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.
Welcome back everyone to another no doubt hurly burly season of Championship football. A league we are starting to know too bloody well.
As you will see below, Mike has kindly agreed to step into James roll of ‘Opening Thoughts’. I would like to thank Mike for taking on this new role and also to thank James for his years of service to the forum. Hopefully we will see the odd ‘cameo’ from Jamma during the season.
A warm welcome back and thank you to Colin, Trev and Marko who are contributing again the season. Once again Marko is running the caption contest, ‘THE DON CUP’, a memorial trophy to Rob, which I know he would be delighted about. It’s actually something I really recommend people ‘have a go at’, as having your name engraved on this trophy is a special thing.
Please also remember the Prediction League starts next week (thanks to Andy and Mike)
Still looking to consolidate the forum a bit, it’s just the tech requirement that is not easy to find.
Anyway, each new season brings renewed optimism, maybe this is our year? COYB!!!
Cheers Dave
Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
First off I would like to thank Dave or giving me the opportunity to fill the shoes of Jamma in penning the "Pre Match Thoughts" for this seasons previews, they are big shoes to fill too as Jamma did a first class job and while I may not be blessed with his literary skills I will give it my best shot and tell it as it is and hopefully give you guys something worth reading.
It is hard to believe that the close season has come and gone already, was that really Three months ? I suppose it is true to say we all badly needed a break from all things ITFC after last season, in truth it was a season of disappointment, under achievement and plenty of frustration which at times threatened to boil over to something far worse. Lessons had to be learnt as the club, in my opinion, was in very real danger of collapsing such was the divide that was beginning to appear between club & fans. Thankfully a few things have happened over the last few weeks to give hope of brighter times ahead, Marcus Evans has loosened the purse strings a little bit which has allowed Mick to make what for me are some very astute signings, we have also seen the club attempting at last to do something on ticket pricing, those are just Three instances, all of which just had to happen.
So what of our chances on the pitch for 2017/18 ? Well one thing is certain, last seasons 16th place finish was just not good enough or acceptable for Ipswich Town, we are and always have been better than that. The signings of Huws, Garner, Adeyemi and Spence all seem sound additions and bolstered by the season long loans of Dominic Iorfa & Bersant Celina have given the squad a stronger look, yes we have reduced in numbers but in truth some of those that have departed really contributed nothing and as such will be no loss. It also opens up opportunities for the likes of Andre Dozzell, Flynn Downes, Tristan Nydam and Ben Morris etc to force their way into the gaffers thoughts, some fans ridicule the Five point plan but there are some really good kids coming through the ranks at Portman Road and this can only be a good thing, from what I have seen of young Downes already tells me we have a real star in the making on our hands, this kid is going to be something special. Time will tell but I am far more optimistic than I was Three months ago although the Championship, thanks to parachute payments, looks harder every season.
We open the season proper with a visit from Birmingham City and a certain Harry Redknapp, the Blues finished last season really poorly following the sacking of Gary Rowett but Harry stepped in to keep them up and this time around they have aspirations of challenging at the top of the table, thwarted in their attempts to lure John Terry to St. Andrews Redknapp has been linked with virtually everyone and the signing of David Stockdale from Brighton is a sign that they mean business. At the time of writing several more new faces are expected so it could be a very different Birmingham City side that run out at Portman Road on August 5th. This is the type of game that saw us come unstuck all to often last season and if we have any real hopes of being in the mix come next May this type of game has to glean something from it. Let's hope we can get off to a flyer and entertain the fans too. I for one can't wait. IPSWICH TILL I DIE.
The Opposition – Birmingham City
Birmingham City were founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875, and from 1877 played their home games at Muntz Street. The club turned professional in 1885. In 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly formed Football League Second Division. They finished as champions, but failed to win promotion via the test match system. The following season promotion to the First Division was secured after a second place finish and test match victory over Darwen.The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new home, St Andrew’s Ground, the following year. Matters on the field failed to live up to their surroundings. Birmingham were relegated in 1908, obliged to apply for re-election two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War.
Birmingham won the second Division Two title in 1920–21. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup Final, which they lost 2–1 to Second Division club West Bromwich Albion. Though Birmingham remained in the top flight for 18 seasons, they struggled in the league.
The name Birmingham City F.C. was adopted in 1943. The club won the Football League South wartime league and reached the semifinal of the first post-war FA Cup. Two years later they won their third Second Division title. Bob Brocklebank, though unable to stave off relegation in 1950, brought in players who made a major contribution to the club's successes of the next decade. When Arthur Turner took over as manager in November 1954, he made them play closer to their potential, and on the last day of the 1954–55 season confirmed them as champions. In their first season back in the First Division, Birmingham achieved their highest league finish of sixth place. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing to Manchester City.
Birmingham became the first English club side to take part in European competition in 1956. They were also the first English club side to reach a European final, losing to Barcelona in the 1960 Fairs Cup final and to A.S. Roma the following year.
In 1963 they lifted their first major trophy, the League Cup,when they beat their bitter rivals Aston Villa in the final.
