ESSEX COUNTY STANDARD TOWN CORRESPONDENT MATT PLUMMER DELIVERS HIS WEEKLY THOUGHTS ON THE NEWS FROM PORTMAN ROAD:

Am I the only Ipswich fan becoming frustrated by the Connor Wickham saga?

Once it was nice to hear people hail our rising star, eulogising about his attributes and forecasting glittering times ahead.

Now, it’s becoming tedious, repetitive and, quite frankly, irritating to be bombarded with so much frenzied speculation.

I can only imagine how the man himself must feel.

And I can see why managers get riled when prize assets are continually linked with moves to bigger and better clubs.

As a journalist, it would be foolish and hypocritical of me to criticise the paper talk too much.

Hardly a week goes by when we’re not told of vultures in the stands, watching and reporting back to the big guns, and I understand that it’s gold dust when someone like Wickham is linked with Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United.

But as a fan, I’ve become bored by the soap opera, simply because, on current form, the hype outweighs the talent.

When it comes to multi-million pound deals, surely a player should be judged on proven talent rather than very raw potential?

Take Gareth Bale, for instance. It’s right that the Spurs man is being heralded after such phenomenal performances against Inter Milan in the Champions League.

But Wickham, in marked contrast, is hardly playing at the moment. He was injured for the first month of the season and since then has only started two games – in one of which, at Scunthorpe, he was hauled off after just 30 minutes.

Other than that, it’s been cameo appearances from the bench.

Sometimes it works and he makes an impact, like in the previous home game against Coventry.

On other days it clearly doesn’t, like against Millwall on Saturday.

That’s understandable and I’m not knocking him for that.

Any player might struggle when they’re only given a few minutes towards the end of a game.

But Wickham’s current status in the squad highlights a valuable and significant point – that he’s still a work in progress and by no means the finished article.

Roy Keane clearly thinks so, which is why he’s holding him back, and it’ll be interesting to see where his career takes him from here (or more to the point, whether there’s any truth in the tabloid tittle-tattle).

Wickham clearly can’t control the hype but, for me, it’s important he gets his head down and stays put.

For the time being, at least.

He’s clearly got attributes, most notably his power and aggression, but he’s raw and his first touch still needs work.

He raised his stock with some eye-catching goals last season, not least that amazing finish in front of a packed house at Newcastle. But this season it’s been a different story.

Wickham is down the pecking order and a move to the top flight can, and should, wait until he’s older, wiser and longer in the tooth.

Or at the very least until he becomes a proven, first-team regular at Town.

Talking of Millwall, Saturday’s encounter was the best I’ve seen for months at Portman Road.

It was genuinely exhilarating – and it’s not often we’ve been able to say that recently.

The game was crammed with drama and incident (have you ever seen so many goal-line clearances?) and thankfully Ipswich notched a deserved win against the Lions.

Let’s hope they can produce a similarly efficient performance tomorrow to gain more points at bogey club Sheffield United.