Tractor-Boys.com

Ipswich Town v Middlesbrough



Friday 4th December 2015 – 19:45

Portman Road

Live on Sky Sports 1








Opening thought – Jamma

A year on from last season’s dramatic win at The Valley, there was a definite sense of a corner having been turned as we enjoyed another successful away day in the capital. Noel Hunt’s stoppage time winner in 2014/15 secured a victory which, on the balance of play, may not have been deserved, sending us into the top two. This time around, we came away with a thoroughly deserved 3 points thanks to an accomplished display which left us within touching distance of the play-off zone. As impressive as Town were in attack on Saturday, with Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears giving the Addicks’ backline a particularly torrid time, it was just as pleasing to see our battling qualities in evidence once again. Leafing through the programme ahead of the game, I couldn’t help notice Charlton’s captain – and my ‘One to watch’ – Johnnie Jackson, highlighting where our strengths lie: ‘You know what you’re going to get when you play against Ipswich. They’re organised; difficult to break down and that’s why they were so successful last season’. While this might previously have been construed as a criticism of our approach, it was certainly intended as a compliment here, as it was by Neil Redfearn, who has admitted that he sent his Rotherham team out to play ‘the Ipswich way’ in their 3-0 win against Bristol City. If this is how other teams perceive us, so be it – better that reputation than the soft touch we were often seen as under Roy Keane and Paul Jewell. Once the match got underway, the Blues were quick to back this impression up. Right across the pitch, we won our individual battles, earning the right to play some entertaining football. From an inspired Dean Gerken, who made three world-class saves, through the typically combative defence and midfield, who put their bodies on the line, up to the aforementioned Murphy and Sears, who, along with Brett Pitman, held the ball up well and relieved the pressure with some surging runs, it was an all-round performance to be proud of.

Am I the only one who is getting a sense of déjà vu, or is 2015/16 starting to resemble last year’s successful season? Our super start may have been delayed to September in 2014/15 but, sparked by an away draw, the Blues went on a winning run both times, involving four league victories last year and five straight wins in all competitions in 2015. In October, the Blues registered three draws on each occasion, including against Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield twice. In the two clashes at the City Ground, we leaked stoppage time equalisers, as well as conceding late goals in 2014 against Blackburn and Huddersfield, both of whom we also played in October 2015. But it is November where the similarities are really striking. For 2014/15, read 2015/16, as both times the Blues got off to the perfect start, winning all of their matches in the space of a week. Then came a 2-2 draw – at champions elect Bournemouth last year and against Wolves this – before we claimed a potentially pivotal victory at The Valley. If history is to repeat itself, Mick McCarthy should be set for November’s Manager of the Month award, with Daryl Murphy possibly making it another double with the Player of the Month… On this basis, we can expect to be setting our sights on the automatic promotion places on the back of a sensational December! Before we all get carried away like me, though, there is the small matter of an encounter with a similarly in-form Middlesbrough…


Picture credit Kritt Normsaskul, @kritt_stagram


The Opposition - Middlesbrough





The club turned professional in 1889, but reverted to amateur status in 1892. They turned professional permanently in 1899 and, after three seasons, they won promotion to the First Division, where they would remain for the next 22 years.

In 1903, the club moved to Ayresome Park, their home for the next 92 years.

Over the next few years, their form fluctuated greatly, rising to sixth in 1907–08 before dropping to seventeenth two seasons later. The club rose to their highest league finish to date, third, in 1913–14. The First World War soon intervened and football was suspended. Before league football resumed, Middlesbrough won the Northern Victory League, but the team were unable to maintain their previous form and finished the 1919–20 season in mid-table. They remained in the First Division for the next few seasons, but were relegated in 1923–24 after finishing bottom, ten points adrift of their nearest rivals.

Three seasons later, they won the Division Two title. Their tenure back in the top flight lasted only one season, and the club were relegated. They were promoted at the first attempt in 1928–29, winning another Second Division title. The club remained in the First Division until 1954.

Middlesbrough climbed to fourth in the last full season before the Second World War and were expected to challenge for the title the following season, but the war intervened. After the war, the club was unable to recover the form of the previous seasons and hovered around mid-table and exited in the early rounds of the FA Cup. Soon afterwards, the team began to falter, eventually suffering relegation in 1953–54. This was the start of a 20-year spell outside the top division.