Sir Alf Ramsey briefly managed the club before Jim Smith took over in 1978. With relegation a certainty, the club sold Trevor Francis to Nottingham Forest, making him the first player transferred for a fee of £1 million. Smith took Birmingham straight back to the First Division, but a poor start to the 1981–82 season saw him replaced by Ron Saunders. Saunders' team struggled to score goals and in 1984 they were relegated. They bounced back up, but the last home game of the 1984–85 promotion season, against Leeds United, was marred by rioting, culminating in the death of a boy when a wall collapsed on him. This was on the same day as the Bradford City stadium fire, and the events at St Andrew's formed part of the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell's inquiry into safety at sports grounds. The club lacked stability both on and off the field and by 1989 Birmingham were in the Third Division for the first time in their history.
In April 1989 the Kumar brothers, owners of a clothing chain, bought the club. A rapid turnover of managers, the absence of promised investment, and a threatened mass refusal of players to renew contracts was relieved only by a victorious trip to Wembley in the Associate Members Cup. Terry Cooper delivered promotion, but the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) put the Kumars' businesses into receivership until publisher David Sullivan bought it for £700,000. After a poor start to the 1993–94 season Cooper was replaced by Barry Fry, followed by the return of Trevor Francis.
Francis introduced players with top-level experience such as Manchester United skipper Steve Bruce. In his second season the club narrowly missed out on a play-off position, followed by three years of play-off semifinal defeats By October 2001, lack of progress had made Francis's position untenable and he was replaced two months later by Steve Bruce, taking them from mid-table into the play-offs where they beat Norwich City on penalties to win promotion to the Premier League.
Birmingham's first top-flight season for 16 years finished in mid-table.
In July 2007, Hong Kong-based businessman Carson Yeung bought 29.9% of shares in the club, making him the biggest single shareholder. Bruce left in mid-season to become manager of Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic.His successor, Alex McLeish, was unable to stave off relegation, but achieved promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. In 2011, a second victory in the League Cup secured qualification for the Europa League. With relegation back to the second tier, McLeish resigned in June 2011 to join Aston Villa. Successor Chris Hughton narrowly failed to reach the knockout rounds of the Europa League and the playoff final before, with the club in financial turmoil and under a transfer embargo, leaving for Norwich City in June 2012. He was replaced by Lee Clark.
Under Lee Clark, Birmingham twice retained their divisional status, albeit through a 93rd-minute goal in the last match of 2013–14 to avoid relegation on goal difference. After a continuation of the poor form from the previous season, Clark was sacked in October 2014, to be replaced by Burton Albion manager and former Birmingham player Gary Rowett.
Gary Rowett stabilised the team and led them to two tenth-place finishes before being controversially dismissed by new owners Trillion Trophy Asia in favour of the "pedigree" of Gianfranco Zola, who would aid the club's "strategic, long-term view" to take the club in a new direction.
A spell of two wins in 24 matches left Birmingham needing two wins from the last three games to stay up, which they achieved under the managership of Harry Redknapp.
Hi there Don Cup participants, hope it's been an awesome summer and you all had a break away. That's a holiday, not a biscuit! Although if I was meaning biscuits, I'd have ate all the break aways and you'd all get nowt!
Let's get the laughs rolling in again. Looking forward to reading these previews and the entire thread again...... it's always a welcome distraction from not so pleasant news.
Same rules apply, a picture a week, not always football related, and the scoring remains the same. (No midweek fixture captions) This season I'll let three weeks go by before putting up the first league table. Please have as many goes as you like, more chance of getting the higher points and I'll indicate the caption you've submitted that's got the bigger points. If you submit two or three and you've only grabbed the point, then it's just because the humour hasn't registered with the group of utter arseholes who are scoring.
Good luck to everyone in the quest to get your name onto The Don Cup, a trophy dedicated to the memory of Rob (The Don) who was the one who initially started putting funny captions to football pictures. Your dry wit is missed. The competition begins as soon as this preview goes "live",....... will Derick_Ipsw retain that title...... over to you guys. All the very best.
No doubt it will seem strange not being at Portman Road for the opening game of the season.
Just hope things improve for all those attending on a regular basis this season.
Town 2 Birmingham 1
Caption: Where the hell did I put that brown envelope Harry gave me?
Duplicating what was already mentioned in the prediction league, believe it'll be 2 - 0 to the home team. Obviously that were before today's debacle but the players now have the opportunity to get back on track and redeem themselves. It's imperative they give something back. Despite today's garbage, it's within their capabilities.
3-0 defeat.
I started a "Where do you think we will finish?" thread lasr week but depressed myself so much i didn't post it. Yesterday's result confirms my fears.
I know we were short of several players but they were mostly in midfield. That area is the least of our worries.
Defensively we have gone for full backs with athleticism over defending ability. Central defensive options are 2 who are prone to errors and one who i suspect is prone to injury.
None of our strikers are prolific. One has hardly scored fir ages, one plays deep and is injury prone and the other has yet to prove himself atvtjis level.
If we canr defend and can't score, we are in for a bigger struggle than last season when at least we had a loanee who knocked them in.
