Ipswich Town v Norwich City
Saturday 9th May 2015 – 12:15 – Championship Play-Off Semi Final 1st Leg
Portman Road
Live on Sky Sports
Opening Thought – Jamma
...And breathe! Just as we thought we had seen it all from this craziest, most...bonkers of Championship seasons, the final day once again didn’t disappoint with all its twists and turns. Just about the only thing which was predictable was that there would be surprises along the way, or, as Mick McCarthy put it, ‘Someone would get slapped’. Luckily, although Town were on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline at Ewood Park, it was Derby who ended up with this unfortunate tag. Sky did their best to draw out the tension, with the cagey announcement that there was ‘big news’ from Pride Park, but the jubilant cheer from the away end was the cue for a collective sigh of relief amongst the Blue Army across Suffolk and around the world. But even at that stage, as Josh King struck the bar with a spectacular first-time effort in the 78th minute, somehow you wouldn’t have ruled out the 3-goal swing which would have seen Wolves gatecrash the play-off party at our expense. Never had an Ipswich Town defeat been celebrated so joyfully, and never had I been so relieved that I would be writing at least another couple of these ‘Opening Thought’s before the season was out!
It seems a long time since I was writing my first one of these ahead of the Fulham game in August. Back then, many of us would have had the Cottagers down as genuine promotion contenders, while you would have got particularly good odds on both Bournemouth and Brentford finishing in the top 5. Ironically enough, perhaps the one thing we might have been able to predict, given the club’s steady, sustained progress under Mick McCarthy, was Ipswich’s 6th place finish. But this only tells half the story of a rollercoaster season, which saw us rise – albeit briefly – to the top of the table with our impressive form in November and December before threatening to drop out altogether on the back of an inconsistent start to 2015. Steve McLaren was honest enough to admit that the final Championship table doesn’t lie, and, after 46 matches, 6th is an accurate reflection of our achievements, giving us our first appearance in the play-offs for a decade.
Although we have plenty of experience of the end-of-season lottery from the previous ten years, 6th spot is not a position we are too familiar with. But this could work in our favour with respect to our higher-placed rivals. Norwich and Middlesbrough will not only be disappointed to have missed out on automatic promotion but will feel the added frustration of having to face sides who finished 8 and 7 points below them respectively. The play-offs are notorious for paying no regard to form or league positions, as we know all too well, having lost out to West Ham after finishing 10 points above them in 2005. We may be going in as the underdogs but some of our best performances and results this campaign have come in similar circumstances, while we have come unstuck when expected to win. As we all know, anything can happen in the Championship, and in 2014/15 it most certainly has. There is no reason why this shouldn’t continue as the season enters extra time...
It has long looked like our Norfolk neighbours would end up having a say on the outcome of our campaign, whether it was through the 6 points lost to them in the regular season or as a result of an eagerly-anticipated meeting in the play-offs. As if it isn’t exciting enough to have finished in the top 6 for the first time in recent memory, extra spice is provided in the form of what is arguably the most important East Anglian derby in history. The inevitable tension will be intensified given what is at stake, and the Canaries will start as favourites after having done the double over us. But there is no doubt that they will be feeling the pressure, with Luke Chambers wasting no time in starting the mind games by saying that they would have expected to have won automatic promotion given their resources. Local derbies are unpredictable at the best of times and this will be even more the case in a one-off semi-final tie. With the first leg being at Portman Road, the onus will be on the Blues to take the initiative by continuing our fine home form. Local bragging rights, a chance of revenge and a shot at promotion are all on the line, as we renew rivalries with our nearest and not-so-dearest...
The Opposition – Norwich City
Norwich City F.C. was formed on 17 June 1902.
