Ipswich Town vs Derby Preview & Matchday Thread

[shamm]

Stemmed the tide since the two goals with the change in formation.
No serious attack.

Lawrence limping. That would be the end of the season if he is injured.

Darent bent 3 nil before half time.

[number 9]

Time to bring in Douglas, then...

[shamm]

What next.
Maybe MM will not come back after the half- I think many of our supporters will be going home now.

[len]

0-3 down at half time....what a load of rubbish!!
should never rely on Tom Lawrence to get us
out of jail in this game!!!

[ipswichtownNo1]

Any subs at half time?

[Frosty]

Any subs at half time?

Yeah, our ball boy, someone who has thrown some kit on from Row 27 seat H and TC

[shamm]

Any subs at half time?

Yeah, our ball boy, someone who has thrown some kit on from Row 27 seat H and TC

Ward for injured Lawrence.

[lucy]

Very glad i didn't go.

[shamm]

A really poor show again.

We really do not have a clue on how we should be playing.

[shamm]

Moore in for Pitman.

[shamm]

Well done to our fans on the Bent substitution. Really one of our own.

[ipswichtownNo1]

Very glad i didn't go.

Im very very very glad i have not been to a league game at PR this season. Stand by my thoughts of MM. I am however going to attend the Leeds game this month but only due to my step dad being a fan.

[phily bon bon]

Oh dear

[Charnwood]

With 61% possession it's hard to understand how we struggled to create chances. I can only assume we played a lot of sideways and backwards football. That said we had 7 corners to Derby's 5 do maybe it wasn't that bad.

I await Bluemikes report with interest but don't have high expectations.

[hallamblue]

Will the last Town fan leaving Portman Road. Please put the lights out. This once great Club is dead.

f*ck off Evans and take McCarthy with you !

[arana peligrosa]

I got absolutely zero from tonight's game other than mention of three goals behind from some replies here. Can't ascertain any further information, internet connectivity is sub-standard and enduring a streak of f**king technical mishaps. For arguments sake the game would appear over and it was a three goal home loss ? Can't picture much else at time of submission.

Right off the bat any urge for names out of the club will be once again futile. Keep trying to find the right words but it's one goddamn edit after another. Whatever is said will be ultimately redundant as not a thing will be undertaken in way of action.

Will get round to see a match report from those who traveled or an article from TWTD when the time arises just to get a full indication of what occurred and how poor we seem to have been once more. People brush aside any talk of relegation after games such as today but the scoreline alone would indicate we're on the verge of something unsavory.

Look forward to gleaning sufficient information from the game at a more suitable time, but first reaction a 0 - 3 home loss ? Sorry but that's unacceptable even from us.

[bluejacko]

The plot has well and truly been lost! Berra has had an absolute nightmare game! He really cannot play in a back three,we revert to a back four who does MM take off? Not Berra but Digby who was having a good game. Just one of the daft decisions we have to put up with,and they wonder why there's moans and groans from the crowd.

[ashfordblue]

Now will Mick please go, his tactics were bloody awful, please ME sack mick now, before its too late,

[ipswichtownNo1]

Now will Mick please go, his tactics were bloody awful, please ME sack mick now, before its too late,

I think Marcus needs to go. Do you know what, i would love to play at lord of the manor with a lovely big country mansion, have butlers and maids and spend my days chillin however i can not afford it. I would have no money for bills, for wages or for repairs and that lovely mansion would crumble away. In a way i see this is how Marcus sees ipswich. He wants to own a footie club like his golfing buddies, he wants to plant his name on our shirts. However marcus does not have the cash to invest in ipswich, yes he is worth hundreds of millions but its mostly all in businesses. Now Marcus, you are never going to be like Roman at you beloved Chelsea, so please do us a favour and sell our club to someone who truely would like to run it as it should be before it crumbles away .

