Here We Go

Unbeknownst to 2024's transfer rumour hype kings, "here we go" was once a battle cry rather than a catchphrase. To the tune of John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever", football hooligans (and in 1984-85 striking miners) sang it to announce that fists and boots were about to fly. Venerable football journalist Simon Kuper in his classic Football Against the Enemy wrote about the chant travelling the world by the 1990s, as parts of Eastern Europe looked to imitate aspects of British terrace life.

These days, the social structures and cultures that made the original “here we go” are mostly long gone. It is now the sole owned property of transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who breathlessly announces every significant transfer with his familiar catchphrase. If it wasn't such a common phrase he'd probably trademark it. Romano got his break with Sky Sports Italy aged just 19. His career is a tour de force in how to "get on" in 21st century sports journalism. Be a born networker, be a relentless presence on social media, build a personal brand, machine gun out your content night and day.

When Ipswich got our first "here we go" for Omari Hutchinson's loan in 2023 it was exciting. Ipswich wasn't really on his beat until last season and even then, only because another bigger club (Chelsea), were involved. We weren’t part of it, but a lot of lower league fans always kept an eye on "The Big Show", the glitz, glamour and implausibly huge transfer fees of the Premier League and the Champions League. When you've been irrelevant to the rest of the world for so long, your little team being mentioned in dispatches brings a little thrill.

But like almost everything as you get closer to football's summit, the thrilling becomes mundane, then maddening. Every signing becomes a saga. No sooner had the Jaden Philogene Circus left town, the trailers for the Sammie Szmodics Spectacular were pulling into the vacated spot. Interminable updates - where was Philogene's agent taking today's selfie? What press release have Blackburn Rovers typed out for Alan Nixon today? I don't know if these deals are any more complicated than usual, but we certainly hear a lot more about their complications.

Summers drag, sometimes you wish they just opened the window for a week in July and closed it August 1st. Intractable negotiations bring out the worst in us. These days supporters fret almost as much about "winning the window" as they do winning actual football matches, even though the latter often disproves what you thought happened in the former. Performances in friendlies are a poor basis for worrying about your squad building, but perhaps a bit of panic at the slightest provocation is inevitable as we get ever closer to confronting global juggernauts Liverpool and Man City.

Amongst all the background noise, how are things actually going at Portman Road? Probably quite well, all things considered. There might have been expectations in some quarters that we’d replace 15 players and have it all done and dusted before July ended. Yet with the 6 players brought in, we’ve already spent what is, in the context of the club’s history, an astonishing amount of money. By the time we get to the end of August it’s not unlikely that we will have spent more on transfer fees in this one window than in the previous entire history of the club.

For the £60m-ish (!) already laid out, we've likely finished building our defensive unit, signing starters in goal, at right back and left centre back, as well as experienced backup for Davis. Sometimes early window signings get a bit taken for granted, but we've also already managed to complete our usual transfer window "final boss" way ahead of schedule. Year after year getting new strikers that fit our system has proven near impossible. To be sat here at the beginning of August with at least two unicorn type number nines should bring great comfort to the worst window worrier (or will do when George Hirst's knee injury clears up).

In terms of my excitement levels this is all small beans though. For we have retained the services of the one and only Omari Elijah Hutchinson-Giraud. How often do you get to fall in love with the loan player and then they stay? There’s going to be a fair bit to dislike about being a Premier League club but getting to keep some of the special players you acquire for a little bit longer is some serious compensation. As far as I’m concerned Hutchinson ended the 2023-24 season the best player in the Championship – better than any of Whittaker, Summerville, Szmodics or Dewsbury-Hall, the attacking midfielders who made the division’s official Team of the Season. He will make that big 8-figure fee look a bargain very quickly.   

That feels like as much as we could reasonably have expected to get done by pre-season. These much bigger deals must take up a whole lot more working hours than quibbling over a few bonuses with Stephen Ward and we seem to be getting through the work. There’s more work to be done, though I still think some of the class of 2023-24 will have more of a role than some are anticipating. Injuries to Broadhead and Hirst leave us a bit thin in forward positions and you’d expect to see a new left-sided number ten for the starting line-up in 13 (eek!) days, as well as a new centre midfielder (hopefully either a Premier League veteran or a physical monster) to partner Sam Morsy. We are getting there though.

Rating our Transfer Business So Far

Liam Delap – 62/100 – Whilst I’m glad we went out early and got a striker that fits the profile we need for the position like a glove, can’t help but feel that we’ve paid a Manchester City Academy tax here. £15m plus add-ons should probably get you more than 12 goals in 70 appearances in the second tier. Though I suppose when you compare it to what Southampton and Burnley paid City for third-tier goalkeepers it isn’t so bad.

Conor Townsend – 67/100 – There’s no glamour in hiring understudies and it’s extremely hard to do well. The reality is that most teams will end up giving significant minutes to no more than 15-18 outfielders. You don’t want to be wasting too much of your resources on your 23rd most used player. Townsend is cheap, brings a season of Premier League experience and helped form part of a formidably well-organised West Brom back line under Carlos Corberan. Hopefully brings a bit of that Sone Aluko/Richard Keogh dressing room analyst stuff.

Jacob Greaves 78/100 – Last Summer it felt like we were actively looking for a left-footed centre back right up until the season started. Cameron Burgess’ exceptional form then rendered that search unnecessary. This year we just went out early and bought the highest-rated one in the Championship. Bam, job done, not at excessive cost. Brings a bit more pace and agility than big Cam, plus maybe a bit more sharpness in his short passing and press resistance.

Ben Johnson 82/100 – Upon promotion you always get a lot of discussion about Premier League experience. It’s hard (and expensive) to find any. Players discarded by the biggest clubs generally head for clubs a bit more anchored in the division, players discarded by the rest have generally fallen short of the level we require. Johnson is probably the peak of what we’re able to get – good enough that a top-half team ideally wanted to keep him around as a squad player, not so good that they could tell him he’d be starting every week in the near future. Hopefully we’ll find a couple more in that Venn Diagram before the window closes.

Aro Muric – 88/100 – Look, we’re all sad to see Vaclav Hladky leave, but who isn’t excited to see this big ole unit as Ipswich goalkeeper? He’s a big presence for set-pieces, he was one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League last season, he spends friendly matches loitering on the half-way line, he hits a fabulous diagonal. Appears to be a great new-style keeper and for a not outrageous price. Essentially, we’ve bought what Southampton and Burnley hoped they were getting with Bazunu and Trafford, only with more experience and without the Man City tax.

Omari Hutchinson – 100/100 – Love this. Love him. I can’t wait to dance with Omari again.