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Much of the discussion was centred on how many players we would have and as one fan joked, "We had fifteen players travelling down but four of them were wrapped in blankets suffering from flu."
That’s what it has come to and basically we are struggling to raise a team, well certainly struggling and usually failing to fill the bench. Tonight we made no substitutions made despite the performance and that was no surprise give that two of the four were believed to be flu sufferers, surely Chadwick would have started had he been fit, whilst the other two were youngsters who Stan would not really want to use unless absolutely necessary.
But we did find eleven to start but not one central defender amongst them. With David May both suspended and injured, Andy Todd having returned to Blackburn and Arthur scoring LDV Vans Trophy goals for QPR we once again played Graham Branch there alongside Lee Roche. It was to prove a disaster.
It did start quite brightly though and for twenty minutes we looked every bit as good as Ipswich and we particularly progressing well down the right hand side where Richard Chaplow was again looking in form.
Both Gareth Farrelly and Robbie Blake tested Ipswich keeper Kelvin Davis whilst Delroy Facey came close to adding to his hat trick in the last match against Walsall. The 500 or so Burnley fans were starting to get a bit over confident but there was always this nagging doubt that put under any pressure we would not be able to cope at the back.
And it happened, Ipswich scored. Then again, and again, and again and again. In one of the most bizarre spells I can recall we actually conceded four goals in ten minutes, put through our own goal ten minutes after that and went in for a half time cup of tea 5-0 down.
The defence just quite clearly wasn’t up to it and the two Ipswich strikers Pablo Counago and Shefki Kuqi were having a field day. I always wondered just why we had been so keen to buy Kuqi two years ago, he had never particularly impressed me, but once he got going tonight we just couldn’t handle him.
The first two came from Counago in the space of two minutes but even then we came close to an equaliser in between through Farrelly. He saw off Dean West with ease for the first and then benefited from good work by Kuqi for the second when he put him clear in the box.
Just a quarter of the game gone and having started so brightly we were already staring defeat in the face. Our hosts were now storming forwards towards us and they got a third just before the half hour and this one was simply embarrassing as we allowed them three attempts at crossing the ball.
When it finally came across Jermaine Wright had it easy and volleyed home but within another couple of minutes it was four and although there was some good fortune attached to Chris Bart-Williams’ goal he and Kuqi were able to get through the defence with ridiculous ease.
Half an hour gone and we could all go home to be honest, the game was over and it was just a matter as to how many they got. And they got another before half time to take it to five. It came from a corner on the right that the defence and the flapping Brian Jensen could do nothing about and the ball rebounded off Richard Chaplow for an own goal.
Half time then at 5-0 and I was just thankful not to be a fly on the wall in the dressing room, I don’t honestly think it would have been safe.
The discussion amongst the fans was that there would be no changes in the second half and we just better hope that Ipswich sat back and accepted the game was won.
We came out for the second half, as expected with no changes but one thing changed very soon and it was our turn to score a goal. It owed a lot to Chaplow who this time was the provider when after a good run down the left he crossed for Delroy Facey to score from close range.
We could have had a couple more too during the second forty-five minutes as Ipswich seemed content to sit back and let us have the ball. Again Farrelly hit a rocket just over and Mo Camara having said he wanted to get a goal hit a screamer against the woodwork.
They would only have served to reduce the deficit though as there was never any danger of us getting close to pulling it back. It did look as though we were at least going to win the second half though and we were well into the three minutes of added time when Ipswich even stopped us doing that.
And Kuqi finally got the goal his performance deserved when he turned Camara and hammered home from some 15 yards as Ipswich joined the ever growing list of clubs to have scored six against us in recent times.
Maybe the scoreline was just a touch flattering for Ipswich but rest assured that once in front there was only ever going to be one winner. And to be honest our defensive line up tonight never looked a unit capable of preventing goals.
May is rated as doubtful for West Ham on Saturday and with both Defoe and Connolly scheduled to return from suspensions it could be a frightening proposition unless we are able to do something to sort ourselves out.
Put simply the problem is we do not have enough players and when hit with a injuries, suspensions and illness we are going to be so stretched we can hardly put a real team out. That was the case tonight and if we had to play the rest of the season like that we would go on to lose a hell of a lot more than we win.
Stan must be allowed to bring more players in from somewhere because quite frankly we have nowhere near enough and that stood out yet again tonight.
Were there any positives? Yes there were and once again it was Richard Chaplow who despite his own goal was for me our best player by some distance. The youngster is constantly improving and incredibly tonight was starting consecutive games for the first time.
One person we couldn’t blame for the defeat was referee Phil Joslin. All I can say is will every other referee please watch this man in action and follow suit. Again tonight he went out of his way to keep the game going. He did his best to keep cards to a minimum and he had no option with those he handed out to Ian Moore and Jim Magilton.
But to sum up we really do now have to get this out of our system, try to strengthen the squad somehow before Saturday and hopefully come away from West Ham with some sort of positive result.
The teams were,
Ipswich: Kelvin Davis, Fabian Wilnis, George Santos (Gerard Nash 75), Richard Naylor, Matthew Richards, Jermaine Wright, Jim Magilton (Ian Westlake 77), Chris Bart-Williams, Alan Mahon, Pablo Counago, Shefki Kuqi. Subs not used: Lewis Price, Alun Armstrong, Dean Bowditch.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Dean West, Lee Roche, Graham Branch, Mo Camara, Richard Chaplow, Paul Weller, Gareth Farrelly, Robbie Blake, Ian Moore, Delroy Facey. Subs not used: Tony Grant, Joel Pilkington, Luke Chadwick, Matt O’Neill.
Referee: Phil Joslin (Newark).