[Bluemike]

Where to start.......An absolute shocker of a first half put paid to any hopes of taking anything from the game, in fact it was over within 12 minutes as derby raced into a Two goal lead without even having to break sweat. First Bryson and then Ince taking advantage of some static Town defending to plunder the goals that won the points that early. We had started with the 3-5-2 formation and at that very early stage had been pulled apart, Chambers was the only defender who looked to have any idea what he was doing, Berra was all over the place, Digby is just not up to it and as for Knudsen, please just f*ck off, if there has ever been a worse defender wear a Town shirt I have not seen him.

After 15 minutes we had been forced into reverting to a 4-5-i with Digby being moved into midfield, Town continued to huff and puff without ever putting the derby goal under any real threat, again Lawrence was the only Town player who remotely capable of creating anything and he did have a couple of weak attempts. It was derby who continued to look the more incisive whenever they got the ball, they move it so much quicker than us and their passing was crisp and effective as opposed to ours which just always seems to go sideways or backwards. Digby was withdrawn late in the half with Didsy coming on but little changed and it was Derby who scored again, Bart pulled of a brilliant save but from the melee that followed Bent had the simplest of headers as he was totally unmarked again. At this point a real thrashing looked a distinct possibility.

Tom Lawrence failed to appear for the second half, hopefully just precautionary, Grant Ward his replacement. The second half was definitely better but only really because it was job done and Derby were more than happy to sit back and play on the counter attack while giving us plenty of the ball. Sears & Didsy had chances before Ince hit the post following a brisk counter attack. Town were at least getting into some good positions but all too often the final ball or pass failed to find its intended target, Bart had still been forced to make 2 or 3 decent saves to keep the scoreline down to Three.

The only small crumb of comfort for me tonight was once again the showing of Keiffer Moore, having come on to replace the p*ss poor Pitman he had an immediate impact, winning a couple of headers and turning a defender before getting his shot away, he could also have one a couple of penalties on a different day, one looked a cert but nothing doing. At the other Bart again kept us from a hammering with another couple of very good saves from the Derby attackers. Penalty claim number Three came just before the end but the ref gave nothing.

From start to finish it was just a sham, the 3-5-2 was a disaster tonight, and by the time we changed it it was over, even at that early stage. I would just love someone to tell me what Kevin Bru brings to our team ? I fail to see anything positive at all, Pitman looked totally disinterested, Sears is just irrelevent, Digby is not good enough, Knudsen has to be the worst player I have seen in years and that is not based on one or two performances, it is every week, his positional play is disgusting. We have some major issues to sort out and fast or we may have some tense weeks ahead.

For what it is worth I firmly believe we will be comfortable thanks in no small part to our efforts on the road, that is where we will pick up points because at home we are just shot to bits, devoid of any confidence, scared stiff to express ourselves and fearful of making mistakes. Yes Derby are a good side but my god we gave it to them in the first 15 minutes. We have to try to get a settled side and find a formation that suits what we have. Seven new players have now arrived and despite no big names these guys have a massive part to play, if they all show the same enthusiasm as keiffer Moore did again tonight I think we will be fine.

Bart (7) Spence (6) Berra (4) Chambers (6) Digby (5) Knudsen (3) Lawrence (6) Skuse (6) Bru (5) Sears (5) Pitman (4)

SUBS :- Ward (5) McGoldrick (5) Moore (7)

[ashfordblue]

I've just had my mate on the phone to me who went tonight, he said our 1st half performance was so bloody awful, he and his mate left at half time, he said it was so bloody embarrassing, the Derby fans were mocking how easy it was, and to see only 14'700 in attendance the lowest for 17 years, come on Marcus its time to execute the cull NOW.

[Mr.Punch]

With 61% possession it's hard to understand how we struggled to create chances. I can only assume we played a lot of sideways and backwards football. That said we had 7 corners to Derby's 5 do maybe it wasn't that bad.

I await Bluemikes report with interest but don't have high expectations.

I'm afraid the stats are lying, we were never in this game from the first minute. Never looked like scoring, always looked like conceding. It should have been 5 or 6, they missed 2 absolute sitters in the second half.
You know how bad we were against Lincoln ? Then ditto that.
Our possession stats were purely because in the second half, Derby let us play the ball around in our own half.

many, many left at half-time and many more long before the end.
What worried me most was the fans apathy in the second half, we have become immune to just how bad we are.

