Ipswich Town vs Lincoln City FACup 3rd Round Matchday Thread

[marko69]

If Preston North End are showing accurate championship form......., I don't think ITFC are in the ball park at the moment if early match reports are to be believed.

[bluejacko]

I did say in another thread this bloke Cowley would twist MM's tail! well here we are again our 'championship' team played off the park by an 'inferior' team managed by a young manager who isn't still in the dark age's
Cowley for MM anyone ?

[Bluemike]

What a woeful crock of sh*t that was !!! I never had MM down as a liar either, he said he would play a strong team, instead we get that load of no-mark fuckwits instead !! Credit to Lincoln who did themselves proud and bossed the game for much of the 90 minutes, at times you would think they were the Championship side such was the way they played the ball around. I really didn't think things could get more embarrassing than they already are but Town never cease to disappoint these days.

Five attempts on target in the entire match against non league opposition says it all for me and Three of them were nothing more than pass backs. Quite what the defence was doing for the first goal is beyond me, acres of space down that fucktard Knudsen's side again followed by a simple cross which took out Emmanuel & Webster nicely for Robinson to slide home with Gerken having no chance at all.

Thank god for Tom Lawrence as once again he comes up with a good strike to ensure we weren't behind for long, unfortunately that is as good as it got in the first half, in fact it was the Imps who were looking the more threatening side and good work by Emmanuel prevented them from getting another strike on goal, Dozzell did have a strike as HT approached but it was never troubling the Lincoln goal. Town just never got into theri stride at all, we had nothing in the centre of Midfield with Dozzell & Bru anonymous while the wide men of sears & Ward had again contributed absolutely nothing, Knudsen again was floundering and had to be seen to be believed and as the guy next to me said Berra was having to cover LB so much that he too was at times all over the place, after a dodgy opening few minutes Emmanuel had grown into the game and looked ok and pretty solid, aside from him and Lawrence we were really pretty poor.

If the first half was bad the second was even worse as Lincoln looked by far and away the more likely team to score, gerken had to make Two or Three saves as they kept coming forward, our defence at times all at sea although young Emmanuel was looking pretty good and assured, Webster was not his usual confident self and berra was having a tough afternoon, although playing beside that Danish tit anyone would.

Finally we did conjure up a decent chance with sears firing just wide of the post having been set up by Dozzell, not long after we went behind again, another Berra c*ck up playing in Robinson who slotted home his second past a stranded Gerken, again nothing the keeper could do. Any hopes of a Town fightback looked slim as we just could not string any worthwhile moves together, thankfully we have Tom Lawrence at the club and he again came up trumps with a second good strike to drag our sorry arses level again, it was totally undeserved and very harsh on a good Lincoln side. There was still time for Town to almost get beaten and humiliated but Emmanuel who had played very well both in defence and getting forward did excellently to get back and thwart a Lincoln break when they were clean through and looking certain to score.

So the mighty Town spared some blushes and avoided defeat to a Lincoln side who did themselves proud and at times took the game to us, they will be disappointed with a draw as they should have won it, their fans were fantastic and got behind them throughout while ours had to endure another lacklustre, unacceptable afternoon. I had said that I do not think MM has lost the dressing room but by god it does make you wonder, Bru, Ward, Sears, Pitman, Dozzell all did f*ck all while Berra & Knudsen were crap, Webster was nothing special while Gerken had no chance with the two goals. Thank god for Tom Lawrence, another excellent performance topped off by Two good goals, without him I dread to think where we would be as he was the only one trying to run at the Lincoln defence and the only who looked likely to make anything happen, young Josh Emmanuel did very well to and he got better and better as the game went on, solid at the back and supported the attack well, so much more to offer than Chambers going forward.

Gerks (5) Emmanuel (7) Webster (6) Berra (5) Knudsen (4) Sears (4) Bru (5) Dozzell (5) Ward (4) Pitman (5) Lawrence (8)

So we are in the 4th Round draw on Monday more by luck than judgement and I suppose I will now be dragging myself up to Lincoln on a cold damp Tuesday evening to see us get humbled by Lincoln City FFS, funnily enough it will suit us more being away but I still have no confidence that we can get the job done. Just how much more can MM get away with ? How many more "must win" games are we going to fail to win before action is taken ? If it wasn't so sad it would be quite funny.

