Ipswich Town 1 Brentford 3

ITFC 1 Brenford 3

A loss at home for Town yesterday against a mediocre Brentford side!

I listened to the game on Radio Suffolk and switched on at the moment Brentford player Alan Judge, was having treatment for a nasty injury. Apparently he had been fouled by Luke Hyam, who was given a yellow card (& that might have been a red card). Judge had to leave play and was substituted.

A little while later, Brentford scored and Town were trailing.

Then, Luke Higham became involved in another incident with a Brentford player and was sent off, leaving Town still in the first half to play the rest of the game with 10 men!

Absolute madness for Higham to get involved in a minor incident, when he was already on a yellow card!
From then on, with Higham sent off, it would always be harder for Town to get anything from the game! None of my words can describe just how stupid that action from Higham was! He is a passionate player and committed to Town, but as he cannot control himself, he should not be playing football for any club in my opinion.

I stopped listening to the match and watched some of the Masters golf at Augusta. Much better entertainment! Apparently Liam Feeney scored Town’s goal.

There are now very few games left until the end of the season and Town are not going to get into the play off places. Early in the New Year, when Town were on a bad run, Mick kept saying he would judge the team for where they would be in May. Well, it is apparent now they will not be in the top six, fighting for a play off place.

I find it very sad and frustrating that Town have had such an average season. I know they had injuries and I have been surprised at the lack of quality in depth in the squad. Player of the season? Only Bartoscz Bialakowski has played well enough. He has been Town’s best player this season, while the rest have underperformed.

There have been so many changes to the Town squad over the last couple of seasons, and it seems these haven’t worked and I now think Town still need changes to get better players! Personally, I do not feel you can really keep sticking with the same players who, surprisingly ,just haven’t been good enough this season. I would like to see a lot more changes and give chances to other new players now.

I think it is time to forget this poor season and start building a new team with new good confident players, to make a good defence, a good and attacking mid field and a good attackers. Town have to get better!
I hope the Town can bounce back soon, with some fresh new players who are able and willing to play good football and take Town to the top of the Championship! COME ON YOU BLUES!

Wolves 0 ITFC 0

Wolves 0 ITFC 0

Town played out an away draw against Wolves last Saturday.
This could be thought of as a good away point, as indeed it was!
However, it is probably not good enough for Town to get into the promotion play off positions. Their main rivals, Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday both won and went further ahead of Town.

Town will now have to get wins and hope their main rivals and those in the current top six places lose a few games and points.

Town played reasonably well against Wolves, but it was a Wolves side lacking in confidence after many of their recent best players were missing due to transfers and injuries. Again, it was a game Town should really have won. David McGoldrick made a rare 5 minute appearance, but he came on far too late to really affect the game. Will he have more of an impact if he comes on earlier? That remains to be seen, but of course I hope so!

Nonetheless, nothing is yet decided and so for Town, it is still all to play for in their final games.
The whole Town team and squad know that if they do not finish in the play off places, that they will have under achieved on last year’s performance and this years target. All I hope for now, is that Town team can rally and finish with a few winning games and some good performances, to provide some hope and encouragement for the future. COME ON YOU BLUES!

ITFC 0 Rotherham 1

ITFC 0 Rotherham 1

Town lost against struggling Rotherham today. Enough said? Yes, except to say:
WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH!

I have no interest in the rest of the season. Why should anyone support the Town when they keep going from bad to worse? Sadly, supporting the Town is a waste of time.
I could say more, but what is the point?! I could really say a lot more, but really there is no point.

By the way, I am a true Town supporter and I have to face the plain fact, that it is true that Town are at the moment, a very mediocre football team and they get the support and reward they deserve! I have constantly stuck by them, and they constantly let me down.
Enough is enough and this is not good enough. Goodluck Town, from a very longstanding and loyal supporter, who can take no more of this awful football this year! As ever, I hope for better from Town but I cannot cope with being constantly let down…. 🙁

ITFC 2 Blackburn 0

Town won at home last night. Town 2 Blackburn 0.
This was much needed (last Saturday, Town lost away at Cardiff.. Cardiff 1 Town 0).

I didn’t listen to the match, as I was out in Ipswich playing a team chess match and I won!
I saw the goals on TV replay. 2 goals for Daryl Murphy on his birthday!

This was a much needed win and Town are in eighth place just a point below the play-off positions (ie top 6). Town need to play well and keep getting points to keep up their play off hopes and chances.

Anyway, well played Town! COYB!!

Bolton 2 ITFC 2

Town were 2-0 up away against Bolton last Tuesday and ended up with a draw, losing a goal to a penalty in the 7th minute of extra time!

So once again, Town throw away 2 points needlessly. The manner of the penalty was truly awful. It was a huge error by Ainsley Maitland Niles who was defending by the goal line just outside the penalty area and trying to hold off a Bolton player for the ball to go out for a goal kick. The Bolton player went around MNiles like he wasn’t there and took the ball in the penalty area toward goal and MNiles tried tackling from behind and the Bolton player went down. Penalty. Dreadful play from Maitland Niles.

When I watched the home match against Portsmouth I was surprised how much stick he got from Town fans around me. I knew why, because his final ball/pass was often poor and ended up giving the ball away after initial skill on the ball and moving forward. I thought the critiscism was harsh, but now I see what a liability he actually is and I do not now want him in the team unless he improves dramatically! It is a shame, because he has talent (he scored a great away goal at Portsmouth) but he is just not all round good enough as a Championship player right now.

