Ipswich Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers preview & thread

[lucy]

We should of won it but a point is ok. Now the 3 games on Sky to worry about

[arana peligrosa]

We've scored nine in three games so looking up on the attacking front. There were still some fifteen minutes remaining when the opposition scored today but disappointed we couldn't find a third in the time left.

Looked at some of the immediate fixtures coming up and some awkward games ahead. Charlton lost their manager recently, I don't know if they have a new name in place already but teams often pick up soon after a managerial casualty.

Middlesbrough seems the biggest test, then journeys to MKD and Fulham respectively. Derby and Brighton lie in wait soon after that and a lot of those mentioned teams are up near the automatic promotion places. Will be interesting to see where the club sits when these fixtures are done and the end of year is upon us.

[lucy]

7 points out the next 3 games will suit me.

[Charnwood]

7 points out the next 3 games will suit me.

That would be very nice Lucy but highly unlikely given the way we let teams off the hook when we're appear to be in a winning position.

Looking at our next three games;

Charlton did exceptionally well yesterday, in fact since appointing new boss Karel Fraeye they have had two straight wins against Sheffield Wed & Birmingham both above us in the league, Middlesbrough will be hard to take more than a point off even at Portman Road, and MK Dons despite struggling have only lost one at home since the end of September.

Where do you see these 7 points coming from Lucy?

[Bluemike]

Such a frustrating day yesterday as we played really well for large parts of the game, especially the first half where I thought apart form the opening 10 minutes we bossed the half and played some of our best football of the season, we got ourselves in front with a well worked goal only to let them back into it with a relly scruffy effort which was their only attempt on target the whole half.

I thought in the opening 45 minutes Douglas, Smith & Sears played really well while Pitman & Murphy also caused their defence problems, Afobe hardly had a sniff of the ball with Berra & Smith keeping him pretty quiet so it was so disappointing to lose the goal the way we did. It has to be said we had Two players Knudsen & Bru who seemed intent on either giving the ball away every time they got it or playing us into trouble, add to that Bru's dead ball delivery was woeful at times and wasted chances to get it into the box by hitting the first man.

The second half while still fairly good in parts was not as dominant as the first but still we seemed to have done more than enough to put a fairly ordianry Wolves side to bed, especially after Murphy had got us back in front following good work from Pitman, I really felt at that point we would go on to get the job done and we should have done. Wolves second came from nothing, a long punt down our left side was collected by Le Fondre, who made a big difference when he came on, and his pinpoint cross was headed home by Afobe who was completely unmarked. I would like to see it again to decide if Gerks could have done better but it seemed to me the excellent cross just took him out completely and our defence had gone awol.

Even after that AMN so nearly headed us back in front but it just went wide of the post. There is little doubt we deserved to win the game and played some good football too, just a damn shame that once again a couple of lapses in concentration at the back has cost us and undone so much good stuff. The down side is it is Two points dropped but we are now only Three off the top six as others are getting beaten while we are at least picking up points. Unbeaten in Five and One defeat in Seven is no disaster, it just could have been so much better.

I was disappointed with Knudsen once again who for me is not as good as Parr, while Kevin Bru was very ordinary yesterday and could find himself on the bench at Charlton. My MOTM was Jonathon Douglas who was solid throughout and scored his second goal in Two games, he got stuck in, won headers and tackles, got forward to support the attack and showed us all when played correctly is an asset and a threat on the oppositions goal. Three games coming up where Six or Seven points would be most satisfactory and not beyond us if we play like we did for much of yesterday, without the silly lapses of course.

Well done to all the fans yesterday who observed the minutes silence impeccably for Marton Fulop and the 130 innocent victims of last weekends atrocities, and thats why we have to remember it was only a game of football where we lost two points, it isnt life or death.

[J4ck22]

Such a shame to take only a point from yesterday when we probably played well enough to take the win. We seem to just leak goals, even when seemingly in control and that keeps setting us back. Hopefully we can put that right as the season goes on.

[Tangfastic]

Thanks Mike for the good report.

