Ben Johnson finds himself on the fringes of the first team. (Image: Ross Halls)
One: Reduce the number of right-backs
Town have four right-backs. That’s too many.
Darnell Furlong has locked down a starting spot after a series of consistently solid showings, while the experienced Ashley Young will provide back up for the next five months. That leaves Ben Johnson and Harry Clarke both out in the cold.
The Blues can hopefully find someone who will take on Johnson’s wages. He arrived on a Bosman free, so it’s not like there’s a transfer fee to claw back. I’m baffled as to why it hasn’t worked out, but the dye looks cast.
Clarke, for me, needs to go out on another second half of the season loan. His future can then be assessed in the summer when, more likely than not, the 40-year-old Young hangs up his boots.
Elkan Baggott and Cameron Humphreys have been playing for Town’s U21s. (Image: Ross Halls)
Two: Get Baggott and Humphreys out on loan
The last five months have been wasted for Elkan Baggott and Cameron Humphreys.
Baggott, 23, received plenty of praise from Man United legend Steve Bruce when on loan at third-tier Blackpool last season, but injury set-backs stopped him racking up the run of games he needs to truly develop as a centre-back.
Humphreys, 22, enjoyed a superb loan spell at high-flying League One club Wycombe, scoring seven goals as a regular starter, and looked very much ready for the next challenge.
Both ended up sticking around in Suffolk though and have found themselves playing Under-21s football whilst being on the very outer fringes of the first team.
Neither are kids anymore. Their next loans could make or break whether their long-term futures are at Ipswich.
Humphreys joined promotion-chasing League One side Huddersfield Town last night, reuniting with ex-Town coach Lee Grant. That looks a smart switch.
Will Conor Chaplin be recalled from Portsmouth this month? (Image: PA)
Three: Sell Szmodics, get a No.10 creator
Ipswich have performed much better with a creator in the No.10 slot than they have with a deep-lying forward.
Marcelino Nunez (3G, 7A for Town) has nailed down that position, knitting midfield and attack. For me, it would have made sense to bring back Conor Chaplin back from Portsmouth as a like-for-like rotation/sub option. There’d be no bedding in period and his presence would certainly give fans and team mates alike a real lift.
Pompey boss John Mousinho has revealed that Town’s double-promotion winning hero is set to stay at Fratton Park though, while the Blues have made an enquiry about experienced Fulham schemer Tom Cairney.
That would probably mean one of Town’s two Championship Golden Boot winning No.10s making way. Try and claw back some of the £9m spent on Sammie Szmodics or cut short Chuba Akpom’s loan from Ajax? Personally, I’d be looking at the former given his injury-hit 2025 and the way the Blues are currently set up.
Newcastle striker Will Osula would be an ambitious January target. (Image: PA)
Four: Sign a striker (but don’t panic)
George Hirst, Ivan Azon and Chuba Akpom. Town have quantity up top, but do they have the required quality to; a) Get a promotion push over the line, and, b) Lead the line a step higher? If I’m being brutally honest, the answers to those questions are probably, ‘yes, just about’, and ‘probably not’.
Town will sign need to sign a striker at some point to progress, it’s just a case of whether the right time to do that is now, during a notoriously difficult window to do business, or in the summer, when the picture is clearer.
I don’t want to see Ipswich panic and overpay for a short-term player that might prove to be no better than what’s in the building and give Kieran McKenna an unnecessary squad harmony headache. This is not like January 2024 when Kieffer Moore was needed to fill the injured Hirst’s boots.
But if the right opportunity arises to make an ambitious addition – potentially on loan with a view to buy if promotion is secured – then I’m very much on board with that.
Will Osula at Newcastle is the name I’ve had in my mind for a long time. The tall Danish youngster fits the mould of a McKenna striker. A sizeable loan fee, with the potential to buy permanently for £15-20m, could be doable now that the Magpies have Yoane Wissa back from injury.
That, sadly, might need Azon’s loan to be cut short. One, because four strikers would be too many, and two, because I think Town need to keep a fifth loan slot open for another signing…
Could Fulham’s Harrison Reed be the type of midfielder Ipswich go for this month? (Image: PA)
Five: Sign an experienced holding midfielder
Dutch destroyer Azor Matusiwa has been Town’s signing of the summer, but he needs back-up in that holding midfield role. A two-game ban is just a booking away. An injury could strike at any moment for a player who is sampling the intensity of the Championship for the first time. And there’s no-one else quite like him in the squad.
Lewis Travis came in on loan from Blackburn midway through the 23/24 promotion campaign, stepped into the team seamlessly when called upon and provided valuable leadership behind the scenes at a pressure moment. A similar addition is needed again.
I’ve got a couple of names in mind – Harrison Reed and Ryan Yates.
Reed, 30, has experienced two Championship promotions at Fulham and got 120+ top-flight appearances under his belt. He’s tenacious, hard working and, despite recently scoring a worldie against Liverpool, is very much on the fringes at Craven Cottage. His contract runs until 2028.
Yates was in the Championship Team of the Season when Nottingham Forest got promoted in 2022. He’d fit in with a group who knows what it takes to climb the divisions. The 28-year-old, contracted until 2028, has been restricted to one start and 10 sub appearances in the Premier League this season so could be available on a temporary basis.