School Report after 15 League Games
Progress at Portman Road is “very slow” which reminds me of comments from my school reports ! As long as us supporters see all the players trying and playing to the best of their abilities we know that eventually we will climb away from the relegation zone. Roy Keane seems to be having the same problem that Jim Magilton had in that he is still not sure of his best eleven. Jim Magilton went the whole season without knowing his best eleven, I hope Roy Keane does not take that long. Us supporters can only judge things on what we see on the pitch, we do not know what goes on behind closed doors and in this respect have to accept the team selections that Roy Keane makes. The defence has started to look more solid since the arrival of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. Delaney is certainly a central defender and not a left back. David Wright has filled that position but is better as a right back. Alex Bruce always gives 100% and Tommy Smith has looked solid and has improved with each game. Unfortunately he was injured in training and might struggle to regain his place. Gareth McAuley, also injured, has looked better now he does not have the responsibility of being captain. The midfield is a bit of a puzzle with a lot of players competing for those positions. David Norris is another player waiting to come back from injury and will presumably play in the centre of midfield and not as a wide player where Jim Magilton continually played him. Luciano Civelli, another long term injured player, will fill the left side of midfield. Grant Leadbetter seems to be making the other central midfield place his own and Jon Walters best position is the right side of midfield. It is a shame to see Owen Garvin sitting in the stand and not even in the squad but as I said earlier we do not know what goes on behind closed doors. We badly need a player up front who can hit the back of the net on a regular basis. In due course I am sure young Connor Wickham will fill that role. He always looks a handful for defenders when he comes on. In the meantime Jon Stead, Tamas Priskin and Pablo Counago will be competing for the places up front. Already there does seem to be too many players at the club. With very few reserve games it must be hard to keep all the players match fit. I am sure we will see some go out on loan soon and some might need to be sold if they want their careers to progress.