Rotherham United v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:02 pm
Rotherham United v Ipswich Town
Saturday 22nd April 2017 – 15:00
New York Stadium
Opening Thought – Jamma
On Sir Bobby Robson day, it was fitting that Ipswich should put in one of their best displays of the season against his beloved Newcastle United, and record without doubt their most impressive result of 2016/17. Of the near 26,000 in attendance, a large number would have gone primarily to enjoy the occasion and commemorate the club’s most successful manager. The Blue Army were hoping, as opposed to expecting, to see a rousing performance from their team, and the 3 points would have been a bonus. And so the 90 minutes that ensued against the promotion-chasing Magpies came as a very welcome surprise. We took to the field with the same line-up that had created so many openings at Burton, Cole Skuse protecting the back four and giving the forward-thinking five in front of him the licence to attack. We looked a different team from the one that had been so reliant on Tom Lawrence’s magic in January and February, with three or four of that attacking quintet involved in all of our best moves. After Lawrence had combined with Freddie Sears for the opener, the moment that epitomised this new-found fluidity in the final third was the Blues’ second goal, through which we deservedly regained the lead. Emyr Huws made an interception on halfway and played a sublime lofted pass down the line to David McGoldrick. There followed a neat interchange of passes also involving Lawrence and Grant Ward, who in turn played a perfectly weighted through-ball to Sears. McGoldrick was then left with the simple task of converting from close range after the cross had taken Karl Darlow in the Newcastle goal out of play. The killer third may have owed more to a piece of individual brilliance from Huws, but was still preceded by some nice build-up play between Sears and Brett Pitman. The latter’s cross was sat up nicely for the onrushing Huws to convert with a sweetly struck volley. The Geordies, for their part, seemed reliant on some inspiration from Jonjo Shelvey, whose couple of long-range efforts failed to trouble Bartosz Bialkowski. Their goal when it came was from a rather hopeful ball played upfield, and a fortuitous break in the box which presented Daryl Murphy with the simplest of chances. He only added to his popularity amongst Town fans by refusing to celebrate, but his muted reaction could have been as much down to embarrassment at having drawn his team level on the back of so little of the game. Yes, you could say that Newcastle were a shadow of the side we had faced at St. James’ Park, but their nerves were at least in part due to the Blues’ high-tempo pressing, which forced several mistakes. It was also refreshing to see us score from a counter-attack, when we have so often been on the end of them this season. After Matt Ritchie had sent a diving header over the bar when it seemed easier to score, Town broke down the other end, capitalising on another error from Ritchie to take the lead. It’s hard to say how much our assured play owed to the pressure being off, or for that matter to the celebratory atmosphere around the ground. Either way, Sir Bobby would have been justly proud of what was in evidence on the pitch as well as in the stands.
As I came away from the ground on Monday evening, I overheard two or three different people saying – presumably to non-regular visitors to Portman Road – ‘You should come more often after that!’. With the attendance around 10,000 higher than our average gate for the campaign, there will have been plenty more in the same boat. It’s easy to imagine supporters who were at the Newcastle game wondering what all the fuss has been about this season. Looking at the last two home matches in isolation – 6 points and 6 goals scored – the club must be wishing they had moved the early bird season ticket deadline back a few hours from midday on Monday… But, as much as we can laugh about it, there remains a sense of frustration that we have not been able to replicate the same levels on a consistent basis. Mike raises a very good point further down, when he says that Ipswich have more than matched the league’s top sides. With all the doom and gloom that has surrounded the club, it’s easy to forget that we have beaten the likes of Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and now Newcastle, all teams that have either challenged for promotion this campaign or – perhaps more importantly – have a good chance of being in the mix in 2017/18. It is against the division’s lesser lights that we have tended to come unstuck, and we have to look no further than Saturday’s opponents, Rotherham, for a reminder of this. Way back on 29 October, the Millers claimed their first point on their travels, at Portman Road. Six months later, and with just one away match to play, they remain on that tally for the season. The South Yorkshire outfit will be keen to salvage some pride from what has been a desperately disappointing campaign. But, as Town showed against Newcastle, on our day we don’t need to concern ourselves with other teams’ circumstances. If we approach the weekend’s game with the same attitude, commitment and desire, we should be confident of chalking up another victory.
The Opposition – Rotherham United
Rotherham United FC (known as the ‘Millers’) was formed in February 1925 after the merger of two clubs, Thornhill United and Rotherham Town, who had been playing in the area since the 1870s.
The club's traditional home was Millmoor in Rotherham, where the team played from 1907 to 2008.
The red and white was adopted around 1928 after they originally played in amber and black, and Rotherham spent their time in Division 3, only just remaining in the Football League in 1931 as they had to apply for re-election.
Immediately after the Second World War, things were looking up. United finished as runners-up three times in succession between 1947 and 1949 and were then champions of Division Three (North) in 1951. Rotherham reached their highest ever league position of third in the Football League Second Division in 1955.
The club held on to its place in Division Two until 1968 and then went into a decline that took them down to Division Four in 1973. In 1975, they were promoted back to the Third Division, finishing in the 3rd promotion spot in the Fourth Division. The Millers won the Division Three title in 1981.
During the 1990s, Rotherham were promoted and relegated between the Football League's lowest two divisions and they slipped into the Fourth Division in 1991, just two years after being promoted, but reclaimed their status in the third tier (renamed Division Two for the 1992–93 season due to the launch of the FA Premier League). They survived at this level for five years, never looking like promotion contenders, before being relegated in 1997.
