Goalkeepers
Shane Supple has been offered a chance by Jim Magilton to fight for the number one jersey and with the hopefully imminent arrival of Richard Wright, will give Town two competent keepers.

Defence
A fantastic job by Jim Magilton to lure Gareth McAuley to Ipswich. With his arrival, now is the time to revolutionise our defence with perhaps another signing in this area. Cardiff’s Roger Johnson has been linked and would make a superb acquisition. The ever-improving Alex Bruce deserves his place in the Town squad and with the recent addition of Pim Balkenstein, competition will be fierce for a central defensive position. David Wright is a fine right-back and unlike last season should be able to stay in this position without having to play out of his comfort zone. A massive hole in the Town squad is at left back. Dan Harding for me is typical of the players that frequented the Ipswich squad in the dark years that preceded Marcus Evans’s takeover. It’s time for him to go. Likewise Matt Richards, who has spent almost all of the past two season at Brighton. It’s about time they took him off our hands full-time and at cost. I wonder where this leaves town veteran Richard Naylor? Personally I feel he’s had one injury too many and has also been responsible for one too many defensive mishaps. Perhaps it’s time for Bam Bam to move on? Competition for defensive places may also come from academy youngsters Chris Casement and Tommy Smith. For once I feel optimistic about the Ipswich Town defence.

Midfield
An area I feel we are very strong in, that needs little or no improvement. Although our midfield as a whole lacks pace, our fluid passing football at Portman Road last season proved we can gain the yards with clever balls. David Norris is a proven quality Championship player, Owen Garvan is a player on the up and up, Velice Sumulikoski has shown signs of considerable talent and Danny Haynes is justifiably wanted by a number of Premiership sides. I expect Tommy Miller to keep his place in the Town squad (but only as a substitute), however Gary Roberts should be sold and would have been if former club Acrington Stanley could afford his services again. As far as Jaime Peters is concerned; I don’t think he’ll ever deliver. His blistering pace down the flanks has always been spoiled by his inability to produce an end product. Time to sell I feel.

Attack
Firstly; what to do with Dean Bowditch? In the reserves he helps himself to countless goals and since scoring that hat-trick away at Coventry a couple of seasons ago we expected so much of him, yet he’s never delivered. Jim’s offered him another season, so we’ll see what happens there. Jon Walters has been a revelation and can also play a supporting role or on the wing. The expectations on him next season will be far greater than last. Alan Lee and Pablo Counago could make a great strike partner to what will hopefully be a proven 20+ goalscorer when Magilton finally bags his man, whoever that may be. As for Billy Clarke; I get the impression that Magilton has lost faith in him after giving him a run in the team last season. With first team appearances virtually non-existent in 2007/08, we could very well see the Northern Irishman on his way from Portman Road.

F**k Th3 W0rld!? Incongruous terminology for the delicately constructed lingo splashed all over his tidy corporate website. Perhaps our sleepy Suffolk town is just the start in Evans’s possible takeover of the planet? Let’s concentrate on the Premiership first shall we Marcus?

Although - like Gareth McAuley at Leicester - Lisbie was part of a relegated side, Colchester had the opposite problem to the Foxes - they could score goals, but let too many in. Last season Lisbie netted an impressive 17 times from 42 appearances, which isn’t bad for a team that finished 15 points from safety.

The problem I would have with this signing is that one decent season in a career spanning 13 years doesn’t constitute the ‘proven goalscorer’ Jim Magilton has yearned for since being handed Marcus Evans’s millions. Lisbie was on the books at Charlton for 12 of the seasons, only netting 17 times for the Addicks in a stint at the club that saw him loaned out to five different clubs (including Norwich who didn’t want him), before settling for a permanent move to Colchester.

With Marcus Evans’s millions evidently at Jim Magilton’s disposal there is no need for him to take a risk on what is evidently an unpredictable striker. Personally, I am hoping this is only ‘paper talk’ and that a Premiership quality striker will come available when the wheeling and dealing among bigger sides begins after Euro 2008, that forces the likes of Ameobi out in order to secure first team football elsewhere.

However, this invisible grip on the club and insistence on anonymity is definitely to be commended and is rather refreshing in this age of Thaksin Abramaglazers. That was until a week or so ago when I found out that his name will be emblazoned across the Town strip until 2013 in big white letters. This crosses a line for me. It’s as if he has declared to the world that Ipswich is solely his and it almost feels as if the club is now a handy promotional vehicle for his hospitality empire, which - if all goes to plan - will see his brand advertised to millions of people when Town do make the Premiership.

