Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Here you can chat about everything and anything related to ITFC and other football issues. This forum also hosts the now Internationally famous TB.com ITFC match previews which contain insightful pre-match thoughts, previous highlights, news links relating to Town, form guides and other bits and pieces. Feel free to discuss meet ups/travel plans in here as well.

Moderators: marko69, Bluemike, Charnwood

Can we keep the mini-run going?

Rotherham United win
1
9%
Draw
1
9%
Ipswich Town win
9
82%
 
Total votes: 11

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Charnwood » Sat Apr 22, 2017 10:55 pm

I thought McCarthy's team selection today was strange to say the least. By all means give young players a chance to show their worth at the end of the season in a meaningless game, but ffs blend them in small number and play them beside experienced players to give them an opportunity to learn.

What McCarthy did today was was complete lunacy and gave nobody a learning opportunity and just gave a free "day off" to the likes of Berra, Huws, Lawrence & McGoldrick all players who youngsters could have learned from.

Whatever McCarthy says it was disrespectful to Rotherham United and to the travelling fans, and there was a chance to win three games on the bounce for the first time in an age and to finish the season open the top half of the table , what a tw*t he is and a complete loser with no desire to be a winner.

FFS do us all a favour and f*ck off.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Mach_Polish_Blue » Sat Apr 22, 2017 11:35 pm

I don't mind changes having been made for this match. Most of us wanted that. However the performance was unacceptable. It was awful. No matter who wear the blue shirt I as a fan demand an effort and attacking the opposition. We have played arguably the worst team that have ever graced the Championship level and given the way number of our fans laud our youngsters the performance ought to have been far better.

Apparently the result wasn't much relevant today. Why not to set up the team to play attacking football then? No, even such poor opposition that ignorant pighead isn't willing to change his ways. Newcastle last Monday was an exception, probably in order to convince some to renew season tickets. So had been Burton. Defensive mindset, that's his fcuking philosophy and he's more stubborn than Arsene Wenger to change anything in the long term. We played with that mindset for the vast majority of first half as Bishop spent large parts alongside Diagouraga. Sat so, so deep with no interest in surging forward.

Emmanuel made a stupid foul in the box but Gerken reacted nicely to save the penalty.

Rotherham goalie McLaughlin could have a kip until 40 min in which we had one opportunity as Rowe's shot was parried away and Samuel's follow-up hit the bar. That was literally all in terms of threatening the worst team of the league during the first half. Hardly any effort and desire. Very boring and uninspiring.

No central midfield at all. Bishop and Dozzell were very disappointing.

Second half a bit better albeit 50/50 at best. A bit more adventurous and more often near their box but I cannot say it was encouraging. Kieffer Moore who replaced very ineffective Bishop was surprisingly more active than quiet and seemingly disinterested Pitman. The league's worst defence would cope quite well though with our disjointed attempts.

Ten minutes from time Adeyemi smashed the ball from inside the box and Gerken had no chance to prevent that.

All of sudden we started to play with bigger urgency and Moore's header was cleared off the line and Samuel's shot was stopped by McLaughlin.

Final result was in my opinion a punishment for our poor performance and lack of effort. Rotherham are the bottom for the reason but they were rewarded with their will today.

MOTM for us? Danny Rowe. It's clear to see that the winger has a potential but I dare to say that it won't have made him a favour. Knowing McCarthy and his flawed philosophy Rowe will have been yet another 'failed winger'. We know that he'll have to defend first.

Our central midfield in Bishop and Dozzell were very quiet and ineffective. Some people have been lauding them for ages but it's very obvious that they aren't good enough. Dozzell still very lightweight and full season on loan in League One or Two would and should help him develop because at the moment he's nowhere near Championship standard.
Bishop? If Douglas has played today in the way Bishop did he would have been scapegoated and abused. Completely ineffective and useless. The question also is McCarthy is trying to convert him into the defensive midfielder because he is far from that player who would impress in the play-off season.

