Ipswich Town v Newcastle United
Monday 17th April 2017 – 15:00
Portman Road
Opening Thought – Jamma
In a campaign that has fallen disappointingly short of the high standards set during Mick McCarthy's tenure, it is telling that our best displays have been when we have played as a team. Granted, you can probably count on the fingers of one hand the Blues' most memorable matches of 2016/17, but on each occasion we have shown the qualities that were so integral to our success of two seasons ago. Backs-to-the-wall efforts at Derby, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa have arguably produced our best results, when a solid team performance built on a strong defensive foundation was capped by a moment of quality to record three impressive one-goal victories. These can be likened to similarly fine-margin wins at the homes of Charlton and Watford in 2014/15. Following hot on the heels of the recent success against Wigan, Friday night's crucial three points at Burton was another example of Town, while being far from dazzling, nevertheless playing to a commendable level throughout the side. That's not to say that there weren't some individual displays worthy of praise, with Myles Kenlock, Christophe Berra and David McGoldrick all coming out with particular credit. But it's just that fact that there were standout performers in all areas of the pitch that contributed to another positive showing and such an important win. With McCarthy having previously bigged up Jordan Hugill and Marley Watkins only to see first-hand the damage they can inflict, I was concerned that Luke Varney would be the latest player to come back to haunt us. And so it was nice of him to instead pay us back for the loyalty we had shown in him by heading Tom Lawrence's free-kick delivery into his own neck within eight minutes of his half-time introduction.
Freddie Sears continued his mini-revival in front of goal to translate our dominance into a 2-0 lead. Lucas Akins' penalty after Kenlock's clumsy challenge on Varney made things nervier than they should have been but, barring a heart-in-mouth moment when Lasse Vigen Christensen's deflected shot struck the bar late on, we held out relatively comfortably to all but secure our Championship status for another season.Going back to comparisons with our play-off campaign of two years ago, I was very interested to read Luke Chambers' post-match thoughts on Friday. As honest as ever, he admitted that we hadn't competed with teams as well as in recent seasons. Acknowledging the widely held view of the Blues under Mick McCarthy, Chambers pointed to the fact that the matchday programme at away games often says something along the lines of 'You always know what you're going to get with Ipswich: they're hard-working and well organised'. But he went on to accept that, not only had we fallen short in that regard in 2016/17, we also need to add more to our armoury if we're to achieve our ambitions. That is true also in the short term, as we welcome Newcastle to Portman Road for the inaugural Sir Bobby Robson Day on Easter Monday. The Magpies have spent the whole campaign tussling with Brighton for top spot and, although they look assured of an immediate return to the Premier League, they will be keen to capitalise on any slip by the Seagulls to win the league. In fact, three of our remaining four matches look like they will have something riding on them for the opposition. With the pressure of a result off Town, we should see a tighter affair than was the case in the return fixture at St. James' Park, when Newcastle's class shone through. For what will be one of the biggest crowds of the season at Portman Road, let's make sure we turn up, both players and supporters, to produce a tribute worthy of Sir Bobby's memory.
The Opposition – Newcastle United
The origins of Newcastle United Football Club itself can be traced back to the formation of a football club by the Stanley Cricket Club of Byker in November 1881. This team was renamed Newcastle East End F.C. in October 1882, to avoid confusion with the cricket club in Stanley, County Durham. Rosewood F.C. of Byker merged with Newcastle East End a short time later. In 1886, Newcastle East End moved from Byker to Heaton. In August 1882, Newcastle West End F.C. formed from West End Cricket Club, and in May 1886 the club moved into St James' Park.
The two clubs became rivals in the Northern League. In 1889, Newcastle East End became a professional team, before becoming a limited company the following March. However, on the other hand, Newcastle West End were in serious financial trouble and approached East End with a view to a takeover. Newcastle West End were eventually dissolved, and a number of their players and backroom staff joined Newcastle East End, effectively merging the two clubs, with Newcastle East End taking over the lease on St James' Park in May 1892.
Newcastle United was decided upon on 9 December 1892, to signify the unification of the two teams.
At the start of the 1893–94 season, Newcastle United were refused entry to the First Division and so joined the Second Division, along with Liverpool and Woolwich Arsenal.
Newcastle were promoted to the First Division for the 1898–99 season.
In 1903–04, the club built up a promising squad of players, and went on to dominate English football for almost a decade.
Newcastle United went on to win the league on three occasions during the 1900s - 1904–05, 1906–07 and 1908–09 - as well as the FA Cup in 1910.
The team reclaimed the FA Cup in 1924, and also won the First Division championship for a fourth time in 1926–27.
In 1931–32, the club won the FA Cup for a third time. However, a couple of years later, at the end of the 1933–34 season, the team were relegated to the Second Division after 35 seasons in the top flight.
They were finally promoted back to the First Division at the end of the 1947–48 season.
During the 1950s, Newcastle won the FA Cup trophy on three occasions within a five-year period, beating Blackpool in 1951, Arsenal in 1952 and Manchester City in 1955. However, after this last FA Cup victory the club fell back into decline and were relegated to the Second Division once again at the end of the 1960–61 season.