[herforder]

Beyond the reach of the Samaritans. Massively depressing that, under MM's leadership, we're able to inflict even greater depths of hopelessness and embarrassment in the name of a once proud and great club. A couple of their lads would easily fit into our team who, apart from those Mike mentioned as putting in a decent shift, were outclassed and outplayed. TL is a further class apart - if ME cares one jot for this club, he'd stop at nothing to sign him. But, then, I think that the player wouldn't seriously contemplate such a move.

But it's more than just one more abysmal performance, with a lucky ending. It's those deeper and complex issues surrounding the club's ownership and management that are reflected in what's dished up on the pitch. Not good!

[Andym]

I agree with a lot of what Mike says but not totally.

For the second season in succession (at least) our passing is the worst in the league. It's not something new. But reasonable results last season blinded some fans to the obvious; our combination of players and tactics makes us painful to watch.

Gerks did ok. Couldn't fault him at all.

The defence. Oh dear. First goal really highlighted the problem. Both fullbacks hopelessly out of position. Knudsen, who was consistently awful, allowed too much space for the wide man to cross. And Emmanuel was marking no one as he did for most of the game.

It's here that I disagree mostly with Mike. Emmanuel looks really good going forward. And his chase back and tackle near the end was superb. But otherwise he was poor defensively. Both centre backs were telling him what to do and where to be in the first half. I'd love our young fullbacks to succeed andin time they might. But although they (Emmanuel and Kenlock, when playing) pose far more of a threat going forward than Knudsen and our captain, neither look safe defensively. Both centre backs had their work cut out as neither fullback defended well. Knudsen is just awful and Emmanuel's positional sense was poor.

Midfield. Bru was ponderous and misplaced many passes. But that was probably better than Ward who disappeared for large parts of the game and Dozzell who was pretty much invisible for the whole 90 minutes.

Up front Sears tried and failed. Pitman again hardly tried. In fairness most of what he got were high balls and he's not ever going to win them.

Lawrence was a different class throughout.

I really worry. We pose no goal threat. We can't pass. We don't move. And our youngsters really need a run to come up to speed. And I'm not sure we can afford it.

Did we miss Skuse? No. McGoldrick? Definitely. Chambers? Worryingly, in a defensive capacity, yes. My scores would be

Gerks (6) Emmanuel (5) Webster (7) Berra (5) Knudsen (3) Sears (5) Bru (5) Dozzell (3). Ward (4) Pitman (4) Lawrence (8)

[Bluemike]

Not far off mine Andy, I actually don't agree too much with your thoughts on Emmanuel defensively although he showed what he will be about with that last ditch tackle/block, he is very much a work in progress and as you say there are times he was in need of help which is to be expected, however going forward he offers much and this is an area where we have struggled so much which is probably why i like the look of the lad. I genuinely do think Kenlock & Emmanuel are going to be good players for us, assuming of course they are given the chance to evolve.

I was actually going to give Knudsen a mark of 3 as well but i thought I may be looked on as being biased as I don't rate him at all, but as you say he is bloody rank bad all the time.

[phily bon bon]

Bleak reading from Bluemike and Andy very bleak indeed. If by some miracle we stay up Mick has to leave in the close season, there's nothing more to do here. I still want more from Evans though and I'm not expecting Messi to come through and get us going but a nucleus of three four players of the Lawrence ilk that want to be here and put a shift in, coupled with some ability quality and experience would go a long way to make the place start to buzz again.
Cut the dead wood bring in the youngsters and stick with them and get a younger hungry point to prove manager.

[herforder]

It's our ability to play as a cohesive team unit that determines how effective we are. Today a non-league team, with every individual playing to maximum ability, showed how that works. Because we were caught between trying at times to play a pass and move game, whilst too often reverting to hoofball to Murphy's ghost, we did neither successfully, and most players' performances suffered as a result. Those who are quality will always be quality; however those who are poor or average will be exposed whatever the level of opposition - as today demonstrated.

