Ipswich Town v Bolton Wanderers
Saturday 16th September 2017 – 15:00
Portman Road
Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
Forty Eight Hours is a lifetime in Football, certainly where Mick McCarthy and Ipswich Town are concerned anyway. Friday morning saw our Mick narrowly miss out on August's Manager of the Month award to Neil Warnock but fast forward Forty Eight hours and suddenly in many people's eyes he has become public enemy number One again, and all because we lost at QPR after putting in the kind of tepid performance we had hoped had become a thing of the past. Let's be honest and not kid ourselves, Saturday was not great, in fact it was terrible from start to almost the finish, it was the first time I had left a game this season feeling disappointed at Town's efforts, there were many things wrong, most of which have been scrutinised elsewhere, we all have our own ideas on team selection and tactics etc and most of our ideas would differ from everyone elses, with the aid of hindsight we are all geniuses after all.
Where I struggle to understand Town fans is just how quickly they change, from being c*ck-a-hoop and suggesting a good season to doom and gloom following our first real poor performance of the season, August suddenly becomes a fluke and a case of papering over the cracks, there never seems to be any middle ground where us Town fans are concerned, Black or White and nothing in between, it's been that way for many a long day now. I think it is easy to forget we still have a fair few important players unavailable to us, we still have all our recognised Centre backs out while in Midfield only now are we starting to see One or Two returning to the fold. I suppose Fourth in the table is not acceptable with a weakened side but victory over Bolton this weekend would see us on 15 points from a possible 21 and that is good in anyone's book, even without an injury crisis. I must be honest I hate the Knee jerk way in which some of us over react to a negative result, we all know the performance was not what we had come to expect this season but Mick and the Boys are trying to play better football this time around but we must be realistic, there will be times along the way when Mick reverts to type and tries to grind out something from a game, maybe this was the case at QPR, who knows, what I do know is that for me it does not constitute the fall out we seem to have had on the forums etc following the QPR game. I hated Roy Keane with a passion and was furious when he once dared to say that Suffolk folk seemed to know little about football, well many are very clued up on it and know there stuff but the others......Let's leave it there.
It is always good to at least try to find One or Two positives from every game and it was a struggle to do so as we trudged out of Loftus Road but for me young Callum Connolly came in for his debut and did ok, he certainly wasn't out of place and has added options to our defence for sure while Bersant Celina really caught the eye with his cameo performance, not to mention his stunning goal, he must have done himself plenty of good for selection in the coming weeks, naturally many, myself included were asking why he didnt play more of a role but a word ive used a lot in recent days "hindsight" is a wonderful thing, after all he had been ill since the season started and has not been fully up to speed, maybe now he is 100% and can push for a place in the starting Eleven along with Tom Adeyemi. It was always going to be a case of getting through to the end of September and keeping ourselves well placed until all the injured return, that is still the aim and there is no reason why we cant do it with Three of the next Four games at home.
The first of those Home games sees Bolton Wanderers visit Portman Road this coming weekend, they are no doubt one of the fancied teams to struggle following their promotion last May and with little or nothing to spend it will be tough for them, we all know no game is easy in this league but we should not be looking for excuses here, this should be a game we are more than capable of winning and the approach has to be one of going for it and not grinding something out, that would be disappointing and will only add fuel to the simmering fires that have already been relit, god forbid we fail to win and the fires will very soon become raging infernos. I am quietly confident of a return to winning ways, not to mention a much improved performance, confidence will have taken a little bit of a hit following Two defeats but a sense of perspective is needed until such time as we see the likes of Chambers, Huws and Webster returning, stick with it, we are still very well placed after all, the fans turning on the manager and team is the last thing we need after a few wounds appeared to have been healed during the last few weeks. A Town win for me with a Skuse Hat-trick !!!!
The Opposition – Bolton Wanderers
The club was founded by the Reverend Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at Christ Church in 1874 as Christ Church F.C. It was initially run from the church of the same name on Deane Road, Bolton, on the site where the Innovation factory of the University of Bolton now stands. The club left the location following a dispute with the vicar, and changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877. The name was chosen as the club initially had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, having used three venues in its first four years of existence.
Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.
The period before and after the First World War was Bolton's most consistent period of top-flight success as measured by league finishes, with the club finishing outside the top 8 of the First Division on only two occasions between 1911–12 and 1927–28. In this period Bolton equalled their record finish of third twice, in 1920–21 and 1924–25.
On 28 April 1923, Bolton won their first major trophy in their third FA Cup final, beating West Ham United in the first ever Wembley FA Cup final. They followed this up with two further FA Cup Final victories in 1926 & 1929.
From 1935 to 1964, Bolton enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight.
The years of the Second World War saw most of the Wanderers' playing staff see action on the front, a rare occurrence within elite football, as top sportsmen were generally assigned to physical training assignments, away from enemy fire. However, 15 Bolton professionals, led by their captain Harry Goslin, volunteered for active service in 1939, and were enlisted in the 53rd Bolton Artillery regiment. Only Goslin would not return from the war.
On 9 March 1946, the club's home was the scene of the Burnden Park disaster, which at the time was the worst tragedy in British football history. 33 Bolton Wanderers fans were crushed to death, and another 400 injured, in an FA Cup quarter-final.
