A great win today for Town at home against Leeds. This was vital as other teams below Town have also won today. So there is still only a 4 point gap between Town (now in 16th place) & the third relegation place (currently Wolves with 45 points). Town have been doing so well to get results and points recently and it has been so important as clubs such as Peterborough and Sheffield Wednesday continue to get results and are fighting hard to get out of the relegation places. It is vital that Town take the confidence they have now into the remaining 7 seven games to finish out of the relegation places at the end of the season.

Again I listened to the match on Radio Suffolk and Town got a big boost when a Leeds player was sent off and Leeds had to play a lot of the second half with 10 men. It is never good to get players sent off in any games but it sure helped Town today as in the first half the full strength Leeds side had several good chances to score but wasted them.

As far as Town players are concerned well done to goalkeeper Scott Loach. The keeper position at Town has been difficult for a season or more and Henderson was recalled & went back to West Ham earlier in the week.
Also Jay Tabb had another good game and JET (Emanuel-Thomas) played well as a substitute and another good game from David McGoldrick.

Also well done to manager Mick McCarthy and assistant Terry Connor. It was a really tough job for any manager to take on inheriting the mess that Paul Jewell had left the club and team in. Mick has held firm to his very sensible and basic ideas and the Town defence has improved considerably along with results. Again Mick is convinced that only after Town get safe can we really start to think about how Town can do better for next season and beyond.

So the next game is on this coming Easter Monday away against Millwall. A win or draw there would be nice….
Then the next three games are:

Sat 6 Apr 2013 – Championship – Derby v Ipswich 15:00

Sat 13 Apr 2013 – Championship – Ipswich v Hull 15:00

Tue 16 Apr 2013 – Championship – Ipswich v Crystal Palace 19:45

There are no easy games in the Championship but finally Town seem to be more concentrated on being hard to beat and to try hard to get a result either a win or draw. Unfortunately in the early part of the season Town were not concentrating on those things and did not get results and have suffered because of this. However Town can take lots of confidence from their change of attitude and change of results and I look forward to them building on that!

COYB!! GO TOWN!!

A great win for Town today against a good Leicester team! ITFC 1 Leicester 0

Well played team! I listened to the game on Radio Suffolk and overall Town played well. The goal was well taken by David McGoldrick and the players fought and battled with pride to get the much needed points. Again the defence was solid and Lee Martin had a better game. Jay Emmanuel Thomas came on as a late sub & (surprise) made a good defensive block to stop Leicester scoring and getting an equaliser at the end of the game.

Well done team & Mick McCarthy! If ITFC can keep repeating this level of performance they should get the points needed to get and stay away from the bottom 3 in the table and avoid a nervous finish to the season. Town are now in 18th position.There is still much work to be done but if the team can win at home & draw away that will do very well! So I think the team is showing promising signs and if they can stay focused and repeat the hard work & good finishing they did today then the team have good future prospects. It is great as a supporter to hear that the players have shown commitment and skill to get a result.

So once again, WELL PLAYED ITFC (team & subs used played well).

Keep this going and goodluck in the next match next Tuesday away vs Nottingham Forest.

COYB!!

Well, last week an away draw against Huddersfield (0-0) gained a point for Town and Mick McCarthy was happy enough. I think this will only be a point gained & not 2 lost if we win our home games. Huddersfield then played away midweek and won 1-0 vs Burnley and go ahead of Town in the table.

Today we play Leicester at home. When Town played Leicester it was Mick McCarthy’s third game as manager and we crumbled to a 6-0 thrashing. Time to turn the tables over Leicester today I hope!

I heard on the radio report yesterday Town had fielded 38 different players over the season so far. It is no wonder the club and team struggle with no continuity. The old manager Paul Jewell kept saying he was planning for future long term success but he left the club in turmoil! The radio report was about a new player, Reece Brown, signed on loan from Man Utd. Will he get a game today?

Town sit in 20th place just one away from the third relegation place (currently Wolves in 22nd place). However there are only 9 points between Town & Nottingham Forest in 8th place. The division is very close and again it is so important that Town get points from their games and do not lose.

Anyway last week I highlighted Lee Martin and how important he is and hoped he would do well in the game. Unfortunately he just didn’t make any impact at all and this is still such a worry. Come on Lee you must do better!(I believe you can but you have to make more chances & help the team get goals!). The defence were fairly solid against Huddersfield so it is good that Chambers, Stearman and Smith especially are playing quite well. Keep it up and let’s hope at home we can get points today against Leicester.

