ITFC 1 Nottingham Forest 1 Sat 280314

The view from tunnel cam before the Forest game:

Town went a goal behind early (5th minute) for the second time in a row. Forest played well and Gurken had to make some good saves. In the second half though the Forest keeper had to play well to stop Town scoring but Town equalised through a header from Murphy. In the end it could be said a draw was a fair result for both teams who each had chances to win the game but neither took them.

Town team

I was very surprised before the game to find Antony Wordsworth was not included in the team or squad!
He had started the last 2 games and done well but Skuse was back from injury and Paul Green came into the side. I really could not understand why Mick left Wordsworth out but manager Mick explained after the game he felt Cole Skuse deserved his team place coming back from injury. I feel this was a bit harsh that Wordsworth didn’t make the squad, with Mick saying he felt his chosen substitutes would make the best impact if needed. I hope Wordsworth reacts well to this as I feel Town are better when he plays in the side. I hope Wordsworth can impress Mick somehow and get a place back in the squad!

Match highlights video:

Apart from that a draw still keeps Town’s play-off hopes alive. Now there are only 7 games left and all to play for still. If Town get some wins they can get to the play offs but Wigan, Reading, Forest and Brighton will all be trying hard to beat Town to that sixth place position.

Good news is that Jonny Williams has had his loan spell extended to the end of the season. He has been great for Town so far and has impressed me and many others.

The Town away games are tough (especially against Blackburn and Burnley) but they are all winnable.
Come on Town for a great end to the season and who knows what could happen if Town get to that sixth spot and get to the play-offs. If Town can maintain their current good form and play and be calm, confident and yet ruthless it good be a really great end to the season for Town!

COME ON TOWN! LET’S GO ALL THE WAY NOW!! Dare to dream but stay focussed and DO IT!

ITFC 2 Derby 1

A GREAT win for Town last night! WELL PLAYED TOWN!

Pre match interview with Antony Wordsworth

Match analysis

The game started badly for Town with Derby scoring after 35 seconds! At that moment I feared the worst (knowing that Derby were very good last Saturday when they imposed themselves on Forest early in the game and I did not want them to do the same against Town).

Thankfully Town were not overwhelmed and more or less matched Derby for the rest of a competitive first half. Unfortunately Town did not make the Derby keeper work and had no real goal chances.

In the second half Jonny Williams proved a handful and scored with a great shot with twenty minutes left, much to the relief of the Town fans! Frank Nouble and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake came on for Hunt and Anderson and Town posed more of a threat (Ebanks-Blake hit the post). Then just before full time Christoph Berra scored with a header and Town held on for 5 minutes of injury time! GREAT JOY for Town players and fans! Luke Chambers took a nasty head knock and will need checking over.

So a good team/squad performance with lots of determination and the quality from Jonny Williams. Also the other Championship results were kind to Town with Reading, Wigan and Nottingham Forest all losing.

Post match interview with Town manager Mick McCarthy

Next game..ITFC vs Nottingham Forest

On Saturday Town play at home against Forest with another chance for the team and fans to do well and push for the sixth promotion play-off place.

COME ON YOU BLUES!

Pre match review ITFC vs Derby Tue 250314

Town vs Derby should be a great game tomorrow night. Town must be confident after a good away win at Brighton and Derby must be confident after they smashed Nottingham Forest (Derby 5 Forest 0) also last weekend.

I watched the highlights of the Midland derby on the Football league show and Derby were rampant! Bryson scored a hat trick and the whole Derby team played well.

Just a brief note on Forest. They have hit a recent slump in form and have fallen out of the play-off places. In the crazy world of managerial success and failure, this loss of form has meant Billy Davies has lost his job as Forest manager! Absolutely crazy….Town play Forest at home this Saturday (after Tuesday’s game against Derby) and for Town this should be a good time to be playing a team currently out of form and who have had a recent managerial change and Forest maybe somewhat lacking in confidence right now.

Last Saturday, Derby got going early on and then they dominated a good Forest side, so it is very important Town get going straight away and that Town do not let Derby get any momentum. Town need to be competitive but composed and rise to the challenge and be RUTHLESS!