As for others:

Gerken - no mistakes, saved a pen and decent match overall
Emmanuel - iffy and indifferent. Have to say that Spence had been more impressive in previous games
Chambers - no mistakes
Smith - clumsy and lethargic. Needs a time to rediscover himself
Kenlock - decent when going forward
Diagouraga - indifferent
Samuel - based on this I'm undecided regarding if he's worth keeping and putting a bid. May have done better though with a proper service
Pitman - disappointing and somewhat looks like a stranger
Moore - absorbed their defence in his half an hour and certainly more active than Pitman
Bru and Sears - too short on the pitch to judge

If this match is an indication about our 'strength in depth' then it's really worrying. Add to this the defensive McCarthys mindset and it's not OK but we are poor fcukers and what do we know about the game? He thinks he knows best.

People are saying : 'the result does not matter'. Wonder if the same people had been screaming after the Newcastle match. So beating Newcastle matters and losing to Rotherham doesn't?

But the most worrying aspect for me today has been a lack of attacking intent, will and desire to win the football match. We played an awful opposition and that was bad. Tactical set up will have made it very difficult as the entire team seems to be brimmed with defensive philosophy.

Mike, Tom, Michelle and Hallam thank you for your companion.

That ought to have been a better performance so no excuses such like the result was irrelevant. We are the only team that has failed to beat Rotherham this season.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by arana peligrosa » Sun Apr 23, 2017 2:05 am

Took in game report from Those Were The Days and trying to find any positives from what occurred today. Seems McCarthy thought it were a Cup game as there were so many changes made and unrecognized names that took to the field, and the irony is we're on the wrong end once more of a score of considerable embarrassment. Beaten by a club side who's most recognized fan support would appear to be Barry and Paul Chuckle and provided the music industry with Jive Bunny, it could be almost humorous if not so despairing.

Fair enough McCarthy would have realized the season is done and there's nothing more to play for and went with the idea of omitting a number of first-teamers, but even then shouldn't that have been enough to overcome arguably the worst team this league can offer ?

Still we must insist on doing things the hard way and in the end it was a f*ck-up - not the first, and by no means the last - and while it was a game that was ultimately immaterial, got to feel sorry for the traveling number that made the trip only to be subject to an eventual score of some ridicule. People talk about mass clearout end of season and need for change, and while that can't be in dispute, you got to ask yourself how much is actually going to be done.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Tangfastic » Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:53 am

I know I wanted to see fringe players and youngsters come in.

So MM being the master of managing his own management decisions and reputation can point out he's only doing what the fans have been crying out for.

Just a pity so many have come in at once. Would have been far better if they could have been integrated throughout the season.

Dozzel would have been better to have had a season long loan. He's gone backwards seemingly. God knows what's happened to Bishop ... can see him being off-loaded for peanuts. Emanuell? Looked as if he was going to take over at RB, but at least Spence has got that position through form. Will be interesting to see if Kenlock will hold onto the LB position next season.... I think Knudesn will be eased back in by MM.

Not really much positives from that ( maybe Rowe) .... just that Mick has been right all along in picking the old guard. :(
He's not one for bringing through youngsters and getting the best out of them, which is one way of breaking the cycle of no investment/ no success.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Dubai Blue » Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:57 am

Never expected much from this one and always clear that there would be wholesale changes. Result means nothing to be honest. As we know there are not many opportunities to see how the fringe players can perform and I don't agree with this view that there should have been less changes. All the players train together, they all know the system and what's required of them. Sure they might perhaps do better after a few more games (and defeats) under their belts but until this game we did not have the luxury of a 'dead' game although we might well have another one against Forest on the last day and despite what he said I also expect less than a full strength side against Wednesday.

All credit to MM for being brave and taking a look, I hope he saw enough to make some useful conclusions about next season.

Respect to the fans who travelled for this one, I'm sure they were well aware that this was going to be roughly the team on display. Sounds like a number of players disappointed and will not have done their futures any good if they really did show a lack of committment.

