IT’S said that nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. However, you can probably add ‘Ipswich playing in the Championship’ to those inevitabilities.

This week’s two games and one point appear to have confirmed that the Blues’ already slim chance of making it to the play-offs has gone and that 2018/19 will be Town’s 17th successive campaign in the second tier.

The gap of nine points with only 13 matches left and eight teams between them and the top six appears insurmountable and manager Mick McCarthy admitted it was unlikely Town would make it even prior to Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to Cardiff.

Against the Bluebirds, Town ended up the losers of one of those typical Championship games of few chances.

There wasn’t much in the match to show which of the two teams was the one in second place vying for automatic promotion.

Indeed, a much-changed injury and illness-hit Town side were the better team in the first half.

But after the break the visitors got on top and grabbed the winner via Kenneth Zohore in the 65th minute, although on another day the Danish striker might have been penalised for the ball striking his hand.

Town kept pressing to the end but never seriously threatened, although they might have been awarded a late spot-kick when Cameron Carter-Vickers appeared to be hauled over by former Colchester man Greg Halford.

It was that type of match, one decided on a couple of incidents and refereeing decisions which might have gone the other way and a draw would probably have been a fair result.

Even more frustrating was Sunday’s derby at Norwich, Town somehow managing to extend their nine-year wait for a derby victory to ten matches, despite skipper Luke Chambers scoring what appeared certain to be a winner in the 89th minute.

Having seen out four minutes-plus of surprisingly extensive injury time in relative comfort, the Blues contrived through a succession of individual errors to concede the latest of late equalisers.

Even though the game ended in a draw, Canaries fans were again the ones celebrating at the whistle.

For all the frustrations regarding the failure to hold onto the lead for the final few seconds, once more it was McCarthy, his relationship with the club’s fans and his future which grabbed the headlines and was the topic of much of the post-match discussion.

Most took his caught-on-camera four-letter goal celebration to be aimed at supporters who had made their frustrations with an early substitution clear, even if the Blues boss denied that that was the case afterwards, although he apologised for the language used.

However, that it seemed not at all unlikely that the club’s manager had directed a sweary tirade at his own fans is illustrative of the broken relationship between him and the support.

Similarly, a new lowest home league crowd for nearly 20 years at the Cardiff game - officially 13,205 but in reality almost certainly below 10,000 - showed just how low an ebb the club is at currently.

While McCarthy can legitimately point to his record at Town and say he has overachieved given a comparatively meagre budget, the Blues having been relatively competitive during most of his seasons after an initial Houdini-like escape from all but certain relegation, it’s clear the rift between him and fans is one which can never be healed.

Season ticket sales were down 15 per cent ahead of this season and more fans are likely to vote with their feet this year if he remains in charge.

A new manager isn’t guaranteed to do any better than McCarthy, of course, particularly as it’s unlikely more money would be made available to him, but fans are very evidently desperate for a change and a fresh approach.

With the campaign appearing over from a competitive perspective barring a miracle - or alternatively an improbable collapse - the club would be wise to confirm this prior to the announcement of season ticket prices at the end of March.

While the future beyond the summer is the subject of most discussion, there are still the remaining 13 games of this season to play out, starting at Preston tomorrow.

The Lancastrians are run on an even smaller budget than Town but remain very much in the play-off fight in ninth, three points off the top six, having lost just once in their last 17 league matches.

Their fans can still dream about being in the Premier League next season, for Town supporters that seems as far away as at any time during the Blues’ seemingly never-ending stay in the Championship.