Can Town do that and play that way? YES THEY CAN! Again, like last Saturday’s game against Brighton many people (especially neutral footballing supporters and pundits) would make Derby favourites given their impressive form since Steve McClaren took over from Nigel Clough. McClaren has certainly (and too me surprisingly) done very well since managing Derby…..(more to follow after my tea!.. Alright, I’m back now after a nice lasagne for tea – great for carbs. I hope Town players have had a high carbs load for their teas too as they will need that energy for the game tomorrow).

Latest Town loan signing

I heard on BBC Radio Suffolk Town have made a loan signing from Manchester City of a winger, Alex Henshall. I’m sure he has never played in the City first team but has played for Chesterfield! Here is footage of him scoring a great goal…a few of those for Town would be great!

Now back to real Championship football…

Brighton 0 Town 2 highlights

So, I don’t think Mick McCarthy has any selection issues for the Derby game (Skuse is still injured and presumably Wordsworth will have another start and another chance to show his full potential). Let’s hope for a good turnout from Town fans and a good showing from the team to get a win and confound the pundits (which Town often do and not always in the right way!) and keep up their promotion play-off push.

Be RUTHLESS Town..you CAN do it! COME ON YOU BLUES….GO TOWN!

Brighton vs ITFC

Town are away at Brighton today. Manager Mick McCarthy has said Town need something from the game for Town to push for a play-off position.

Cole Skuse is out injured today and the latest news is that Antony Wordsworth starts in place of Skuse! I hope he has a good game and shows his full potential (and Paul Taylor is not included in Town squad today!).

Town squad:
22 Gerken
04 Chambers
03 Cresswell
14 Wordsworth
06 Berra
05 Smith
11 Anderson
19 Hyam
09 Murphy
25 Williams
12 Hunt
Substitutes:
01 Loach 15 Mings 16 Green 18 Tabb 24 Richardson 27 Ebanks-Blake 35 Nouble

The press reports from Brighton fans are they expect a comfortable win against Town and they do have a very good team with quality players and a foreign manager,Oscar Garcia, with loads of experience.
Keith Andrews and Matthew Upson play for Brighton who both have Suffolk/ITFC connections.
However this is just the sort of game though suited to Town to surprise everyone and go on and win the game!

COME ON YOU BLUES!…….

Brighton 0 ITFC 2

Well played Town! This is a good result for Town, an away win against a good side also trying for a promotion place. This results keeps Town’s slim play off chances alive. I still think it is unlikely Town will get to the sixth place play off position but it is great the team are still trying hard to end the remaining games well and are trying hard to get that sixth place! If Town can keep this effort and commitment up then it may be possible to get sixth place and it gives fans and players everything to hope and play for to the end of the season.

Today Wordsworth did well. He played the whole game and showed glimpses of his full potential. Well done to Tommy Smith who got the first goal and to Daryl Murphy who scored the second goal. Dean Gurken made a good save to help Town keep a clean sheet and with Brighton having several chances just going off target it is good Town didn’t concede. Jonny Williams also played well and the whole squad were great (Green & Tabb came on as subs for Anderson and Hunt)!

Next up is a home match on Tuesday against Derby

Goodluck to Town for this tough game against Derby and I know Town are good enough to beat Derby if they stay ruthless and focussed. After the Derby game is a match against Nottingham Forest. These are 2 important games and exciting times for Town.

GO TOWN

Come on you BLUES!!!

Championship table

Before commenting on today’s home match against Wigan here is the latest Championship table showing Town in 9th position

Yeovil vs ITFC Tuesday 11 03 14

Town are away at Yeovil tonight and need a good performance and really a win to keep any hopes of a play off position challenge alive.

Wigan are 2 points ahead of Town with 2 games in hand and are in a great run of form and are my choice to get a play off place unless Town can hit top form now and to the end of the season. I hope Town do hit form and put lots of effort into getting the necessary wins and points to get in to sixth place. We all know manager Mick would be content with a draw and an away point but even he must know that a draw tonight will not be enough for a serious play off challenge. Simply if Town do not win tonight the sixth position play off place will be out of reach and there will be no potential prize for them to play for the remaining games of the season. The season will fizzle to a somewhat disappointing end with Town in lower mid table….

