Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest Match Preview
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:40 am
Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest 
Saturday April 25th 2015 – 15:00
Portman Road
Opening Thought – Jamma
So, hands up who has any fingernails left after Saturday?
Not only did we have to endure our own game, in which Town were clinging on at times, but there were another agonising couple of hours to get through in the afternoon, with Brentford’s result amongst the last to come in on the vidiprinter. It was enough to make me consider taking back my comment about how we should be enjoying the experience of being involved in a promotion campaign! We had gone in to the match at Molineux with Mick McCarthy’s usual ‘There’s no such thing as a bad away point’ mentality. It may not have been our most convincing performance but, 90 nervy minutes later, that was exactly what we had secured. The game at Molineux reminded me of Norwich’s clash with Middlesbrough the previous evening: the away team took the lead after a bright start before almost defying the opposition to try and break them down. Where ‘Boro’s best defensive record in the division saw them to a table-topping 3 points, Ipswich defended from the front to claim the proverbially hard-fought draw. Christophe Berra deservedly got the plaudits for an imperious display on his return to his former club but this was another instance of every individual playing their part in the team’s success.We now know that, barring an unlikely swing in goal difference, we will go into our final day trip to Ewood Park with our fate in our own hands. This may have been the least we could have expected as we entered 2015 but, given the twists and turns we have witnessed since, it should be taken as a positive. Looking at our opponents’ contrasting fortunes over the same period should help lend us some perspective. As recently as February, Forest went 6 games unbeaten to give Dougie Freedman a near-perfect start on his return to the City Ground and make them genuine contenders. Indeed, it has only been over the last few weeks that the promotion challengers have been reduced from ten to eight, with the Reds and next week’s opposition Blackburn dropping off the pace with some patchy form to say the least. As with any other Championship club, Forest cannot be discounted, and have taken a number of scalps at various times of the season, including doing the double over Bournemouth as well as claiming victories against Norwich, Derby, Middlesbrough and Wolves. But the Blues have a proud home record to defend and, with that 3-point buffer on 7th, we should have the confidence to pick up another crucial result as the promotion race looks set to go down to the last day...
The Opposition - Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C. was founded in 1865 shortly after their neighbours Notts County, thought to be the world's oldest surviving professional association football club. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889 and then entered to The Football League. In 1890, Forest moved to the Town Ground, playing in the first ever match to use goal nets.
Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County.
The club spent most of the first half of the twentieth century in the Second Division. In 1949, they were relegated to the Third Division but were promoted two years later as champions.
Forest regained First Division status in 1957 and won the FA Cup for a second time in 1959.
After being runners-up in the League and Cup semi-finalists in 1967, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972.
Forest were considered an underachieving club by English league standards until the mid-1970s, when Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor took the helm at the club. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest won promotion to the top division at the end of the 1976–77 season after finishing third in the Second Division, but no-one could have predicted how successful Clough's team would be over the next three seasons. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams (and the most recent team to date) to win the English First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the English Second Division (1977–78 season).
In 1978–79, Forest went on to win the European Cup by beating Malmö and retained the trophy in 1979–80, beating Hamburg.
They also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. Beside Shilton, key players of that era included right-back Viv Anderson (the first black player to play for the England national team), midfielder Martin O'Neill, striker Trevor Francis and a trio of Scottish internationals: winger John Robertson, midfielder Archie Gemmill and defender Kenny Burns. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial circumstances. It later emerged that in the second leg, the Belgian club had bribed the referee but the referee in question had since died in a car accident and was hence not able to be held to account.
Nottingham Forest's next significant trophy came in 1989 when they beat Luton Town in the League Cup final. For most of the season they had been hopeful of completing a unique domestic treble, but were beaten into third place in the League by Arsenal and Liverpool and lost to Liverpool in the replay of the FA Cup semi-final, originally held at Hillsborough, where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death.
Clough's side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic and were runner-up in the 1991 FA Cup Final.
Brian Clough's 18-year reign as manager ended in May 1993 when Forest were relegated from the inaugural Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top-flight football which had seen a league title, two European Cups and four League Cups.
Frank Clark, who had been a left-back in Nottingham Forest's 1979 European Cup winning team, returned to the club in May 1993 and was able to achieve a return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season.
Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. The club reached the quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competitions that season. The 1996–97 season became a relegation battle and Clark left the club in December.
34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager and in March 1997 he was replaced on a permanent basis by Dave Bassett. Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. They won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997–98, however Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him.
Ron Atkinson was unable to prevent Forest from once again slipping back into the Football League with a succession of poor results.
