A great and much needed away win for Town today against Blackpool.

WELL DONE TOWN!

Match summary: Blackpool 2 ITFC 3

Well, Town won with a last minute winner at Blackpool to give Town their first away win of the season.
Again Town did it the hard way. First Town went behind with a goal on 23 minutes from Dobbie of Blackpool and Town had a mediocre first half.

There were several changes to Town with Tommy Smith away on World Cup duty with New Zealand & Cresswell suspended following his red card last week giving Mings and Tabb starts.Town also had new signing Stephen Hunt on the bench following his mid-week arrival at ITFC. Manager Mick McCarthy made some positive changes in the second half & took off Higham & Tabb replacing them with Nouble and Taylor. It was Nouble who got the Town equaliser and he played well. Taylor then gave Town a great boost by scoring a good goal and the win was on for Town who had only to see out four minutes of extra time. Of course they didn’t manage that and Blackpool hit what I thought was a certain equaliser as there were just two minutes of time left. Amazingly though Town pressed forward and Hunt made a good shot on goal and from the resulting corner Daryl Murphy scored with just seconds left of the match to complete a great second half turn around and secure Town’s first away win! WELL DONE TEAM….oh what fun it is when Town win away!

This is a great tonic for the team and supporters. It was quite weird as it was almost the opposite of last week when Town were fine in the first half and bad in the second when they were leading and yet today Town were average in the first half when losing but were good in the second half and got the win. This is more like the character the team need and was a definite improvement from last week…..

One final word of good Town news from last week is Ireland’s manager is fixed now and it is NOT Mick MacCarthy, so Mick stays with Town as he said he thought he would and now Town can keep pushing on and up the table with Mick still in charge!

COYB! GO TOWN…..

A draw at home against Barnsley tonight,so a disappointing result for me and most Town supporters. I watched the game live on Sky TV and was quietly confident at halftime with Town leading by 1-0. All Town had to do was put in a similar second half and the game would have been won.

Unfortunately Barnsley had other ideas and all their players did better and were far more determined than Town. Instead of matching them, the Town players decided they would continually boot the ball into touch or play long balls up field to either no Town player or a Town player who could not hold play up and the ball went back to Barnsley and then straight back to around the Town penalty area and put Town under pressure for most of the second half. Barnsley had one chance in the first half and eleven in the second half! Town were poor in the second half and were a little lucky not to lose the game and Jason Scotland had a couple of chances for Barnsley. At one moment Dean Gurken decided to add to Town woes by slipping up on a back pass when under no pressure and slicing the ball out for a corner to Barnsley.

Town barely had any chances in the second half except for a lame penalty claim from Nouble right at the end. In fact Nouble and the Barnsley defender were both shirt tugging and Nouble fell down hoping for a penalty. It wasn’t a clear cut penalty and yet Aaron Cresswell got booked after the game for arguing with the referee that it was a penalty! What a needless and stupid booking!

I am not a fan of our midfield especially Luke Higham. Where were the midfielders in the second half? Always second to the loose ball and unable to get the ball and play. Tabb came on as a sub and had a sniff of a chance when their goalie fumbled a long range shot from Chambers and that was the best Town had all second half. Come on Mick, why not play Antony Wordsworth? At least start him on the subs bench. Taylor looked alright when he came on but Nouble is unlikely to win a game for Town.

The only good feature for me was Tommy Smith was a rock. He got a cut eye early on but played on bandaged up and was his normal solid self.

A poor performance and poor result tonight for the Town team. I really hope Town team learn to be more ruthless and determined soon because they do need to play with those qualities if they want to win games in this league…..October has finished and wasn’t a good month for Town and November hasn’t started with a bang or fireworks….COME ON TOWN the team has to do better this month!

ITFC vs Barnsley Fri 01/11/13

Tonight Town play Barnsley at home.

Brief report on Bolton 1 ITFC 1

First though a brief mention of last Saturday’s game at Bolton which finished as a 1-1 draw. Town played reasonably well and in many ways an away point is good. However an away point is only good if you can win your home games so it is important Town can win tonight against Barnsley.

