scored 44 goals in 78 appearances. He’s continued this form into the new season, scoring 4 in 5 for Ipswich so far. He has a keen eye for goal and is leading the scoring charts for Ipswich this season.

Of the loans, Bersant Celina has the potential to be the most eye-catching – he’s tricky, fast and can pick a pass. He just needs to improve his end product – he’s been guilty of wasting possession too often this season. Celina is on loan from Man City having spent last season playing for FC Twente, where he made nearly 30 appearances. His Ipswich career has been off to a good start, netting twice in 5 games.

Dominic Iorfa has enjoyed a very steady start to his Ipswich career, making 7 appearances so far.  On his own words “At the moment I’m happy to play anywhere. I’ve shown my versatility recently and I’m happy to play wherever the manager wants me to. I have no preference at the moment but in the future I’d like to settle down as a centre back”. Iorfa has been solid and dependable and has certainly done his reputation no harm at all. If he can keep it up he’ll be a key player this season.

The academy has added a couple of new faces to the first team squad, so Town fans will be hoping to see a few stars amongst the latest crop of academy graduates. Flynn Downes in particular has been off to a good start, cementing his place in the Ipswich midfield where he has made 6 appearances already, despite only being 18.

With player sales contributing nothing to the coffers, it’s unlikely the club will be able to compete with the wealth of the top teams any time soon. Hopefully a bright crop of young players will remove the need for any big spending in January, but that’s a lot of pressure on youthful shoulders.

How do they play – more defensive or more attacking football?

Mick McCarthy switches his Ipswich side between a 3-5-2 with wingbacks and a 4-4-2, depending on who he has available. Where some would argue they look better playing with three at the back, most of their wins have come as a 4-4-2.

There is plenty of depth in the Ipswich midfield, including both attacking and defensive options for McCarthy to use depending on the game. This could be key for them this season, allowing them to open up defences if they need to, or shut down the midfield in the tighter games.

Traditionally, McCarthy is quite a conservative manager when it comes to his tactics. With this side managing to score despite playing some tough teams, maybe he’ll place more trust in his attacking players as the season progresses.

The club have managed to navigate a few potentially tricky ties with a good goal scoring record – they’ve failed to find the net only once this season, meaning as long as they can maintain this and stay relatively tight at the back they stand a chance.

Will they play better at home or in the away games?

So far it’s a pretty even spread, of the two losses one was at home, one away. Their away form will be particularly pleasing to the Ipswich fans, with three early away wins on the bounce against Luton, Barnsley and Millwall respectively.

If they can maintain this momentum confidence will grow, especially at home and more and more fans will be attracted to Portman Road, hopefully making it somewhat of a fortress for Ipswich Town.

There has been a little unrest amongst the fans and local press, who despite the results aren’t too happy about the performances. You can understand the frustrations, but given last season’s 16th place finish this is a massive improvement so far. Results, not performances matter most.

What they can get from the next 6 – 10 fixtures?

With the momentum they’ve started with, the next few games are going to be important. The biggest challenge theyчll face in the coming weeks is a trip away to Leeds on the 23rd of September. Beyond that, a tough trip to Yorkshire to face Sheffield United on the 14th of September and the East Anglia Derby on the 22nd of October are also likely to be a test.

I’ve got a feeling these next few weeks will show us what this Ipswich team is made of. With a good start, the results have impressed most onlookers, but the real test is when they are facing tough games regularly. If they can pick up points against Leeds and Sheffield United, I’ll be willing to take this side a lot more seriously.

Some may think I’ve been a bit unfair in this analysis given the start that Ipswich Town have had, but there’s a long season ahead and many of the other teams have spent much more money improving their squads. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but I think promotion is beyond this side. An assault on the playoff places may be a very real possibility, however.

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