Ipswich vs Birmingham Preview & Matchday Thread

[Magicmark]

When I said it would be wrong to play Skuse and Discouraga I didn't mean let's play Skuse and Douglas. I'm struggling to understand.

Maybe they've been looking sharp in training or MM has just given up.

[marko69]

Come on, Ipswich Town, this is getting fkn serious. Get the job done ffs.

Sears, pull your fkn finger out and make a run or something.

[lucy]

0-1 to.Birmingham

[marko69]

JAYSUS H! Give it up you fkn shower o losers.

[lucy]

1-1 ward

[Magicmark]

1_1 Ward

[Tangfastic]

Micks got what he wanted. And Blacburn lost so it's a six point gap now. Champagne corks flying at the MCCarthy house.

It's not the result or the performance that bothers me most.... why not go into the game genuinely trying to win it? It's not like the defensive back 6 or 7 are that great..... we line up defensively but we still leak goals.

Whatever..... not the worst outcome, but not sure the Season Ticket undecided have been converted.

[Andym]

Let's be honest. It was utter sh*te.

[hallamblue]

Very true Andy. Predictable garbage by McCarthy. Just when will this nightmare season end.....it can't come too soon. The Club is in utter meltdown in my opinion under this faceless owner and clueless manager.

[Charnwood]

I don't think McCarthy is clueless, I think it's more a case of him being totally despondent working for an owner who doesnt give a toss about the football club and this rubbing off on him to the extent that he's now given up and does just enough to keep his job and his income.

Other than in tears, I cant see where this nightmare is going to end, hopefully not in League 1.

At least my bet on a 1-1 draw came good, unlike my accumulator which was screwed by Chelsea losing at home to Palace.

[herforder]

Didn't think it was actually THAT good, (referring to Andy's assessment).

[Tangfastic]

I don't think MCCarthy is clueless or despondent.... just totally arrogant and stubborn and wants to give us all a lesson in Old School Management. Old fashioned two fingers to the fans... sod you style.

He's got all the sound bites and cliches for all situations. Whatever happens, MM will be OK. If we get relegated and he gets sacked .... the story will be he worked miracles on a shoestring... reputation still intact.

He knows that ... so why would he risk playing more offensive players and going for a win .... If it happened then we might ask why he didn't do it earlier.

[Bluemike]

Yet another home performance that was nothing more than utter dross from start to finish. From the min ute we found out the starting Eleven it was all too evident that it was going to be a long and frustrating afternoon and so it proved. While I personally have no issue with Jonathon Douglas or Cole Skuse as individual players I did think we had gone beyond the days of those Two starting together, especially when one considers Douglas has been told he will be gone in the Summer and Diagouraga was on the bench ? Even more frustrating was Emyr Huws being missing all together.

The entire first half was basically a complete non event, all to often we were resorting back to long aimless hoofs up field where we have Three midgets to aim at, no hope in hell of winning a header, very little football being played by either side and chances virtually non existent. I suppose if we want to look at positives McGoldrick had Two half chances, if you can call them that, and Sears crahsed one into the side netting when he should have done much better. Birmingham too had created little of note and Bart had not been unduly worried, at the back Spence for me had been the stand out performer, one piece of defending in particular when he got across to cover for Berra who had been found wanting to shield the striker off the ball when he looked likely to score, aside from that he was one of the only players looking to actually pick a pass and find a teammate as opposed to hoofing the bloody thing.

The second half was barely Five minutes old when we fell behind, a long kick by their keeper was picked up by a red shirt who played it into Jutkiewicz, his shot saved by Bart but the follow up was rammed home after the Birmingham player reacted much quicker to the rebound, it was hard to tell if Bart could have done better when saving the initial shot. I go on and on about how sh*te Bart's kicking is and their goal is exactly why it infuriates me so much, having a goalie that can actually kick the ball straight and accurate helped them launch a quick attack from which they scored, again today every f**king time Bart kicks it it goes out and we lose possession while putting no pressure on the opposition either, it happens every single game, he is also very slow in getting us on the attack, yes he made two good saves again today but there is more to a keepers requirements than that, he lacks in most other areas, in fact when you look at the times he gifted them possession it was without question far more than say Douglas lost the bloody ball !!!!

