Unless a minor miracle occurs between now and the end of May, Ipswich Town are set for an immediate return back down to the Championship after a fleeting one-season adventure in the Premier League.
With nine games left to go in the top-flight campaign, the Suffolk strugglers find themselves nine points off 17th placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, with five defeats from their last six games in the tricky division making for some pretty grim reading.
Whilst the likes of Liam Delap and Leif Davis have proven that they’re Premier League capable for their lowly side, other figures in Kieran McKenna’s camp have struggled for the majority of the season with the gigantic step-up in quality.
The biggest losers from Ipswich’s Premier League return
Ipswich would have been well aware from minute one of this campaign that it was going to be an almighty struggle to stay afloat in the top-flight, with the Premier League a different kettle of fish altogether from the Championship.
Still, the likes of Jack Clarke will perhaps be most disappointed with their output. A statement £20m buy from Sunderland, this was the young winger’s opportunity to prove himself at the highest level after having a rough time of it with Spurs in his previous experience of the top-flight.
Sadly, he’s been firing blanks all season long in front of goal, registering four assists in the Premier League and not finding the back of the net.
He’s not the only underperformer in the final third with Conor Chaplin and Sammie Szmodics scoring just six times between them in all competitions.
Moreover, other more senior faces such as Sam Morsy have also struggled centrally, with the 33-year-old notably reckless when gifting Fulham a penalty when the Tractor Boys picked up a draw away at Craven Cottage back in January.
Morsy has also consistently failed to be the brave warrior his team needs him to be to help out in defence, with Ipswich leaking a high 62 goals in league action subsequently.
Of course, the actual defenders aren’t blameless here, with one centre-back in particular failing to live up to the immense hype that surrounded him on his summer arrival.
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Ipswich defender belongs in the Championship
The Tractor Boys’ summer transfer policy of poaching the cream of the crop from the second tier certainly had a lot of merit behind it, with pickups such as Championship golden boot winner Szmodics understandably exciting the Portman Road masses.
Likewise, adding in former Hull City titan Jacob Greaves to the ever-expanding group was seen as another statement of intent, with his form at the Tigers prior to the Ipswich switch seeing football writer Alex Osborn label him as “the best centre-back in the Championship.”
The towering 6 foot 1 defender would regularly put his body on the line when pulling on Hull black and orange, leading to Greaves tallying up a mightily impressive 11 clean sheets during the 2023-24 campaign in the Championship, with 7.3 duels won on average per second tier clash also standing out.
Everything was seemingly in place for Greaves to take to the Premier League like a duck to water, therefore, with the 24-year-old even reportedly eyed by Everton before a switch to Suffolk materialised.
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Greaves’ league stats at Ipswich in 24/25 |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat (* = per 90 mins) |
Greaves |
|
Games played |
19 |
|
Games missed through injury |
9 |
|
Goals scored |
1 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Touches* |
57.6 |
|
Accurate passes* |
39.8 (88%) |
|
Ball recoveries* |
2.2 |
|
Total duels won* |
5.5 |
|
Errors leading to goal |
2 |
|
Clean sheets |
2 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
But, much like many other faces in McKenna’s camp, Greaves has fallen victim to the pressures of the top-flight, with only two clean sheets picked up from 19 league appearances.
Unfortunately, the £15m buy has also had to wrestle with some injury concerns, with his first taste of Premier League football being a sobering one instead of Greaves going down as an instant success.
Yet, with his knowledge of the second tier clear for all to see, perhaps the former Hull defender just belongs in the second-tier after all. There’s no shame in that.
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