Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town
Sunday 7th May 2017 - 12:00
City Ground
Live on Sky Sports 3
Opening Thought – Jamma
The Blues’ final home match of the campaign was always likely to go one of two ways. The more optimistic (arguably deluded) of us would have been hoping to witness a return to the heights of the display against Newcastle, particularly as the same line-up would be playing without the pressure – or expectation – of a result. As it was, we got 90 minutes that were more reminiscent of our last outing against Rotherham, when sweeping changes had resulted in a disjointed performance with next to no attacking threat. Of course, reverting to the same team was no guarantee that everything would suddenly click again and we would see a repeat of the free-flowing football of Easter Monday. Mick McCarthy admitted as much with his post-match comments, saying that the inconsistency in team selection may have been one reason why we lacked the ‘edge’ of our play-off-chasing opponents. For all the criticism that he has attracted over the last 18 months, you could never accuse one of Mick’s teams of not putting in the effort, but there was certainly a drop-off in intensity on Saturday. Neither team was able to fashion much in the way of clear-cut goalscoring chances, with Ipswich coming closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half with a curling David McGoldrick shot from the edge of the area. But, while Town huffed and puffed when trying to create anything going forwards, Wednesday gave the impression that they had at least another couple of gears in reserve, as they enjoyed spells of sustained possession. They fired a warning sign soon after the break, the dangerous Ross Wallace beating Bartosz Bialkowski from range but seeing his strike come back off the inside of the post. Just as it was looking like the game might drift into another uneventful no-score draw, the Owls managed to find the net with the best move of the game, Barry Bannan releasing roaming left-back Daniel Pudil, whose cross was expertly converted by Kieran Lee. When Emyr Huws’ volleyed effort on the angle sailed high and wide in stoppage time, it capped off a match which had just about summed up our season: nothing much to get excited about, and a lack of quality when it mattered most.
Given our shortfalls in 2016/17, I’m sure there won’t be too many tears shed as we approach our last game. I am not the only one who was wondering whether we would still need the points from our trip to the City Ground a matter of weeks ago. Last weekend’s results do at least mean that there is an intriguing sub-plot to our meeting with Nottingham Forest, who, along with Blackburn and Birmingham, are facing up to the prospect of third-tier football next season. With a goal difference of just 1 keeping the Reds above the dreaded dotted line, they need to at least match Rovers’ result at Brentford to send them down, with the Midlanders set for the drop if both of their rivals win and they don’t collect maximum points at Bristol City. Forest can count themselves fortunate to still have their fate in their own hands, having claimed the scalps of Brighton, Huddersfield and Reading since the beginning of March – their only successes since a similarly impressive victory over Aston Villa the previous month. These have all come at the City Ground, together with equally eye-catching results against Leeds and Newcastle, making for a strong record which has seen them score more goals at home than three of the sides who will be contesting the play-offs. It is therefore Forest’s away form that has held them back, as they have chalked up just two league wins on their travels all season. Town fans won’t need reminding that one of those came at Portman Road, from another televised encounter in November when we conceded within the opening 20 seconds. Whether it be for the integrity of the league, our own professional pride or winning back some disenchanted supporters, the 3 points are important for us in their own way, ahead of a potentially pivotal summer…
Whether you are going to the game or following it on the TV or radio, enjoy the final chance to see the Blues in competitive action for three months. I think we’re all ready for a break, and will come back in August refreshed and ready for another campaign no doubt full of the ups and downs of being an Ipswich Town supporter!
The Opposition - Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C. was founded in 1865 shortly after their neighbours Notts County, thought to be the world's oldest surviving professional association football club. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889 and then entered The Football League. In 1890, Forest moved to the Town Ground, playing in the first ever match to use goal nets.
Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County.
The club spent most of the first half of the twentieth century in the Second Division. In 1949, they were relegated to the Third Division but were promoted two years later as champions.
Forest regained First Division status in 1957 and won the FA Cup for a second time in 1959.
After being runners-up in the league and cup semi-finalists in 1967, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972.
Forest were considered an underachieving club by English league standards until the mid-1970s, when Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor took the helm at the club. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest won promotion to the top division at the end of the 1976–77 season after finishing third in the Second Division, but no-one could have predicted how successful Clough's team would be over the next three seasons. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams (and the most recent team to date) to win the English First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the English Second Division (1977–78 season).
In 1978–79, Forest went on to win the European Cup by beating Malmö and retained the trophy in 1979–80, beating Hamburg.