Following an FA Commission, the club was ousted from the amateur game in 1905, as it was deemed to be a professional organisation. Later that year, Norwich were elected to play in the Southern League and ,with increasing crowds, they were forced to leave Newmarket Road in 1908, moving to The Nest, a disused chalk pit. The club's original nickname was the Citizens, although this was superseded by 1907 by the more familiar 'Canaries' after the club's chairman (who was a keen breeder of canaries) dubbed his boys 'The Canaries' and changed their strip to yellow and green. During the First World War, with football suspended and facing spiralling debts, City went into voluntary liquidation on 10 December 1917.
The club was officially reformed on 15 February 1919. When, in May 1920, the Football League formed a third Division, Norwich joined the Third Division for the following season. The club went on to endure a mediocre decade, finishing no higher than eighth but no lower than 18th. The following decade proved more successful for the club, with promotion as champions to the Second Division in the 1933–34 season. With crowds continuing to rise, and with the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation of the ground, but ultimately decided on a move to Carrow Road. The club was relegated to the 3rd Division just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The league was suspended the following season and did not resume until the 1946–47 season. City finished this and the following season in 21st place, the poor results forcing the club to apply for re-election to the league.
In the 1959–60 season, Norwich were promoted to the Second Division after finishing in second place. In 1962, Ron Ashman guided Norwich to their first trophy, in a two-legged final to win the League Cup.
Sixth place in the league was the closest the club came to promotion to the First Division during the 1960s, but after winning the division in the 1971–72 season under manager Ron Saunders, Norwich City reached the highest level of English football for the first time. Relegation to the Second Division in 1974 resulted in the resignation of Saunders and the appointment of John Bond. A highly successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division. Bond resigned during the 1980–81 season and the club were relegated, but bounced back the following season after finishing third.
The 1984–85 season was of mixed fortunes for the club; under Ken Brown's guidance, they reached the final of the Football League Cup at Wembley Stadium, having defeated Ipswich Town in the semi-final. In the final, they beat Sunderland, but in the league both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated to the second tier of English football. This made Norwich the first English club to win a major trophy and suffer relegation in the same season.
City bounced back to the top flight by winning the Second Division championship in the 1985–86 season. This was the start of what remains in 2012 a club-record nine consecutive seasons in the top division of English football until they were relegated to the First Division at the end of the 1994/95 season.
English television cook Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones took over the majority of Norwich City's shares in 1996.
Nigel Worthington took over as Norwich City manager in December 2000 following an unsuccessful two years for the club under Bruce Rioch and then Bryan Hamilton.
The 2003–04 campaign saw the club win the First Division title, and they returned to the top flight for the first time since 1995, but were relegated after one season.
Following this relegation, the club entered a 'dark' period with Worthington, Peter Grant, Glenn Roeder and Bryan Gunn all taking on the Manager’s role and achieving mediocre results, culminating in relegation to League 1 at the end of the 2008/9 season.
Following their relegation, their first game of the season resulted in a shock 7–1 home defeat against East Anglian rivals Colchester United. This was the club's heaviest ever home defeat, succeeding a record that had stood since 1946, and Gunn was sacked six days later.
On 18 August 2009, Paul Lambert was announced as the new manager, leaving his post at Colchester, and nine months later led Norwich to promotion back to the Championship as League One Champions, after a single season in League One. The following season saw Norwich promoted to the Premier League, finishing second in the table, completing the first back-to-back promotions from the 3rd tier to the 1st.
A generally successful season saw the club finish in 12th place in their first season back in the Premier League. Manager Paul Lambert resigned within a month of the season's close to take up the vacant managerial spot at Aston Villa, and was replaced by Chris Hughton.
The 2012–13 season started poorly and a bad run of form that was followed by a club record unbeaten run in the Premier League. A 1–0 home defeat to Luton Town on 26 January 2013 resulted in Norwich becoming the first English top flight team to lose an FA Cup tie to a non-league side in 24 years.
Norwich secured their third year in the Premier League with consecutive victories in the last two games of the season, to finish 11th in the league. However, they were relegated back to the Championship after finishing 18th in the 2013–14 season.
One To Watch – Bradley Johnson
What do you mean, I’ve got to come up with two more Norwich City ‘star’ players to focus on?!