In 1997, just after relegation to Division Three, Ronnie Moore took charge of Rotherham United. His first season ended in a mid-table finish and then his second in a play-off semi-final defeat on penalties. It was third time lucky in 1999–2000, as Rotherham finished as Division Three runners-up and gained promotion to Division Two. They were favourites to be relegated in the 2000–01 season, but surprised many by finishing runners-up in Division Two and gaining a second successive promotion.
Rotherham managed to remain in Division One for four seasons until relegation to League 1 in 2005.
Early in 2006, it was announced that the club faced an uncertain future unless a funding gap in the region of £140,000 per month could be plugged. An eleventh-hour intervention by a consortium of local businessmen kept them in business, but they suffered relegation to League 2 and entered into administration in 2008, being deducted 10 points.
Local businessman Tony Stewart then took over as Chairman for the 2008–09 season and took the club out of administration via a Creditors Voluntary Agreement, resulting in a further 17-point deduction. The Millers were subsequently forced to leave Millmoor, their home of over 100 years, for the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield, after disputes with the landlords.
Chairman Stewart appointed Steve Evans as manager on 9 April 2012. Evans got them promoted back to League 1 in the 2012–13 season. The same season also signalled a new era for Rotherham United as the club returned to playing home matches in Rotherham, at the newly-built New York Stadium.
Rotherham gained back-to-back promotions by winning the 2013-2014 League One play-off final. Rotherham beat Leyton Orient 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw, having come back from 2-0 down.
In the 2014/15 season, Rotherham ended up 5 points clear of relegation, finishing with 46 points and in 21st place in the table.
Last season was another 21st place finish, as the Millers avoided relegation by a comfortable 9 points come the end of the season.
The Manager – Paul Warne (Caretaker)
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Let's go for 3 wins on the spin - that's unheard of!
Media Watch - K L Blue
MM on Newcastle win:
http://www.themag.co.uk/2017/04/mick-mc ... le-united/
Huws wants to stay:
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31558/
Newcastle fans react to Town defeat:
http://www.footballinsider247.com/newca ... o-ipswich/
Form Guide
Rotherham Last 5 Matches – Currently in 24th place with 18 points
Reading FC 2-1 Rotherham
Rotherham 1-1 Birmingham City
Wigan Athletic 3-2 Rotherham
Rotherham 0-2 Sheffield Wed
Rotherham 0-1 Fulham FC
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 15th place with 55
points
Ipswich Town 3-1 Newcastle Utd
Burton Albion 1-2 Ipswich Town
Fulham FC 3-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Ipswich Town 1-1 Birmingham City
Fixtures of Interest
BRISTOL CITY VS BARNSLEY
WIGAN VS CARDIFF
WOLVES VS BLACKBURN
ASTON VILLA VS BIRMINGHAM (SUNDAY)
Marko's Caption Contest -THE DON CUP
Only three captions left before the champion is named. Only nine entries for the Burton caption ...... Putting that down to either Easter egg munching, or the lower league-ers have given up. Must say, though, you, ITNO1, maybe should've entered more throughout the season – could've been up there. Let's see more having a few gos at the Rotherham pic.
SCORES:
Herforder 5pts
IpswichtownNo1 4pts
Nicscreamer & Watership Down 3pts
Tangfastic 2pts
LEAGUE TABLE
DerickIpsw 71
Nicscreamer 68
Blueblood 66
Gold&Black 65
Herforder 64
Frosty 57
Bluemike 57
Tangfastic 56
Ando 54
Watership Down 33
Number 9 32
Shed on Tour 28
Quasar 28
IpswichtownNo1 24
Patthegimp 17
Ashfordblue 11
Barmy Billy 9
Supershred 6
LoudNProud 6
Longjohn 1
Foxy Lady 1
ItfcTrev76 1
Rotherham caption picture – an old favourite:
Match Referee - Jeremy Simpson
Final Thought - Bluemike
At last!!!! Yes, it may have taken twenty-two attempts, but we finally had the perfect afternoon at Portman Road on Easter Monday, as Newcastle Utd came to town and left with their tails very much between their legs. Not only was it the best home performance of the season, it was in all probability the best performance of the season as a whole. We actually played with a bit of a swagger at times and for a change a tempo that we have seldom seen. I cannot remember seeing a game where we got so many bodies into the box on several occasions. Didsy & Sears caused mayhem, but with Lawrence, Huws and Ward all getting well forward we really caused them problems. It was a carry-on from the impressive showing at Burton on Good Friday and means we have now won three out of the last four games. The obvious question many are asking is why now??????
The most frustrating thing about the Newcastle game is that it shows we do have the players here who are more than capable of beating the best the division has to offer. Purely my opinion but I felt we should have beaten Brighton twice, Norwich twice, Villa twice. Yes, we picked up points which maybe we were fortunate to get but the matches against those three teams alone show we can hold our own. In a season of gloom, there are some positives. For instance, only the teams currently occupying the top six berths have lost fewer games than us. Only seven teams have conceded fewer goals too. We have so many damn draws and that has been our Achilles heel. Could it just be "one of those seasons"? Can Mick possibly ride out this storm and get us playing like we did against the Geordies on a regular basis, and if so would most forgive him? With investment, it just makes you wonder. Just a few of those draws turned into wins and God knows where we could be. Plenty of food for thought.
Our penultimate away game sees us visit rock-bottom and already-doomed Rotherham, the same Rotherham who we failed to defeat at Portman Road back in late October. It gives us a great chance to rack up three wins on the spin, yes three!!!!! Of course, in true Ipswich tradition, we will probably fail to turn up, roll over and die and get stuffed. That is how it normally works with us! All joking aside, I think if we play as we have in the last two games we will bring home the points. With no pressure on either side, it should at least be an open and hopefully entertaining game. A Town win for me by the scoreline of 2-1. COYBs
ROTHERHAM UNITED 1 IPSWICH TOWN 2