When MM came on for the second half I noticed (I sat in SARL for a change), that he walked about 10 metres from the touchline to the dugout - frightened of hearing a few hostile words I think.

I pay for ST by DD, can I cancel mid-season?

[Charnwood]

The lack of any sign of Bluemike suggests this was another very dire performance tonight.

Given the potential of a very good game tonight after the glimmer of hope on Saturday at Preston, I'm surprised to see we had the lowest crowd at Portman Road for 17 years, this must me a new low for Town and the culmination of gradual decline.

[Charnwood]

f*ck me I can't say I'm looking forward to February.

Ipswich Town v Reading. Sat 4 Feb

Aston Villa v Ipswich Town Sat 11 Feb

Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town Tue 14 Feb

Ipswich Town v Leeds United Sat 18 Feb

Norwich City v Ipswich Town. Sun 26 Feb

Although I'm pretty sure it won't happen, we could very easily lose all of these games and if we did we would be in serious trouble.

At absolute best I see no more than 6 points there. As the saying goes, "take each game as it comes"

[itfc76trev]

With 61% possession it's hard to understand how we struggled to create chances. I can only assume we played a lot of sideways and backwards football. That said we had 7 corners to Derby's 5 do maybe it wasn't that bad.

I await Bluemikes report with interest but don't have high expectations.

I'm afraid the stats are lying, we were never in this game from the first minute. Never looked like scoring, always looked like conceding. It should have been 5 or 6, they missed 2 absolute sitters in the second half.
You know how bad we were against Lincoln ? Then ditto that.
Our possession stats were purely because in the second half, Derby let us play the ball around in our own half.

many, many left at half-time and many more long before the end.
What worried me most was the fans apathy in the second half, we have become immune to just how bad we are.

When MM came on for the second half I noticed (I sat in SARL for a change), that he walked about 10 metres from the touchline to the dugout - frightened of hearing a few hostile words I think.

I pay for ST by DD, can I cancel mid-season?

I'm in SARL as well and I also pointed out to my brother look how far MM is from the touch line today

[itfc76trev]

f*ck me I can't say I'm looking forward to February.

Ipswich Town v Reading. Sat 4 Feb

Aston Villa v Ipswich Town Sat 11 Feb

Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town Tue 14 Feb

Ipswich Town v Leeds United Sat 18 Feb

Norwich City v Ipswich Town. Sun 26 Feb

Although I'm pretty sure it won't happen, we could very easily lose all of these games and if we did we would be in serious trouble.

At absolute best I see no more than 6 points there. As the saying goes, "take each game as it comes"

You are seeing 6 more points than me then !!

[Bluemike]

The lack of any sign of Bluemike suggests this was another very dire performance tonight.

Given the potential of a very good game tonight after the glimmer of hope on Saturday at Preston, I'm surprised to see we had the lowest crowd at Portman Road for 17 years, this must me a new low for Town and the culmination of gradual decline.

It's there Andy, you must have blinked lol

[Shed on tour]

In all the years I have been watching football I saw something that I have never seen before last night.
In the first half the ball was stationary in the middle of our penalty area and there were 3 Town players around it. They all decided to look at it, giving the impression of what the feck is this thing and then at the last moment one of them decided to clear it. Everybody near me in SBR lower just burst into fits of laughter.
For me that just summed up the entire club at this moment in time in that nobody seems to have a clue in what to do.

[charlton837]

With 61% possession it's hard to understand how we struggled to create chances. I can only assume we played a lot of sideways and backwards football. That said we had 7 corners to Derby's 5 do maybe it wasn't that bad.

I await Bluemikes report with interest but don't have high expectations.

I can confirm it was THAT bad and worse. Completely pathetic to be honest. Only 3 players that come out with any credit for me were Bart, Ward and Moore.