Imagine Manchester United having ‘Malcolm Glazer’ printed on their shirts or ‘Hicks and Gillett’ at Liverpool? There’d be chaos! Sure, Evans’s invisibility sets him apart from the hate figures mentioned above, but perhaps he could have left the sponsorship open to the number of local companies interested in taking the opportunity? People may welcome the reported £4m the sponsorship deal will bring into the club, but I much preferred having the local likes of Fisons across the shirt, even if it was a shit sponsor, literally.

He graduated out of Newcastle’s youth set-up after joining the club at 13 years old to make his senior debut for Toon in the 2000/01 season under Ipswich legend Sir Bobby Robson (who in his autobiography rated Ameobi extrememly highly) and has since made 135 starts, 95 as sub and netted 46 goals. Hardly a Ronaldo hit-rate, but an intriguing one nevertheless whilst playing for a team that has averaged a mid-table finish for the past four seasons.

More recentely, Ameobi moved to Stoke on loan, making three appearances without scoring, this of course coming after a lengthly two season spell where he barely kicked a ball thanks to a hip injury. With Stoke, Norwich, Middlesborough and MLS side Toronto interested, it seems as though there is still a demand for Ameobi’s services, with Town perhaps winning out thanks to Bobby Robson’s connections with Ipswich and of course Charlie Woods, Robson’s assistant at Newcastle and now to Jim Magilton at Portman Road who will be well aware of the player.

Although Ameobi has appeared on those three occasions for Stoke, this will be his first full year of playing at Championship level, and along with Kevin Phillips, will most definitely be an early contender with bookmakers for being top goalscorer in the division. A signing everyone in Ipswich will be happy with and the first quality out and out striker the club have had on their books since Darren Bent.

3rd Round
Cardiff 0-2 Ipswich Town
> Match report from Pride of Anglia
> Pre-match Bobby Robson and Mick Mills video

4th Round
Ipswich Town 4-1 Hartlepool
> Pride of Anglia match report
> Post-match Bobby Robson video

5th Round
Bristol Rovers 2-2 Ipswich Town
> You Tube footage of Bristol goals

5th Round Replay
Ipswich Town 3-0 Bristol Rovers
> Mick Mills post-match video

6th Round
Millwall 1-6 Ipswich Town
> Pride of Anglia report
> Bobby Robson talks about comments he made about action towards Millwall hooligans

Semi Final
West Brom 1-3 Ipswich Town
> Video highlights from You Tube
> Pre and post-match interviews with Mills, Mariner and Robson

The Final
Ipswich Town 1-0 Arsenal
> Video highlights of the match
> Pre-match video interview with Malcolm Macdonald and Paul Mariner
> Post-match interviews with Bobby Robson and the players

With the news coming out of Portman Road today that Fabian Wilnis will not be offered a new contract next season, I thought it fitting to pay tribute to one of the club’s finest ever servants.

Arriving from De Graafschap in his native Holland for just £200,000, Wilnis debuted in the 1998-99 season as a replacement for the ageing Mick Stockwell as George Burley’s Town side chased promotion once again to the Premiership. His first start came on 9th January 1999 in a depressing 1-0 home defeat against Grimsby Town, before going on to make another 292 appearances in the blue of Ipswich.

The following season Wilnis was an integral part of the team that was to finally find promotion to the Premiership. With Town tipped for instant relegation the season after, Wilnis was to silence all the critics and produce one of the greatest moments in recent Town history when treble-winning Manchester United came to Portman Road, a night nobody, least Wilnis will ever forget.

After a slick passing movement from defence, David Johnson swept the ball to his right where a free Wilnis calmly burst into the 18 yard area and drilled the ball home powerfully past Fabian Barthez. Portman Road erupted as Wilnis leapt to the corner flag to scenes of pandemonium and adulation. Despite a David Beckham equaliser that night, Town earned a 1-1 draw, the praise of Beckham and Ferguson and were to finish the campaign fifth.

The following season Wilnis fell out of favour somewhat after storming down the player’s tunnel following a 30th minute substitution in the UEFA Cup game against Helsingborgs in a season Town fell alarmingly out of the Premiership. However in 2002-03 under Joe Royle, Wilnis fully reclaimed his position at right back, making 43 appearances and scoring twice, including a memorable goal away at Norwich, as Town sunk the Budgies 2-0, further cementing Wilnis’ hero status amongst the fans.