More on ITFC vs Barnsley

Barnsley are still struggling after their tough season last year but they are no easy push over. They are committed to winning and Town will need to at least match Barnsley for commitment and effort. Town players are skilful enough and as Mick says the team need to be ruthless and to be able to control games as circumstances need, something they have not been good enough at. The very pleasing aspect at Bolton was after going a goal behind they had enough spirit to score a goal to draw. The Town team must play what is in front of them and know when they have to dig in and contain teams and when they have to open up in search of goals and wins. This is matchplay and Town need to improve their match play so they do not let leads go, as at the away game at Derby and certainly at home they need to be proactive and seek a win while also being tight in defence and not making silly errors.

There still remains for me and many other fans the cloud of uncertainty about Mick McCarthy’s future in regard to the Ireland manager’s job. See the latest short video from YouTube with Mick here:

So well done Mick, you have done a great job for the Town and I hope you continue to do so!

COME ON TOWN…beat Barnsley tonight…Town team and fans can do it! COYB….

Today Town play Bolton away.
What can Town fans hope for and expect? An away win!?
I’m certainly hoping for an away win for Town but there is no way this can be expected.

I am though getting sick and tired of singing the praises of the Town team and squad and for Town continually to disappoint and not get the results Town should be capable of. Am I being harsh? I don’t think so and I’ve just heard manager Mick MacCarthy on Radio Suffolk saying how he knows Town haven’t had the results he expected despite some good play in parts. Remember the away game at Derby (4-1 up at halftime only to draw 4-4 and just hang on at the end!)? Mick stresses Town must take their chances and if they don’t score then make sure we do not concede goals either!

Town have to be more consistent and ruthless too. MacCarthy stressed that the Town should be ruthless after the Wigan game and the team haven’t been consistently ruthless yet. Again I have said on paper the Town team and squad are excellent but more players need to give more on the pitch consistently game after game.
Brenner Woolley says on Radio Suffolk not to criticize Luke Higham but why not? He is a good player but he isn’t giving the team enough! He needs to be able to score the odd goal here and there and this gets back to MacCarthy’s point that the players have to take their chances. Lots of people are clamouring for creativity in the side but Higham, Skuse and Tunnicliffe aren’t so creative but Antony Wordsworth is more creative and I would want Wordsworth to play every game. Today Wordsworth doesn’t even make the squad/subs. Why is that?! Hewitt is in the squad and on the subs bench.

I’m a bit surprised Jay Tabb hasn’t been able to be more influential either. Next more is needed from the attackers Nouble and Murphy with only McGoldrick really performing. Finally thank goodness we have a good defence with Smith, Chambers, Cresswell and goalie Gurken all being good players.

Bolton have been underperforming this season so far and this is a good opportunity for Town to get at them and cause them problems.

COME ON TOWN…let’s beat Bolton…..COYB

Town team: Ipswich Town

22 Gerken
04 Chambers
03 Cresswell
08 Skuse
06 Berra
05 Smith
11 Anderson
19 Hyam
10 McGoldrick
09 Murphy
16 Tunnicliffe

Substitutes

01 Loach
02 Hewitt
07 Edwards
15 Mings
18 Tabb
34 Marriott
35 Nouble

EDIT…2 small other points:

There were x2 games after the Derby away game
Sheff Wed 1 ITFC 1
ITFC 0 Burnley 1

Finally there is some query about manager Mick MacCarthy being asked to take the vacant Ireland manager’s job….

An amazing game on last Tuesday night away at Derby.
Derby 4 ITFC 4

The result was nearly a rugby score but doesn’t tell the game story. At half time it was Derby 1 ITFC 4 so Derby had a fantastic fightback in the second half while ITFC collapsed drastically. In fact a few days later as I write this I am still shocked Town lost such a large lead and in fact they were hanging on for the final whistle at the end as Derby finished strongly.

