Derby County v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

[Andym]

Not for the first time in my life I'm somewhat underwhelmed by a win. Delighted we got the 3 points but...

How McCarthy thinks 4-5-1 with Pitman as the lone striker will ever work is beyond me. Without Murohy as a target man we really have no choice but to play 2 up front. It's still all so bloody negative. It sounded like after we scored we wnet from 4-4-2 to 9-0-1....not for the first time under MM. For once we were lucky enough to hang on, having been given the lead by some suspect goalkeeping.

I know I annoyed poeple last season when, after one game, I said I wished we had lost a game that we didn't deserve to win. The point is that wins like this only encourage MM to stick to his boring, defensive and unattractive style of football. The question is: Are we really going to finish in the top 6? Persona;;ly i don't think we stand a chance. Are we going to be relegated? No. So sod the results, let's entertain. I really can't wait for MM to go.

[ashfordblue]

Well said Andym, truth said if we didn't have Bart in goal lastnight we would have been crushed, and like you I also wish Mick would p*ss off, his tactics are so pridictable, hoof ball instilled into a very boring game, he's to sh*t scared to play players with some decent skills, has to be the same old team week in week out, I just wish ME would sell up and MM leave as well, we have talented players but he ain't got the balls to use them, and build a good young team for the future, I don't think fans mind us losing a few games, so long as good on the ground footie is played to entertain us, so all the time we have Mick in charge it aint going to be pretty.

[barmy billy]

Well said Andym, truth said if we didn't have Bart in goal lastnight we would have been crushed, and like you I also wish Mick would p*ss off, his tactics are so pridictable, hoof ball instilled into a very boring game, he's to sh*t scared to play players with some decent skills, has to be the same old team week in week out, I just wish ME would sell up and MM leave as well, we have talented players but he ain't got the balls to use them, and build a good young team for the future, I don't think fans mind us losing a few games, so long as good on the ground footie is played to entertain us, so all the time we have Mick in charge it aint going to be pretty.

Have we really got talented players, or just a bunch of journeymen with a sprinkling of promiising youngsters?

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

Incredible ! So would you both rather to have lost 3-4 in a sexy style last night?

[hallamblue]

Not for the first time in my life I'm somewhat underwhelmed by a win. Delighted we got the 3 points but...

How McCarthy thinks 4-5-1 with Pitman as the lone striker will ever work is beyond me. Without Murohy as a target man we really have no choice but to play 2 up front. It's still all so bloody negative. It sounded like after we scored we wnet from 4-4-2 to 9-0-1....not for the first time under MM. For once we were lucky enough to hang on, having been given the lead by some suspect goalkeeping.

I know I annoyed poeple last season when, after one game, I said I wished we had lost a game that we didn't deserve to win. The point is that wins like this only encourage MM to stick to his boring, defensive and unattractive style of football. The question is: Are we really going to finish in the top 6? Persona;;ly i don't think we stand a chance. Are we going to be relegated? No. So sod the results, let's entertain. I really can't wait for MM to go.

Nail hit firmly on the head for me too Andym

[marko69]

I do understand the thinking, but using hindsight properly, I'd say that a different set of "problems" to annoy the fans would arise from it.

It certainly would not be like this after a 4-3 defeat walking back to the car/bus:

"Well that was end to end stuff! If only Sears had got the sitter for his hatrick...., but you can't deny Derby that winner. Yes ok, he waltzed past Knudsen like he wasn't there, but Bart had no chance. Fair play to Derby."

Yes, ok, I'm taking that to the extreme, but in today's game, it's results that matter, 100%. I'm not sure there is another manager available who'll be focussed on results as well as playing entertaining football. Ian Holloway, maybe?

[bluepeter]

Same old Ipswich

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Pleased that we managed to hold on for the win last night - congratulations and well done to MM and the team.

Will enjoy the moment rather than spoil it by commenting on the tactics etc - but I have to say that, for me, Andym and Ashford are spot-on.

[Andym]

Incredible ! So would you both rather to have lost 3-4 in a sexy style last night?

In fairness to you, Mach, I wasn't there. Just listening on the radio. But it sounded almost embarrassing at times.

It's a good question and a difficult one to answer. I think when you're at a game (or even listening), it's a great feeling when you win, regardless. But come the morning, you think, "We were awful. How did we win that?" At that stage I honestly believe I wold feel better if I was thinking "We lost 4-3 but played well, it was really good to watch."

I know I'm in a minority, and I don't expect miracles. I know money is tight. I know many other clubs have more money to spend. But not all of them do. But I reckon most play more entertaining football than the mind-numbing defensive stuff we endure. And I fear it will get worse if the hoofball continues without a big man up front. As Bluemike has often said, Murphy was invaluable. Not only was he a big target man, but he worked his socks off, running the channels.

Boring football is, in my opinion, justified if it helps you avoid relegation or achieves promotion. If neither of those is going to happen, let's have some entertainment. I don't necessarily mean pretty pretty possession football. That can be just as boring if there is no ambition to get forward.