[BLUEBLOOD]

Caption Comp : I found your Balls mick NOW RESIGN PLEASE......(after Lincoln result)

[Mr.Punch]

difficult to know what to say after that, agree with what others have said - we were simply not at the races today.
We were lucky to get a replay in the end.

MM gets a lot of criticism, correctly but without doubt the players did not show enough passion or urgency today.
I also think TC needs to get his act together because we look absolutely no threat in attack.

Knudsen - I have never taken to him and today was one of his worst games. He looked lethargic, inadequate and uninterested.

Lincoln played with confidence, we played like we were scared to death.

[marko69]

Knudsen - I have never taken to him and today was one of his worst games. He looked lethargic, inadequate and uninterested.

Really? Dear God. Even I've seen a few dodgy performances from him, but if that was one of worst, must've been rank bad.

[herforder]

Knudsen performance was such that he should not be selected to pull on the shirt for the foreseeable future. Attitude was poor, performance worse. Have a feeling he's suffering from bruised ego: had Kenlock been fit, he wouldn't have played.

[ashfordblue]

Well as you have seen, I gave us the chance to redeem ourselves today, I really thought we must win this surely, but no a few seem to think they will have a bad day at the office, and completely embarrass themselves and our fans, of the few 11000 that bothered to go, take Brentford's game, they showed how to beat a conference side in Eastleigh by 5-1, and that's exactly what we should have done, Mick's blaming the low on confidence players, BUT Mick its your job to raise their confidence and blow these teams away, so I blame you this season you have done absolutely nothing to instil confidence and get attacking football flowing in our games, your a dam embarrassment as a manager, so please tender you resignation after the replay at Lincoln, as I know we will lose there, and then lose to a rejuvenated Blackburn at home, you have brought nothing in the way of skilled passing football to Ipswich, just negative defensive hoof ball in most games, and please give Knudsen a rest as he and Berra are a joke in their defensive positions, if I recall Berra has made at least 5 defensive mistakes during our past 3 games, so bloody drop him and put Chambers in there, how many times have I seen Knudsen turn his back on the winger, which allows him to cross the ball and the opposition have scored, that's it I've had my rant and I'm thoroughly pissed right off with MM.

[hallamblue]

Knudsen score? A big fat f ucking ZERO. He was THAT Bad, the toss a!

[marko69]

Knudsen score?

Well he can't defend......., so maybe he could score! Put him up front!

[Andym]

Having just seen the first goal on tv, Webster was as much to blame as either full back. No marking at all

[Charnwood]

I've pretty much written off this season and so long as we don't get relegated just look forward to 2017/18 under new management hopefully.

So pleased to be heading back to Spain on Monday morning and not tempted to make the short journey to Lincoln for a midweek nightmare.

[ipswichtownNo1]

What a woeful crock of sh*t that was !!! I never had MM down as a liar either, he said he would play a strong team, instead we get that load of no-mark fuckwits instead !! Credit to Lincoln who did themselves proud and bossed the game for much of the 90 minutes, at times you would think they were the Championship side such was the way they played the ball around. I really didn't think things could get more embarrassing than they already are but Town never cease to disappoint these days.

Five attempts on target in the entire match against non league opposition says it all for me and Three of them were nothing more than pass backs. Quite what the defence was doing for the first goal is beyond me, acres of space down that fucktard Knudsen's side again followed by a simple cross which took out Emmanuel & Webster nicely for Robinson to slide home with Gerken having no chance at all.

Thank god for Tom Lawrence as once again he comes up with a good strike to ensure we weren't behind for long, unfortunately that is as good as it got in the first half, in fact it was the Imps who were looking the more threatening side and good work by Emmanuel prevented them from getting another strike on goal, Dozzell did have a strike as HT approached but it was never troubling the Lincoln goal. Town just never got into theri stride at all, we had nothing in the centre of Midfield with Dozzell & Bru anonymous while the wide men of sears & Ward had again contributed absolutely nothing, Knudsen again was floundering and had to be seen to be believed and as the guy next to me said Berra was having to cover LB so much that he too was at times all over the place, after a dodgy opening few minutes Emmanuel had grown into the game and looked ok and pretty solid, aside from him and Lawrence we were really pretty poor.