Bolton Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when they overcame Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
While Bolton finished 4th the following season, the next 20 years would prove to be a fallow period. The club suffered relegation to the Second Division in 1963–64, and were then relegated again to the Third Division for the first time in their history in 1970–71. This stay in the Third Division lasted just two years before the club were promoted as champions in 1972–73. Hopes were high at Burnden Park in May 1978 when Bolton sealed the Second Division title and gained promotion to the First Division. However, they only remained there for two seasons before being relegated, and then slipped back into the 3rd Division at the end of the 1982/83 season.
Bolton failed to win promotion in the 1983–84 season, and would remain in the Third Division for another three seasons. In 1986 Nat Lofthouse was appointed President of the football club, a position he would hold until his death on 15 January 2011. At the end of the 1986–87 season, Bolton Wanderers suffered relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history, but won promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt.
Bolton reached the Premiership in 1995 in the Division One play-off Final. The same year Bolton progressed to the League Cup Final, but were defeated by Liverpool. Bolton were bottom for virtually all of the 1995–96 Premiership campaign and were relegated.
The club won promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt thanks to a season in which they achieved 98 league points and 100 goals in the process of securing the Division One championship. Unfortunately yet again, Bolton were relegated after only one season in the top flight. This season also marked the club's departure from Burnden Park to the Reebok Stadium.
In 2000–01 Bolton were promoted back to the Premiership after winning the play-off final. Bolton struggled in the following two seasons, but survived in the Premiership.
Bolton reached the League Cup final in 2004, but lost to Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, the club finished eighth in the league, at the time the highest finish in their Premiership history.
In 2005 Bolton finished sixth in the league, thus earning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. Between 2003–04 and 2006–07, Bolton recorded consecutive top-eight finishes. Bolton survived in the 2009–10 season as they finished 14th with 39 points. This secured a tenth successive top flight campaign for Bolton.
On 13 May 2012, Bolton Wanderers were relegated to the Championship by one point on the last day of the season.
The Championship season started badly for Bolton, with only three wins in ten league matches and a second round exit from the League Cup following a loss at Crawley Town, Bolton sacked manager Owen Coyle on 9 October 2012. Fourteen days later Dougie Freedman joined the club as manager, who guided them to a 7th place finish at the conclusion of the season.
Although Freedman made a number of signings for the 2013/14 campaign, Bolton ended the season firmly mid-table, with the expectations of another promotion push not met.
The 14/15 season started similarly, failing to win any of their first 6 games and only one of the first ten. Freedman left the club on 3 October 2014 by mutual consent, with Neil Lennon taking the helm.
In December 2015, Bolton, who were £172.9 million in debt, were handed a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid taxes, and a transfer embargo for the following month's window. On 18 January 2016, the club avoided an immediate winding-up order after their case was adjourned until 22 February to give it time to either close a deal with a potential buyer or raise sufficient short-term funds from asset sales.
On 9 April 2016, Bolton confirmed their relegation to the third tier for the first time since 1993. Lennon was removed from his position for the final few games of the season, replaced by Academy manager Jimmy Phillips.
The financial situation was somewhat improved as a takeover bid by Dean Holdsworth's Sports Shield was successful.
The 2016-2017 season provided some much-needed respite for beleaguered BWFC fans, as the club successfully achieved promotion from League One at the first attempt. New manager Phil Parkinson was instrumental in this, working despite an ongoing transfer embargo and ownership disputes between Holdsworth and Ken Anderson.
The Manager – Phil Parkinson
Past Match Video - Trev
Can only show one video for this one ……. what a night that was!
Media Watch – K L Blue
Both Managers reactions to the QPR game
http://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr/holl ... at-ipswich
https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/32255
https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/32255
Celina on his goal
https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/32256
Life being a trialist
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/ ... out-a-club
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 4th place with 12 points
QPR 2-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 0-2 Fulham FC
Crystal Palace 2-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 2-0 Brentford FC
Millwall FC 3-4 Ipswich Town
Bolton Last 5 Matches Currently in 24th place with 2 points
Bolton Wanderers 0-3 Middlesbrough
Hull City 4-0 Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers 3-2 Sheffield Wed
Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Derby County
Birmingham City 0-0 Bolton Wanderers
Fixtures of Interest
BRISTOL CITY VS DERBY COUNTY
CARDIFF CITY VS SHEFF. WED
MIDDLESBROUGH VS Q.P.R.
MILLWALL VS LEEDS UTD
NOTT. FOREST VS WOLVES
SHEFF. UTD. VS NORWICH
Marko’s Caption Contest
QPR Scores
DerickIpsw 5pts
Tangfastic 4pts
Herforder (Agnetha and the semi) 3pts
Shed on Tour (bug, fever) 2pts
LEAGUE TABLE
NICSCREAMER 16
SHED ON TOUR 16
TANGFASTIC 15
HERFORDER 14
BLUEMIKE 13
FROSTY 12
OHIOTRACTORBOY 11
DERICKIPSW 11
IPSWICHTOWNNO1 8
BLUEBLOOD 7
ANDO 7
BARMY BILLY 7
BLUEPETER 6
NUMBER9 5
QUASAR 5
WATERSHIP DOWN 5
JAMMA123 4
LOUDnPROUD 2
AYLESBURY BLUE 2
PATTHEGIMP 1
Bolton Pic:
Match Referee – Andrew Madley
IPSWICH TOWN 2 BOLTON WANDERERS 1
