Ipswich Town v Derby County
Tuesday 31st January 2017 – 19:45
Portman Road
As massive thanks to Herforder for filling in while James has been in OZ ...... Cheers Mate!
Opening Thought – Herforder
In a weekend of FA Cup 'shocks', our performance and point from Preston might have surprised a few of the pessimists! And, but for Hugill's 89th minute strike, we would have come away with all of the spoils - but, hey, we're ITFC and don't do predictable, just disappointment! I think, however, with the additions already made showing promise, hopefully more quality still to come and key players returning from injury, the doom-laden atmosphere is beginning to lift a tad. In some respects it's ironic that, with our backs increasingly against the wall, ME appears to have recognised the need for investment in the squad. Arguably, had that happened 12-18 months ago, then the progress we had started to make could have been built upon; as opposed to leaving MM with very little strength or quality in depth, whilst competing in a stronger Championship league. Still, better late than never!
Onwards then to Derby, under the lights, when Steve 'Wally with the Brolly' Maclaren arrives with an expensively assembled, but sometimes under-performing, side. Anyone who watched their recent FA Cup match against Leicester will have seen Darren Bent's comic attempt at a goal-line clearance, that went horribly wrong. No taking the p*ss if he plays tomorrow - but another one will do nicely, Darren. Must be a candidate for one of those 'What Happened Next?' shows!
Hopefully we will have gained some confidence and belief from Saturday's performance, and be ready to get up and at 'em. It's got the potential to be a good night.
Well done to Lincoln for getting past Brighton, and becoming one of two non-league teams in the FA Cup 5th Round. A great achievement and fully deserved - hope they get a 'big' team next. Who knows what could happen? Magic of the Cup etc, and a glimpse of what could have been!
The Master (aka Jamma) should have returned from Oz to resume his excellent pre-match thoughts in time for the Reading game. I've enjoyed standing in for him, and am off to find a darkened room to lie in!
COYB!
The Opposition
Derby County F.C. was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club in an attempt to give players and supporters a winter interest as well as secure the cricket club extra revenue, playing their home matches at the cricket club’s Racecourse Ground.
Arguably the most important game in the club's history came in the 1886 FA Cup, when a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa, already an emerging force in English football, helped establish Derby County F.C. on the English football map, helping the club to attract and an invitation into the inaugural Football League. In 1895 the club moved to a new stadium, The Baseball Ground (so called because it was previously used for baseball), which became their home for the next 102 years and adopted their traditional colours of black and white.
Although Derby were inconsistent in the league, they were a strong force in the FA Cup, appearing in three finals in six years around the turn of the 20th Century but lost all three.
Between 1906 and 1925 Derby had some inconsistent years, with a number of relegations and promotions between the First and Second Divisions of the Football League. However, the appointment of George Jobey in 1925 kick-started a successful period for the Rams and, after promotion in 1926, the club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s, including finishing runners up twice.
Derby were one of several clubs to close down during the Second World War but restarted in the early 1940s. Derby were one step ahead of the opposition when competitive football resumed with the 1946 FA Cup and won their first major trophy with a 4–1 victory over Charlton Athletic. The League restarted the following season after a break due to World War II and, under the management of Stuart McMillan, finished fourth and third in the 1948 and 1949 seasons respectively, before a steady decline set in and the club was relegated in 1953 after nearly 30 years in the top flight, and again in 1955 to drop to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history.
In 1967, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor took over and led them to their greatest glory. Derby were promoted to the First Division in 1969, finished fourth in 1970, but got banned from competing in Europe due to financial irregularities in 1971 and won their first ever Football League Championship in 1972. Though Derby did not retain their title the following season, they did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. They lost to Juventus in a controversial match which was subject to subsequent allegations that the Italian club had bribed the match officials, leading Clough, to call the Italians "cheating bastards". Clough's frequent outspoken comments against football's establishment eventually led to him falling out with the board of directors at the club, and Clough and Taylor left in 1973. Such was their impact on the club that, 37 years later, a 9'0 high bronze statue of the pair was erected outside the Pride Park Stadium in commemoration of their legacy.
Despite the departure of Clough and Taylor, Derby's League success was repeated in the 1974–75 season when they won the title. However, Derby's form declined towards the end of the 1970s and they went down to the Second Division in 1980. Though they challenged well in their first season, Derby's stay in the Second Division was not a happy one and they were relegated to the Third Division for only the second time in their history in 1984.
After the relegation, the club appointed Arthur Cox who turned the club around with successive promotions in the mid-1980s to get the club back into the old First Division in 1987.
The club was relegated back to the Second Division in 1991 due to lack of investment. At this time, local newspaper businessman Lionel Pickering became the majority shareholder of the club. In 1995 Jim Smith became the new manager and, although the new season started slowly, throwing his brief of 'a top-half finish' out of the window, Smith guided the Rams to a second-place finish and the Premier League, now the top flight of English football. After finishing an admirable 12th in their first season back into the top flight, the club left the Baseball Ground, its home of 102 years, to move into the new 33,597-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997–98 season.