Lowest crowd since December 1998 and not really even a hint of a boo in the second half, people just sat there bored, bored of what this club has become. Anyone remember when MM came in and he vowed to sort this club out, get rid of all the loanees we had, bring in some players permenantly who want to play for the this club, well we are nearly back to square one again.

Last night another 2 loans confirmed on top of what we have, Chambers and Berra wanting out. Just a complete shambles

[Andym]

We lost this game before kickoff. As soon as I heard the line up, it was obvious what would happen. Like Bluemike, I feel a back 3 could be the way forward, but with the current defensive injuries it isn't. It just isn't. We have all seen that Berra can't play in that system. No, all of us except MM have seen that. He preferred to try it and wait until we were 2 - 0 down to change it. His justification? He thought we needed 3 in central midfield to stop Derby. But that midfield consisted of Skuse, Bru and Lawrence. Lawrence wants to get forward, Skuse wants to stroll around and break up play occasionally, and Bru wants to try 30 yard passes that come off very occasionally and avoid tackling if he can.

The first goal was bad. The scorer stood in yards of space outside the box, screaming for the ball. He got it and a defender - not sure who - rushed to block the shot but was too late. Why did no one move sooner? Because no one ever does. Why wasn't our defensive midfield dynamo blocking it? Because he was nowhere to be seen.

Second goal was even worse. A great finish but Knudsen, who in fairness was trying to get forward as a wingback, was bypassed by a simple pass that more worryingly (and more predictably) bypassed Berra.

Third goal. The worst. We had a few defenders in and around the near post. Knudsen on his arse beyond the far post who seemed to think he'd been fouled but I didn't see it. Bent in the area with what must have been 10 yards of free space all around him.

It is clear that we don't have the players here to do any better. But tactically MM's attempts to stop the opposition playing yet again made things worse. For F*ck's sake let's play our game - and let's forget about 3 at the back until we have a left sided central defender who can play that way. I still believe Tommy Smith, when fit, could do it - certainly better than Berra. I'm not knocking Berra, he's being asked to play in a formation that he simply can't.

While I agree with Bluemike to some extent about Knudsen, he is often left stranded. For example, Sears, who was invisible playing centrally in the first half, became a liability in the second half when he played wide. Every time he had the ball he lost possession. A misplaced pass to Knudsen left the defender at the wrong end of the pitch...through no fault of his own.

The worst player on the pitch for Ipswich in the first half was Spence. He looked bewildered as Derby players shot past him when in a defensive role, and going forward lost possession every time he got it. I expected to see him substituted before half time, he was worse than Knudsen. Much worse. He had a much improved second half, but by then Derby were embarrassing us by letting us keep possession and show how little we could do with it.

If Sears was ineffective up front, Pitman was... Pitman. Unfortunately he isn't a target man and never will be, he needs to play off someone else. He can't help that, and I think he only won 1 header all night. It must be frustrating when all you get are high balls you can't win. But he is always static. Even the appalling sears moves into space. Murphy was never ever stood still. Pitman stands still, never anticipates.

Bart had another good game, several excellent saves. Spence improved, Chambers did all he could. Digby moved into midfield when MM realised at 2 - 0 that his appalling tactics weren't working. Skuse did ok but nothing spectacular, I think once I even saw him running. Lawrence had to try to be a one-man team again. Of the subs, I thought all 3 did OK. Ward and McGoldrick tried, Ward with a bit of pace, McGoldrick with a bit of control. Moore looked good mainly because our other attacking options are so awful. He can at least head a ball, he looks like he can use his feet too, and got off his arse and moved. Not sure that makes him good enough for the Championship, but a better bet than anyone else we have.

So where does that leave us? I haven't been demanding big money transfers because that isn't going to happen. And there is no guarantee they would work (e.g. Michael Chopra). But although it is true that spending money does not guarantee success, not spending pretty well eliminates any possibility of success. As I've said recently, one of my biggest concerns is that we can get in youngsters and wreck them; our tactics and / or coaching aren't good enough. I guess we will avoid relegation - 10 points is a lot of ground to make up when you're near the bottom, you need promotion form to do that. I guess MM will see out the season at least. And possibly next season. God help us.