They also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. Besides Peter Shilton, key players of that era included right-back Viv Anderson (the first black player to play for the England national team), midfielder Martin O'Neill, striker Trevor Francis and a trio of Scottish internationals: winger John Robertson, midfielder Archie Gemmill and defender Kenny Burns. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial circumstances. It later emerged that, in the second leg, the Belgian club had bribed the referee but the referee in question had since died in a car accident and was hence not able to be held to account.
Nottingham Forest's next significant trophy came in 1989, when they beat Luton Town in the League Cup final. For most of the season, they had been hopeful of completing a unique domestic treble, but were beaten into third place in the League by Arsenal and Liverpool and lost to Liverpool in the replay of the FA Cup semi-final, originally held at Hillsborough, where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death.
Clough's side retained the League Cup in 1990, when they beat Oldham Athletic, and were runners-up in the 1991 FA Cup final.
Brian Clough's 18-year reign as manager ended in May 1993, when Forest were relegated from the inaugural Premier League after 16 illustrious years of top-flight football which had seen a league title, two European Cups and four League Cups.
Frank Clark, who had been a left-back in Nottingham Forest's 1979 European Cup-winning team, returned to the club as manager in May 1993 and was able to achieve a return to the Premier League when the club finished Division One runners-up at the end of the 1993–94 season.
Forest finished third in 1994–95 and qualified for the UEFA Cup – their first entry to European competition in the post-Heysel era. The club reached the quarter-finals, the furthest an English team reached in UEFA competitions that season. The 1996–97 season became a relegation battle and Clark left the club in December.
34-year-old captain Stuart Pearce was installed as player-manager and in March 1997 he was replaced on a permanent basis by Dave Bassett. Forest were unable to avoid relegation and finished the season in bottom place. They won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, being crowned Division One champions in 1997–98. However, Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with Ron Atkinson replacing him.
Ron Atkinson was unable to prevent Forest from once again slipping back into the Football League with a succession of poor results.
David Platt succeeded Atkinson and spent approximately £12 million on players, which yielded two mid-table finishes before he departed to manage England U21s.
Paul Hart became the Reds' new boss just two hours after the departure of Platt. Despite off-field difficulties, due to the ITV Digital collapse, Forest finished 2002–03 in sixth place and qualified for the play-offs, losing to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. A poor league run the following season led to the sacking of Hart in February 2004 in order to prevent relegation.
Joe Kinnear was subsequently appointed and led the club to 14th place in the final league table. The 2004–05 season saw Forest drop into the relegation zone once more, leading to Kinnear's resignation in December 2004.
Following the brief caretaker stewardship of Mick Harford, Gary Megson took charge of Forest in January 2005 but failed to stave off relegation as the club ended the season second from bottom in 23rd place, becoming the first European Cup winners ever to fall into their domestic third division.
In Forest's first season in the English third tier in 54 years, Megson survived until February 2006, when he left by "mutual consent", leaving the club only four points above the relegation zone. Frank Barlow and Ian McParland took temporary charge for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, engineering a six-match winning run and remaining unbeaten in ten games, taking 28 points from a possible 39, and narrowly missing out on a play-off place as they finished in 7th place.
Colin Calderwood was appointed as Forest’s twelfth manager in thirteen years in May 2006 and became the longest-serving manager since Frank Clark. The Calderwood era was ultimately one of rebuilding. In his first season, he led the club to the play-offs, and achieved automatic promotion in his second year at the club. Calderwood's side struggled to adapt to life in the Championship in the 2008–09 campaign and, having been unable to steer Forest out of the relegation zone, Calderwood was sacked following a Boxing Day defeat.
Under the temporary stewardship of John Pemberton, Forest finally climbed out of the relegation zone, and Billy Davies was confirmed as the new manager on 1 January 2009. They avoided relegation as they finished 19th in the Championship, securing survival with one game to go.
The 2009–10 campaign was a successful one for Forest, with the club holding a top three position for the majority of the season, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to West Bromwich Albion, and then losing to Blackpool in the play-offs.
The 2010–11 season saw Forest finish in sixth place in the Championship table, putting them into a play-off campaign for the fourth time in the space of eight years. This time around, they lost to Swansea over the two play-off semi-final legs.
In June 2011, Billy Davies' contract was terminated and he was replaced as manager by Steve McClaren, who signed a three-year contract.