Alright, here goes... After picking out Cameron Jerome ahead of our last encounter, I’ll go for the other goalscorer from that day – possibly the scruffiest-looking man in football, Bradley Johnson.Like fellow former Leeds United midfielder Jonny Howson, Johnson has made a big impact since arriving from Elland Road in the 2011/12 season...and I’m not just talking about his overly aggressive approach. He had already established a reputation as a combative midfielder with an eye for goal, and was one of Paul Lambert’s first signings ahead of the Canaries’ return to the Premier League. Having started out at Cambridge, he went on to spend 3 years with Northampton, also featuring on loan for Ebbsfleet and Stevenage during that time. Following a successful 3 years at Leeds, in which he helped the club win promotion back to the Championship, Johnson was on the move again, signing a 3-year contract at Carrow Road. He went on to stake his claim as one of Norwich’s most important players, reflected in his 3rd-place finish in the club’s Player of the Season award for 2012/13, coming in behind such illustrious names as Sebastien Bassong and Robert Snodgrass. Johnson has really come into his own in 2014/15, though, as he has scored 15 goals from midfield to complement the Canaries’ options in attack. In the absence of the suspended Lewis Grabban for the play-off semi-finals, a lot of the impetus will fall on the 28-year-old’s shoulders to come up with something special, as he did with the opener in March’s derby.
The Gaffer – Alex Neil
Smug Git!
A central midfielder, Neil began his career at Airdrie in 1999, making 16 appearances before joining Barnsley in 2000.
Neil spent four years at Barnsley and featured 121 times before, in 2004, joining Mansfield Town, where he spent only one season, although he played in 41 of that season’s matches.
In 2005, he signed for Hamilton Academical, where he saw out his playing career, making 211 appearances for the club.
Known for his aggressive playing style, he is a fans’ favourite for many of the Accies supporters. Neil won the Scottish First Division with Hamilton Academical in 2008.
After manager Billy Reid vacated his managerial position at Hamilton in April 2013, Neil was appointed player/manager on an interim basis. He was made manager on a permanent basis on 24 May 2013.
Neil led the club to promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, winning through the play-off system in May 2014.
Hamilton then enjoyed a good start to the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership, defeating Celtic away for the first time in 76 years.
In January 2015, Norwich City obtained permission from Hamilton to speak to Neil about their managerial vacancy.
On 9 January 2015, Neil was confirmed as Norwich City manager, making him the youngest manager in the English Football leagues.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Trev's Trivia
Players to play for both Ipswich and that lot:
Clive Baker Ipswich 1992-1994, that lot 1977-1984
Trevor Putney Ipswich 1980-1986, that lot 1986-1989
Andy Marshall Ipswich 2001-2004, that lot 1994-2001
Alan Lee Ipswich 2006-2008 2013-2014, that lot 2009 loan
Kevin Lisbie Ipswich 2008-2011, that lot 2005 loan
John Deehan Ipswich 1986-1988, that lot 1981-1986
Media Watch - K L Blue
We deserve top six place says Mick as he looks forward to derby showdown
Mick McCarthy is relishing an ‘unbelievable’ tie against Norwich in the Play-Off semi-finals after Blues finished in sixth despite a 3-2 defeat at Blackburn.
Daryl Murphy’s brace took his tally to 27 League goals for the season but Town needed a favour from Reading, who won at Derby, to book a place in the Play-Offs.
“I would rather have done it ourselves and we didn’t play well but over the season, we deserve to be there,” said the Town boss.
“I have always said that it’s where you are on May 2 that counts and we are in the Play-Offs with 78 points.
“I thought someone would get slapped on the last day and in the end it was Derby and not us and I’m delighted about that.
“If you looked at the possible outcomes on the last day, you would not have picked the one we have ended up with but that’s football.
“At the start of the season, not many would have picked us for top six but we are there on merit and we now have an unbelievable tie to look forward to against Norwich with a fantastic prize at stake. I’ll relish it.”
