Ipswich Town will be utilising this international break to reflect and reorganise following their dismal 4-1 Premier League loss to West Ham United last time out. Despite having lost their last seven games in the brutal league, Kieran McKenna’s team is sitting, mercifully, just above the dreadful bottom three thanks to a few fortunate draws that have kept them from going winless.
The manager of Tractor Boys will also be expecting more from the new hires that came in over the summer, especially Chiedozie Ogbene, who hasn’t made much of an impact on the Portman Road crowd.
Ogbene’s start at Ipswich
Ogbene, who had recently experienced being demoted to the Championship with Luton Town, would have been ecstatic to move to Suffolk over the off-season.
With five goals and one assist from 39 games, the Republic of Ireland international was a bright spot for the Hatters even as relegation became certain. However, the Tractor Boys intervened to offer him another chance at the top level.
Sadly, the 27-year-old has failed to impress for his new employers and could be burdened by his high £8 million price tag. In five games while wearing the Ipswich blue, he has failed to score a goal or provide an assist. To be fair, Ogbene has only started three of those matches. McKenna is hoping that, instead of failing miserably at Portman Road, his new number 21 will take off later in the game.
The former Luton player can brag about having scored away at Anfield while still on the Hatters’ roster, but that won’t mean much in his new role, especially if poor performances don’t result in more playing time. Ipswich will just hope they don’t regret passing up the chance to sign this right-wing target, who would have cost significantly more at £25 million but may have already achieved greater success than the unimpressive Irishman.
Who Ipswich could have signed over Ogbene
In an attempt to expand their options down the right side, Ipswich was frequently connected to a deal for Wilson Odobert, a Burnley star at the time, during the same summer that Ogbene moved into the building from Kenilworth Road.
Eventually, Odobert would transfer to Tottenham Hotspur in a big £25 million deal rather than moving to Suffolk. The North London giants knew the former Clarets attacker was a promising enough player to spend that much money.
With three goals and two assists from 29 top-flight games for the Clarets, Odobert was a dynamic presence in a side that ultimately met their relegation fate, just like Ogbene was for Rob Edwards’ men.
With seven significant chances created, he could have had even more assists to brag about. However, Ange Postecoglou’s team gambled on the “extraordinary” Frenchman during the transfer window, hoping he would develop into even more of a top star in the company of players of a higher calibre. This was before he moved to Burnley.
The 19-year-old’s strategy hasn’t quite paid off, as an injury reportedly keeps him out of action “long term” after he was sidelined with a hamstring strain against Coventry City last month.
Prior to that, though, he was displaying flashes of his Turf Moor magic in his new environment. In a September display against Newcastle United, for example, he registered four attempts on goal as a determined attacker.
Returning to the situation in Suffolk, McKenna can only hope that Ogbene improves in the upcoming months as the Tractor Boys try to ward off their relegation demons. There will be concerns that rather than settling for the former Luton midfielder, the relegation-threatened team should have simply gone all out to get Odobert, who is still only 19 and has plenty of potential to grow.