Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

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First Home Win of the Season?

Town Win
14
67%
Wigan Win
1
5%
Draw
6
29%
 
Total votes: 21

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Frosty
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Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Frosty » Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:29 pm

Image




ImageIpswich Town v Wigan Athletic Image



Saturday 15th December 2018 – 15:00



Portman Road




Image





Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike





Another Tale Of What Might Have Been


Another week round, another game gone but the same old outcome and pretty much the same story, something along the lines of did quite well, played ok, things improving blah blah blah. I am sure many who are not fortunate enough to witness games live will be thinking, here we go again, the same old spiel week after week and all the time we are sinking further into the mire, but in my opinion things are improving and we are playing better in spells, let's not forget that once again the squad are being asked to do things differently just as they were when Hurst took over from McCarthy so for me we have made progress, albeit small steps when in truth big strides are now required.

I thought Town did very well at Stoke, particularly in the first half, quite how we went in behind I really do not know, I accept what One or two have said in that they never really felt we were going to score whenever we went forward but One thing was certain and that was we created more chances and looked the better side for long spells, not bad when you consider its pretty much League One against Premier League players, as we keep on repeating all we need is that little bit of experience to help bolster the squad.

One concern for me is that although we are all to aware that this is Paul Hurst's squad and Paul Lambert has to work with what he has inherited, Saturday's defeat at Stoke made it Four defeats in a row, that is something even Hurst did not suffer with the same players so even though things appear to be on the upturn this is in fact the worst run of form of the season and it has to be brought to a halt and quickly, starting Saturday in fact, all the "Free Hit" games where we expected little return are gone now, the ones coming up have to yield points or it's goodnight Vienna.

With Four of the next Six games at home this would normally be looked upon as a great opportunity to bag a few points, trouble is our home form is woeful, I think I read somewhere we have registered just Two home wins this calendar year !!! Can that be right ? If so it is appalling and little wonder we are where we are. With those Four home games being Wigan, Sheffield Utd, Millwall & Rotherham I would suggest we need an absolute minimum of Nine points from those Four games, if we can't manage that we probably will go down, sandwiched in between are trips to QPR & Middlesbrough and in truth I would accept a solitary point from those Two if we can do the business at home for a change. These next Six games really are massive, not just for this season but possibly for the next few years too.



Wigan Up Next



Yes Wigan Athletic are our opponents this time around, a Town more known for it's Rugby League connections than it's Football team stand in the way of the once mighty ITFC and Three priceless points, not that long ago this would be looked upon as a virtual bye, just what you need when a win is required, and yet here we are fretting about the outcome, I mean it's Wigan for god sake. Ok in recent times they have out performed us and by quite a margin but nobody will ever tell me we should not be beating Wigan Athletic at home, especially when our very Championship existence is on the line.

Wigan currently sit in Sixteenth place and seven points above the drop zone so are far from out of the relegation mix themselves, their current form isn't great either with only One victory in their last Eight outings, players to watch out for include Will Grigg, Nick Powell, James Vaughan & Josh Windass while Two familiar faces to Town fans also appear in their ranks in the shape of Callum Connolly & Joe Garner.

I think it is fair to say these are the games that from now on in we have to win, there can be no excuses, Wigan would probably accept survival as a successful season themselves and if we are to claw ourselves to safety we have to drag One or two of them teams down and nearer to us. We need to win it and I think we will win it, probably by the odd goal as we never look like hammering anyone, a win will do for me no matter how it comes. COYB'S, our season really starts here !!!!




The Opposition – Wigan Athletic



Image



Founded in 1932, the club plays at the DW Stadium since 1999, sharing the stadium with rugby league club Wigan Warriors. They previously played at Springfield Park for 67 years.

Wigan Athletic played in the lower Leagues until 2nd June 1978 when they were finally elected to the Football League after 34 attempts and near misses over the preceeding 46 years, including one controversial but headline-making application in 1972 to join the Scottish League Second Division.

They gained their first Football League promotion under the management of former Liverpool player Larry Lloyd in 1981–82, when a points tally of 91 saw them join the former Division Three for the first time, beginning a 10-year spell in English football's third tier, until they were relegated for the first time in the club's League history in 1992–93.

Wigan struggled in the fourth tier of English Football, finishing well down the table and average attendences fell to 1,845 by 1995.

Local entrepreneur Dave Whelan acquired the club in 1995, providing funds to move into the JJB Stadium, now named the DW Stadium in his honour.