I know you (Mach) and I disagree about Bru. I don't think he's a world beater, or even that great a player. But he does try to move forward with the ball and make a decent pass. He often fails, but I'm happier watching that than the hoofing from the back, the sideways / backwards style of Skuse, or the head-down-and-run-until-you-lose it style of Bishop and Sears.

There is, of course, a place for all of this. It frustrates me when fans moan about a backward or sideways pass. There is nothing wrong with keeping possession. But there are some players who seem to know no other way. There is also a place for running at opponents. But ideally that is done in the final third. Sears, when playing wide, and Bishop, will often try it from too deep, and lack the skill to look up when running with the ball and so just keep going until they lose it.

Football is not a complicated game. When you have possession, move into space (something we are so bad at). Pass the ball (another failing). Keep possession and move forward. When close enough to goal, maybe take somone on. when you haven't got possession, close them down.

The Ipswich way seems to be: when we have the ball, stand still and wait for it to be hoofed over our heads.

[Bluemike]

Well ive got to be honest, while travelling home from holiday last night without any wifi I could not help but keep thinking to myself "I really hope we are playing some silky, sexy football tonight even if we are getting beat" Yeah right, all I cared about was that we won, nothing else came into my head at the time, except perhaps that luck had to change some time after Norwich, Wolves and Reading, and lo and behold it did. Andy and Gary are always consistent in their thoughts, even if I don't agree with the philosophy the same wishes are always there and that is fine by me, it's reading around other places that drives me insane with levels of inconsistency beyond belief LOL.

Anyway, well done Town on standing firm and defending like "Beavers" it is part of the game after all, we were always going to win last night, we always do win there, just a bloody shame that it is probably the only game I won't be seeing this season.

[Watership Down]

I hope to God we don't get promoted. From comments here we would get demolished in the Premiership so we should be happy to stay where we are. I don't think the team would change so dramatically to be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea, Man city, Man Utd, Arsenal, and so on. Be happy at least in this division we win some games.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

I do understand the thinking, but using hindsight properly, I'd say that a different set of "problems" to annoy the fans would arise from it.

It certainly would not be like this after a 4-3 defeat walking back to the car/bus:

"Well that was end to end stuff! If only Sears had got the sitter for his hatrick...., but you can't deny Derby that winner. Yes ok, he waltzed past Knudsen like he wasn't there, but Bart had no chance. Fair play to Derby."

Yes, ok, I'm taking that to the extreme, but in today's game, it's results that matter, 100%. I'm not sure there is another manager available who'll be focussed on results as well as playing entertaining football. Ian Holloway, maybe?

Marko ! Please don't mention Holloway ! This would be like re-appointing Jewell.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

Incredible ! So would you both rather to have lost 3-4 in a sexy style last night?

In fairness to you, Mach, I wasn't there. Just listening on the radio. But it sounded almost embarrassing at times.

It's a good question and a difficult one to answer. I think when you're at a game (or even listening), it's a great feeling when you win, regardless. But come the morning, you think, "We were awful. How did we win that?" At that stage I honestly believe I wold feel better if I was thinking "We lost 4-3 but played well, it was really good to watch."

I know I'm in a minority, and I don't expect miracles. I know money is tight. I know many other clubs have more money to spend. But not all of them do. But I reckon most play more entertaining football than the mind-numbing defensive stuff we endure. And I fear it will get worse if the hoofball continues without a big man up front. As Bluemike has often said, Murphy was invaluable. Not only was he a big target man, but he worked his socks off, running the channels.

Boring football is, in my opinion, justified if it helps you avoid relegation or achieves promotion. If neither of those is going to happen, let's have some entertainment. I don't necessarily mean pretty pretty possession football. That can be just as boring if there is no ambition to get forward.

I know you (Mach) and I disagree about Bru. I don't think he's a world beater, or even that great a player. But he does try to move forward with the ball and make a decent pass. He often fails, but I'm happier watching that than the hoofing from the back, the sideways / backwards style of Skuse, or the head-down-and-run-until-you-lose it style of Bishop and Sears.

There is, of course, a place for all of this. It frustrates me when fans moan about a backward or sideways pass. There is nothing wrong with keeping possession. But there are some players who seem to know no other way. There is also a place for running at opponents. But ideally that is done in the final third. Sears, when playing wide, and Bishop, will often try it from too deep, and lack the skill to look up when running with the ball and so just keep going until they lose it.

Football is not a complicated game. When you have possession, move into space (something we are so bad at). Pass the ball (another failing). Keep possession and move forward. When close enough to goal, maybe take somone on. when you haven't got possession, close them down.

The Ipswich way seems to be: when we have the ball, stand still and wait for it to be hoofed over our heads.

Andym

Let me explain please that I'm neither pro-Mick nor anti-Mick therefore I understand some points of both inners and outers. Not all, just some. Mick has lost me last March after his bizarre team selection against Rotherham. But I'm not outer neither.