So it takes us to go behind before we actually start to go for it, immediately there was a little bit more urgency in our approach play, a couple of more half chances came and went before Bart pulled off one of those saves to keep it at 1-0. Once or twice Birmingham were cutting through us with ease and for me there is no doubt the loss of Skuse had a detrimental effect on us as Bru is plain hopeless, Douglas had dropped deeper and Bru was more offensive ( if you can call it that) but his contribution is non existent. At the back we started to look a little ragged with Berra and in particular Knudsen found wanting on more than one occasion and it just did not look like we had any chance of scoring.

With the crowd turning big time on McCarthy and Evans we somehow found a goal out of nothing, the frustrating Ward who so often promises much but normally delivers nothing found his way down the Right and sends in a decent looking cross which somehow flys over the keeper and into the net, it really was a fluke of the highest order and quite surreal. Even then we still had Bart to thank for his second good save of the afternoon or we would have been behind again almost straight away. The last few minutes petering out to a predictable draw with boos echoing round the ground at the final whistle.

It really was a poor game and our performance did little to lift the fans who in turn were quiet for the most part, except that is for the derogatory songs aimed at the powers that be. Much was being made of the two home games with Birmingham & Wigan and how Two wins would see us safe and again we failed to take the opportunity to get the win, thankfully most of the results went our way today but I really don't want to be in the position of looking at what other teams are doing. If we are to get ourselves to safety it is obvious we will do it the hard way and drag it on to the bitter end, with games coming up against Fulham, Newcastle and Sheff Wed I really do think Wigan is a must win game, however we need to play a damn sight better than we did today.

Bart (6) Spence (7) Chambers (6) Berra (5) Knudsen (5) Ward (6) Douglas (5) Skuse (6) McGoldrick (6) Pitman (4) Sears (5)
SUBS :- Bru (4) Samuel (6)

[Shed on tour]

God that was s***.
The real concern is that Birmingham were awful but could still have come away with the win but for a fluke goal by us. If we play like that for the rest of the season then I honestly can't seeing us winning another game.

[Charnwood]

God that was s***.
The real concern is that Birmingham were awful but could still have come away with the win but for a fluke goal by us. If we play like that for the rest of the season then I honestly can't seeing us winning another game.

......and if that were the case we could well get relegated. That said I still think this is highly unlikely this season but will inevitably happen sometime soon if nothing changes in the way the club is run.

[Charnwood]

Yet another home performance that was nothing more than utter dross from start to finish. From the min ute we found out the starting Eleven it was all too evident that it was going to be a long and frustrating afternoon and so it proved. While I personally have no issue with Jonathon Douglas or Cole Skuse as individual players I did think we had gone beyond the days of those Two starting together, especially when one considers Douglas has been told he will be gone in the Summer and Diagouraga was on the bench ? Even more frustrating was Emyr Huws being missing all together.

The entire first half was basically a complete non event, all to often we were resorting back to long aimless hoofs up field where we have Three midgets to aim at, no hope in hell of winning a header, very little football being played by either side and chances virtually non existent. I suppose if we want to look at positives McGoldrick had Two half chances, if you can call them that, and Sears crahsed one into the side netting when he should have done much better. Birmingham too had created little of note and Bart had not been unduly worried, at the back Spence for me had been the stand out performer, one piece of defending in particular when he got across to cover for Berra who had been found wanting to shield the striker off the ball when he looked likely to score, aside from that he was one of the only players looking to actually pick a pass and find a teammate as opposed to hoofing the bloody thing.

The second half was barely Five minutes old when we fell behind, a long kick by their keeper was picked up by a red shirt who played it into Jutkiewicz, his shot saved by Bart but the follow up was rammed home after the Birmingham player reacted much quicker to the rebound, it was hard to tell if Bart could have done better when saving the initial shot. I go on and on about how sh*te Bart's kicking is and their goal is exactly why it infuriates me so much, having a goalie that can actually kick the ball straight and accurate helped them launch a quick attack from which they scored, again today every f**king time Bart kicks it it goes out and we lose possession while putting no pressure on the opposition either, it happens every single game, he is also very slow in getting us on the attack, yes he made two good saves again today but there is more to a keepers requirements than that, he lacks in most other areas, in fact when you look at the times he gifted them possession it was without question far more than say Douglas lost the bloody ball !!!!

So it takes us to go behind before we actually start to go for it, immediately there was a little bit more urgency in our approach play, a couple of more half chances came and went before Bart pulled off one of those saves to keep it at 1-0. Once or twice Birmingham were cutting through us with ease and for me there is no doubt the loss of Skuse had a detrimental effect on us as Bru is plain hopeless, Douglas had dropped deeper and Bru was more offensive ( if you can call it that) but his contribution is non existent. At the back we started to look a little ragged with Berra and in particular Knudsen found wanting on more than one occasion and it just did not look like we had any chance of scoring.