Through Whelan's business connections in Spain he attracted three Spaniards to the club – Roberto Martínez, Isidro Diaz, and Jesus Seba – who became known as 'The Three Amigos'.

Whelan appointed John Deehan as manager during the 1995–96 season. Deehan took the Latics within two points of a play-off place in his first season; and the following year Wigan Athletic became Division Three champions.

In the summer of 2001, highly regarded young manager Paul Jewell took over as manager. His first season in charge saw mixed results, but Jewell's second season in charge was far more successful. Wigan Athletic went on a run to the quarter finals of the League Cup, and won the Division Two championship, securing promotion to the second tier of the English Football League for the first time in their history.

After losing their first ever game in Division One, Wigan Athletic confounded expectations to go unbeaten for the next 17 games and and finish seventh in Division One.

The following season in the last fixture at home the Latics won promotion to the top division of the English football for the first time in their 73-year history by finishing second in the League.

The club's first ever Premier League season (2005-06) saw a 10th place, which remains the club's highest ever league placing.

Over the next four seasons Wigan struggled for Premier survival with a number of managers taking the helm over this period.

Wigan appointed Roberto Martínez, then manager of Swansea City, as manager prior to the 2009–10 Premier League season.

At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Wigan fell to the bottom of the league by the end of February. However, despite remaining in the bottom three for the majority of the season, Wigan managed to retain their Premier League status on the last day of the season.

In the 2011-12 season Wigan reached the FA Cup Final for the first time in their history and went on to beat Manchester City 1–0, with a goal in injury time, earning a place in the following seasons Europa League. Unfortunately for Wigan this season also ended their eight year spell in the Premier League and they became the first team to be relegated and win the FA Cup in the same season.

On 14 June 2013, Dave Whelan revealed that a deal had been agreed with Owen Coyle to become the new manager of Wigan Athletic replacing outgoing manager Roberto Martinez who left for Everton. Coyle left the club by mutual agreement on 2 December 2013 having won seven games out of twenty-three. Uwe Rosler replaced him on 7 December.

On 9 March 2014 Wigan beat Manchester City in the 6th Round of the FA Cup to reach the semi-final at Wembley for the second successive year, where they played Arsenal, and lost on penalties after normal time and extra time resulted in a 1–1 draw. After finishing 5th in the Championship, Wigan lost their Championship play-off semi-final to Queens Park Rangers.

Rösler was sacked in November 2014 with the club in the relegation places, and was replaced by Malky Mackay. Whelan resigned as chairman on 3 March 2015, remaining as owner but handing over the chairmanship to his grandson David Sharpe. The following month, with Wigan in danger of relegation to League One, Mackay was sacked and replaced by former Wigan captain Gary Caldwell, yet the team ended the season with relegation.

Over the coming summer the club underwent a transformation with the majority of the playing staff that had been relegated leaving and a raft of new signings arriving.

The club soon found themselves challenging for promotion in the play-off places by mid-November. Following an impressive run of form in the second half of the season where the side lost only once in 23 matches the club effectively sealed promotion at the first attempt.


In October 2016, following a poor start to the season, Caldwell was sacked as manager and replaced by Manchester United coach Warren Joyce. Results did not improve under Joyce, who was sacked in March 2017. Wigan were subsequently relegated back to League One in April and interim manager Graham Barrow left, ending a 15-year association with the club.

Paul Cook, who had just won League Two with Portsmouth, was appointed Wigan manager in June 2017.

The 2017/18 season was a good one for Wigan, the club finished 1st in League One and were promoted to the Championship. They reached the FA Cup quarterfinals after beating Premier League teams, Bournemouth, West Ham United and Premier League champions Manchester City. At the end of the season it was announced that the Whelan family had agreed a deal to sell the club, stadium and training facilities to the Hong Kong based International Entertainment Corporation in a £22m deal.