David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12 million on players, which yielded two mid-table finishes before departing to manage England U-21s.
Paul Hart became the Reds' new boss just two hours after the departure of Platt. Despite off-field difficulties, due to the ITV Digital collapse, Forest finished 2002–03 in sixth place and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. A poor league run the following season, led to the sacking of Hart in February 2004 in order to prevent relegation.
Joe Kinnear was subsequently appointed and led the club to 14th place in the final league table. The 2004–05 season saw Forest drop into the relegation zone once more, leading to Kinnear's resignation in December 2004.
Following the brief caretaker stewardship of Mick Harford, Gary Megson took charge of Forest in January 2005 but failed to stave off relegation as the club ended the season second from bottom in 23rd place, becoming the first European Cup-winners ever to fall into their domestic third division.
In Forest's first season in the English third tier in 54 years, Megson survived until February 2006 when he left by "mutual consent" leaving the club only four points above the relegation zone. Frank Barlow and Ian McParland took temporary charge for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, engineering a six-match winning run and remaining unbeaten in ten games, taking 28 points from a possible 39 under the two, narrowly missing out on a play-off place, as they finished in 7th place.
Colin Calderwood was appointed as the twelfth manager of Forest in thirteen years in May 2006 and became the longest-serving manager since Frank Clark. The Calderwood era was ultimately one of rebuilding. In his first season he led the club to the play-offs, and achieved automatic promotion in his second year at the club. Calderwood's side struggled to adapt to life in the Championship in the 2008–09 campaign, and having been unable to steer Forest out of the relegation zone, Calderwood was sacked following a Boxing Day defeat.
Under the temporary stewardship of John Pemberton, Forest finally climbed out of the relegation zone, and Billy Davies was confirmed as the new manager on 1 January 2009. They avoided relegation as they finished 19th in the Championship, securing survival with one game to go.
The 2009–10 campaign was a successful one for Forest with the club holding a top-three position for the majority of the season, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to West Bromwich Albion, and then lost to Blackpool in the playoffs.
The 2010–11 season saw Forest finish in sixth place in the Championship table putting them into a play-off campaign for the fourth time in the space of eight years, this time around they lost to Swansea over the two playoff semi-final legs.
In June 2011 Billy Davies's contract was terminated, and he was replaced as manager by Steve McClaren, who signed a three-year contract.
Forest started the 2011–12 season with several poor results and McClaren resigned, and chairman Nigel Doughty announced that he intended to resign at the end of the season. In October 2011, Nottingham Forest underwent several changes. These changes included the appointment of Frank Clark as new chairman of the club and also that of Steve Cotterill as manager.
Nigel Doughty, owner and previous chairman of the club died on 4 February 2012, marking the end of a 13-year association with the club, with many estimating his total contribution as £100,000,000.
The Al-Hasawi family, from Kuwait, purchased the club and became the new owners in July 2012.The Al-Hasawi family told press that they had a long-term vision for the club based around a 3–5-year plan, and after interviewing several potential new managers, appointed Sean O'Driscoll, he was known for playing an attractive brand of passing football and what football fans would consider the Forest way.
As of 15 December 2012 after the teams 0–0 draw away at Brighton, Forest sat in 9th position with 33 points, just 3 points off the play-off positions. Just over two weeks later Sean O'Driscoll was sacked following a 4–2 victory over Leeds United with the club stating their intentions of a change ahead of the January transfer window and hopes of appointing a manager with Premiership experience. The man to replace O'Driscoll was Alex McLeish. On 5 February 2013 Nottingham Forest and Alex McLeish had parted company by mutual agreement, just 40 days after McLeish took charge of Forest.
On 7 February 2013, the club re-appointed Billy Davies as manager, having been sacked as the team's manager twenty months previously. His first match in charge was a draw, followed by a run of 10 undefeated games. On 24 March 2014 the club announced they had terminated Davies' employment, following a defeat by Derby County. After initially rejecting the job in March 2014, fans favourite, Stuart Pearce was named as the man to replace Billy Davies on a two year contract, taking over from caretaker manager Gary Brazil.
After a bright start to his tenure, Forest started to slip down the table and on the 1st February 2015, Dougie Freedman was appointed manager of the club in place of Pearce.
One To Watch – Tyler Walker
Nottingham Forest may have endured a disappointing conclusion to their season but one silver lining to come out of the gloom is the chance this has given them to blood some promising youngsters. Along with the likes of Ben Osborn and Todd Kane, one player to have attracted the headlines has been 18-year-old striker Tyler Walker.