Bit disappointing, but we've got a tendency to leak goals. Plenty of positives though .... we've got goals in us.

Bru's takes a bit of criticism, but like him being in the team. He might not have had the best game, but his game does offer something going forward.

Appears like we've stumbled upon a better formation that allows Douglas to get forward. Could not understand why a attack-minded 33-34 year old was being re-invented as a holding midfielder earlier in the season, especially as we had Skuse.

Bru could well be benched ( he's not part of Mick's favourites), but Mick's post games comments hinted he was especially pissed of with the defending. Be interesting if he did look at different options with the back 5. That would be against Mick's policies, but his loyalty needs some give back.

[Mr.Punch]

Good summary from bluemike, another 2 points slipping away is a pain but we seem to be getting back on track.
Fair play to Grant Holt for taking stick from the North stand and not getting stroppy about it.
Any idea why Chambers gave the North a finger to the lips "shhh" at half time?

[goldandblack]

[quote="bluemike"]

Well done to all the fans yesterday who observed the minutes silence impeccably for Marton Fulop and the 130 innocent victims of last weekends atrocities, and thats why we have to remember it was only a game of football where we lost two points, it isnt life or death.[/quote]

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

thanks Bluemike for a good and honest read, what some Wuff's were telling me your not far out, it shows we miss Dicko (out for the season) and we never replaced Sako. but onwards and sideways for us and the most important part of your post is the last bit.

Match Report from the Mol

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wol ... -pictures/

[arana peligrosa]

Quote : We seem to just leak goals

Didn't we recently go three consecutive games without the opposition scoring ? Tried to confirm with the official site but pages proved unresponsive. 95 per cent sure on this. The team is just about so unpredictable that you never know quite what to expect from one week to the next.

Bit of a mixed bag at the moment. Leading attackers that while getting a goal here and there, still aren't working to full potential and despite the recent improvement still not convinced with McCarthy's abilities. Until the age old issue of keeping teams out after a leading score can be sufficiently eradicated, then remain skeptical about any real hopes of a promotion challenge this season.

As doubtless said before, a good time to make proper evaluation is after the run of aforementioned fixtures. See where the club lies, what areas need immediate adjustment, what action needs to occur - while there is still time to achieve something.

[Bluemike]

We had kept 2 clean sheets against Bolton & Cardiff but seemingly they don't count LOL.

[Tangfastic]

We had kept 2 clean sheets against Bolton & Cardiff but seemingly they don't count LOL.

Well Mike we've been leaking goals since last season.

Yet smith, Berra , chambers have been undroppable.

It's not a big drama.... but Chabers as skipper should be defensive leader. Don't give a sht about his fist pumps but get those guys organised.

I think Chambo is a great club captain who cares about the club... but we
Need to stop the goals ... the players who will get dropped will be Bru, etc
I ts not Chambo neccasarily, but why do forward players get dropped so easily but these three ( + Knudsen) get a shoe in?l

[Bluemike]

Not sure if you saw the gaem but Bru & Knudsen should be dropped on yesterdays performance. I am not quite sure what Chambers did wrong yesterday or in the last 3/4 games either. As for MM having favourites, that is quite funny really because a large section of Town fans have their favourites to blame for everything too, I.E. Gerken, Douglas and Chambers while proclaiming how the likes of Bru should be playing, now don't get me wrong I am a fan of kevin Bru bit a couple of games lately he has been poor, simple as that while Johnny Douglas has been very impressive.

[Ando]

Not sure if you saw the gaem but Bru & Knudsen should be dropped on yesterdays performance. I am not quite sure what Chambers did wrong yesterday or in the last 3/4 games either. As for MM having favourites, that is quite funny really because a large section of Town fans have their favourites to blame for everything too, I.E. Gerken, Douglas and Chambers while proclaiming how the likes of Bru should be playing, now don't get me wrong I am a fan of kevin Bru bit a couple of games lately he has been poor, simple as that while Johnny Douglas has been very impressive.