COYB!!

4 games have gone by since that loss away to Bristol City:

Sat 2 Feb 3:00pm Middlesbrough H 4 – 0

Sat 9 Feb 3:00pm Blackburn Rovers A 0 – 1

Sat 16 Feb 3:00pm Blackpool H 1 – 0

Tue 19 Feb 7:45pm Watford H 0 – 2

As usual with ITFC very much mixed results and mixed fortunes! 2 wins and 2 losses.

In the meantime the team has changed a lot and continues to change. Antony Wordsworth & Richard Stearman have entered the team but both picked up injuries. Wordsworth’s injury is worse as he is out for a while now (with cracked vertebrae!)but Stearman can continue with his dislocated finger.

Today is another crucial game at Huddersfield. They are struggling & trying to avoid relegation just the same as ITFC so it will not be an easy game. I am hoping for a good reaction from ITFC following the home defeat in the last game against Watford. Lee Martin returned for that game and starts today & I hope for a good game from him. I applaud his energy & effort in the team but really the team need to make more from that and he needs to make that happen. Come on Lee- you are key to ITFC success & you have to make your energy & effort count! To the other team members get on & support & feed off Lee Martin and hopefully win the game! Town need points so a win or draw is vital. A loss will be a wasted opportunity & obviously make the rest of the season much harder. Town need to do well against struggling teams & today Huddersfield!

Come on you blues! Go Town…..

Tonight’s matches involving clubs at the bottom of the table:

Barnsley 2 Millwall 0
Bristol City 2 Watford 0

Wins & 3 points each for Bristol City & Barnsley mean Town (now in 21st place in the table) are just 6 points from third from bottom Peterborough and 7 away from Bristol City & Barnsley. Town need points. No team should rely on results from other matches to help or hinder them. It is a mark of desperation if you try & hope for other results to go in your favour! It is amazing to reflect how these 2 struggling teams have beaten Millwall & Watford teams that have had reasonably good season so far. So good results for Barnsley & Bristol both of whom have picked up points over the last few games.

So Town clearly need to do what they have needed to do all season and get points from every game they play.
On Saturday Town play Middlesborough at home (Portman Road). Matches could not be harder and Middlesborough are doing pretty well this season (currently in 6th place) and have former Town player Tony Mowbray as manager. However I so hope Town players rise to the occasion and put the physical & mental effort in that is necessary to get points. They need to defend well and make and take chances & make good decisions and concentrate for the entire game. So come on ITFC prepare well over the next few days and at the very least be prepared to battle & fight to earn points from start to finish of the game to come on Saturday and the remaining games in the season!

When the going gets tough, the tough get going – get at your game from now to the rest of the season-you CAN DO IT! Now buckle up and JUST DO IT…… C’mon you blues!

Well the Saturday before last saw ITFC win at home against Millwall 3-0.
A great result and a good performance.

Last Saturday saw Town lose away to Leeds by 2-0. Not so good but it could have been worse. It could also have been better if Michael Chopra had found the net instead of goalkeeper Kenny’s save!

Town’s players keep moving-Tyrone Barnett going back to Peterborough – a very short stay. A new Tyrone (Mings) has replaced him-from Chippenham Town.

Town’s next match is Saturday 22 Dec against Bristol City and I’m afraid the 6 pointer cliche is true for this match. I dislike these football cliches but there is a grain of truth to them. Bristol City are struggling just below Town and a home win for Town is very important. I’m sure manager Mick MacCarthy feels this even if he won’t admit it because it can add to the pressure of his job! I am confident he will get the team in the right frame for this game. I would love to go & watch them too..let’s hope I can make it happen & go & see the new Town team play…..COYB

GO TOWN…..

Wow ITFC!- 7 points from the last 3 games! That’s better….

Last weekend was a draw: ITFC 1 Peterborough 1
Then last Tuesday a win: ITFC 3 Nottingham Forest 1
This Saturday another win: Bolton 1 ITFC 2 (an AWAY win!!!!!!)

WELL DONE ITFC!

So Town move out of the bottom 3 and start to head up the table.
Finally the team is starting to get points again. The nightmare of the first half of the season is receding a little but noone should get complacent and expect great things. The team just need to take every game as it comes and concentrate on getting points from every game. It is great that Mick McCarthy is getting the team to get points. He is just so down to earth and it it is so refreshing. While journalists and radio reporters ask banal questions about how far can the team go and what new players we need and a host of other nearly meaningless things he has given the team clear direction to do better to avoid the real danger of relegation.