If the first half was bad the second was even worse as Lincoln looked by far and away the more likely team to score, gerken had to make Two or Three saves as they kept coming forward, our defence at times all at sea although young Emmanuel was looking pretty good and assured, Webster was not his usual confident self and berra was having a tough afternoon, although playing beside that Danish tit anyone would.

Finally we did conjure up a decent chance with sears firing just wide of the post having been set up by Dozzell, not long after we went behind again, another Berra c*ck up playing in Robinson who slotted home his second past a stranded Gerken, again nothing the keeper could do. Any hopes of a Town fightback looked slim as we just could not string any worthwhile moves together, thankfully we have Tom Lawrence at the club and he again came up trumps with a second good strike to drag our sorry arses level again, it was totally undeserved and very harsh on a good Lincoln side. There was still time for Town to almost get beaten and humiliated but Emmanuel who had played very well both in defence and getting forward did excellently to get back and thwart a Lincoln break when they were clean through and looking certain to score.

So the mighty Town spared some blushes and avoided defeat to a Lincoln side who did themselves proud and at times took the game to us, they will be disappointed with a draw as they should have won it, their fans were fantastic and got behind them throughout while ours had to endure another lacklustre, unacceptable afternoon. I had said that I do not think MM has lost the dressing room but by god it does make you wonder, Bru, Ward, Sears, Pitman, Dozzell all did f*ck all while Berra & Knudsen were crap, Webster was nothing special while Gerken had no chance with the two goals. Thank god for Tom Lawrence, another excellent performance topped off by Two good goals, without him I dread to think where we would be as he was the only one trying to run at the Lincoln defence and the only who looked likely to make anything happen, young Josh Emmanuel did very well to and he got better and better as the game went on, solid at the back and supported the attack well, so much more to offer than Chambers going forward.

Gerks (5) Emmanuel (7) Webster (6) Berra (5) Knudsen (4) Sears (4) Bru (5) Dozzell (5) Ward (4) Pitman (5) Lawrence (8)

So we are in the 4th Round draw on Monday more by luck than judgement and I suppose I will now be dragging myself up to Lincoln on a cold damp Tuesday evening to see us get humbled by Lincoln City FFS, funnily enough it will suit us more being away but I still have no confidence that we can get the job done. Just how much more can MM get away with ? How many more "must win" games are we going to fail to win before action is taken ? If it wasn't so sad it would be quite funny.

fantastic maych report and spot on. Nice to see you finally agree with the fact that MM is to blame.

[hallamblue]

I think this poster has put it rather well really.


................


I don't get to Portman Road very often but was there today.

Gerkin is poor. It's almost as if he has no football brain. His positioning is woeful. He gives hospital balls to his defenders and in anchored to his line at times. If MM had played Bart more last season I suspect we might have made those few points and hit 6th place.

We really do not look after the football very well. This is the crux of our problem in my view - that and sitting too deep, but the two are linked. We give the ball away too cheaply because we do not seem to be able to pass it to each other and are far too static. The midfield sit too deep and then don't get up to support the forwards. We are too deep because we don't look after the ball, give it away and then have to defend, so to avoid getting caught we don't go forwards. We appear to get punished by silly defensive errors but it's because we are playing the game in our half all the time. Today Lincoln were playing between half way and the top of our area, we were playing in the same area (but in our own half).. When we made a mistake they are so much closer to our area they can exploit it, but when we made a chance we are still 50 yards from goal.
I hope this makes sense, I am so cross at the basic awfulness of what I saw today...

There is a real malaise. No matter what you say about the individual players there is no one that has made it to this level and who is not AT LEAST competent. The crux is whether your style or attributes fit into the team and the way of playing - and whether you have confidence. Confidence in yourself, the manager, your team mates, the supporters. That Town team did not have the body language of a team with any confidence....

[hallamblue]

I think this poster has put it rather well really.


................


I don't get to Portman Road very often but was there today.

Gerkin is poor. It's almost as if he has no football brain. His positioning is woeful. He gives hospital balls to his defenders and in anchored to his line at times. If MM had played Bart more last season I suspect we might have made those few points and hit 6th place.

