So the journey is almost over, the finishing line in sight.
Those who were here at the very start, your life is almost as questionable as mine, but I salute your support and please don’t leave because of what I just said.
When Ipswich Town were randomly selected as the team I would steer through the highs and lows of a make-believe football management career (until sacked), I had hoped a push for the play-offs wouldn’t be too unrealistic for a side predicted to finish in the bottom-half of the table.
Yet here we are, a place in the top-two and promotion to the Premier League tantalisingly close. I can almost touch it, that shiny top-flight with all its money, foreign talent and John O’Shea.
It has become a three-horse race for the title. Fulham and Middlesbrough had looked out of reach but our incredible unbeaten run ensures we are in with more than a fighting chance.
To continue living the dream, a win was a must away at Huddersfield, but trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes I began to fear the wheels were coming off. When Tommy Smith equalised just before half-time though, all three points were there for the taking.
Daryl Murphy’s hot-streak in-front of goal in the absence of deadly Dave McGoldrick continued as he fired us 2-1 up, before Smith bagged his second to seal a 3-1 success.
On paper, our next match at home to Blackpool looked a forgone conclusion. Much like real-life, Pool are cannon-fodder for the rest of the league, suffering battering after battering week-in, week-out. I felt I could afford to rest some regulars with tricky fixtures ahead and when hairless heartthrob Conor Sammon ends up scoring a hat-trick, you know the team you’re playing are complete pony. Cole Skuse, Luke Chambers and Paul Taylor, who had been rotting in the reserves after returning from a loan spell, completed a 6-0 rout – moving us second on goal difference.
With the first-team restored, Cardiff were up next. Murphy once again found the net to continue his rich vein of form but failure to score a second resulted in Kenwyne Jones equalising after the break. With Sammon unable to build on his recent treble, I turned to substitute Tokelo Rantie to work his false-nine magic. Low and behold with ten minutes to go the South African maverick popped up with a winner to keep us second by the skin of our teeth.
Let’s forget about the league for a minute though and focus on what has been quite a remarkable FA Cup run. Wembley awaited for a semi-final with Watford and within 50 seconds Jack Grealish had sent the fuzzy, little, computer-generated Ipswich fans crazy with an early opener. Four minutes later though and they were level, although the fuzzy, little, computer-generated Ipswich fans were still jumping up and down for some reason, so at least they were enjoying it.
We huffed and puffed, desperately searching for a winner. Watford had their chances too, but in the end there was to be only one winner. With just over 20 minutes left, Grealish did the business once again, steering home to clinch a 2-1 victory under the arch.
Somehow, we were in the final, a May-date with Liverpool in the diary. Time to get the suit off to the dry cleaners, complete with turtle-neck. Guardiola-style.
Three FM days later and a tired Town welcomed Nottingham Forest to Portman Road. Rotating as much as I could, it was a relief when Murphy bagged early on. Frustratingly Britt Assombalonga levelled, until Ryan Mason curled in a beauty to make it 2-1. Once more Assombalonga scored as the match headed for a draw, before Rantie restored our advantage late in the second-half. Christophe Berra saw red with 15 minutes to go but the ten-men hung-on for a vital three points.
44 games played, second in the standings. Settling for a play-off place just won’t do anymore. There was no room to manoeuvre at the top though, with Fulham still leading by two points and Boro behind us by three.
That made winning at Wolves all the more important. It wasn’t pretty, if anything it was as ugly as your own face when you go to take a picture but you’re accidentally on the front-facing camera.
A gritty 1-0 win, thanks to a scrappy own goal, meant we’d got the job done. Even better, Fulham had slipped up meaning we are now top by one point with a single league fixture remaining. Middlesbrough did win though, so keep themselves in the race. With both rivals boasting a better goal difference too, anything but victory against Blackburn in the Championship finale could result in heart-break.
Going into May, our form saw me crowned Manager of the Month for the second time in succession. But there is no time for celebrating, with the two biggest games of the season yet to come. Two games that will determine whether we can complete the seemingly impossible and win both the league and the FA Cup.
Now I never imagined I’d be saying that 11 weeks ago…
Picture provided by jayneandd via Flickr
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