The club settled well into its new home as it recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes for the first time since their 1970s peak, before a sudden decline at the turn of the millennium saw three years of struggle,before the Rams were relegated after a six-year stay in the top flight. in 2002. Former Ipswich Town boss George Burley was brought in as manager, but the club was put into receivership then sold in October 2003 for £3 to a group led by Jeremy Keith.
After finishing 20th in the 2003–04 season, a dramatic improvement in the 2004–05 season saw Derby finish 4th in the Football League Championship, qualifying for a promotion play-off spot, though they lost in the semi-finals to Preston North End. Soon afterwards, Burley resigned citing differences between himself and the board.
In April 2006 a consortium of local businessmen led by former vice-chairman Peter Gadsby bought the club, reducing its debt and returning Pride Park Stadium to the club's ownership in the process. In June 2006, former Preston North End boss Billy Davies was appointed Derby County's new permanent manager. In his first season, Davies took Derby to the Premier League via the playoffs. After a poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left by mutual consent in November.
He was succeeded by Paul Jewell, who failed to save the club as Derby suffered the Premier League's earliest ever relegation, in March,and recorded the Premier League's lowest-ever points total.
Derby's match at home to Sheffield United on 13 September 2008 generated much media coverage as it was approaching a year since Derby's last league win, a run which saw the club break the English league record for most matches without a win.
Just four days short of the anniversary, Derby finally won earning Paul Jewell his first league win as Derby boss at his 27th attempt. Jewell resigned as manager in December 2008 after a run of just 2 wins in 11 matches. He was replaced by Nigel Clough, son of former manager Brian.
He led the club to 18th place and safety. After two disappointing seasons that saw the club finish in the bottom half of the table, Derby finished the two subsequent seasons in 12th and 10th place. Clough was sacked 9 games into the 2013–14 season, and was replaced by former Derby player and assistant manager Steve McClaren.
Under McClaren the club finished third in the Championship and reached the final of the play-offs, where they lost to Queens Park Rangers.
In the 2014/15 season Derby could only manage an 8th place finish after a terrible slump post Christmas and McClaren was dismissed at the end of May to be replace by Paul Clement.
Last season Derby made the playoffs, but lost to the eventual winner of the playoff final in Hull Tigers.
This season saw McClaren back in charge of the Rams.
The Gaffer – Steve McClaren
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Come on Town lets get a lead and hang on to it for a change!
Media Watch - K L Blue
Mick and Simon's joke
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31060/
Isgrove linked
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31063/
MM on Lawrence
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31059/
5 stories from the EFL
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38783040
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 14th place with 35 points
Preston NE 1-1 Ipswich Town
Huddersfield 2-0 Ipswich Town
Lincoln City 1-0 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
Ipswich Town 2-2 Lincoln City
Derby FC Last 5 Matches – Currently in 9th place with 43 points
Derby County 2-2 Leicester City
Derby County 3-2 Reading FC
Leeds United 1-0 Derby County
West Bromwich 1-2 Derby County
Norwich City 3-0 Derby County
Fixtures of Interest
BIRMINGHAM VS READING
BRENTFORD VS VILLA
CARDIFF VS PRESTON
Match Referee – Andrew Madley
Final Thought - Bluemike
So the first game in our difficult "run of seven" has come and gone and we managed to secure the point I hoped we would at the very least come home with from our trip to Preston, of course being so close to taking the win feels like it is two points lost which I suppose it was but in truth on balance of play it was the right result as it turned into the proverbial game of Two halves, Town on top in the first half and Preston responding in kind. The big positive from my point of view was the debut of Toumani Diagouraga who I thought acquitted himself well considering he had been sitted on the sidelines for quite some time, yes he was not completely match fit but he showed enough to suggest he will bring something to our Midfield that we have been missing, he also seemed to bring something out in Cole Skuse too as he had a decent enough game too.
On the subject of new signings we have to welcome Danny Rowe to the club, he now joins Jordan Spence, Keiffer Moore and Diagouraga as January additions, add to that the impending arrival of Steven Taylor and that is Four in the door, maybe not the big names we were perhaps hoping for but new faces none the less, I have this feeling that for the first time in years we may just see some last day business at Portman Road with hopefully a couple of "bigger" arrivals, Jordan Hugill looks like one of the main targets while plenty of other names have been bandied about too, an interesting couple of days ahead with any luck.
Next up is the first of Two big home games this week as Derby County head to town for what promises to be a really tough test for Town, if it was at the Ipro it would be Three points in the bag for us as we always win there but playing at home these days represents a real challenge for Town with all the doom and gloom lately but hopefully the team can rise above it and put it a decent performance to again get something from the game, once more i would not be overly disappointed with a share of the spoils, especially having watched the rams on TV more than hold their own against the current champions. Score Draw for me.......COYB'S
IPSWICH TOWN 1 DERBY COUNTY 1