Roll on Summer and some cricket.......
Last edited by Dubai Blue on Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Bluemike » Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:58 am

I suppose yesterday was always going to be a bit of a nothing match what with it being a dead rubber so to speak, nothing riding on the game for either side and MM stating he intended to change it up a bit.......change it up a bit ? That was an understatement to say the least, Nine changes from the side that took Newcastle apart was the main topic of convo in the pub prior to the game, I was expecting maybe Four or Five but Nine !!!

The game statred in a scrappy fashion with not a lot of quality on show or football being played but it was Town who were to slip up first with Chambers hesitancy leading to Emmanuel going right through the striker and leaving the ref with little option but to point to the spot, what a great start, Town target Danny Ward steped up and stroked it down to Gerks left but the big man was up to the task and pulled off a good stop to palm it away to safety and get Town off the hook. Roptherham continued to have the upper hand with a couple more half chances being dealt with by Town's rearguard, we had not really got into the game at all and had created little. There was another scramble a few minutes later with Town defenders throwing their bodies into blocks, one from Chambo in particular was superb defending.

Finally with Ten minutes to go until half time had a good chance to score, Danny Rowe who had started slowly but had grown into the game the longer it went on a Tom Lawrence type of run, cutting in from the wing before firing in a shot which the keeper did very well to keep out, the ball fell nicely for Samuel who's shot apparently hit the bar before going over, I don't think a single fan in the Town end realised at the time that we struck the bar. The remainder of the half peetered out with little action of any note at either end. It had been a frustrating display from Town against a pretty woeful Rotherham team who had in truth been the better side over all, our Midfield lacked in all areas and failed to get a grip on the game, Dozzell had been very quiet and Bishop equally so, Diagouraga was not the imposing figure we have seen in other games, at the back Smith was jittery from the off and often looked laboured, Chambo and Kenlock had looked OK while Emmanuel ahd found it tough. There had been littel or no service to the Two strikers but Samuel was at least looking for the ball while Pitman wasn't.

The second hald started brighter for Town and we looked to have a bit of a spring in our step at last, samuel had a shot which flew wide as Town pushed Rotherham back at last. With the hour mark approaching Pitman really should have scored after finding himself clean through but his effort on the volley lacked power and the keeper made a comfortable save. The ineffective Bishop was replaced by Keiffer Moore and big man was not far off getting a touch to good cross from Pitman which would surely hve found the net. Danny Rowe was getting better as the game went on and he was next to hit a decent shot wide as Town continued to have much the better of the second half and a minute later he had another even better effort which just flew wide of the post with the keeper beaten. It had been much better from Town but we werers till looking vulnerable at the back on the odd occasions Rotherham got forward and it was from one of these breaks that Town found themselves behind, failing to deal with a corner and the ball falls to Adeyemi whoi smashed it home giving Gerken no chance, again Town had failed to cope with a dead ball situatuion, something we have struggled with all season long.

Town went looking for an immediate equaliser and were close to getting it with the lively Moore seeing his header comfortably cleared off the line before Samuel had his decent shot well saved by the home keeper. The last real action of the gme saw Rotherham come close with a shot which was high and wide when they should have done better, the remainder of the game passing without any real goalmouth action. It really had been a poor afternoons work from Town, Mick was going to amke changes, we knew that but there was just too many all at once and we played like a group of strangers that had just been thrown together, of those trying to claim a place in the starting Eleven next week only Danny Rowe went anywhere close to grabbing his chance, he improved as the game went on and I would not be sorry to see him in for Lawrence over the last Two games, Gerken did little wrong too but we know Bart will return for sure.