As the football cliche goes, the game was a game of 2 halves but actually it was more a performance by 1 team-Derby. They were poor in the first half and changed dramatically to play very well in the second half. Town weren’t very good throughout and the main positive I can give is they did take their chances in the first half to score. Town overall were second best on the night and yet claimed an away draw, to get a point. Football can be very strange! Well I am concerned by this result and in many post match interviews many Town squad members say they have to learn from it and move on. My concern is Town do not learn from their mistakes. For away at Wigan manager Mick MacCarthy said the team were not ruthless and they certainly were not ruthless at Derby. So Town need to improve and start to get more consistent this season as they have been up and down in results and performances….COME ON YOU BLUES!

SAT 05/10/13

Sheffield Wednesday 0 ITFC 1

This game is proceeding as I write this post and Town have just scored by Paul Anderson after 10 minutes..GO TOWN!
Well…guess what?! Sheff.Wed have just equalised-3 minutes later!
Now Sheff Wed 1 ITFC 1

COME ON TOWN (NB Town players..a football game lasts 90 minutes or more! LOL!)..
I will keep listening on the Radio to the Town commentary and update this post at the end of the match.

COYB!

Well the game finished as a draw: Sheff Wed 1 ITFC 1

Again this is an away point but again Town threw away an opportunity as Sheffield Wednesday haven’t won a game this season and are at the moment one of the weaker teams in the Championship. It seems to be the way this season to get an away point and hope to win at home. This is not a bad formula if Town can do it!

Mick MacCarthy praised the team for their effort and I do too. It may be a frustrating season for Town who undoubtedly have lots of promise and have yet to fulfill that potential! Now is the international break so I hope the squad can get a little rest and recover and get ready to do well after the mini break.

COYB!!!!

(2 weeks time is the next game at home to Championship leaders Burnley..bring it on!).

Town win against Brighton at home last Saturday. Well done!
This was a good result after the disappointment of losing away at Wigan last Sunday.

David McGoldrick scored both goals and he continues to impress fans and manager Mick MacCarthy. So a good result and a good performance from Town and that is so good to report on! A couple of goals and a clean sheet is very good although the Town need to keep working hard to get to their full potential. As I have repeatedly stated there is no reason this cannot happen and good results continue! Town have a good squad with a good manager and players and Town should be performing and not under-performing! So if Town can build on results like this and gain confidence and keep concentrating and working hard success should follow-let’s hope so! Town are moving up the league table and are in ninth position.

Before the game there was some confusion over the loan of Paul Taylor back to Peterborough and though I still don’t fully understand this, Mick MacCarthy thinks it is best and so it will be. There was a media report that Sylvan Eubanks Blake was coming to Town from Wolves (where he worked with Mick MacCarthy) but that was later quashed by MacCarthy himself. It appeared to have been a flight of fantasy from some reporter! It is hard as a fan to try and understand what happens at a club especially when reporting is not always accurate!

Nonetheless well done ITFC so far this month in the normal helter-skelter Championship. Why did Derby sack manager Nigel Clough? That’s something else quite hard to understand….
Well it may or may not work in favour of Town, as the next match up is away at Derby on Tue 1st October.
This could be just the right moment for Town to grab their first away win in ages and I hope so! At the very least maybe a draw would be fine too…..

GO TOWN…COYB!

A disappointing result to yesterday’s away match against Wigan. Again I listened on BBC Radio Suffolk and the commentators thought Town had outplayed Wigan but lost! Town had more chances and took none, but Wigan took their few chances.

Mick MacCarthy said Town were not ruthless. Absolutely not! I say Town were more toothless!
It is so clear that Daryl Murphy for all his good play and work is not a natural goal scorer. I had hoped the fact that he scored finally in the previous game would boost his confidence and help him to more goals but it was back to his normal old cannot score ways again. Come on Daryl get the goals or assists! (you can do it!!).

It is such a shame that Town have underperformed again as they have over the last few seasons.Especially for me as they have good players in the squad and a good manager now in Mick MacCarthy. Smith and Chambers continue to impress me, but it is time everyone else stood up and worked at getting results not for themselves but for all Town supporters and the many who like me still support them even when they under perform!