As the son of former Forest legend Des Walker, there was always going to be some degree of expectation on the shoulders of Tyler as he came through the ranks at the City Ground. But he seems to have taken it all in his stride, in a personally satisfying campaign which has seen him rise from U18 regular to First Team graduate. His first senior goal, against Brentford, drew particular interest as it meant that he had matched his father’s 408-match goal tally for the club in just 4 (substitute) appearances! It is fair to say that Walker Jnr. has a much more attacking inclination, as proved by his impressive goal return for Forest’s Academy sides. An FA Youth Cup hat-trick against West Brom earlier this season served notice of his ability and he went on to net 7 goals in 13 starts for the U21s. As a result, Dougie Freedman called him up to the First Team, an environment that he has quickly settled into. Although the team is yet to record another win since his debut in March, Walker’s emergence has been a rare bright spot in 2014/15, with potential like this:
The Manager – Dougie Freedman
Freedman began his career with Queens Park Rangers in 1992, but never made their first team. He moved to Third Division Barnet on a free transfer in July 1994, aged 20. He made his league debut in August 1994 and quickly became the club's leading player as he struck 24 goals in his debut season. A bright start to the following season attracted the interest of Crystal Palace who signed him in September 1995.
In the, 1996–97 season Palace went on to win promotion in the Wembley Play Off final. Freedman's experience of Premier League football in the 1997–98 season proved short-lived though as he only managed seven top flight games before being sold to Wolves.
However, Freedmans's time at Wolves only lasted until the end of the 1997–98 season and in August 1998 Freedman signed for newly promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest where he made a total of 83 appearances, and scoring 23 goals, before joining Crystal Palace again in October 2000.
Over the two spells at Crystal Palace, Freedman appeared on 330 occasions, scoring 95 goals.
In 2008 with other strikers keeping him out of the Palace side, he decided to move to League One club Leeds United on loan until the end of the season.
Freedman is still held in very high regard by the Leeds United's supporters to this day despite such a short spell at the club, his impact in helping the team to the playoff final and his impressive interviews during his time at Leeds means he will always be remembered as a cult hero.
After returning to Palace at the end of the season, Freedman was granted a testimonial match to reward him for ten years' service at the club. Following this match, Warnock allowed Freedman to depart Selhurst. He was heavily linked with a permanent move to Leeds, however this never materialized.
Instead Freedman moved to Southend United on a free transfer where he didn’t feature often, and in March 2010 Freedman had his contract at Southend terminated by mutual consent to rejoin Palace as part of the coaching staff, signaling the end of his playing career.
Freedman also made two appearences for the Scottish Team over his career, scoring one goal.
Freedman's coaching career began when he was appointed as the reserve team manager of Crystal Palace in November 2005. He was in this role alongside his playing duties for the club's first team. This role ended when he joined Leeds United on loan the following March. Following his move to Southend United, he began coaching alongside playing for the Shrimpers' first team.
In March 2010, Freedman returned to Crystal Palace again, this time as assistant manager to Paul Hart, and when George Burley was appointed as manager, he kept Freedman as Assistant manager.
Following the sacking of Burley on New Year's Day 2011, Freedman was given the role as Manager, originally on a caretaker basis, which many expected to be for a few weeks until a new manager was appointed, however Freedman was made permanent manager of Crystal Palace signing a two and a half-year deal on 11 January 2011.
He was ultimately successful in guiding Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone, with the club achieving safety with a game to spare. Palace began the 2011–12 season well under their new manager, occupying the playoff places at the end of October and also enjoying a good run in the Football League Cup, where they knocked out Manchester United at Old Trafford. Crystal Palace ended the season finishing in 17th place. They also made a strong start to the 2012–13 season.
On 25 October 2012 Freedman joined Bolton Wanderers. At the time Bolton, in 16th place in the Championship, were 12 places below Crystal Palace in 4th.
Throughout November, Freedman's first full month in charge, his new team remained undefeated, the first time they had achieved this for two years. He went on to lead Bolton Wanderers to five wins in a row for the first time since 2006 in the late push for promotion, taking the club from 20th to 7th position in the Championship. Bolton narrowly missed out on qualifying for the play-offs on the final day of the season.
The 2013–14 season was less successful as Bolton were inconsistent and finished in 14th, their first win not coming until October.
The 2014–15 season started similarly, Bolton failed to win any of their first 6 games and only one of the first ten. Freedman left the club on 3 October 2014 by mutual consent.