Forest started the 2011–12 season with several poor results and McClaren resigned, with chairman Nigel Doughty announcing that he also intended to resign at the end of the season. In October 2011, Nottingham Forest underwent several changes. These changes included the appointment of Frank Clark as new chairman of the club and also that of Steve Cotterill as manager.
Nigel Doughty, owner and previous chairman of the club, died on 4 February 2012, marking the end of a 13-year association with the club, with many estimating his total contribution as £100,000,000.
The Al-Hasawi family, from Kuwait, purchased the club and became the new owners in July 2012. The Al-Hasawi family told press that they had a long-term vision for the club based around a 3-5-year plan and, after interviewing several potential new managers, appointed Sean O'Driscoll. He was known for playing an attractive brand of passing football, and what football fans would consider the Forest way.
As of 15 December 2012, after the team’s 0–0 draw away at Brighton, Forest sat in 9th position with 33 points, just 3 points off the play-off positions. Just over two weeks later, Sean O'Driscoll was sacked following a 4–2 victory over Leeds United, with the club stating their intentions of a change ahead of the January transfer window and hopes of appointing a manager with Premiership experience. The man to replace O'Driscoll was Alex McLeish. On 5 February 2013, Nottingham Forest and Alex McLeish parted company by mutual agreement, just 40 days after McLeish took charge of Forest.
On 7 February 2013, the club re-appointed Billy Davies as manager, having been sacked as the team's manager twenty months previously. His first match in charge was a draw, followed by a run of 10 undefeated games. On 24 March 2014, the club announced that they had terminated Davies' employment, following a defeat by Derby County. After initially rejecting the job, fans’ favourite Stuart Pearce was named as the man to replace Billy Davies on a two-year contract, taking over from caretaker manager Gary Brazil.
After a bright start to Pearce’s tenure, Forest started to slip down the table and, on 1 February 2015, Dougie Freedman was appointed manager of the club in place of Pearce.
On 13 March 2016, Freedman was sacked, and Rennes head coach Philippe Montanier was appointed on a two-year contract on 27 June 2016.
Last season, Forest finished in 16th place on 55 points, ironically precisely where we currently find ourselves in the table!
The Manager – Mark Warburton
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Let's cast our minds back to two years ago, when it was Town whose season was very much still alive:
Media Watch - K L Blue
Tom Lawrence:
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31629/
Jordan Spence linked with...................
http://www.nottinghampost.com/nottingha ... story.html
Form Guide
Forest Last 5 Matches currently in 21st place with 48 points
QPR 2-0 Nottingham F.
Nottingham F. 3-2 Reading FC
Cardiff City 1-0 Nottingham F.
Nottingham F. 0-1 Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham F. 2-0 Huddersfield
Ipswich Last 5 Matches currently in 16th place with 55 points
Ipswich Town 0-1 Sheffield Wed
Rotherham 1-0 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 3-1 Newcastle Utd
Burton Albion 1-2 Ipswich Town
Fulham FC 3-1 Ipswich Town
Fixtures of Interest
UNDOUBTEDLY OUR ONE ……………… CAN FOREST STAY UP???
BRENTFORD VS BLACKBURN
BRISTOL CITY VS BIRMINGHAM
BUDGIES VS Q.P.R.
WOLVES VS PRESTON N.E.
Marko's Caption Contest - THE DON CUP
Big week/weekend for The Don Cup. And still five players involved in winning the competition. And just to let you know, the scoring this week will be based on the views of even more judges. My youngest son, currently in Robinvale, Victoria, Australia on his "life experience" world tour before returning to join the police, will be involving his buddies over there, (around 12 of them) to vote on the caption answers. Yes, I know Frosty, "Aussie bstds", but it'll be good to get their answers from Scotty boy. So all to play for this week, have as many go's as you want, before, during or after the game, and I'll be getting the results together for next Monday evening. Good luck y'all.
SW SCORES
Herforder 5pts (pussy) ....., that's his caption answer, not him!
Goldnblack 4pts
Blueblood 3pts (NHS)
Ohiotractorboy 2pts
LEAGUE TABLE
DerickIpsw 73
Blueblood 73
Nicscreamer 70
Gold&Black 70
Herforder 70
Frosty 60
Tangfastic 59
Ando 58
Bluemike 57
Watership Down 35
Number 9 32
Shed on Tour 28
Quasar 28
IpswichtownNo1 25
Patthegimp 17
Ashfordblue 11
Barmy Billy 9
Ohiotractorboy 7
Supershred 6
LoudNProud 6
Longjohn 1
Foxy Lady 1
ItfcTrev76 1
Last picture....... Forest legend.