Gerken (7) Emmanuel (5) Smith (5) Chambers (6) Kenlock (6) Bishop (5) Dozzell (5) Diagouraga (5) Rowe (7) Pitman (5) Samuel (6) SUBS :- Moore (6) Bru (5) Sears (5)

Well what did we learn today :-

Gerken is a much better kicker of a ball than Bart
Jordan Spence is considerably ahead of Josh Emmanuel in all departments
Tommy Smith will not be the answer next season
Teddy Bishop is light years away from the player he was Two seasons ago
Andre Dozzell while showing good glimpses at times has much to learn and is not ready
Dominic Samuel has a good work ethic but we need to see much more of him
Brett Pitman has lost heart and looks fed up
Danny Rowe could well be a very good addition to the squad next season.
Danny Ward may well be worth pursuing in the Summer.
Our reserve players in general do not cut it although too many played at once.

OK the game may not have mattered but we had a chance to build on the excellent Newcastle result and go for Three wins on the bounce, the 704 hardy souls who made the trip deserved much better to be honest but I suppose we become used to being let down at times. The next Two games have much riding on them for our opponents and we will see a strong Town team in both, hopefully we will also see a vastly improved couple of performances. All in all a disappointing day apart for the great company of AylesburyBlue, HallamBlue, Mach, Michelle and few others along the way.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Charnwood » Sun Apr 23, 2017 11:28 am

A win yesterday would have set us up for a strong end to the season and a possible top half of the table finishing position. This just confirms to me McCarthy's lack of competitiveness, lack of desire and lack of having a winning mentality, for me winners always want to win and always give their best.

We play a side already relegated and 17 games without a win, 98 goals conceded and a chance to fill our boots with goals and points he simply screws it and comes away with nothing.... a complete loser.

Furthermore the young un's will have learnt nothing cos he missed the opportunity of letting a smaller number of them play alongside the experienced players, which had he done so we'd have probably have won the game and they'd have come away from Rotherham buzzing.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Charnwood » Sun Apr 23, 2017 1:48 pm

..... and to make it worse he's probably lost a few thousand off the attendance for the Sheffield Wednesday game as fans who might have been there wanting to see four wins in a row decide to give it a miss , and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by goldandblack » Sun Apr 23, 2017 1:51 pm

Charnwood wrote:A win yesterday would have set us up for a strong end to the season and a possible top half of the table finishing position. This just confirms to me McCarthy's lack of competitiveness, lack of desire and lack of having a winning mentality, for me winners always want to win and always give their best.

We play a side already relegated and 17 games without a win, 98 goals conceded and a chance to fill our boots with goals and points he simply screws it and comes away with nothing.... a complete loser.

Furthermore the young un's will have learnt nothing cos he missed the opportunity of letting a smaller number of them play alongside the experienced players, which had he done so we'd have probably have won the game and they'd have come away from Rotherham buzzing.

and you think you had a bad day.

this is our players ratings after the Blackburn despicable performance.
and I think this is being kind, they might not be bothered about catching the Vile but we are.




Read more at http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wol ... yxflIgv.99
Last edited by goldandblack on Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by marko69 » Sun Apr 23, 2017 2:17 pm

Charnwood wrote:and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Yeah, those fans can go f*ck themselves. They won't be missed. Opinion only.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Shed on tour » Sun Apr 23, 2017 2:44 pm

Charnwood wrote:..... and to make it worse he's probably lost a few thousand off the attendance for the Sheffield Wednesday game as fans who might have been there wanting to see four wins in a row decide to give it a miss , and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Although you may very well be right I still find it hard to believe that people would make their decision on whether to renew or not based on one game.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Bluemike » Sun Apr 23, 2017 3:30 pm

marko69 wrote:
Charnwood wrote:and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Yeah, those fans can go f*ck themselves. They won't be missed. Opinion only.
Agree completely.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Charnwood » Sun Apr 23, 2017 4:28 pm

Shed on tour wrote:
Charnwood wrote:..... and to make it worse he's probably lost a few thousand off the attendance for the Sheffield Wednesday game as fans who might have been there wanting to see four wins in a row decide to give it a miss , and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Although you may very well be right I still find it hard to believe that people would make their decision on whether to renew or not based on one game.