Over that period, Middlesbrough maintained reasonable progress in the Second Division but were never serious contenders for promotion. After a fourth place finish in 1962–63, the club endured a steady decline and were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history in 1966.

New manager Stan Anderson returned the club to the second flight at the first attempt. Middlesbrough would not finish below ninth during the following eight seasons. By 1974, Jack Charlton had taken over as manager and guided the team back to the top flight.

The club experienced severe financial difficulties during the mid-1980s. In April 1986, the club had to borrow £30,000 from the PFA to pay wages. The final game of the season saw Middlesbrough relegated to the Third Division once more. That summer, the club called in the Provisional Liquidator and, shortly afterwards, Middlesbrough were wound up and the gates to Ayresome Park were padlocked. Without the £350,000 capital required for Football League registration, a new rule, it seemed inevitable that the club would fold permanently. However, Steve Gibson, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium and, with ten minutes to spare before the deadline, they completed their registration with the Football League for the 1986–87 season. Following the registration came both a change of club crest and a change of the official company name, to Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Club (1986) Ltd..

Over the next two seasons, Middlesbrough gained successive promotions into Division Two and then into Division One. The next season, though, they came straight back down to Division Two. Despite constant promotion and relegation, Middlesbrough were founding members of the FA Premier League for the 1992–93 season.

The 1996–97 season was compounded by a deduction of three points imposed just after Christmas, as punishment for the club's failure to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn, which ultimately resulted in relegation. At the same time, the club managed to reach both the League and FA Cup finals for the first time, but lost out in both. Despite being in the second tier, they were again runners up in the League Cup final the next year.

Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premiership at the first attempt in 1998. They continued to stay secure in mid-table the following season.

Bryan Robson left the club before the start of the 2001–02 season, having served as manager for 7 years, and was replaced by Manchester United assistant coach Steve McClaren. The following seasons saw Premiership security maintained, as Middlesbrough slowly improved and were seen as a tough side to beat when playing at the Riverside Stadium. During McClaren's reign, Middlesbrough achieved their highest Premier league placing of 7th in the 2004–05 season.

The 2003–04 season was the most successful in the club's history, as they finally won a major trophy after beating Bolton in the League Cup final.

Middlesbrough reached the 2006 UEFA Cup Final in Eindhoven, following two comebacks in the rounds preceding it, but lost to Sevilla. Following the cup final, McClaren left to head up the England team, and captain Gareth Southgate took over. Despite not having the coaching qualifications, he was allowed to continue after receiving special dispensation. Southgate's first two seasons saw the club finish in 12th and 13th places. He oversaw the club reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for three seasons, but the club was relegated to the Football League Championship on the last day of the 2008–09 season.

Despite starting the 2010–11 campaign as promotion favourites, the club endured a disappointing start to the season, securing only 1 point in 5 away games. Having slipped to 20th in the Championship following a home defeat to rivals Leeds, Gordon Strachan resigned on 18 October. A week later, Tony Mowbray was confirmed as the new manager. Having staved off the threat of relegation, Mowbray successfully transformed Boro's fortunes, eventually guiding them to a top-half finish.

Following a poor run of form of 2 wins in 12 games in the 2013–14 campaign, on 21 October 2013, nearly 3 years after his arrival, Tony Mowbray left the club with immediate effect. Aitor Karanka, a former Spanish defender and assistant coach at Real Madrid, became the new Middlesbrough manager on 13 November 2013, signing a two-year contract. He became the first non-British manager at the club.

Boro had a good 2014/15 season, finishing in 4th place. After beating Brentford in the play-off semi-finals, they met Norwich in the Championship play-off final… Sadly, the budgies came out on top on the day.


One To Watch – Emilio Nsue



Having a former Real Madrid assistant manager as boss obviously brings its advantages, not least when it comes to attracting transfer targets, even if to Middlesbrough! Aitor Karanka has been able to do this with players such as Emilio Nsue.

