Ipswich Town’s 8 most underrated players this century (Ranking)
Many players have gone unnoticed at Portman Road in recent years.
Jimmy Juan, on loan from Monaco in the 2005/06 season, was an impressive player for Ipswich with 5 goals in 36 appearances, despite struggling with injury.
Paul Anderson may not be the most talented player, but his desire and willingness to run in front of defenders has made him a valuable asset to Ipswich.
Tommy Miller is often overlooked as a reliable midfielder for Ipswich with 47 goals in 214 appearances and energy on the field.
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, providing personal opinions from our professional FLW fans on the latest news, teams, players, manager, potential signings and more.
.Things have certainly been exciting for Ipswich Town since the turn of the century.
In 2000, Tractor Boys began life in the new millennium by winning promotion to the Premier League, after five years in the Second Division.
After an excellent fifth-place finish in their first season in the top flight earned them a place in the UEFA Cup, the following campaign saw them relegated to the second tier, although they again qualified to participate in Europe thanks to fair play.
ratings.
DespitAll Pagese this, the club have not returned to the Premier League since then, and after a long spell in the Championship they were relegated to League One in 2019.After four years in the third tier of English football, the Tractor Boys finally won promotion to the Championship at the end of last season, under the management of Kieran McKenna.
Here, however, we turn our attention away from the current campaign to focus on some of the most underrated Ipswich players of this period.
We asked Football League Ipswich Town fan expert Henry to pick the eight most underrated players to have represented the club since the turn of the century.
Here’s a preview of those picks, so why don’t you take a look for yourself and see if you agree with Henry’s picks!
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Juan was loaned to Ipswich from Monaco in the 2005/06 season, where the midfielder’s opportunities were somewhat hampered by injury, leaving him perhaps somewhat forgotten.Despite everything, the Frenchman always impressed when on the pitch for the Tractor Boys and scored five goals – including a superb free-kick against Cardiff – in 36 appearances in all competitions for the club , later this season.15th in the Championship.
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A right winger, Anderson is arguably not the most technically gifted player, but his desire and willingness to run in front of defenders still make him a useful asset for the Tractor Boys.During his two years at Portman Road between 2013 and 2015, the former England youth international made a total of 71 appearances for the club.During this period, he scored seven goals for the club, most notably a brilliant and vital equalizer against bitter rivals Norwich in the 2014/15 Championship play-off semi-finals.
While many Ipswich fans admit to thinking highly of Miller, it has been suggested here that he is sometimes overlooked due to his move to a holding midfielder role at Portman Road behind Matt Holland , at a time when Ipswich should have missed out on promotion.had.win.Even so, Miller’s energy in the center of the pitch and ability to score goals – netting 47 goals in 214 games during two spells with Ipswich from 2001 to 2005 and 2007 to 2009 – made him a useful asset to the club.club.Harding spent three seasons at Ipswich between 2006 and 2009, proving to be a reliable option at left-back during that time.In total, Harding made 79 appearances for the club, but after spending most of the 2008/09 season on loan elsewhere, he was released in the summer of 2009 after contract expired, immediately after appointing Roy Keane as coach./origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2010/02/15/581553-22313859-2560-1440.jpg)
Another who somewhat lost out at Portman Road as a result of Keane’s appointment as Ipswich manager, Stead nevertheless proved a useful option upfront during his time with the club.
During a three-year spell on the books at Ipswich, the striker scored 20 goals in 67 games in all competitions for the club, a record that is made all the more impressive when considering the fact that a significant portion of his appearances for the club, came from the substitutes’ bench.
An intelligent midfielder with the ability to control the game from the middle, Norris also showed a knack for scoring goals with his late runs into the box.Indeed, in his three-and-a-half years at Portman Road from January 2008 to the summer of 2011, the midfielder scored 16 goals in 118 games, his contributions earning him the captain’s armband for the season.final prize at Portman Rd.club, and his departure left Ipswich struggling to source goals in midfield for several years after moving to Portsmouth.
Walters was playing in League Two for Chester City when he impressed against Ipswich in the FA Cup in January 2007, prompting then Tractor Boys boss Jim Magilton to decide to bring the striker to Portman Road.From there, the Irishman became a key link for Ipswich, often operating from the right wing, where he became a major threat to opposing defenses, scoring a total of 32 goals in 146 matches.However, his time at the club came to an end in the summer of 2010, when differences between him and Keane appeared to become acrimonious, leading to Walters joining Stoke City, where he eventually will eventually achieve iconic status.
Joining Ipswich from Wigan Athletic in the January 2007 transfer window, Wright managed to establish himself as a mainstay at Portman Road.Over the next three and a half years, although never spectacular, Wright was a reliable 7/10 player week in week out, with his versatility allowing him to play in both midfield and defense, which also makes him a useful asset.for the Tractor Boys, making him the perfect example of an underrated player.By the time he left Ipswich to join Crystal Palace in the summer of 2010, Wright had made 128 appearances in all competitions for Ipswich, scoring 5 goals during this period.
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