I was thinking more of those who'd already made up their mind not to renew based on the teams season performance so far, who may have had second thoughts after the Newcastle game especially had they also been at Burton four days earlier.
I think we have a number of life long fans who are so pissed off with ITFC they don't really want to renew, but their heart is still with the club and they only need a glimmer of hope to stick it out for another year. Three good wins in a row and a top half of the table may have been all that was needed.
The problem is Shed, once a fan decides to leave and not renew very rarely do they come back, or at least not until the "good days" return.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by number 9 » Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:51 pm

bluemike wrote:
marko69 wrote:
Charnwood wrote:and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Yeah, those fans can go f*ck themselves. They won't be missed. Opinion only.
Agree completely.
Marcus will be missing those fans when we're getting beat by Rotheram in league 1.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by charlton837 » Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:10 pm

Charnwood wrote:
Shed on tour wrote:
Charnwood wrote:..... and to make it worse he's probably lost a few thousand off the attendance for the Sheffield Wednesday game as fans who might have been there wanting to see four wins in a row decide to give it a miss , and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Although you may very well be right I still find it hard to believe that people would make their decision on whether to renew or not based on one game.

I was thinking more of those who'd already made up their mind not to renew based on the teams season performance so far, who may have had second thoughts after the Newcastle game especially had they also been at Burton four days earlier.
I think we have a number of life long fans who are so pissed off with ITFC they don't really want to renew, but their heart is still with the club and they only need a glimmer of hope to stick it out for another year. Three good wins in a row and a top half of the table may have been all that was needed.
The problem is Shed, once a fan decides to leave and not renew very rarely do they come back, or at least not until the "good days" return.

Think we may even be past that point, I don't think even if we won our last 5 or 6 games that some people would renew, and I don't blame them to be honest. Ive certainly had to think long and hard, me and my dad agreed to no cancel as yet but as we pay DD we can cancel at any time we like. So we are seeing what the summer brings, my hopes are a new manager and a new core to our team, or at the very least a change in our playing staff with some players who excite fans.

Its time for some radical changes now, but I don't believe that will happen, ME wont just abandon his pointless 5 point plan and spend some money on players who are not young, so we will probably spend 2-3m on 2 or 3 developing players and get a couple of past it 32 year olds to come in and bore us to death. Its a tough time for the club at present, maybe MM will prove us all wrong and build a good team, but he said recently he wants it back to the "way it was 12-18 months ago", sorry Mick but that wasn't good enough either and was bloody boring. Take us back to where we were 2 1/2 years ago or just leave

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Charnwood » Sun Apr 23, 2017 8:50 pm

bluemike wrote:
marko69 wrote:
Charnwood wrote:and a few hundred season ticket renewals from those who changed their minds after the Newcastle United game who now revert back to not renewing.
Yeah, those fans can go f*ck themselves. They won't be missed. Opinion only.
Agree completely.


Not sure if you agree "they can go f*ck themselves" or agree "they won't be missed".

The first statement isn't a problem, but the second statement definitely is a problem cos for sure the fans not renewing will be missed as will their money. The even bigger problem is the fact they will be lost for years & years and some will probably never return as they get used to doing different things on a Saturday afternoon and simply "cherry pick" a handful of games to watch or even worse disappear never to return.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by marko69 » Sun Apr 23, 2017 10:05 pm

I live in a city that's arguably one of the best in Europe, if not the world......, PLENTY to do on a Saturday. But the Hibees who are vocally giving it "fk it, I'm not renewing" all come back after HALF a season. If the football is in their blood, they come back.
Seriously, let them be angry and say sh*t like, "FK IT, I'M NOT RENEWING," then 90 minutes later, "Oh yes i am renewing," then "FK IT, I'm not renewing" 90 minutes after that......, its the same script at every football club up down the country.

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Re: Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

Post by Bluemike » Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:49 pm

Charny, I was probably thinking more "go f*ck themselves" LOL.

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