Yeovil are at the wrong end of the table and fighting to avoid relegation and have all the motivation and commitment of a team trying to avoid relegation so it will be a hard game for Town if they are not alert and ruthless! Ishmael Miller is Yeovil’s main threat and is playing well.

Can Town beat Yeovil?

Certainly Town can beat Yeovil but they will need to play much better than they did against Middlesborogh (lost 0-2) last Saturday. Better individual and a better team performance/s is needed from Town.

So time for all the Town squad to knuckle down for a competitive game tonight and show the Town fans a good performance and some of their quality and ruthlessness and so prove to everyone (including themselves) that they want to compete for the play offs!

COME ON TOWN… GO TOWN…COME ON YOU BLUES..

Listening to Yeovil vs ITFC on Radio Suffolk

On 35 minutes Town get a succession of corners and go ahead with a goal from Christoph Berra! Well done Town!

Yeovil 0 ITFC 1

A good away win for Town! Well done Town team…This was a MUST WIN and Town won! Ebanks-Blake played for a while and overall it was a good result and good performances from Berra, Smith, Cresswell and Murphy and Williams came on and did well.

WELL DONE TOWN! Next up is a really tough game against Wigan…BRING IT ON!

This is what the team need, a chance to get in the play offs still, so still all to play for ITFC as the season comes to a close. Keep going Town and go for a good strong finish to the season!

GO TOWN!

Middlesborough 2 ITFC 0

Town lost away at Middlesborough today yet remain in ninth place in the league. This is disappointing though as Middlesborough hadn’t scored in several hours of play before today and this doesn’t help Town push on for the sixth promotion place.

Match analysis

I listened to the first half radio commentary with BBC Radio Suffolk and Paul Taylor had a good chance to score for Town but missed. Dean Gurken made a mistake and Danny Graham scored (he scored both goals).
It sounded like Cresswell and Chambers had much trouble from Friend and Town were toothless. How Town miss David McGoldrick who is still injured and likely to miss the rest of the season.

Here is the manager’s view:

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy:

“We were second best, we got nothing and deserved nothing. We didn’t compete and that wasn’t like us.

“I actually think Middlesbrough played well and when they got the goal they got on top and didn’t let us play.

“We’ve not performed so I can’t take any silver lining from other results. To be in with any chance of getting into the play-offs, we need to be much better than that.”

That is Mick all over, brutally direct and honest! Nice one Mick!

All that remains is to hope the Town players can raise their games to do better in the last remaining matches (only 10 or so left now) and not let the season fizzle out in disappointment.

COME ON YOU BLUES!

Come on Town dig deep and put in a strong finish to the end of the season!

Today Town play at home against Birmingham City

This is a most important game for the Town. If Town can get a home win then Town can keep up a play-off place challenge but a loss will just add to a recent loss of form and lack of points through last month for Town. The games this month of March are so important if Town are to be challenging for the play-offs.

COME ON YOU BLUES……

Mick McCarthy’s pre match interview…

The game is about to start and as usual I am listening to commentary on BBC Radio Suffolk. I will be posting comment on the game after it is all over!

SO..COME ON TOWN…COME ON YOU BLUES….

HALFTIME: ITFC 1 Birmingham 0

Satisfactory so far for Town. A goal from Daryl Murphy with good play from Green and Nouble and the second half is just starting. So well done Town…keep it up for the next 45 minutes! GO TOWN….

FULLTIME: ITFC 1 Birmingham 0

WELL PLAYED TOWN!

A win for Town today-1-0 against Birmingham and good performances from Nouble, Taylor and all the squad! This is just what the team need to keep up a play-off challenge and let’s hope Town have a good remaining month in the next games. GO TOWN!

ITFC are now ninth in the table……(with 48 points).
IF Town have a good month it will be possible to get into sixth position and get into the play-offs.