We really do not look after the football very well. This is the crux of our problem in my view - that and sitting too deep, but the two are linked. We give the ball away too cheaply because we do not seem to be able to pass it to each other and are far too static. The midfield sit too deep and then don't get up to support the forwards. We are too deep because we don't look after the ball, give it away and then have to defend, so to avoid getting caught we don't go forwards. We appear to get punished by silly defensive errors but it's because we are playing the game in our half all the time. Today Lincoln were playing between half way and the top of our area, we were playing in the same area (but in our own half).. When we made a mistake they are so much closer to our area they can exploit it, but when we made a chance we are still 50 yards from goal.
I hope this makes sense, I am so cross at the basic awfulness of what I saw today...

There is a real malaise. No matter what you say about the individual players there is no one that has made it to this level and who is not AT LEAST competent. The crux is whether your style or attributes fit into the team and the way of playing - and whether you have confidence. Confidence in yourself, the manager, your team mates, the supporters. That Town team did not have the body language of a team with any confidence....

[hallamblue]

Knudsen score?

Well he can't defend......., so maybe he could score! Put him up front!

Oi you, you've docked my post, ya tart lol

[marko69]

That poster quote:
"but when we made a chance we are still 50 yards from goal"
End quote.

He then says, "hope that makes sense."

Sorry mate, no it doesn't.

[arana peligrosa]

Six minutes from defeat against opposition that reside outside the professional league, not to mention with a home advantage..

Not sure what to add to this other than while last years debacle with Portsmouth was bad enough, we seem to have taken it to a new level after today. Fair enough, Lincoln played well and appeared good value for their replay, but what the f*ck does that say about ourselves ? Never will a better opportunity present itself to progress to the fourth round and what do we do ? - make another goddamn mess of things and almost suffer the indignity of a scoreline of considerable embarrassment.

Ideally, I'd wish the inept, colossal as*-clown that is our manager to vacate tomorrow - at least that way we'd have a better chance of getting through the replay - but many realize there's no chance in hell actions will be taken any time soon. That only leaves taking our chances once again but fair play to Lincoln and particularly their traveling support, they departed with arguably the best score line thus far for some considerable time, and if they were to take the replay, seriously, it would be no great surprise.

One last word on McCarthy. Going to back to Magilton's time here, at least he was a very good club servant and highly respected even when it didn't work out. Subsequent names in Keane and Jewell tested the patience to such an extent that there was tangible animosity by the time their respective tenures came to an end at this club - but Mick McCarthy, it is without question - has now eclipsed those two latter names in terms of tolerance and welcome.

Blackburn (league) fixture should be interesting, another potential league six-pointer, and dependant on that we'll have a better understanding of what to expect in the Cup replay. Lose both games, and Mick McCarthy HAS to be fired and out from this club once and for all - no questions asked.

[marko69]

Subsequent names in Keane and Jewell tested the patience to such an extent that there was tangible animosity by the time their respective tenures came to an end at this club - but Mick McCarthy, it is without question - has now eclipsed those two latter names in terms of tolerance and welcome.

Number 9 has made me realise that I jumped on your bones too much, and even though you'll not be reading this, I agree with 9 and I'm not going to do that anymore.

However, I will respectfully disagree with the part above. Maybe for some he has, but Keane and Jewell were properly clueless and they genuinely didn't know where the next win was coming from. I do not believe Mick has quite reached that point.

[Charnwood]

Subsequent names in Keane and Jewell tested the patience to such an extent that there was tangible animosity by the time their respective tenures came to an end at this club - but Mick McCarthy, it is without question - has now eclipsed those two latter names in terms of tolerance and welcome.

Number 9 has made me realise that I jumped on your bones too much, and even though you'll not be reading this, I agree with 9 and I'm not going to do that anymore.

However, I will respectfully disagree with the part above. Maybe for some he has, but Keane and Jewell were properly clueless and they genuinely didn't know where the next win was coming from. I do not believe Mick has quite reached that point.

Agree with you Marko, but he's heading in the same direction.

[number 9]

That poster quote:
"but when we made a chance we are still 50 yards from goal"
End quote.

He then says, "hope that makes sense."

Sorry mate, no it doesn't.