Thankfully the team has responded. I know Town have good players but they have to perform as a team first & then work on individual performances after. I think & really hope that message is getting through at last to the players and they are reacting well to it at last! All Town supporters and the team have high expectations of the promising players we have but as the new manager knows promise and expectation is often different to reality. At last the team and hopefully all at the club are waking up to reality. While ITFC has lots of promise that alone is clearly not good enough. What matters is getting points & thank goodness Mick McCarthy is getting that simple point across to the players and club- well done Mick!

Next game is next Saturday versus Millwall at home-bring it on & COYB!!!

Leicester 6 ITFC 0

Just woeful.
What happened? Simply the team collapsed. Highlighting the headless chicken and lacking in confidence traits of our side. The result and performance were bad.
Why? Well Richie Wellens was not playing and new player Bradley Orr did not have a good debut. The defence just stood off the Leicester players who just ran more or less unopposed at them! It was great play by Leicester but soooooo baaaaad by Town! Apparently the stats were Leicester had 7 shots on target/attempts on goal… but they nearly had 100% success rate!

Even more disappointing was a lack of fight from the Town players who made few chances & failed to get a goal. Town have a dreadful goal difference statistic having conceded so many goals & scored so few.

Mind you I do admire Mick McCarthy. He plainly stated that was not what he expects from his teams and I so hope the players get the message from Mick & want to play for him & their own pride as much as for us, the supporters and club. There has been much talk by the players in interviews that Town is a great club but they are not playing their part and Town are in trouble because of it. So let’s put this behind us & start to get points and hopefully win games.

Mick has talked about the fact that Town need to get out of the bottom three relegation places and build from there. The next game is Saturday at home vs Peterborough…..a win would be good to say the least.

COYB!!!!

Well, before the Burnley match last Saturday was the game at Crystal Palace where Town got thrashed 5-0!
Welcome to the real ITFC Mick McCarthy!

It was the same awful Town performance against Palace. In fact it was an awful second half when we gave 3 penalties away! So, dreadful defending and a poor to non existent attack gave that bad result & I felt amazed that this was almost the same side that had won away a few days earlier at Birmingham. I felt sorry for Mick McCarthy but I also felt he could and would deal with this situation. Mick needs some time to get the team together and start to get the team getting points. He knows it may be a bumpy ride through the rest of the season but he knows that points not performance are the key to survival against relegation and I feel sure Mick has the will to get Town moving up the table. He kicks every ball and more on the touchline! That is the passion he has and Town need!

So, what better tonic than to win your first home game as the manager for Mick? With the 2-1 win against Burnley that was exactly the much needed tonic for the team, club and all the supporters. Much relief all round (I think the first home win for Town?). Again there were good & bad parts to the performance but getting a win was vital for the three points and that helped Town move up the table. Carlos Edwards played somewhere in midfield and Luke Chambers full back and that worked. Ritchie Wellens played what maybe his last game. He has done well for Town during his loan and it would be good if he could get his loan extended. It was a better performance than that versus Crystal Palace but it wasn’t hard to do better than that dreadful performance. DJ Campbell continued to do well-he scored again.Overall well done Town! Nevermind the performance just get the points!

Let’s hope for points at the next match, which is away at Leicester on Saturday. Should be interesting…
COYB!!

Hooray!
Birmingham 0 ITFC 1

Town won a game at last! This was Mick McCarthy’s first game as manager and the team win away-nice start Mick! Let’s hope you and the team keep it up!

The game was very much in similar style to Town’s recent games. We scored and took an early lead and then gradually faded and were just trying to hold the lead toward the end. Unfortunately for Birmingham they pressured Town and missed some good chances and Town held out to get the much needed win but it was not a comfortable performance. The win though is all that matters and about time ITFC had some luck!

Town remain on the bottom of the table but the win helps them close the points gap and helps them to start to get enough points to soon begin to move up and off the bottom. Currently in the bottom places, Bristol City are also on a bad run of form and Peterborough look shaky still.

Town’s next game is tomorrow (Tue 06/11/12) against Crystal Palace and I hope we can get points from that game. Both Palace and Town with new managers and new starts so it will not be easy for Town but as I have said before Town do have the makings of a good side and IF they can get results and points they will find confidence returning that will help the team do better!

COYBlues!!! Go Mick McC & Town!