Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers has not held back when talking about his side's performances last year, claiming they 'got away with murder'.
The Tractor Boys endured a dismal campaign last season, winning just five games all year as they finished bottom of the Championship table 13 points adrift of safety to see them relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1957 next season.
Speaking to the club's official website, Chambers appeared far from impressed with his side's performances last season, saying: “The supporters will expect a reaction when we get going after last season and rightly so.
“I’ve said it before that as players we got away with ‘murder’ last year, with a positive environment about the place even though we weren’t winning games."
That attitude is not something that Chambers expects to continue into next season however, as the defender added: “That won’t last long next season though and we will need players to step up and deliver."
The captain went onto to issue something of a rallying call to his teammates, as he revealed: “We will need the younger players to do that and we also need those experienced players who have been there before and know the league to lead the way.
“When the players come back for pre-season, I’ll be saying ‘we’re not here to have a fun time. We’re here to win matches and get out of this league’. That will be the message I’ll be saying.”
Chambers, who will be starting his eighth season at Portman Road when the season begins again in August, has made 323 appearances for The Tractor Boys since joining from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2012.
The verdict
Given his time and experience at the club, there are few better placed than Chambers to offer such an assessment of Ipswich last season, and it is hard to argue with what he has said.
Right from early on in the season, when it took them 12 attempts to get a win on the board, it seemed clear that they were in trouble this season, and yet they never really seemed to wake up to their situation.
That is not something they can afford to do again next season, when the pressure and expectation will be on them to get out of the division at the first attempt.