On the face of it, this is not a very good time to be a follower of Ipswich Town. Marooned at the bottom of the English Championship, seven points from safety and with a budget that’s tighter than Barry Manilow’s skin on a frosty morning? The fact their old East Anglian foes, Norwich City, are flying high above them at the sharp end of the table makes it even worse. “The bastards,” said Terry Butcher with a wry smile.
Butcher, who served the Portman Road club with great distinction for a decade between 1976 and 1986, remains a regular observer even if it’s been hands over the eyes stuff for most of the season.
“I go and watch Ipswich for my sins,” he added. But wait. The arrival of Paul Lambert has, in Butcher’s view at least, given Ipswich the kind of much-needed jolt you’d get with a defibrillator.
It wasn’t that long ago that Lambert was performing much-needed resuscitation work at local rivals Norwich. In two upwardly mobile years, he took them from 23rd in League One to the fringes of the top-10 of the Premiership. Hauling Ipswich out of the bottom three of the Championship and towards safety would do for starters as far as Butcher is concerned and the former Rangers captain is confident that Lambert can orchestrate an act of rousing escapology.
“Paul can galvanise a club … and Ipswich needs galvanising as it’s a disaster,” he said. “He inherited a nightmare situation but he’s been a breath of fresh air. It’s infectious and for the first time in a long time there’s a buzz about going to Portman Road. The fans have really stood by them. There would have been riots at other clubs by now. With Paul in, it’s much more positive.”
Think of Ipswich and you will think of Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson, of an FA Cup win, a Uefa Cup triumph and names like Kevin Beattie, John Wark, Mick Mills, Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen and Paul Mariner; decorated, celebrated figures who helped turn a provincial outfit into an English powerhouse.
Butcher too is woven into the fabric of this proud club and the 60-year-old’s past association remains very much part of the present environment.
“Paul is keen to create a good atmosphere,” Butcher said. “There are a lot of young players who don’t even know who some of us are and who don’t know the history. Paul wants that to change. He wants people to appreciate our past, our identity, our history so that they can say, ‘we want to be part of that, we want our pictures up there too’. Paul was used to success at Celtic where you followed in footsteps and created your own history.
“He’s always texting me saying ‘when are you coming down, when are you coming down?’ and you think ‘I don’t want to overstep the mark as you’re doing your own thing and doing it well’. But he’s always saying ‘just come on down’. Paul brings everybody together. There were nearly 21,000 in the ground last Saturday for the Rotherham game. We won 1-0 and we got battered in the second half. But you think at least he’s brought back the spirit of the club again and is making them appreciate what they are fighting for.”
After Paul Hurst’s calamitous reign – his five month spell was the shortest of any Ipswich manager and spawned just one win in the first 14 games – Butcher did toss his hat into the ring for the job. He’s hoping the appointment of Lambert can be a masterstroke, however. And he's happy to let him get on with it.
“I would’ve loved his job but not now,” said Butcher. “I just want the club to do well. And he’s the right man by miles for me. If he keeps them up, it’s the greatest ever escape.”
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