Well it is not easy to get performances and results week in, week out in the Championship. Just look at Bolton with many big star players and a good manager who are struggling this season. However look at Burnley who are doing well this season showing how it is possible! On paper Town are such a good squad with good players and manager and it is time to get results! Surely they know it is results first and performances second? Why can’t they do it regularly? Not ruthless? Sure, so they need to man up and become more ruthless (without yellow/red cards!). Town need to wake up and stop dreaming about results and performances and make them happen. Apparently it is a long time since Town’s last away win and I really do not want to hear about what should have or could have happened in matches but I want to see Town team make it happen! Mick MacCarthy doesn’t either so how about it players-can you be ruthless and get results? COME ON YOU BLUES!!!

What better way to show the fans and themselves some love, than with a win in Town’s next match this coming Saturday against Brighton at Portman Road!

GO TOWN!!

Town’s last 2 games have been home wins! Well done Town!
Last Saturday Town team beat Middlesborough 3-1 and last night they beat Yeovil 2-1 at Portman Road giving 6 points!(more than the 4 gained through all last month-August).

In both games Town went a goal behind but showed character to come back and win the games. So the point earned with a draw at Birmingham the few weeks earlier (before the international break) did look good! As I have said before IF you can draw away and win at home then you have a good platform to build a good team and get enough points to be in contention for promotion. All at ITFC are agreed the Town squad is far better than it was a year ago and Town must continue to make good progress if we are to challenge for promotion at the end of the season. I think the Town squad is decent but it has been decent for a long while. Character and hard work are vital ingredients and Town squad is beginning to show these so there is a bright future if Town can be consistent and keep improving!

Against Yeovil Darryl Murphy finally scored and hopefully that can give him confidence and he can start to score more in the coming games. Of course the other goal for Town was from a defender,Cresswell and so far the defenders are helping by getting needed goals. All supporters now look for a few goals from some midfielders! Commentators seem to think the Town midfielders lack creativity & they maybe right-but they certainly lack goals! Tunnicliffe and Skuse seem to be playing well and I think Hyam is alright but I want to get more end product from Higham with goals and or assists from him and a bit more going forward rather than defensive midfield. Higham is a good prospect but needs to work hard to develop this season and have a good season. I would like to see Anthony Wordsworth playing as I feel he is the most creative and capable of popping up with assists and goals.

Next match is Wigan away on Sunday…this will be a tough match (but there are no easy games in the Championship). Good luck Town..go for it and work hard and play well and get a point or points with a draw or a win!

COME ON YOU BLUES…. GO TOWN!!!!!!

Birmingham vs ITFC

A good away draw at Birmingham for ITFC? Well I thought so and I said so on Radio Suffolk on air to Mick Mills and Graham Mack commentators on the match after the game. Mick Mills disagreed and thought it was not good as he felt Town should have won and beaten Birmingham. Well that of course would have been better but the acid test of this result is IF ITFC can win their next home match vs Middlesborough tomorrow.
Any team that consistently wins home matches and draws away will be getting enough points to be challenging for promotion. So I hope Town win against Middlesborough tomorrow! Town do need more points with only a miserly 4 points for August which really is a bad start! Every Town supporter wants the team to be getting better results and winning enough points to challenge for promotion..so COME ON TOWN team!!

I did listen to the radio commentary of the game vs Birmingham and it felt much the same as earlier games. The big difference was Mick McCarthy gave starts to Gerken, Andersen and Tunnicliffe. Got to say well done to Christophe Berra for scoring Town’s goal BUT must ask McGoldrick,Nouble and Murphy to help out and score some goals!! We need goals and hopefully goals from strikers! The Town defence is by and large good now (Chambers, Smith and Berra and Cresswell all good). Town lack in form strikers and it is McGoldrick who has done the most so far and looked the best front player for Town.

COME ON TOWN!

However as I said in my radio chat to Mick Mills, I do think Town have a good squad if the front men can get in form and I am optimistic for the next months ahead. There are though, no easy games in the Championship and any team there is capable of winning against any other team so Town need to work hard to get points!

ITFC vs Middlesborough

With all supporters behind the team and squad against Middlesborough we know we can win, so GO ON TOWN..COYB!!!

ITFC FIXTURE TABLE 2013-14