The 26-year-old was born in Palma, in Mallorca, but switched international allegiances to be able to represent Equatorial Guinea, after failing to make Spain’s Olympic squad at London 2012. Domestically, Nsue started out with local club RCD Mallorca, making his La Liga debut as an 18-year-old. During his time in the Balearics, he went out on loan to fellow Spanish sides Castellón and Real Sociedad. He was predominantly deployed on the right of the Basque team’s attack, helping them win promotion back to the top tier. Having returned to Mallorca for the 2011/12 campaign, Nsue completed the transition to right-back, gaining acclaim for his versatility. Karanka moved to sign him ahead of his first full season at the Riverside, having previously worked with him in the Spanish youth set-up. Although he has continued to play at full-back for Boro, Nsue has not lost his attacking instincts, as proved by his goalscoring exploits for 2015 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Equatorial Guinea. He has actually scored as many times on the international stage as in club football, although the hat-trick that he claimed on his official Guinea debut was wiped from the record books, as Nsue was deemed ineligible to play in this 2014 World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde. He got off the mark for Middlesbrough on Saturday, with the clincher at Huddersfield.


The Gaffer – Aitor Karanka





Born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Karanka played as a youth with hometown club Deportivo Alavés and then switched to Basque neighbours Athletic Bilbao. He made his senior debut with the reserves of the latter in 1992, competing with the team in the Segunda División.

Karanka was promoted to the main squad by Jupp Heynckes in 1993, making his La Liga debut on 7 November and going on to feature in exactly 100 league matches in his three full seasons, before joining Real Madrid in 1997. With the capital team, he was used mostly as a back-up, but appeared in 33 UEFA Champions League games for the club, including the 1999–2000 final against Valencia CF. He also missed the vast majority of the 1998–99 campaign due to a heart condition.

For 2002–03, Karanka returned to Athletic Bilbao, helping the Lions qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year after a fifth place finish in the league. He switched to Major League Soccer and the Colorado Rapids in 2006.

Karanka only played once for Spain at senior level, on 26 April 1995 against Armenia in the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers. He also represented the nation in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, playing in four matches in an eventual quarter-final exit.

In June 2010, Karanka was appointed assistant manager at former side Real Madrid, by newly appointed manager José Mourinho. Three years later, he left the club, following the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti, who brought his own coaching staff.

On 13 November 2013, Karanka was appointed manager of Middlesbrough, replacing Tony Mowbray.



Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev

The last time Boro came to Town, we were enjoying ourselves over the festive period… Watch out for that towering Jay Tabb header!




Trev's Trivia

Players to play for both teams

John Wark ITFC 1975–1984, 1988–1990 and 1991–1997 Boro 1990–1991

Tony Mowbray ITFC 1995–2000 Boro 1982–1991

Mark Venus ITFC 1997–2003 Boro 2013 Manager

Kieron Dyer ITFC 1996–1999, 2011 Loan Boro 2013

Media Watch - K L Blue

Further good news on the financial front at Portman Road, as Town announce a pre-tax profit for the first time since Marcus Evans’ takeover:
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/i ... _1_4334301

Take a trip down Memory Lane with a reminder of some of these ‘one-hit wonders’…
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/m ... _1_4330675

A fan’s eye report on Saturday’s game:
http://www.haverhillecho.co.uk/sport/fo ... -1-7095941

News of the latest ex-Ipswich contingent to be unveiled as Colchester’s management team:
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/e ... _1_4333291


Stat Time



Head To Head


Ipswich Town Wins...........29 (47.54%)
Middlesbrough Wins..........18 (29.51%)
Draws............................14 (22.95%)


Ipswich Town Goals...........97 (Ave. 1.59 Per Match)
Middlesbrough Goals..........78 (Ave. 1.28 Per Match)


Head To Head at Ipswich

Ipswich Town Wins...........20 (64.52%)
Middlesbrough Wins...........5 (16.13%)
Draws...........................6 (19.35%)


Ipswich Town Goals..........61 (Ave. 1.97 Per Match)
Middlesbrough Goals.........28 (Ave. 0.90 Per Match)


The Predicted Teams


Ipswich Town

I would say there was a good chance of an unchanged line-up again on Friday night. If Kevin Bru recovers from his hamstring strain, he could come in for Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Otherwise, the team virtually picks itself:

1 Dean Gerken
4 Luke Chambers
5 Tommy Smith
6 Christophe Berra
3 Jonas Knudsen
7 Ainsley Maitland-Niles
8 Cole Skuse
22 Jonathan Douglas
20 Freddie Sears
9 Daryl Murphy
11 Brett Pitman


Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough will have had three days fewer to recover, after their League Cup outing in midweek. Changes could therefore come in to Aitor Karanka’s thinking, as he looks to maintain his side’s promotion charge. Grant Leadbitter returns from suspension, and oh, just look who’s likely to start up front…

1 Dimi Konstantopoulos
24 Emilio Nsue
4 Daniel Ayala
6 Ben Gibson
3 George Friend
7 Grant Leadboots
8 Adam Clayton
27 Albert Adomah
31 Diego Fabbrini
19 Stewart Downing
35 David Nugent


Marko’s Caption Competition

Two excellent weeks of captions. Some very funny stuff on there. Only 7 entries for Charlton though???, I'll blame that on the shitty early kick off. Scores as follows for both of those weeks.

Wolves
Bluemike 5pts
Longjohn 4pts
Ando 3pts
Barmy 2pts

Charlton
Frosty 5pts
Derick 4pts
Barmy 3pts
Watership 2pts

LEAGUE TABLE

DerickIpsw 33
Barmy Billy 31
Frosty 31
Blueblood 25
Nicscreamer 24
Ando 21
Number 9 21
Quasar 18
Floors 16
James Scharmann 16
Ashfordblue 15
Bluemike 12
IpswichtownNO1 12
Shed on Tour 12
Hallamblue 10
Charnwood 10
Watership Down 9
Longjohn 9
Foxy Lady 8
Herforder 6
Kerry Blue 5
Ohiotractorboy 3
Karlywoo 1
LoudNProud 1

Have a pop at this:



Match Referee – Tim Robinson




Final Thought - Frosty


A big thanks to James and the lads for making last week’s preview against Charlton happen – it's really appreciated.

So a big match for us on Friday night. We have bounced back with some great results recently against sides that are making up the bottom half of the table. Can we now prove we are good enough to foot it with top 6 sides, in this fixture the side placed 2nd on the Championship table?

Most of the recent fixtures between the two sides have been relatively comprehensive victories to one side or the other. We have a good record against Boro at home, with us winning approximately two thirds of the matches played at Portman Road.

Middlesbrough are a side that have been close to the promised land over the past couple of seasons but no cigar. We are probably meeting them at the right time as they had a Capital One Cup tie against Everton this week (a 2-0 loss at home) to contend with and hopefully they bring some tired legs to the match on Friday. Their recent form has been fairly solid with wins over Huddersfield, QPR and Rotherham, although they did suffer a 3-0 spanking away at Hull a couple of weeks ago.

In other matches this round that are of interest to our progress up the table, Reading meet QPR on Thursday and Wednesday play Derby on Sunday. Birmingham, Burnley, Cardiff and Hull all have easier fixtures against lower placed sides.

There’s something about Friday night football I have always enjoyed so I hope everyone going to the match has a great evening.


IPSWICH TOWN 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 1

Caption: That's the biggest gooseberry on a date I have ever seen!!

2-1 win.

Caption: A young Marko loses bet and must wear the opponents jersey while dancing to the Bee Gees 'Night Fever'!

Ipswich Town 1 Middlesborough 1. They are a good side we will do well to get a draw but a win would be better

Town 1 Middlesbrough 1

Caption: A member of Kool & The Gang celebrates as a Leadbitter corner finally beats the 1st man.

These are the games that will confirm or otherwise the opinions of some so called experts that we are fighting for Sixth place and sixth place only as the "Big Five" are away and gone. Lose this and we will be some 11 points behind the Boro which in my book would be too big a gap to make up but win this and Five points adrift of one of the so called top teams sounds very doable indeed.

