Here's hoping for a better 2021 on and off the pitch

It has been a year nobody ever saw coming and truth be told, a pretty awful one for the majority of us.

Jobs, events and holidays have all been affected and tragically above all, lives have been lost. I’d like to start the column this week by sending out my condolences to all the readers of this column who have sadly lost somebody due to Covid-19.

In football terms, it’s quite difficult to judge Ipswich on this calendar year, with several months of football taken away from us due to the pandemic. But the football we have managed to endure... well, it’s not been great!

The year started with Town second in the league and a 1-1 draw away at eventual play-off winners Wycombe Wanderers, along with the news that manager Paul Lambert had signed a new five-year deal.

Fast-forward to now and going into a new year, the Tractor Boys are only just in the top six and have won only four out of their last 12 matches, which does have a hint of deja vu about it.

That said, it’s difficult with this recent outburst of Covid to see how and when this season will be able to finish after the news of an outbreak at Portman Road, which will now see the Blues miss three matches in total and leave them playing catch up.

Make of that what you will and of course, we wish everybody a speedy recovery, but I think missing these next few games could be a blessing in disguise for Town.

With the treatment table overflowing with injuries and more players again finding themselves on the sidelines, this could be an opportunity to get some of those lads back and give us a much needed boost going into the business end of the season.

So here’s hoping for a better 2021, especially for all you Tractor Boys and Girls. If I had to choose a high for 2020, I’d go for the 4-1 win away at Blackpool, where we did look red hot and scored some lovely goals.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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