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Jack Clarke

Wanted to move to the prem, and only Ipswich made an offer close to what we were asking for.

Not sure why they went for him though, they don’t have their wingers wide enough for Clarke’s benefit.

Made a canny bit of money though and has another year of prem football on his CV. Well done to him. We’ve moved on.
 

Lots of good information in this thread, but IMO, Clarke and/or his agent wanted a big increase in wages in a new contract which would be out of the current structure. There was clearly replacements in place, so it was good to cash in at that time at that price. I personally liked Clarke, but every player has a price and there is no real loyalty these days. I wish him well and look forward to the future of the club with a solid foundation. Just the opinions of an older fan with over 60 years supporting the lads.
 
Suffolkblue said:
Possibly the poorest signing we’ve made, watched him a lot for you and he genuinely looks like a different player now. Most players get better under McKenna but he’s really been thrown into a team that is struggling.

We’re going down as must of us thought. The outside media/podcasts really skew perception. George Hirst has been a real miss for us, would be pretty confident of 5/6 more points if we hadn’t have had to flog Delap every week. We’ve not been hammered yet but games against Arsenal/chelsea over Xmas are worrying. There’s not that much between the bottom 6 in terms of quality. Everyone else in the league had some sort of parachute/ prem money/ players from past prem seasons other than us so being competitive is a fair effort.

That said, the journey is better than the destination
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He will look a different player because yous are playing him in a completely different system.

Clarke is at his best out wide when he can isolate the full back.
 
Isn’t part of the problem he’s probably not quite good enough to be anything other than a bit part premier league player? Ipswich was a strange choice but that’s probably his level. We did Ok out of it, not well I’d say, he’s increased his wages and he’s still got time to make a success of it. The premier league is a tough place and I’d think our current squad would be bottom of it which is sobering.
 
I think he needs to play regularly and as an actual winger, hasn’t had much chance at Ipswich. He’s better than we’ve seen this season imo. That said I also think he loved it here and that helped, he’s a long way from home again and doesn’t seem to suit that. If they could get him at a cut price Sheffield Utd, Burnley or Leeds could do much worse in January.
 
ExileBFG said:
Leif Davis is the star of that team. Everything is built around him being the creative spark. They even drop to a back 3 to let him roam without tracking back. Clarkes main strength is one vs one vs a full back. Best in this league at beating a full back and dare I say it hed better than most Prem wingers at it (his stats in Champ destroy the likes of Eze and Olise when they were down here).
We trialled him as a 9 or 10 on odd occasion and he was awful. Everytime I've watched Ipswich he's so narrow to try and get out of the way of Davis and his dribbling is wasted when it is in a congested middle.
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Mag
 
nelford_safc said:
Yep. Plenty. The thing is there’s just as many people getting hard at the fact they he’ll be earning more money now. He could have still made a very comfortable living though, being idolised at a club where he’d have been starting every week and in a league he’d have continued to tear up.

An awful move and I hope our younger academy lads are taking notice.
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This was my opinion he’s hardly on the breadline here and could of negotiated a better deal with a clause but to sign for Ipswich was daft in my opinion
 
Robanner said:
Isn’t part of the problem he’s probably not quite good enough to be anything other than a bit part premier league player? Ipswich was a strange choice but that’s probably his level. We did Ok out of it, not well I’d say, he’s increased his wages and he’s still got time to make a success of it. The premier league is a tough place and I’d think our current squad would be bottom of it which is sobering.
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So - not good enough to be more than a bit part player, but we also didn't do well out of the deal?

How does that work?
 
bowers2 said:
I'd seriously be questioning if I was an Ipswich fan.
5 changes today, looks like he doesn't know his best team or players.
Nearly Xmas and he's chopping and changing weekly.
Forget about Clarke, McKenna isn't the one the press thought he was.

Now Clarke. Crazy if he's bought two players who were the best players at their respective clubs for the same position. Should have been one or the other as one will rot away or both will struggle.
It's a criminal waste of talent.
I never thought Clarke was a top prem player but this situation is crazy.
I wouldn't have him back though.
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Last season he basically just had loads of forwards he’d Chuck on to the field. Look at how many goals they conceded. We ran rings round them up here but they were clinical.
 
rentaghost said:
Do your fans actually realise that he hasn’t been played in his natural position all season? In general I don’t think they do. That they spent 15 million on the best natural winger in the championship and play him inside. You get your width from Davis and as long as that’s the case Clarke was an absolute waste of money. Terrible management imo.
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And then Davis loses the ball but is miles out of position. Last season Ipswich literally packed their box when defending and oppo box when attacking.
100% though you don't buy Jack Clarke to play tucked in.
 
Honess10 said:
Frankly if you leave a club like Sunderland to go to a nothing club in the middle of the footballing desert of Suffolk then you’re an absolute nugget anyway
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Did they not win a European trophy and have Muhren and Thysen to name just a couple !?
They were a tremendous side in my lifetime -wish I could say the same about my own club ..not sure it’s been a “ desert “
 
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shotleysafc said:
Lots of good information in this thread, but IMO, Clarke and/or his agent wanted a big increase in wages in a new contract which would be out of the current structure. There was clearly replacements in place, so it was good to cash in at that time at that price. I personally liked Clarke, but every player has a price and there is no real loyalty these days. I wish him well and look forward to the future of the club with a solid foundation. Just the opinions of an older fan with over 60 years supporting the lads.
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Spot on, it's almost like they knew exactly what they are doing and we haven't missed Clarke at all. Not to bad mouth him, he was out best player last season but the fact Mundle has arguably looked even better in his short time and now Watson. Would have been foolish to break the bank to keep Clarke in hindsight. Great decision just like the Stewart transfer. So for a club that sells their best players apparently,we are doing ok
 
League Wan said:
Spot on, it's almost like they knew exactly what they are doing and we haven't missed Clarke at all. Not to bad mouth him, he was out best player last season but the fact Mundle has arguably looked even better in his short time and now Watson. Would have been foolish to break the bank to keep Clarke in hindsight. Great decision just like the Stewart transfer. So for a club that sells their best players apparently,we are doing ok
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I wouldn’t say Mundle has done nearly enough to be judged better than Clarke but I agree with the wider point
 
League Wan said:
Mundle has a long way to go but that short spell before injury has meant we haven't even missed Clarke
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The problem was that Clark’s value for us was masked as no one else got goals. It’s different now.
He’s exceptionally talented but by no means we relied on him.
 
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