The Gaffer – Paul Cook




Image





Media Watch - K L Blue




Transfer rumours



https://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/town-scout ... -1-5815587



Donacian



https://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/donacien-w ... -1-5813515



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/ipswi ... l-lambert/



Has Lambert shown part of his hand for transfers?



https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/12/09/t ... is-set-fo/



Skuse hoping to be back sooner



https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2018/decemb ... se-injury/



Former Town Boss, back in football



https://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/ex-town-bo ... -1-5814291




Form Guide






Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 24th place with 11 points




10 Nov Reading 2 - 2 Ipswich Town



23 Nov Ipswich Town 1 - 2 West Bromwich



28 Nov Ipswich Town 2 - 3 Bristol City



1 Dec Nottm Forest 2 - 0 Ipswich Town



8 Dec Stoke City 2 - 0 Ipswich Town





Wigan Athletic Last 5 Matches – Currently in 16th place with 25 points



10 Nov Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Wigan Athletic



24 Nov Wigan Athletic 0 - 0 Reading



28 Nov Wigan Athletic 3 - 1 Blackburn



1 Dec Bolton 1 - 1 Wigan Athletic



8 Dec Wigan Athletic 0 - 1 Derby County






Marko’s Caption Contest – THE DON CUP





Thanks for all the entries. Some very funny stuff. Getting close to Xmas; is that halfway through the season? Always looking for EVERYONE to take part every week, trawling your minds for the funniest sh*t you can think of. I do believe though that at this stage of the season, competitors from IpswichTownNO1 and above only really have a realistic chance of getting their name engraved onto The Don Cup in August for the new season. Very tight in that top 6 and it’s all to play for.



FOREST SCORES

Kerry Blue 5pts
Nicscreamer 4pts (Len)
AylesburyBlue 3pts
Tangfastic 2pts




STOKE Pic 1

Ando 5pts
Bluemike 4pts
AylesburyBlue & Derick 3pts
BluePeter 2pts




STOKE Pic 2

Ando 5pts
Bluemike 4pts
AylesburyBlue, Nicscreamer & Number9 3pts
JohnnyB 2pts




LEAGUE TABLE



NICSCREAMER 47
TANGFASTIC 45
FROSTY 41
BLUEMIKE 40
ANDO 39
DERICKIPSW 38
AYLESBURYBLUE 29
BLUEBLOOD 27
NUMBER9 26
IPSWICHTOWNNO1 26
WATERSHIP DOWN 11
PATTHEGIMP 8
JOHNNYB 7
BLUEPETER 7
BARMY BILLY 6
BLUEWILF 5
SHED ON TOUR 5
MASSEYFERGUSON 3
MARVINBAY1973 2
CHARNWOOD 1
KL BLUE 1
OHIOTRACTORBOY 1




WIGAN PICTURE



Image




Match Referee – Scott Duncan



Image




IPSWICH TOWN 1 WIGAN ATHLETIC 0

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derick_ipsw
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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by derick_ipsw » Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:39 pm

Caption. I baptise you Mick George.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Blue Wilf » Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:17 pm

Caption: 'Praise the Lord that I didnt get that transfer to Ipswich in the close season!'

The first of a few 'must win' games. I am looking forward to them and feel wuietky confident that we will start our push to safety - 2-0 Town with Sears and Chalobah to score... COYB's!!!!

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Blue Wilf » Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:17 pm

*quietly - i hate predictive text!!

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by marko69 » Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:47 pm

Thanks for the preview and agree 100%....., its Wigan FFS! 4th division team.

This has got to be the next win after Swansea. 3pts with other results being nice......, the gap down to 4pts. That'd be a great weekend. Hoping this is not only a win, but a comfortable, sizeable win.

Ref caption:

Mevans: "Scott, where is the nearest cashline machine? Need to withdraw the maximum 300quid. We're in deep sh*t."
Ref: "No problem, Marcus, down the road pal, cross at the lights, then second on the left."

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Kerry Blue » Wed Dec 12, 2018 11:17 pm

Caption. Heaven help us we're losing 3-0 to Ipswich and it's not half time yet. (well I can dream can't I )

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Wed Dec 12, 2018 11:27 pm

CAPTION....."Keep still while I remove this grotesque white head from your shoulder "

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by derick_ipsw » Thu Dec 13, 2018 7:02 am

derick_ipsw wrote:
Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:39 pm
Caption. I baptise you Mick George.
Caption. If I cant get these new batteries in he will be stuck like that.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by nicscreamer » Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:06 am

Surely, definitely, probably, maybe a 2-1 win!!! COYB

Caption - Wigan celebrate after the championships first Dwarf player scores!

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Shed on tour
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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Shed on tour » Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:29 am

A bit concerned how many people think that a win on Saturday is on the cards.
Might as well go with the flow, Town 2 Wigan 1.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by nicscreamer » Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:39 am

Shed on tour wrote:
Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:29 am
A bit concerned how many people think that a win on Saturday is on the cards.
Might as well go with the flow, Town 2 Wigan 1.
We are all just a little drunk on the run up to Xmas :mrgreen: Im sure when the hangover kicks in we will be more sensible!

