Ipswich Town: Comparing the Blues to Leicester City and Southampton

Alex Jones takes a look at the two sides who were promoted alongside the Blues last season to see how they are faring in the Premier League.

Steve Cooper was sacked by Leicester after their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea (Image: PA)

Managerless Foxes

Despite being promoted as champions ahead of Ipswich last season, a cloud of negativity has lingered over the King Power Stadium for the best part of 18 months now. Some supporters turned on manager Enzo Maresca at the back end of the 2023/24 campaign and were left astonished when he walked away for Chelsea back in June.

Sometimes, you truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Steve Cooper arrived at Leicester early in the summer and quickly got to work, but it never felt like the right fit. Was it his personality, his tactics, or the fact that he used to manage rivals Nottingham Forest? We’ll never really know for sure what the main issue was.

The Foxes argued a technicality to avoid their points deduction following a profit and sustainability (PSR) charge from the Premier League, but it did little to lift the spirits of the fanbase despite some positive results. They earned an impressive draw against Tottenham on the opening day but were subsequently beaten by Fulham and Aston Villa.

Crystal Palace and Everton both ended up drawing against Leicester, as did League Two side Walsall in the Carabao Cup. That match, which was Cooper’s seventh in charge, saw numerous chants directed towards him and his style of play before an angry fan invaded the pitch to confront him.

Wins against Bournemouth and Southampton – although sandwiched by defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest – gave them lift-off. However, they were lucky to earn a point against Ipswich after that and were then beaten by Manchester United and Chelsea, leaving the Foxes in 16th place with 10 points. Cooper was subsequently sacked on Sunday afternoon, a decision which apparently came as a huge shock to him.

The Foxes have picked up just one point from their last four games (Image: PA)

It doesn’t take a mathematician to realise that 16th place isn’t the relegation zone in the Premier League, so why did the club make that move? Firstly, they saw a negative trend that indicated that they wouldn’t be above the drop zone for long – but it sounds like there’s more to it.

The Telegraph reported that Cooper’s 157-day tenure ‘included a number of clashes with players, including Jannik Vestergaard – who was at one point banned from training – Harry Winks and Hamza Choudhury’. Some of their stars were seen at their Christmas party in a Danish nightclub hours after the Welshman was relieved of his duties, with one appearing to lift a sign that read ‘Enzo I miss you’.

So, who’s next? Per Sky Bet, former Manchester United assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is the 6/4 favourite. David Moyes (2/1) and Graham Potter (7/2) trail behind him, although BBC Sport have reported that they aren’t on Leicester’s shortlist. Carlos Corberan (7/2), Michael Carrick (10/1), Lee Carsley and Mark Robins (both 25/1) are also in the running.

Whoever comes in will need to deal with the fact that star man Abdul Fatawu has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury. Top scorer Jamie Vardy, who has four goals to his name, will be 38 in a few weeks’ time and is starting to pick up knocks much more frequently.

Having reported losses of nearly £200 million in the last two financial accounts while still signing seven new players over the summer, there’s unlikely to be much wiggle room for January transfer business.

Despite some decent results and an acceptable points tally, there are few clubs who are feeling as low as Leicester are right now.

Russell Martin is under pressure after a poor start to the season (Image: PA)

Spiralling Saints

Southampton don’t have the same off-field issues as Leicester, but are finding life in the Premier League to be much tougher on the pitch.

The Saints were busier than most clubs over the summer, although they had some valuable assets who weren’t playing that they managed to move on, lowering their net spend. They strengthened the squad in all areas, but there were question marks as to whether there was enough quality.

Those question marks have only grown since the start of the season, with Russell Martin’s men losing their first four league games, scoring one and conceding eight.

A 1-1 draw against Ipswich – a game that they were minutes away from winning – stopped the rot, but they were then handed four more defeats in a row. The most damaging one came at home to Leicester, where they threw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 deep into stoppage time.

Their first win came at home to Everton – a 1-0 victory at the start of November thanks to Adam Armstrong’s late strike. Once again, it was a result that failed to kickstart their season, as they were comfortably beaten by Wolves before throwing away another lead to lose 3-2 to Liverpool.

The Saints are already five points from safety following their defeat to Liverpool (Image: PA)

Among the fanbase, there’s a strong feeling that this season will likely be too much for them and will end in relegation. That feeling, in truth, has lingered for a while, but has now become an acceptance. Is Martin likely to leave any time soon? The club has fully bought into his ideology and methods. It remains to be seen whether they work for a club like Southampton in the Premier League.

The Saints want to have as much possession as possible. They like to attack whenever they can, use a high line and play out from the back. It worked well in the Championship, but it’s kamikaze in the top flight due to the difference in quality, resulting in a number of unforced errors that have led to goals. Martin refuses to change his ways.

Four points from 12 games is a pretty disastrous return at this point in the season. No team has ever avoided relegation after losing 10 of their first 12 games of the season, which is what Southampton have done. They’ll need to break all sorts of records to avoid the drop and may need to put in a run of form that mirrors a top-half side to stand a realistic chance of accruing enough points.

Despite sitting rock-bottom of the Premier League, there’s more optimism on the South Coast than there is at Leicester. The club isn’t in a bad place – they’ve got two England internationals in Aaron Ramsdale and recent debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis, while 18-year-old Tyler Dibling is showing that he can be the next big thing out of their academy.

For Southampton, this just hurts. After 11 seasons in the top flight, they’ve fallen out and have now discovered how hard it is to go back up and become an established side. Teams who they once saw as their equals are now much stronger than they are.

Ipswich have taken four points from their games against Tottenham and Manchester United (Image: Ross Halls)

How it compares to Town

It’s quickly becoming clear that, if Ipswich are to survive in the Premier League, they’ll realistically have to finish above both Leicester and Southampton. For all the reasons mentioned, they have every chance of doing so, although they’ll need to overtake an established top-flight side as well. That’s a much harder task.

But we’re focusing on the two teams that came up with Town last season. For manager Kieran McKenna, that’s been quite hard to do, because he’s aware that they both came into the campaign with squads that are already at Premier League level. The Blues have had to find a balance of improving their group while keeping the core that featured in League One and the Championship.

Of course, that takes time, but they’ve managed to keep their head above water. Not only have they stayed close to their relegation rivals, but they’ve now opened up a five-point gap on Southampton after just 12 matches.

On the pitch, Town have found the right balance. Leicester were too passive and anaemic going forward under Cooper while Martin’s Saints have shown little in the way of defensive resilience and organisation. McKenna’s side have found a way to have both sides – streetwise and careful at the back but free-flowing and fun to watch in attack.

Crucially, Ipswich’s fanbase are right behind the club. Leicester’s supporters have regularly voiced their frustration at the ownership and the management, playing a big part in Cooper’s departure. Their new boss will have to settle into a pretty hostile environment. Meanwhile, Martin is quickly losing all of the credit he built up for securing promotion with Southampton last season.

The fact that this is all new and exciting for the Blues is crucial. The two sides they came up with have been here before, visited all the big grounds and even played in Europe. For Ipswich, every match is an adventure, every away trip is something new. Many supporters haven’t seen the club play at this level before, and the players play like they may never get the chance to do it again.

That might just be the difference come the end of May.