WorcesterBlue

I've seen Chappers a lot. A whole hearted leader. Great in the dressing room and influential on the pitch. Give him the armband. You will not be disapointed.

Speaking as an outsider looking in I think you will be surprised at the quality of Div 1. And here I am speaking from relatively recent experience with Town. But I believe once you have worked through your club's issues, which may take a season, you will enjoy it. It is always wonderful to start winning again. Foxes will rise. You are a shark of a club in with the minows.

Shows it well I think. But of course the headline numbers do not tell the whole story. So much of this is over so many years. You have to be a walking computer to get your head around it. I believe we are still paying for Delap and he has been sold at a good profit a year ago which will also take time to be paid. It is all slightly mad. At least you cant complain at what you paid for Chappers.

While we have spent a lot it is nowhere near £250m. We spent £130m on the year we went up with the Foxes. Then we recooped £78m through sales (mostly Delap and Hutchinson) when we went down again. Then spent abt £40m last season. So far this time we have spend £20m+ on a 21yo Brazillian forward. But we are told there are plenty more to come. We shall see.

Another contributer on here hit the nail on the head. Chappers is, in my opinion, a Champs level No 10. However Town want more than just that level for obvious reasons. That is why his contract was not renewed. Town also have a policy of letting go players that are unlikely to feature very much. Look at Morsy last year. (Now there is a player out of contract at the moment. Old but might do a job in Div 1.) Broadhead went to Wrexham. Woolfy to Swansea. We could have offered him a contract then tried to sell but that is not the "town" way. Let him go with our best wishes to further his career. Chappers will always be a legend to the Portman Road faithfull. If we play you in one of the cups he will get a standing ovation from the crowd as he runs onto the pitch.

I think he was played out of position at Pompey.

As long as he is not taking them. Target man. Short and quick.

I am sure Chappers would take to that like a duck to water.

I'm an Ipswich supporter. Chappers is a leader and acted as captain when Morsy was unavailable. The area inside the box from the penalty spot to the D is his patch. Scorer of many late and four times deflected goals. (According to contemporary Foxes talk). We have fond memories of his volleys direct from corners. In the net before the keeper knew he had hit it. A legend at Town. Look after him.

It's all very sad.

Would not disagree. Azon in particular had keepers producing more fabulous saves than anyone else. But our No9 is not just there to score goals themselves but to provide chances for others. We had 20 different scorers. The three just behind the 9 scored 45 goals between them. Last year we had Delap. And he was good until Christmas but he then became very selfish and provided little for others. Chelsea are welcome to have him on his £100k/week. But you are right, a top striker must be our first priority. Someone capable of holding the ball, moving it about intellegently and scoring a few. Does Mr V still lace up his boots ? Our big plus is that we have a mean defence. But, as you are aware that does impact the other end of the pitch.

When Town came down with the Foxes last year we had a massive clear out of players. Some much beloved like Morsy and Chappers. Leaving few of the old guard Div left. A new team was bought/loaned in the close season. Those players took time to gel and it was not really until December that they started to get going. McKenna has a very definate system which has to be learnt. That they all know it now can be seen from the fluent passing in the first two goals yesterday. But also all season we have tended to be a team of two halves. Good the first and bad the second or vice versa. (Except when we played the Foxes in which case we were bad in both halves). We seem to have had a low league position because for a long time we had two games in hand for ages. I feel we have a better squad going up this time. Yesterday was weird at Portman Road. Before and at the start you could have cut the tension with a knife. But 6 minutes in and 2-0 up the whole stadium went into relax mode and it only picked up later when Kasey scored. Really strange. Then why did they bring on hundreds of stewads to stop a pitch invasion ? It was never going to work. I was there having my picture taken on the penalty spot along with most of Ipswich. There must have been 10,000 of us. It is amazing how different the ground looks from that angle. I think we have a better team than the last promotion but time will tell. Highlights ? Doubling the Budgies undoubtably. I thanked my next door neighbour, who is a Norwich supporter, for the 6 points which gave us promotion. His reply was in pure anglo-saxon. Splendid. Doubling the champions as well was a good do. As for the Foxes as I have said on here before I believe you will find next season one of transition. But after that you will be a shark in a pond of minows. You have the stadium and the supporters to rise above the rest. Good luck.

Oh and enjoy the ride going to different places. We played Forest Green. I did not where they lived either. But just over a year after the game we were heading for the EPL with you and they were going into non league. A funny old game they say.

Nicely put. I'm an Ipswich supporter and having recently seen my team spend 4 years in Div 1 I can say I know a bit about it. I think that for the first season there the Foxes will struggle. As you know you have far too many dead weight high earners. It will be a transition season, a time to clear out the dross, blood the youngsters and get used to the new level. The second season will be your chance to kick on. Remember that income there is almost entirely via the turnstyle and merchandise. And comparatively you will be very well off. The way Town are going we will probably meet again back in the Champs before long. Good luck

Northampton went from the 4th Division to the 1st and back again in 8 seasons in the '60's. Or is that just a tale of Cobblers ?