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by bluepeter » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:09 pm

Can see a draw...we can't defend a lead and our goals are scarce.
Picture 1
All praise to Lord Mccarthy and Lord Burley.

Picture 2
Was it you who called me curly ears? :evil:

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Shed on tour
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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Shed on tour » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:18 pm

Caption: "Praise the Lord, after 300 appearances for the club I've finally scored a goal. I always knew that those lessons I paid for at the Cole Skuse goalscoring academy would pay off".

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by rossi » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:44 pm

not particularly optimistic about our chances of scoring, and it's going to be bloody cold too.
Bearing in mind the shower of shíte we have available for selection, I can't see beyond:

Ipswich 0 - Wigan 1

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by nicscreamer » Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:22 pm

Slap.... there is the cold chill of reality!! Thanks Rossi

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by marko69 » Thu Dec 13, 2018 2:32 pm

If the team can’t beat Wigan at Portman Road then (for me, imo) definitely curtains.

Only going on match reports, and how the club have improved under Lambo, playing some decent passing football, players like Lankester creating chances, then the winning ways must start soon....... and Shitty Wigan @ PR must be the beginning.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by number 9 » Thu Dec 13, 2018 5:00 pm

1-1

Caption: "Now come here!!....you owe me a BJ after that pass!"

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Watership Down » Thu Dec 13, 2018 7:09 pm

I think a draw is in order 1-1

Caption

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Marvinbay1973 » Thu Dec 13, 2018 7:39 pm

Caption

Hang on mate don't want you to forget this after the match.

Must win game yet again but with our luck can only see an away victory I'm afraid. Just hope the boys can prove me wrong.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Frosty » Thu Dec 13, 2018 7:41 pm

Caption


“Don’t have anything witty to say Marko so just give me a point for entering the competition this week .... cheers”

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by BLUEBLOOD » Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:47 pm

Caption Comp : Head shoulders cheese on toast cheese on toast.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by arana peligrosa » Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:18 pm

We got to win, victory is near imperative. Voted for a one goal success, don't care how it arrives so long as it's in our favor by the end of the allocated ninety. Lambert needs to emphasize ahead of time the necessity of what is required to avert any further misfortune.

Ipswich 1 Athletic 0

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Ando » Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:25 pm

It just has to be a win 3-1 Town :)

Caption "you need your head screwed on properly to do well in this league son"


Caption "when you awaken you will think you play and have hair like Mario Fellani, 3 2 1 your back with us. Oh well I'm not a miricale worker"

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by marko69 » Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:32 am

Going through the usual early morning routine of reading the phone while having McDs cappucino....... but singing, “Head, Shoulders, Cheese on toast, Cheese on Toast” in ma head!
Cheers Blueblood! :D

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by charlton837 » Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:53 am

It is indeed correct that we only have 2 wins at Portman Road in 2018 which is ridiculous, our worst ever year in history saw us get 5 so we are going to breaking that unwanted record. I happened to miss the Barnsley game so I last saw us win at home against Leeds in January! And I have a season ticket! Last time I saw us win any game was Sunderland away in February and in that time ive been to most home games and to a handful of away games.

Im not sure what to expect from this game tomorrow, all I know is we desperately need a win from somewhere and there are some very important games coming up in the next month or so, especially at home. Wigan, Milwall and Rotherham at home coming up, these are huge games and need to result in some serious points to give us any hope.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Charnwood » Fri Dec 14, 2018 5:43 pm

As a betting man banker draws don’t come more likely than this, if you add Towns number of home wins this season to Wigan’s number of away wins the answer is 1....... which suggests either a 0-0 or 1-1 draw of which the later is the most likely.

However given how well we played at Stoke last week, could this be our first home win of the season to give us all hope. This time tomorrow we should have a much better idea.

Interesting to see how many fans turn up for our first Saturday home fixture for more than a month.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Magicmark » Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:22 pm

Hope Frank Spencer doesnt fcuk it up again,Kenlock needs a chance to prove himself.

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:57 pm

f**king cold !!!!

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by patthegimp » Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:28 pm

Yeah one up Sears

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Re: Ipswich Town vs Wigan Athletic Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by JohnnyB » Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:36 pm

Hang on Town!

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