Newcastle returned to the First Division at the end of the 1964–65 season after winning the Second Division title. The club qualified for European competition for the first time after a good run in the 1967–68 season and the following year won the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final.
The club had back-to-back triumphs in the Texaco Cup in 1974 and 1975.
United once again dropped down to the Second Division at the end of the 1977–78 season but returned to the First Division at the end of the 1983–84 season and remained in the top flight until relegated once more in 1989.
The club won the then First Division Championship at the end of the 1992–93 season, earning promotion to the then new Premier League. At the end of the 1993–94 season, their first year back in the top flight, they finished in third, their highest league finish since 1927.
Newcastle finished as high as 3rd in the 2002/03 season under Bobby Robson, qualifying them for a place in Europe.
The club was again relegated to the Football League Championship at the end of the 2008–09 season, the first time the club had left the Premier League since joining it in 1993.
Newcastle made an immediate return to the top flight in 2010 after their relegation the previous year.
The 2012–13 season saw Newcastle regain European football for the first time since 2007.
Newcastle failed to win any of their first eight Premier League games of the 2015–16 season. On 11 March, Steve McClaren was sacked after nine months as manager, with Newcastle in 19th place in the Premier League and the club winning six of 28 Premier League games during his time at the club. He was replaced on the same day by Rafael Benítez, who signed a three-year deal, but was not able to prevent the club from being relegated.
The Gaffer – Rafael Benetiz
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Newcastle showed their quality when we made the trip to St. James' Park back in October:
Media Watch - K L Blue
Burton reaction to Friday:
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/flanagan-ip ... story.html
SBR - Town and Newcastle:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/fo ... e-12898492
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 15th place with 52 points
Burton Albion 1-2 Ipswich Town
Fulham FC 3-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Ipswich Town 1-1 Birmingham City
Cardiff City 3-1 Ipswich Town
Newcastle United Last 5 Matches – Currently in 2nd place with 85 points
Newcastle Utd 1-1 Leeds United
Sheffield Wed 2-1 Newcastle Utd
Newcastle Utd 1-0 Burton Albion
Newcastle Utd 2-1 Wigan Athletic
Birmingham City 0-0 Newcastle Utd
Fixtures of interest to us on the table
CARDIFF CITY VS NOTTINGHAM FOREST
LEEDS UTD VS WOLVES
Q.P.R. VS SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Match Referee – Tim Robinson
Final Thought - Bluemike
Penning these pieces for the previews is always easier after a good performance and result. Unfortunately, such instances have been all too few and far between this campaign and at times it has been a turgid task trying to find positives to write about. Thankfully I find myself in slightly cheerier mood as I write this thanks to our efforts at Burton on Friday evening. As much as we all wanted to see a performance and be entertained, this really was all about the result, as earlier in the day others had picked up wins to heap more pressure on us. For once the lads responded and got the job done. It is a win that, while not mathematically certain, does seem to guarantee our 16th successive season in the Championship next term. That should not really be reason to celebrate but hey, we ain't had much else to enthuse about over these past eight months. The second-half performance was pretty good. It was entertaining and dominant and saw us trying to play football the right way. On the face of it, three defeats in the last fifteen games is a pretty good stat. Just so many draws along the way have hampered our progress and because of that a decent run has really gone unnoticed by almost all of us, due in no small part to a borefest for much of the time.
I suppose the big news of the week has been Mick's statement that he is going nowhere and intends to rebuild another side good enough to challenge for the play-offs. That will not be music to many people's ears and may well impact further on the sale of season tickets. Of course it could all be bravado from MM. After all, as others have said, why on earth would he walk away from such a well-paid job? This Dutch consortium thing didn't really turn my head at first but could there just maybe be some substance to this story? The latest video released online certainly has Maurice Steijn looking somewhat uncomfortable at the line of questioning and he did little to dampen the rumours, so time will tell I guess. This is a situation that is going to rumble and rumble for a good few weeks yet but if Mick is to be replaced I hope to God it is done pretty much as soon as the curtain comes down at the City Ground. One thing is abundantly obvious: things cannot roll into next season with little or no change. It would be suicide.
Monday sees Sir Bobby Robson day at Portman Road and the "mighty" Newcastle Utd come to town. We proclaim him as "ours", while the Geordies do the same. As I recall it, only one team sacked him and it wasn't us. The name of Sir Bobby Robson will always be synonymous with ITFC. It was the club he built and led to glory. I had no idea just what we had while I was growing up with that great man and great team representing my club. It was an honour to have them here and nobody, not even the scum up the road, can ever take away the great times we had. I hope the team can go out and do Sir Bobby's memory justice by putting in a good performance in front of what promises to be a bumper crowd. With the pressure off, let's really go for it and, who knows, we may just win back-to-back league games for the first time this season. Now that really would be just typical of this Town team. Sir Bobby loved the song "My Way" so let's go out and do this the real "Ipswich way". COYBs
IPSWICH TOWN 1 NEWCASTLE UNITED 1
Just read on TWTD news that Steve Taylor wants to stay on for next season 