It makes perfect sense to me. I agree with the post entirely. That's one of the many reasons I've wanted MM out for so long. I've played a lot of football over the years, and the one common tactic on every team I've played...was to GET OUT, MOVE UP...when the defence regains possession. It's basic...the back-line is the first-line of attack. And, defensively moving forward creates the opportunity for off side traps. The hoof ball was just a confirmation for me that MM has lost the plot. I think he's senile, and I think he should retire. I'm telling you folks, he will get us relegated. There are managers out there who can do a better job with the players we have.

[phily bon bon]

That poster quote:
"but when we made a chance we are still 50 yards from goal"
End quote.

He then says, "hope that makes sense."

Sorry mate, no it doesn't.

It makes perfect sense to me. I agree with the post entirely. That's one of the many reasons I've wanted MM out for so long. I've played a lot of football over the years, and the one common tactic on every team I've played...was to GET OUT, MOVE UP...when the defence regains possession. It's basic...the back-line is the first-line of attack. And, defensively moving forward creates the opportunity for off side traps. The hoof ball was just a confirmation for me that MM has lost the plot. I think he's senile, and I think he should retire. I'm telling you folks, he will get us relegated. There are managers out there who can do a better job with the players we have.

Not totally convinced that he's senile but more that he's lost the dressing room. What does that mean? I believe that the players don't listen to the instructions and have no confidence in him and very little in themselves. Senior players aren't stepping up to the plate and seasoned professionals are hiding on the field.
You can't blame the kids they need guidance and support but simply aren't getting it.
Big Mick is getting left behind with new ideas and techniques. We ought to bring in a progressive younger generation of management.

If in my job I was producing /doing the same as I did 20 years ago I would have been shipped out long ago. Whether it is cooking building a house or managing a football club times and demands change. We have to evolve. Part of me still feels for Mick and I guess that's why I don't hold him in the same distain I have for Keane the cnut.
He's had less than a shoe string budget and only loanees while selling some of our best players and a victim of his previous success in saving us from the drop.
I have no hatred for Mick it's just things clearly are not working.

[charlton837]

I don't think Mick has completely lost the dressing room but he has lost certain players. When you have some who are with the manager and some that aren't then you end up with a split in the playing staff which is not good.

I'm not sure any player purposely go out to lose in order to get rid of a manager. At QPR there was an interesting moment when we took Kenlock off and the crowd reacted, my mate noticed pitman not looking happy and went and whispered something to Didz who also looked less than impressed. May be nothing but I think there are some fairly big problems. I'm not seeing much evidence of our amazing team spirit that MM and ME go on about whereas in previous seasons I think it could be seen on the pitch

[Bluemike]

I don't think he has lost the dressing room either but sometimes you do wonder. I do think some players have lost the will to fight at times, without picking on anyone too much we all know Knudsen is crap but OMG his body language and demeanour yesterday was just not right, he was literally all over the place from the first minute, 20 minutes in to game he was walking around in an almost slouched position with his hands on his hips, there was something clearly wrong with the guy yesterday.

I disagree with Number9 on the relegation thing too, I don't think MM would ever take us down, for me that is not the issue, I have gone over to the Mick out side for reasons other than that, he has lost the fans, which to me is as important as losing the dressing room, you can change players, you can't change the fans. It has gone so far now that I do not believe he will get them back on board no matter how well he does now and that can only mean one thing. I also think the football has to improve, you can take drab, uninspiring performances if you are winning a fair percentage of games, we are not and people are getting fed up with it. Add to that his comments in the press are coming across as a man who is feeling the strain of the criticism being aimed at him, he may say he doesn't care but I don't believe it. I keep reading things like will players want to come here ? Well yes they will, they have been, we actually have some bloody good players here, it's just going wrong in how they are now being utilised. All these things are the reasons I think he has to go, sadly at this time he won't be going. No for me relegation is not even in my head, 7 points off the bottom Three and 11 points off the top Six, beat Blackburn and suddenly you are as near to the play offs as you are the drop zone.

[Shed on tour]

I will probably get shot down for this but I also think some of the players need to look at themselves as well.
Yes the manager has to take responsibility when things go wrong but as they say when the players cross that white line then it is also up to them to step up when things don't go to plan.
For me we seem to have several who go hiding when the going gets tough. I'm certainly of the opinion it is time for Mick to move on but also maybe some of the players themselves.