Ipswich Town 2016/17 alternative awards
Goal of the season
Last year’s winner: Kevin Bru v Bolton
2016/17 winner:
Tom Lawrence v QPR away (1:00 in video)
Save of the season
Last year’s winner: Bartosz Bialkowski v Bristol City
2016/17 winner:
Bartosz Bialkowski v Barnsley at home – Tom Bradshaw one-on-one (1:06)
Most improved player of the season
Last year’s winner: N/A (new award)
2016/17 winner: Myles Kenlock
Signing of the season
Last year’s winner: N/A (new award)
2016/17 winner: Tom Lawrence
Funniest moment of the season
Last year’s winner: Charlton’s Johann Berg Gudmundsson getting a ribbing from the Blue Army after being struck in a ‘sensitive spot’
2016/17 winner: The utter tool in the home end at Carrow Road who set off a flare to celebrate Norwich’s opening goal...BEFORE making sure it hadn’t been disallowed. It was, for offside.
Chant of the season
Last year’s winner: Town’s away support informing Fulham fans that ‘Chelsea are sh*t, but they’re better than you’ (how things have changed!)
2016/17 winner: ‘Can we play you every week?’, sung, with more than a hint of irony, to Newcastle’s travelling support as we took their team apart on Sir Bobby Robson Day.
Best Mick McCarthy quote of the season
Last year’s winner: Mick’s response to Steve Evans’ sour grapes: ‘He can talk, can’t he? He certainly gives his jaw some exercise… I don’t know what else.’
2016/17 winner: Describing Luke Freeman’s wonder goal as an ‘unbelievable flying bomb’ following the defeat at Bristol City
Most uninspiring/forgettable match at Portman Road of the season
Last year’s winner: N/A (new award)
2016/17 winner: Ipswich Town 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Most ineffectual long throw-in in the Football League
Last year’s winner: Jonas Knudsen
2016/17 winner: The ‘Danish Rory Delap’ has successfully defended his title.
Match Referee – Andy Davies
Final Thought – Bluemike
Well we've made it, just about! The last weekend of the season, a season which in truth has been hard work at the best of times, a season which has seen the club and us fans grow about as far apart as I can ever remember in my 46 years of watching Town, a season which has had far too many lows, far too much anti-feeling towards the board and manager, and ultimately a season that will go down as a massive failure for all concerned. In short, I am glad we now get a few weeks off to recharge our batteries, and hopefully we get to see this rebuild that the powers that be keep harping on about. I am not sure we will get the type of rebuild we are all hoping for but something has to give. It just cannot carry on the way it is. If it does, we will be very much in a relegation scrap next season. I urge the board to get it right.
The last home game of the season saw Sheffield Wednesday prove to be too good for us. While there was little in the first half, the gulf between the two sides after the break was all too evident, and as a result our home campaign ended much the same way as a lot of our home games – with a feeling of disappointment and dejection. I don't think it is asking too much for us to be aspiring to the level that the Owls find themselves this season. I get that we won't be spending silly amounts on one player but we should at the very least be looking to rub shoulders with the likes of Wednesday and Reading etc..
Our final game sees us travel to Nottingham Forest for what for them is a crucial game. Should we spring a surprise and win, they could well be saying goodbye to the Championship for a while. Much depends on what Birmingham and Blackburn do elsewhere and, if I am honest, I would rather see either of those two go down before Forest, especially the way Birmingham treated Gary Rowett. They deserve all they get. I have no idea what to expect and I am not holding my breath for a vintage display from the Blues. What I will be doing, however, is enjoying my day with special people, people I have travelled the length of the country with week after week in the most testing of times, and for that I need to say a big thank you to AylesburyBlue, HallamBlue, Mach_Polish_Blue, Foxy Lady, ITFCTrev, Shed, Michelle, Charny and anyone else I may have missed. It's you guys that make it enjoyable despite the football.
Finally, a big thank you to those who do read my ramblings week after week. Hopefully someone somewhere gets something from them LOL. It's been a pleasure helping out Frosty and the gang in producing these previews for those who choose to read them. Enjoy the summer and get ready for the promotion party in 2018!! COYBs
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
Aw no Derick!!! I can just hear the conversation at their Saturday night lake retreat, (Aussie accent) "Aw fk mate, that Derick caaant ain't getting a score!" 