Town are away to Cardiff tomorrow and that will be tough as Cardiff are a good side in good form. Town are of course capable of winning if they play well, but how will they respond to that overall poor away performance at Bolton? I know this sounds harsh, but the Town need to play well consistently to get into the play-offs and I am not confident they are good enough to do that. Certainly the injury list has been a factor for Town but I thought we had a strong squad and it turns out it is not so strong and we badly miss our best players. I feel Town do have the capability but do they have the confidence and do they feel they have the capability and if so are they ever going to realise it?! I will still cheer for the Town though ..COME ON YOU BLUES!!

Ipswich Town 1 Nottingham Forest 0

Town played well today to beat Nottingham Forest at home.
WELL PLAYED TOWN!
This good performance comes after a much needed away win against Huddersfield last week (Huddersfield 0 ITFC 1).
Pringle scored both goals! I do not know anything about Pringle except he is on loan from Fulham and has scored in successive games for Town.

Against Forest today, Town played much better than last week and are just a point away from the playoff places and have a game in hand.

Town have had quite a few injuries to contend with recently but keep themselves in contention for promotion. It is getting vital to get points now as other teams are putting good runs together, notably Birmingham and Cardiff.

So well played Town and I believe Town’s next games are against Bolton and Rotherham both of which should be winnable but Town cannot be complacent especially as those teams are playing hard for points to get them out of the relegation places.

Keep playing well Town…COME ON YOU BLUES….goodluck for the next game!

ITFC 0 Hull City 1

ITFC 0 Hull City 1

Hard luck Town! A third loss in a row means Town fall down the Championship table.

It was always going to be a hard game, but there aren’t many easy games in the Championship!

I listened to the game on Radio Suffolk and it wasn’t too much of a surprise how the game went. It was of course a pity, Town couldn’t score and even draw, but Town did make chances and were not totally outplayed!

I keep saying Town have good players and good management, so for now I just hope for better results for the rest of the season. Town do need to play their socks off now to secure a play off place and it makes for an interesting end to the season. I know the recent run of poor results is so disappointing, but let’s all stay positive and back the team to do better!

COME ON YOU BLUES!

Bristol City 2 Ipswich Town 1

Bristol City 2 Ipswich Town 1

A poor result and performance from Town last Saturday, losing to Championship struggling Bristol City.

Flint scored both goals for Bristol in similar fashion with both being headed goals from a corner. For Town to concede one was not great but to concede the other as an almost exact carbon copy was very disappointing.

Pitman scored for Town but Bristol had more scoring chances and but for saves from Bialkowski and poor Bristol finishing Town were let off lightly.

Town slip down the table and complain about injury problems. I just despair as a Town supporter, that decent players regularly play poorly. That was a game we needed to win or at least get a draw and a point. As I stated in my last post, Town are inconsistent. We have good players capable of beating anyone but the team are not consistent enough and if this doesn’t improve it will again be another disappointing and frustrating season. Another opportunity to get at least a point from that game has gone
and unless Town start to play better soon it will be too late this season. It will be really hard for Town now to play well enough to get into the play off places. It could still happen, so I hope Town work and try hard for this…time will tell! COME ON YOU BLUES…

Birmingham 3 ITFC 0

Birmingham 3 ITFC 0

Town lost away to Birmingham in their last game on Saturday.
Town went behind to a scrappy goal not helped by poor defending.
Then Town had a player (Douglas) sent off with a straight red card which was a harsh decision and really cost Town the game. Town had some chances to score but couldn’t due to saves from the Birmingham keeper.

This was a bad result of course. 3 years ago manager Mick McCarthy took charge of the Town who were bottom of the Championship and won his first game at Birmingham by a single goal. On Saturday, Mick was bemoaning the “daft (barmy)” goals Town gave Birmingham! Town cannot find it in themselves to be consistent, whether good, bad or indifferent! So frustrating for everyone.

There was some good and bad news before the game. First good to hear Mick and Terry have signed new contracts with Town.Let’s hope they can build the team to get promotion. The odd bad news was that Tommy Oar has left Town (apparently homesick for Australia?!). That was a shame, but bon voyage Tommy and goodluck back home down under!

Here’s a clip to remind ourselves how good we are! From that debacle at Portsmouth, Maitland-Niles shows quality and endeavour…


Arsenal Loanee Ainsley Maitland-Niles With A… by wittyfutty

It hasn’t been a good start to the New Year for Town, but there is still every chance for Town to start playing well and hard from now on to secure a play off place. So….

COME ON YOU BLUES!!

Portsmouth 2 ITFC 1

Town lose away at Portsmouth and are out of the FA Cup.
Very disappointing for supporters, players and manager.
Although Town have a reasonable size of squad and there were 11 changes to the team tonight, the squad just isn’t good enough. It was a poor first half performance from Town, who were 2-0 down and it could have been worse apart from good play from Town keeper Bialakowski.
In the second half Town were better but had a player sent off.

Town are now left to concentrate on Championship football and need all of their first team players as fit as possible and committed to winning games and getting into the playoffs.
I have to congratulate Portsmouth on 2 great games against Town and Town do need to think about putting in a good FA Cup run next season. It is not great that we have had to put out a weaker team for both games this season, really to concentrate on trying to get into the playoffs and try for the Premiership. I hope this proves a right decision at the end of the season, as it just doesn’t feel right just now.

COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!