The following two seasons, Town twice fell victim to West Ham in the play-off semis, yet now approaching his mid-thirties, Wilnis put in 89 appearances across the 2003-04 and 2004-05 campaigns. Although the 2005-06 season was to end disappointingly for Town, ending up a lowly 15th, Wilnis deservedly scooped the Supporters Player of the Year award, testament to his continued commitment and dogged determination in the Ipswich back four.

Under Jim Magilton and Town in a transitional period, Wilnis found first team places scarce as age began to catch up with him. He made his final appearance in a Town shirt on 5th January this year in the home defeat by Portsmouth in the FA Cup - almost nine years to the day he first donned the number two shirt he made his own for almost a decade.

293 appearances, 6 goals and a lifetime of memories, Fabian Wilnis, we salute you.

Town kept their part of the bargain for a play-off place after earning a deserved three points over promotion hopefuls Hull City this afternoon thanks to an Alan Lee header, but as expected; results went against us, meaning it’ll be the Championship again for another season.

For a side battling for an automatic place, Hull rarely threatened the Ipswich goal and the tone was set after just two minutes when returning hero Shefki Kuqi had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside.

What followed was a series of spurned chances for Town that should have had this game wrapped up before half time. Town pushed forward throughout with extreme confidence, passing the ball briskly and neatly in a manner that would have a neutral scratching their head as to why it wasn’t Ipswich who were pushing for the top two this afternoon.

Referee Andre Marriner wisely allowed play to go following an awful foul by ex-Blue Wayne Brown, which led to Tommy Miller smacking the post after 19 minutes. Moments later, some excellent work inside the 18 yard box from Counago set up Alan Quinn beautifully for him to shoot wide, before the former Sheffield United midfielder saw another effort almost skim the crossbar.

Hull came out looking more enthusiastic at the start of the second half, but were quickly surpressed by Town, who continued their unrelenting assault on the Tigers’ goal.

Counago wasted a chance from just 10 yards out following a superb Owen Garvan pass, before Quinn wasted a further two efforts. When a last ditch Andy Dawson tackle denied a golden Counago opportunity five minutes later, it felt as though Town would never find their deserved breakthrough.

Enter substitute Alan Lee who replaced the wasteful Quinn. With twenty minutes remaining, the Irish international delicately headed to Jon Walters to the left of the goal, who crossed the ball back in for Lee to head the ball into the back of the Hull net.

Other than a long range Marney effort in the final 20 minutes, Town held their 1-0 lead with great comfort.

With Wolves bagging a winner late on, Palace thrashing Burnley and ten man Watford equalising around the time of Lee’s winner, the final whistle was met with muted cheers, with players, staff and fans finding it hard to hide the disappointment of missing out on the play-offs.

Town finish the season as the best home team in the league, with four of the top six defeated at Portman Road, but it is our dreadful away form that has denied us promotion. If Town had managed the away form of Leicester who were relegated today, we would have finished third. If we’d replicated the away form of contemporaries outside the play-offs such as Wolves and Sheffield United, Ipswich Town would be a Premiership side. However, we can all go into the 2008-09 with supreme confidence compared to this time last year. An exciting summer of transfers awaits.

Ipswich v Hull: Both will be giving it their all and given our excellent home record Ipswich will win the game as Hull come forward looking for goals. The only teams that have done well at Portman Road are those that have sat back and remained organised throughout the 90 minutes. Hull have to throw everything at us today and will be caught short. Prediction: Ipswich win.

Blackpool v Watford: Again, another important game for both sides. Watford’s form of late has been suspect to say the least and last week’s poor home defeat against Scunthorpe underlined that. Blackpool need just a point to get what they want from the game and at the end of the day expect Watford to cement their Playoff place (on goal difference) and Blackpool to keep their Championship status. Prediction: Draw

Palace v Burnley: Palace are the form team in the Championship and this is a home banker to give them their Playoff place. Prediction: Palace win

Wolves v Plymouth: If Plymouth hadn’t offloaded the immense goalscoring ability of Ebanks-Blake to today’s opponents and David Norris to us, Plymouth could have quite easily been one of the top six by the end of today. Ipswich will need Wolves not to win today, but they’ve more to play for than Plymouth. Prediction: Wolves win:

Top 8 by full time

1. Stoke 81 points
2. WBA 79 points
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3. Hull City 75 points
4. Bristol City 74 points
5. Crystal Palace 71 points
6. Watford 70 points
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7. Wolves 70 points (but won’t get the needed goals to go above Watford on goal difference)
8. Ipswich 69 points