Football Season Guide

League 1

England

League 1

2021/2022

Ipswich Town

In

Václav Hladký (Goalkeeper, Salford City); George Edmundson (Defender, Rangers); Matt Penney (Defender, Sheffield Wednesday): Wes Burns (Midfielder, Fleetwood Town); Lee Evans (Midfielder, Wigan Athletic); Scott Fraser (Midfielder, Milton Keynes); Rekeem Harper (Midfielder, West Bromwich Albion; Conor Chaplin (Attacker, Barnsley); Joe Pigott (Attacker, AFC Wimbledon); Macauley Bonne (Attacker, Queens Park Rangers, Season-long loan)

Out

David Cornell (sp) (Goalkeeper, Peterborough United); James Wilson (Defender, Plymouth Argyle); Luke Chambers (r) (Defender, Colchester United); Luke Matheson (Defender, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Loan ended); Mark McGuinness (sp) (Defender, Cardiff City, Loan ended); Stephen Ward (r) (Defender, Walsall); Alan Judge (r) (Midfielder, Colchester United); Andre Dozzell (r) (Midfielder, Queens Park Rangers); Cole Skuse (Midfielder, Colchester United); Emyr Huws (Midfielder, released); Gwion Edwards (r) (Midfielder, Wigan Athletic); Jack Lankester (sp) (Midfielder, Cambridge United); Josh Harrop (sp) Midfielder, Preston North End, Loan ended); Keanan Bennetts (sp) (Midfielder, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Loan ended); Luke Thomas (Midfielder, Barnsley, Loan ended); Teddy Bishop (r) (Midfielder, Lincoln City); Tristan Nydam (Midfielder, released); Aaron Drinan (sp) (Attacker, Leyton Orient); Ben Folami (Attacker, Melbourne Victory); Freddie Sears (sp) (Attacker, Colchester United); Oli Hawkins (sp) (Attacker, Mansfield Town); Troy Parrott (sp) (Attacker, Tottenham Hotspur, Loan ended); Tyreece Simpson (Attacker, Swindon Town, Season-long loan)

Paul Cook has begun the process of turning around the fortunes of fallen giants Ipswich Town this summer. The reign of Marcus Evans finally came to an end after 14 years when he sold out to a US consortium in April. It came as a huge sense of relief for fans who had seen their club fall into the third tier of English football for the first time in 63 years in 2019. The takeover was completed less than six weeks after Cook had been appointed successor to the unpopular Paul Lambert and it made for a messy start to Cook’s reign. He inherited a bloated squad and was unable to turn around the side’s fortunes. He wasted no time cutting out all of the dead wood with more than 20 players having already left the club at the time of writing. Midfielder Andre Dozzell has moved upwards to Championship side Queens Park Rangers whilst winger Gwion Edwards will have increased his salary by joining Wigan Athletic. Cook has made some impressive signings with Václav Hladký set to battle it out with Tomas Holy for the goalkeeper’s jersey after joining from Salford City. Midfielders Rakeem Harper and Scott Fraser will be expected to make an impact whilst strikers Conor Chaplin and Joe Pigott are sure to bring goals with them from Barnsley and AFC Wimbledon respectively. More signings will whet the appetite of revitalised supporters ahead of their return to Portman Road. Cook will be hoping they can quickly build up momentum for a real title challenge this season.

Target

Automatic promotion. The Tractor Boys are one of the biggest clubs in League One and in Cook they have a manager who knows how to win promotion.