With the crowd turning big time on McCarthy and Evans we somehow found a goal out of nothing, the frustrating Ward who so often promises much but normally delivers nothing found his way down the Right and sends in a decent looking cross which somehow flys over the keeper and into the net, it really was a fluke of the highest order and quite surreal. Even then we still had Bart to thank for his second good save of the afternoon or we would have been behind again almost straight away. The last few minutes petering out to a predictable draw with boos echoing round the ground at the final whistle.

It really was a poor game and our performance did little to lift the fans who in turn were quiet for the most part, except that is for the derogatory songs aimed at the powers that be. Much was being made of the two home games with Birmingham & Wigan and how Two wins would see us safe and again we failed to take the opportunity to get the win, thankfully most of the results went our way today but I really don't want to be in the position of looking at what other teams are doing. If we are to get ourselves to safety it is obvious we will do it the hard way and drag it on to the bitter end, with games coming up against Fulham, Newcastle and Sheff Wed I really do think Wigan is a must win game, however we need to play a damn sight better than we did today.

Bart (6) Spence (7) Chambers (6) Berra (5) Knudsen (5) Ward (6) Douglas (5) Skuse (6) McGoldrick (6) Pitman (4) Sears (5)
SUBS :- Bru (4) Samuel (6)

Not pleasant reading Mike, but all the same your reports are much appreciated by us fans living away who still like to keep in touch despite the fact that much of what we read is quite depressing.

Thanks..

[marko69]

Thanks for the report Mike. Depressing as it is. How rank bad can every area of the club get before things improve? Really thought Birmingham was do-able.

You need to get up to Scotland for the game of weekend next Saturday, Mike........, Loons v Smokies in that top of the table Angus Derby clash. Fk Mick & ITFC.

[number 9]

MM's had two weeks to prepare the squad for a relegation scrap AT HOME, and they serve up that plate of crap! Sure it's the player's performances, but WTF have MM/TC been doing in practice?! And, unbelievably a few forum members are still sticking up for MM! Yes we all know ME is a cheap b*stard, but if this ITFC is a 'miracle on a shoe string budget' I'd hate to see the other. Today's performance is totally unacceptable for the position we're in. f*ck off ME,IM,MM,TC, and f*ck off to the piles of sh*t we call players!

COYB!

[hallamblue]

McCarthy got what he played for - a draw.

His tactics are utter shyte and soul destroying for fans and I suspect any self respecting footballer. There's not an ounce of attacking intent in McCarthy's tactics. There NOTHING for fans to get excited about or sing for.


Oh, for a manager who has a modern take on the simple beautiful game, who is prepared to attack the opposition, and develop and encourage players with flare. To have a Club that has the ethos of playing the game how it should be played and that that style of football is the same from the U21's through to the first team. Is that really so much to ask for?

[Bluemike]

Thanks for the report Mike. Depressing as it is. How rank bad can every area of the club get before things improve? Really thought Birmingham was do-able.

You need to get up to Scotland for the game of weekend next Saturday, Mike........, Loons v Smokies in that top of the table Angus Derby clash. Fk Mick & ITFC.

Bloody hell Marko, it's a massive game next week, win that and I think we may just hang on for the title, unfortunately I will be in f**king Fulham LMAO.

[hallamblue]

Thanks for the report Mike. Depressing as it is. How rank bad can every area of the club get before things improve? Really thought Birmingham was do-able.

You need to get up to Scotland for the game of weekend next Saturday, Mike........, Loons v Smokies in that top of the table Angus Derby clash. Fk Mick & ITFC.

Bloody hell Marko, it's a massive game next week, and I will be in f**king Fulham LMAO.

......only if you're nice to me!

[marko69]

Slightly pi$$ed observation. Newest member: Ramajama? Is that you Jamma 123? Bored with yer name?
"Ipswich are sh*t! Can't be arsed with these previews! FK IT, I'm changin' ma name! RAMA-JAMA! Opening thoughts from RAMA JAMA, baby!"

[marko69]

Just had a closer look at the table. If someone had've said preseason, I'll bet you after 39 games, Burton Albion will have won more games than Ipswich,...... after laughing my arse off, I would've accepted that bet.

