Paul Cook revealed that his Ipswich Town side are a 'million miles away' from being a good side after being hammered 3-0 by relegation-threatened AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane last night.

Having been unbeaten in four matches, the Tractor Boys were looking to pick up just their second win in six outings when they travelled to the capital to face a side who were 5-1 winners at the weekend against Accrington Stanley, but were also in trouble at the wrong end of the table.

Ipswich though hadn't had a shot on target in their last two games and their woes continued on the pitch, with their woes continuing in a dismal first half.

Dons defender Will Nightingale opened the scoring on 21 minutes and just four minutes later, Jack Rudoni doubled the advantage.

Ipswich's cause wasn't helped just moments later when Josh Harrop received his marching orders for a late tackle, and with a man disadvantage it meant that the visitors were never quite able to get into the game.

A misery compiler was issued late on with Ryan Longman netting a third for Wimbledon just minutes before the final whistle, and it was a result that left Ipswich five points off the play-off places.

It wasn't a performance that their new American owners would have wanted to see and it's one that manager Cook couldn't bear to witness, and he has already admitted that he has lost trust in his own set of players to get results.

 

 

 

 

"I'm lucky enough and privileged enough now to probably have a chance, hopefully, to try and change a lot of what's gone on and that's what is going to have to happen now," Cook told BBC Radio Suffolk, per Suffolk News, following the loss.

"There is no throwing players under the bus. There is no excuses offered.

"We're a million miles from a good team and that includes myself and the staff tonight. You win together, you lose together, we travel away together and we have each other.

"Like I say, I've been managing a long time now and the best feeling as a manager is when you put a team on the pitch that you trust. I don't trust our team and I'm going to be open and say that.

"That doesn't mean everyone is a bad player and everyone is doing something wrong, but we're miles off it, we're just miles off it for our club."

The Verdict

That is brutally honest by Cook and it suggests that a summer rebuild is in order for Ipswich.

Most of the squad were brought in by Paul Hurst and Paul Lambert and it's clear that bad habits have not left their system just yet.

Even though they're not mathematically out of it, you get the feeling that the Tractor Boys can forget about a play-off place this season and Cook can look forward to shaping the squad how he would like it ahead of the 2021/22 campaign - as it clearly needs a lot of work.