On 1 February 2015, Freedman was appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest, following the sacking of Stuart Pearce.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Trev's Trivia
Players to feature for both Teams
David Johnson ITFC 1997–2001 NFFC 2001-2006
Luke Chambers ITFC 2012-present NFFC 2007-2012
Paul Anderson ITFC 2013- present NFFC 2009-2012
David McGoldrick ITFC 2013-present NFFC 2009-2013
Dan Harding ITFC 2006-2009 NFFC 2012-present
Chris Bart-Williams ITFC 2003-2005 NFFC 1995-2002
Media Watch - K L Blue
Found article on ‘Football League World’
Celtic and Ipswich Town are among a host of clubs interested in signing Shrewsbury Town starlet Josh Ginnelly, according to FLW sources.
FLW understands Ginnelly is being courted by a number of clubs
The 18-year-old midfielder is highly-rated at Meadow Lane, and FLW understands that a number of clubs including Scottish giants Celtic and Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich Town are interested.
The youngster who mainly operates as a winger has made three appearances for Micky Mellon’s side this campaign, but he could be set for a move away from the League Two side this summer.
Shrewsbury Town currently sit in second place in Sky Bet League Two, having accrued 86 points from 44 league games thus far this season – and are on course to achieve promotion to League One.
The young talent started his career at Midlands outfit Aston Villa but ended up joining Shrewsbury, and it was there where he started to flourish in the youth system at the club.
Shrewsbury boss Micky Mellon will undoubtedly insist on getting the maximum price for one of the club’s most promising young stars.
Stat Time
Head to Head
Ipswich Town Wins.............................18......26.87%
Nottingham Forest Wins.......................33......49.25%
Draws.............................................16......23.88%
Ipswich Town Goals...........................72.....1.07 Ave Per Game
Nottingham Forest Goals.....................99.....1.48 Ave per Game
Head to Head at Ipswich
Ipswich Town Wins..............................12......37.50%
Nottingham Forest Wins.......................12.....37.50%
Draws..............................................8......25.00%
Ipswich Town Goals...........................46....1.44 Ave Per Game
Nottingham Forest Goals.....................41....1.28 Ave Per Game
The Predicted Teams
Ipswich Town
33 Bialkowski
04 Chambers
05 Smith
06 Berra
03 Mings
08 Skuse
02 Parr
18 Tabb
27 Bishop
09 Murphy
20 Sears
Nottingham Forest
01 Darlow
02 Lichaj
16 Lascelles
25 Hobbs
13 Fox
22 Gardner
10 Lansbury
24 Vaughan
19 Barrow
23 Blackstock
18 Antonio
Marko's Caption Contest
This weeks scores:
Derick 4pts
ITNO1 3pts
Herforder 2pts
TABLE
Blueblood 44
Quasar 43
Herforder 43
FrostyNZ 39
James Scharmann 39
DerickIpsw 35
Barmy Billy 24
Bluemike 21
Nicsreamer 16
IpswichtownNO1 15
Ashfordblue 15
Supershred 13
Number9 9
Loudnproud 7
Floors 7
Ohiotractorboy 7
Jamma123 6
AndyM 5
Charnwood 4
Mr Punch 4
JimmyT 3
Morph 3
Hallamblue 2
This weeks pic:
Match Referee – Graham Salisbury
Final Thought - Frosty
Wasn’t that one of the most valuable ‘Draws’ we have ever had last weekend?
As I see it, in simple terms this week if we beat Forest we are in the playoffs regardless of the result of our final game of the regular season. With a goal difference of ‘+4’ over Brentford and ‘+7’ over Wolves, we would really have to ‘crash and burn’ against Blackburn as well as either of the two teams just below us on the table winning their last two games.
To me, 11th placed Forest are for the taking, they have been struggling lately, gaining only two points out of 15 available over their past 5 fixtures with three losses and two draws. I am actually quite surprised that they chose this week to re-sign Dougie Freedman for another two years as I am not convinced about this guy’s credentials as yet. A poor run home could see them drop as low as 13th place.
In the only other three fixtures that matter for us, the team above us in Derby travel to relegation threatened Millwall. Whilst in the two key fixtures that really affect us, Brentford are off to see the Royals and Wolves have a slightly easier fixture where they can put Wigan out of their misery and send them down to League 1.
Let’s just hope our flat patch after Christmas is now a thing of the past and we peak again at just the right time of the season.
Have a great day on Saturday all those who are attending. (Which should be everyone that can, unless you are either sick, in prison or flying Malaysian Airlines)
COYB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IPSWICH TOWN 2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1