Funny how we all see the game. I thought Bru did well and helped us keep passing the ball. The issue for me is Bru is better as a part of a two man centre midfield. Sears is also playing out of position along with pitman. Why have we signed Orr? The game was crying out for him with 15 mins to go. He is the same style of player as Fraser but with fraser injured in stead of putting Orr in we change shape instead.

I think blaming players who are played out of position is wrong as they are asked to do a job within a certain system.

We played some really good stuff at times and the game was entertaining but I was freezing!

[Bluemike]

Not sure if you saw the gaem but Bru & Knudsen should be dropped on yesterdays performance. I am not quite sure what Chambers did wrong yesterday or in the last 3/4 games either. As for MM having favourites, that is quite funny really because a large section of Town fans have their favourites to blame for everything too, I.E. Gerken, Douglas and Chambers while proclaiming how the likes of Bru should be playing, now don't get me wrong I am a fan of kevin Bru bit a couple of games lately he has been poor, simple as that while Johnny Douglas has been very impressive.

Funny how we all see the game. I thought Bru did well and helped us keep passing the ball. The issue for me is Bru is better as a part of a two man centre midfield. Sears is also playing out of position along with pitman. Why have we signed Orr? The game was crying out for him with 15 mins to go. He is the same style of player as Fraser but with fraser injured in stead of putting Orr in we change shape instead.

I think blaming players who are played out of position is wrong as they are asked to do a job within a certain system.

We played some really good stuff at times and the game was entertaining but I was freezing!

yes it is strange as I thought Bru struggled to pass anything yesterday, wasn't impressed at all. i agree completely with the blaming players that are out of position, Sears had a really good 1st half in my opinion.

[Andym]

As I've said before, performance means more to me than results. I enjoyed the game, as we played well at times with a bit of flair and some good passing. Let's not forget that Wolves had a few chances, so although we might have been marginally the better side, a draw was probably a fair result.

In the first half I thought Murphy looked very sharp, as did Sears and Douglas. The goal was well worked, but the equaliser was disappointing. I'm not sure if you can blame anyone, it was just one of those that bobbled about from the corner and they got a toe on it first. It surprised me as I thought Wolves' greatest threat to that point had been when they tried to catch us on the break.

The second equaliser was more disappointing. From a Wolves goal kick, Knudsen had 2 players to pick up and went for the least advanced of the 2. Berra (I think) seemed very slow to get across to pick up the other, giving him acres of space to put an what turned out to be an excellent cross. But despite there being only one striker in the box, Smith and Chambers somehow managed to give him enough space to put an a header unchallenged. So the goal can be partly blamed on all 4 of them - although in fairness Knudsen at least closed down one of the two.

To join in the above discussion, I thought Bru had a decent enough game although he took a knock quite early on. We are without doubt a better side with him there, although I prefer to see him more central. Knudsen worries me but it wasn't his worst game. He's getting forward much more but can get caught out when we give possession away when he's advanced. I don't think he's really good enough but also don't believe that Parr is any better defensively.

Over recent weeks we seem to be developing into something I would never have expected under MM - a team that looks good going forward but struggles to defend. I'm not complaining, it's far more entertaining now we seem to have learnt how to pass a ball and attack.

In summary I suppose it shows the limitations of our team; we can either play a defensive midfield and grind out boring draws, or we can play with more flair and attack and .... still draw. I know which I prefer. An enjoyable if bloody cold afternoon.

[ashfordblue]

Well Hyam possibly out to the Millers on a months loan to get match fit, he's currently at around 75% so the loan out could help, plus with Bishop still to come in, and hopefully Fraser not too much later, it could also boost our chances of a good run in, but I wont hold my breath on that.

[Bluemike]

Well Hyam possibly out to the Millers on a months loan to get match fit, he's currently at around 75% so the loan out could help, plus with Bishop still to come in, and hopefully Fraser not too much later, it could also boost our chances of a good run in, but I wont hold my breath on that.

Go on, hold your breath.

[hallamblue]

[ashfordblue]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Going red cant hold for much longer, 1minute 29 seconds exhales phewwwww, cooooooo wont mention hold my breath again