[arana peligrosa]

Took in some post-game reaction and really, this is just going over old territory. Granted the season is over (our season was over in January in all truth) and what you had today were two teams with nothing to aim for, at least show some commitment and desire, but once again it appears the team struggled to make any impact and the goal itself was fortunate in the extreme.

Was able to catch highlights of what occurred, albeit very short with what was presented, and take the opportunity to offer plaudits to Bialkowski who probably saved the team from further embarrassment. Amid an otherwise ordinary and quickly overlooked encounter he would have been deserving of match honors.

McCarthy made a few comments post-game and in all truth nothing more than a few sporadic barely audible words, indistinguishable from a semi-conscious elephant hit by a volley of tranquilizer darts. Swear he made the comment "we are a point better (today) than when we started"... Hell if the team had seen victory McCarthy would have fuckin' passed out and a team of goddamn medics would have been required on scene..

All that's left is waiting for the summer and the 'big announcement' on McCarthy's future at the club and will he / won't he stay on for another season. The thought of another nine months from August and beyond of the same sub-standard performance we have been subject to - with the same sub-standard name -will for sure unrest a majority of the support and only put the club into further decline.

(Take a moment to reflect though, however bad it's been you look at names like Coventry City - who are on the verge of falling into the bottom league in a short time and a club in total disarray. Remember to count your blessings as there's always someone in a worse predicament than ourselves)

[marko69]

What? Two teams with nothing to aim for? You serious? Saving their "Goddamn" asses......, is that not something to aim for? At least something to chat about on the training ground?

[Bluemike]

With the word on the street that next seasons season ticket sales will be down to around 9 thousand we will be looking at crowds of 12 thousand at best, I cannot for the life of me see Mick being here after his comments last week.

[herforder]

We are an utter shambles, both on and off the pitch. There's so much wrong, highlighted by crass top level decisions by ME, even more stupid and contradictory statements by his mouthpiece Ian Milne, abject input from the mis-named communications department and a manager who is running scared, evidenced by yesterday's team selection, tactics and performance. Listen to his post match comments, if you dare!

And all this when ME has decided to bring in a new Club Secretary - no doubt on a very competitive salary - with Sally Webb seemingly shunted into the role of Compliance Officer - or some, similar, gobbledegook role. This sees her relinquishing the post she has held since 2003, when David Rose stood down. He was rightly inducted into the Town Hall of Fame on Friday evening, in recognition of the great job he did over so many years. Part, of course, of the 'old school'. Perhaps this new ME appointment has no significance, and we don't know the reasons behind it - all been kept largely below the radar. Perhaps we shouldn't be concerned or much interested. Except that it's a vital back room post and, if Sally Webb's move is not voluntary or by mutual consent, then I wonder why ME feels the need to replace her.

In the meantime, despite the amount of uncertainty, speculation, frustration and anger in the air, the immediate focus has to remain securing our Chship status. All of the other sh*t remains, but let's get the job done.

[barmy billy]

We are an utter shambles, both on and off the pitch. There's so much wrong, highlighted by crass top level decisions by ME, even more stupid and contradictory statements by his mouthpiece Ian Milne, abject input from the mis-named communications department and a manager who is running scared, evidenced by yesterday's team selection, tactics and performance. Listen to his post match comments, if you dare!

And all this when ME has decided to bring in a new Club Secretary - no doubt on a very competitive salary - with Sally Webb seemingly shunted into the role of Compliance Officer - or some, similar, gobbledegook role. This sees her relinquishing the post she has held since 2003, when David Rose stood down. He was rightly inducted into the Town Hall of Fame on Friday evening, in recognition of the great job he did over so many years. Part, of course, of the 'old school'. Perhaps this new ME appointment has no significance, and we don't know the reasons behind it - all been kept largely below the radar. Perhaps we shouldn't be concerned or much interested. Except that it's a vital back room post and, if Sally Webb's move is not voluntary or by mutual consent, then I wonder why ME feels the need to replace her.

In the meantime, despite the amount of uncertainty, speculation, frustration and anger in the air, the immediate focus has to remain securing our Chship status. All of the other sh*t remains, but let's get the job done.

I did listen to his post match comments and was not impressed, apart from him saying he will be here until the end of the season. Can we assume, but not beyond?

[herforder]

As far as anything is certain in this game, Billy, I feel pretty certain there will be an 'amicable' parting of the ways, come summer when we're hopefully safe. If so, it all starts again!

[Bluemike]

And whoever comes in to replace MM will not be liked or wanted by a good 50% of the fans as it was not their type of choice etc to be our manager, and so it all goes on again.