There is no doubt we have got our mojo back and as Jonathon Douglas rightly said we are now getting a little bit of the rub of the Green which was not the case during our difficult spell. With Murphy now back on fire and the defence seemingly a bit more solid we have every reason to have some level of confidence no matter who we are playing. We have a very good receord at Portman Road against Middlesbrough and Leadboots usually fails to turn up, the one obvious concern is a certain David Nugent is in Town, whether he plays or not remains to be seen but is he does he scores it is as simple as that and we will need at least Two to win this.

Hopefully we can get PR rocking right from the off, the level of support at Charlton was superb and if we can do the same at home it will be like the 12th man. I would not be surprised to see us win it but I will err on the side of caution and go for a share of the spoils which will be no disaster.

Town 1-1 Boro.

Unable to see beyond a draw. If it were on Teeside, I'd favor Middlesbrough, but at least at Portman Road we should get something out of it.

The opposition had a setback recently with a League Cup elimination and will have something to prove. They possess players of merit and were (and still are) one of the promotion favorites, but we have players that are capable and the forwards are finding their feet once more. Don't think we'll lose, but maybe a victory on the night is expecting too much. (Why are we playing this on a Friday evening ?)

Ipswich 2 Middlesbrough 2

1-0 will will do, but we will need a bit of luck I reckon.

Caption, knew I should have purchased two seats.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Karanka --------> Aitor? How the fk is that?

Another good preview. Think this may be a draw. A win would really be a huge boost though so fingers crossed for the win.

Ref:

4th Official: My Goodness that was close for offside, Linesman.
Linesman: Was very close, don't think anyone could know for sure.
REF: I know, I know, me, me, me, me......
Linesman: Fkn shut it. You know fk all.

win to the Town, if you can hold us to a draw,the boro shouldn't be a problem. Good Luck

Caption:

"Here's one dude who actually welcomed the Leeds Utd 'pie tax'"

Dont forget as the game is on Sky Sports tonight, have a visit to cricfree.tv

Having been horribly wrong last week, better luck this time.

ITFC 3 Middlesbrough 1

Caption: 'Borough fan shuns Disabled enclosure because he says it makes him look abnormal.'

town to win 3-1 goal scorers sears 2 and smith for the town.n***** for boro

Caption Comp : Grant Holt's diet fan dances a jig and say " NOW I LOOK LIKE HIM "

a draw for me Town 2 Boro 2


Caption: What the F**k is a Liverpool fan doing on there anyway, I can see Skirtal sitting there??? anyway a caption in scowser, Ehhh fellers do you tink these 12 poool tops I nickked from the club shop make me look matchow, Skirtal says, Oh for F**k sake sit down you fat tw*t your soo embarassin, cant you see where fooking looosing

Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Maitland-Niles, Douglas, Sears, Murphy, Pitman. Subs: Bialkowski, Malarczyk, Parr, Tabb, Coke, McDonnell, McGoldrick.

MIddlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter (c), Clayton, Stuani, Downing, Adomah, Nugent. Subs: Mejias, Amorebieta, Kike, Kalas, Fabbrini, Forshaw, Zuculini.

a good first half - certainly not boring,
lets get one this second half

No score at the interval against one of the main promotion challengers, could be worse.

As it stands we're in the play-off zone also so reason for optimism. Let's put these three forwards to use second half, get ahead, and take three much needed points from this game.

Second period now underway, let's go to work.

Losing 0-1 . Hit Gerken and it went in.

Smith lets his man go, and Knudsen wrong side, very bad defensive mistake, 1-0 boro

Caption

At last, a use for my new ultra wide screen tv!

oh f*ck off nugent !!!!

We gave him far too much space. The Ref isn't exactly helping us either!

Sad Friday night.

Tried another match report, get halfway through, press a wrong button : lose all the f**king work..

Just for good measure Middlesbrough take the lead..

Too irritated to continue right now, get back to this at later time

f*ck me, there's a second - David Nugent of all people

Going to get out of this before doing something I'll later regret

Did not understand the substitution. Niles
looked good tonight. Coke has given us nothing.

Fine margins; but the difference between quality and honest endeavour reflected in the score line. In reality, not totally unexpected.

Can we please do some work on our keepers
kicks out of the goals!

shamm wrote:Did not understand the substitution. Niles
looked good tonight. Coke has given us nothing.

He's a kid, who does a lot of defensive work as well as going forward so he's going to get tired.