Ipswich Town 0-2 Everton: Terry Hunt on need for cool heads

Worrying times, certainly. But now is the time for cool, calm heads and not the frankly ridiculous over-reaction from a minority of hot-headed fans which was flying around on social media. Who does that help?

For the second game running, we were off the pace. We gave the ball away far too easily, far too often. We made life easy for an Everton team which, let’s face it, is no great shakes.

We have two really bad habits. We miss too many really good chances - Jack Clarke should have put us ahead in the third minute - and we gift-wrap goals for the opposition.

Town keep making costly mistakes (Image: PA) We all love Wes Burns, but what on earth was he thinking of when he dithered and let the ball run loose in the penalty area? It should have been dispatched to Row Z. There is room for the less sophisticated “skills” even in the rarefied Premier League!

If you analyse the goals we’ve conceded this season, so many of them have come from glaring individual errors.

Suffice to say, if we carry on missing gilt-edged opportunities and conceding buffet goals, then this will inevitably be a very long, very difficult season.

To compound the misery for Town supporters, after the game we learned that Jacob Greaves will be missing for some weeks because of a hamstring injury.

That is devastating news. Greaves has adapted brilliantly to the demands of the Premier League.

Losing Jacob Greaves to injury is a big blow (Image: Ross Halls) With Axel Tuanzebe also missing long term after his horrific hand injury, it means we will be without our two best defenders for the foreseeable future.

With us already leaking two goals a game, that is very worrying. Presumably it means we’ll be seeing a lot more of two of our League One warriors, Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess.

Can they cope in the Premier League? I’m sure both of them will be absolutely determined to prove they are good enough. Time will tell.

Having said all of that about Saturday’s game, and there is no denying that Everton were the better side, there were nonetheless a couple of big moments which could have changed things drastically.

Jack Clarke missed a big early chance (Image: PA) I’ve already mentioned Jack Clarke’s early glaring miss. If that had gone in, it would have boosted our confidence and Everton might well have felt the pressure.

Then there was the penalty that wasn’t. I agree with Kieran McKenna’s uncharacteristic post-match rant. Officials just don’t apply the rules consistently and it’s massively frustrating.

Ref Michael Oliver initially gave the penalty, and from there it should only be overturned by VAR if there was a “clear and obvious error.”

Well, I’ve seen the incident in slow motion several times, and I still can’t decide. So how can that be a clear and obvious error?

Again, if we’d equalised then, the whole course of the game might have changed and we could be celebrating our long-awaited first victory. Small margins again.

So, eight games back in the Premier League and no wins. Only four points. It’s certainly not the start we wanted. There have been some good performances - most notably Villa at home - but, worryingly, our last two displays have been poor.

I mentioned this is the time for cool, calm heads. We will certainly get that from Kieran McKenna. There will be no panic measures.

But I do think it’s time for a refresh. Let’s see more of some players who have been on the fringes. Conor Chaplin, Jack Taylor and Jens Cajuste when fit. I think he can play a big part, with his experience at top level in Italy.

Terry thinks Kalvin Phillips needs some help in midfield (Image: PA) I would go with three in central midfield at Brentford next Saturday. As highlighted on Match of the Day, Sam Morsy and Kalvin Phillips are being overrun. Oh, and let’s see Omari Hutchinson on the right!

A Mick McCarthy style goalless draw would do me fine at Brentford. Just to restore a bit of confidence for the players and the fans.

We knew it would be really tough, didn’t we? In truth, it’s even more daunting than I thought.

But pressing the panic button now - and fans arguing among themselves - will get us absolutely nowhere. Keep the faith!