Stat Time
Head to Head
Ipswich Wins.................38 (45.24%)
Norwich Wins................32 (38.10%)
Draws.........................14 (16.67%)
Ipswich Goals...................129 (ave. 1.54/match)
Norwich Goals...................98 (ave. 1.17/match)
Head to Head at Ipswich
Ipswich Wins.....................23 (54.76%)
Norwich Wins....................14 (33.33%)
Draws..............................5 (11.90%)
Ipswich Goals....................80 (ave. 1.90/match)
Norwich Goals...................45 (ave. 1.07/match)
The Predicted Teams
Ipswich Town
33 Bialkowski
04 Chambers
05 Smith
06 Berra
03 Mings
02 Parr
27 Bishop
08 Skuse
18 Tabb
20 Sears
09 Murphy
Norwich
01 Ruddy
17 E Bennett
05 Martin
30 Bassong
23 Olsson
28 O'Neil
08 Howson
22 Redmond
14 Hoolahan
04 Johnson
11 Hooper
Marko’s Caption Contest
Scores as follows:
Picture one:
Number 9 4pts
Derick 3pts
Nicsreamer 2pts
Picture two:
Blueblood 4pts
Number 9 3pts
Nicsreamer 2pts
Quasar 2pts
Picture three:
Number 9 4pts
James 3pts
Blueblood 3pts
Herforder 2pts
Well done to you Number 9 for a whopping 11 points this week. Funny stuff.
FINAL TABLE
Blueblood 54
Herforder 48
Quasar 47
FrostyNZ 45
James Scharmann 45
DerickIpsw 41
Nicscreamer 25
Barmy Billy 24
Bluemike 21
Number 9 20
IpswichtownNO1 15
Ashfordblue 15
Supershred 13
Jamma123 7
Loudnproud 7
Floors 7
Ohiotractorboy 7
AndyM 5
Charnwood 4
Mr Punch 4
JimmyT 3
Morph 3
Hallamblue 2
Collins 1
CONGRATULATIONS TO 2014/15 WINNER: BLUEBLOOD
Match Referee – Anthony Taylor
Final Thought - Frosty
Not really much I can add here without stating the obvious. But I must congratulate the boys from Derby who played superbly in the weekend assisting us to cement our own place in the playoffs.
I am interested what people think when it comes to ‘Home & Away’ two leg fixtures. I have always believed that playing the first fixture at the oppositions ground is an advantage as away goals are often worth as much as a win. You then play the return fixture at home where hopefully your own supporters can give you that edge to see you through. We really need to go to Norwich next weekend with a win in the bank (or at least a low scoring draw) or it may just be a bridge too far.
It’s with both excitement and some trepidation for me in facing the ‘old foe’ this weekend, it’s such in winner takes all in more ways than one, and the vanquished may face a long summer. I may get shot down for this comment, but I genuinely feel Norwich have far more to lose than we do as they were a firm favourite from the get go this season. In many respects we are in the better position finishing in 6th as there is always more pressure on the side that just missed out on Automatic promotion.
Recent form goes out the window when it comes to knockout, but the budgies have been a wee bit inconsistent lately, a good win over Fulham in the weekend followed an ordinary performance at Rotherham where they shared the points. For me the telling stat from this match was not the shared possession but the fact that Rotherham had 23 shots to Norwich’s 5. Prior to this they suffered a narrow loss at home to Middlesbrough.
In the other fixture this weekend, Brentford host Boro to start the determination of who meets us in the final at Wembley.
It’s going to be magic at PR on Saturday, ‘A local Derby on Acid’ springs to mind. There’s a chance that it might be on telly down here which is really exciting for supporters such as myself that can’t attend due to distance but are just as excited as any other fan that is able to attend the game.
COYB!!!!!!!!!
IPSWICH TOWN 1 NORWICH CITY 0
I like this team selection AB, Smith on the bench would be good, any chance of tweeting or texting it to Mick??????????