Once it became apparent we would not be starting the season with a new manager, I became totally disinterested and couldn't care less about the new season. None of the summer signings have given me renewed hope for what lies ahead, but to be fair to them, they must be allowed a chance to impress. Fingers crossed then.
Harry Redknob is a wiley old campaigner who possesses the knack of getting the best out of players. Has he still got? Let's hope not.
I'm going for a 0-0 draw.
Caption: 'Isn't it a bit too soon to start praying, Dad.'
well this is one of the rare games (lately) that I'm going to.
I don't care if we win or lose as long as there's an improvement in the style of play and some commitment.
I have to say that I'm not bowled over by the signings that have been made, but that's a bit unfair as I've not seen many of them.
But I fear that whatever personnel we have available, we're going to see Knudsen at LB with Kenlock left out, and will be treated to a masterclass of sideways and backwards passing (and mainly inaccurate as well) by the in-droppable Skuse.
Same old, same old then: although I'm going to this game with a completely open mind it would not surprise me if I go home disappointed.
Gary !!! Are you coming for beer pre game ? The Rep if you are mate and I will convince you our signings are sh*t hot that skuse is star and that this season is going to be a great one, all that being said I think you need to get here for 7am as I have a hell of a job on my hands
Great to have these back, and very much looking forward to the season ahead.
Can't quite get totally onboard with the thinking that the 6-1 humiliation is going to be "what the doctor ordered" to give these guys a kick up the a$$. Just cannot see 'Arry trying to break down some kind of new footballing force within the space of a week. No first games of seasons are banker wins, draws or losses, and this applies to this game........ although very much leaning towards the draw.
0-0
Ref caption:
Player: Ref, what the hell are you thinking?
Ref: HEY, down there for dancing, and over there, the guy with the flag, for thinking!
Thank you for the kind words. I'm going to miss being part of the team, but am very much looking forward to reading the previews throughout the season. An excellent opening preview, with sentiments that many will agree with in Mike's opening thoughts.
The mood of optimism may have been influenced by the fact that the preview went up ahead of Saturday, particularly where the poll is concerned! Having said that, I am going with Mick's twisted logic: it would be all too typical if Ipswich were to go and beat Birmingham while Charlton were rolled over by Bristol Rovers... Not that I'm confident enough to put a bet on that outcome! I'll go for a nerve-settling 1-0 home win, which would do very nicely.
Come on you Blues!
Caption competition:
'Stop yawning, dad - people will think we support Ipswich'
bluemike wrote:Gary !!! Are you coming for beer pre game ? The Rep if you are mate and I will convince you our signings are sh*t hot that skuse is star and that this season is going to be a great one, all that being said I think you need to get here for 7am as I have a hell of a job on my hands
haha, you could bang on about Skuse for a tear and I still would not be convinced.
I'll have Mrs Rossi with me, but would be great to meet up for a drink first.
The Rep? Where's that?
All the very best to you for the future, Jamma123...... your opening thoughts will be missed..... but must say, fairly decent debut opening thoughts up there by Bluemike....... it's all going to be in good hands I think. Certainly better than noising up the regulars with the "closing thoughts"!
And err, for someone who usually steers clear of the captions, this below is pretty good!
Jamma123 wrote:Caption competition:
'Stop yawning, dad - people will think we support Ipswich'
bluemike wrote:Gary !!! Are you coming for beer pre game ? The Rep if you are mate and I will convince you our signings are sh*t hot that skuse is star and that this season is going to be a great one, all that being said I think you need to get here for 7am as I have a hell of a job on my hands
haha, you could bang on about Skuse for a tear and I still would not be convinced.
I'll have Mrs Rossi with me, but would be great to meet up for a drink first.
The Rep? Where's that?
Be good to see you both Gary. The Rep is in Tower Street which runs off the main Tavern Street, Game shop is on one corner and I believe H&M clothes shop on the other corner, it's just a little way up on the left, really easy to find.
We haven't lost at home to Birmingham City since Boxing Day 2008 when we lost 0-1.
Since then we've played them six times at Portman Road W3 & D3 with 1-1 the final outcome three times.
Can see a draw. Not sure what team he'll put out due to injuries/ illness, but betting that Knudsen will return. Kenlock getting hooked at half-time last game of season shows that Mick thinks ahead.
CAPTION:
Son: "what you're doing, dad ?"
Dad: " just posing for the Caption Competition.... it's the Scampi Nik Nak theme week.... by the way, did you bring my mankini as its Streaker Week next week"
bluemike wrote:Gary !!! Are you coming for beer pre game ? The Rep if you are mate and I will convince you our signings are sh*t hot that skuse is star and that this season is going to be a great one, all that being said I think you need to get here for 7am as I have a hell of a job on my hands
haha, you could bang on about Skuse for a tear and I still would not be convinced.
I'll have Mrs Rossi with me, but would be great to meet up for a drink first.
The Rep? Where's that?
Be good to see you both Gary. The Rep is in Tower Street which runs off the main Tavern Street, Game shop is on one corner and I believe H&M clothes shop on the other corner, it's just a little way up on the left, really easy to find.
Ipswich Town v Birmingham City