I'm very strong anti-Marcus Evans though as he doesn't have an interest to get us promoted and ITFC will never reach the Premier League while he's with us. Therefore I'll be extremely happy on the day he sells up the club and goes.

What I don't understand is constant moan from some. When we lose there is plenty of arrows aimed towards Mick. Heavy cricitism for this or that. But when we win why can't we give him / the team some credit? Yes yesterdays performance never merited 3 points but it was always going to be a difficult match and WIN IS A WIN no matter how it's achieved. Nothing does taste better than away win.

As I've written in my match report we didn't find anything new about the team. Same old annoying aspects in the first half, drab hoofball. As long as it works out for us I don't mind it. What I can't stand is Micks unwillingness to change tactics / playing personnel / style. Nice exception yesterday though as he sent Varney to support Pitman. An outcome? We have won.

I hate sideways and backwards passes, particularly from Skuse. He's never been my favourite player and probably never be. Probably the most annoying fact for me is that he knows he'll always be in the team no matter how he performs so do a few other players. Micks affection to some players and I find it very annoying too. However when we get the result like that one from last night I won't be showing my displeasure as I'll repeat .... WIN IS A WIN.

Micks stubborness .... yet another annoying thing. So there are a few aspects but it's really unfair to slate him all the time. Jim Magilton's style was mainly hoofing but the criticism was nowhere as bad as it is now towards Mick.

As for Kevin Bru I agree that we totally disagree Yes he does try to move forward with the ball and make a decent pass but he is useless. Absolutely useless and devoid of any ideas. Waste of space and I hope he'll lose his place in the team after others have been back from their injury spells.

Another thing I disagree with you is entertainment. It's all about individuals' preferences. My preference is to see Ipswich win no matter how it is done. Hoofball or passing football, I'm not bothered as long as we win. If anyone wants an entertainment my advice is go and watch teams like Barcelona but please don't take it personally.

Yes we were really awful and boring at times especially first half at Derby. Do I care? Not in the slightest as we have won. If it takes the same to beat Aston Villa come Saturday then so be it.

[arana peligrosa]

Not for the first time in my life I'm somewhat underwhelmed by a win. Delighted we got the 3 points but...

How McCarthy thinks 4-5-1 with Pitman as the lone striker will ever work is beyond me. Without Murohy as a target man we really have no choice but to play 2 up front. It's still all so bloody negative. It sounded like after we scored we wnet from 4-4-2 to 9-0-1....not for the first time under MM. For once we were lucky enough to hang on, having been given the lead by some suspect goalkeeping.

I know I annoyed poeple last season when, after one game, I said I wished we had lost a game that we didn't deserve to win. The point is that wins like this only encourage MM to stick to his boring, defensive and unattractive style of football. The question is: Are we really going to finish in the top 6? Persona;;ly i don't think we stand a chance. Are we going to be relegated? No. So sod the results, let's entertain. I really can't wait for MM to go.

Can't really add any more to this as you'd addressed the issues holding us back direct and to the point. All fans (of this club should be pleased with the win, good enough we got away with something again we didn't fully deserve, but Bialkowski put in a stellar performance and held out to the one goal advantage.

Let's not p*ss around, many won't give a f*ck if there's a duplication of what occurred week in week out from here to the end of season if it means the club can obtain a play-off shot. Personally I'd ideally like to see some flair and creativity in between and actually reaching a promotion challenge by merit, not just playing half-assed and hoping the opposition have a worse game than ourselves. Yesterday we (once more) got away with it, but how many further instances will be evident this season.

[number 9]

No disrespect Mach, but the irony is you're exactly the type of fan ME loves.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

No disrespect Mach, but the irony is you're exactly the type of fan ME loves.

May I ask why?

[number 9]

No disrespect Mach, but the irony is you're exactly the type of fan ME loves.

May I ask why?

I think ME relies on fans to buy season tickets and attend matches regardless of the quality of football or investment in the club. I know you'd probably prefer better players and better football, but due to your love of ITFC you'll just take a win ugly or not. I'm not criticizing you Mac, I just think that's how ME sees it. Of course ME's mind is probably not on ITFC at the moment if you know what I mean.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

No disrespect Mach, but the irony is you're exactly the type of fan ME loves.

May I ask why?

I think ME relies on fans to buy season tickets and attend matches regardless of the quality of football or investment in the club. I know you'd probably prefer better players and better football, but due to your love of ITFC you'll just take a win ugly or not. I'm not criticizing you Mac, I just think that's how ME sees it. Of course ME's mind is probably not on ITFC at the moment if you know what I mean.

No I still have no idea what you mean.

ME loves fans like me? The difference is that I want ITFC and reach the Premier League whereas he has no interest to take the club forward and I can't wait him to leave the club.

Yes, I'll just take ugly, horribly boring 1-0 any time. You know why? Because it means we get 3 points. Would you have felt happier had we lost 3-4 to Derby in beautiful style? If yes that's your prerogative but unlike yourself I'd have hated us getting beaten.

Football is about winning matches. We have won on Tuesday night and I've been really chuffed with that.