Ipswich Town v Preston North End 
Saturday 4th November 2017 – 15:00
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
The less said about the debacle at Cardiff the better, i've already made my feelings known after the game as to where I stand now and unfortunately it is all change for me, I cannot abide having the p**s taken out of me and that now seems to be the way of things, change needs to happen, the fans are once again turning on MM and on this occasion he only has himself to blame, there is only a certain amount of leeway you can give someone but when they stop trying to help themselves it really is game up. The game Tuesday evening was dreadful in so many ways, Micks decisions before and during the game definitely had a negative effect on proceedings and you could almost be forgiven for thinking we treated it as a game that was lost before we even kicked a ball, I get that sometimes you have to rest the odd player from time to time but Five of your main ones all at once ? Pure suicide and I take it as being disrespectful to the 300+ who made the long trip, in fact no I see it as being disrespectful to every Town fan whether they were there or not. The concerning thing is that I just don't see Mick walking anytime soon, I also struggle to see ME sacking him so it looks like we could very well have the whole season ahead consisting of unrest, bad feeling and a big split throughout the club again, I will be shocked beyond belief if ME was to offer the 2 year extension to Mick's contract, it really cannot happen.
Having made my position clear as to where I stand on the MM debate I wan't to play devils advocate here, is Mick in fact actually playing a blinder and using all his nous and managerial experience to perfection, forget the Four letter tirade last weekend for a second and put aside the boring style of football that has crept back in and look at the facts, 11th in the table and a game in hand which if won takes us 7th, we are a Third of the way through the season and have a record of won Seven, lost Seven, is there any reason why that cannot be continued throughout the campaign in it's entirety ? Looking at the positions in the table of the seven teams we have beaten reads like this 24th 23rd 22nd 21st 19th 17th and 15th, while the teams that have beaten us sit 2nd 3rd 4th 7th 9th 12th ans 16th so there is an obvious pattern here which doesn't take a genius to see, to continue as we are would have us on the 70 point mark or as near as damn it meaning we would be no more than an extra win or two from the top six, that makes games against the teams in the middle ground of the table crucial and will go a long way to determining which way the seasons pans out, teams like this Saturdays opponents Preston North End are a good example, others like Forest, Wednesday, Hull and Reading hold the key, wins in these games will see us even closer to the top Six, of course defeats and it's the complete opposite. So is Mick done and dusted and losing the plot or playing to his and the teams strengths perfectly ? Food for thought and time will tell, unfortunately I won't be changing my mind again any time soon.
As for this weekends opponents, Preston had a super start to the season but in recent weeks it has mirrored our form really and all gone a bit wrong. One win in the last Seven has seen them slip outside the play off places, they currently sit in 10th, one place above us and with the same points having played a game more, injuries have affected them recently too and with a relatively small squad it bites hard, as we know only too well. On the One hand this could be a great time to play them but on the other hand we so often gift teams something when they are on a terrible run. Town have to win these games at home to keep the fans from completely turning on the team, another negative result and poor performance here and this could prove terminal to our chances going forward. For what it is worth I think they owe us a performance and result after Cardiff, players keep coming out and talking the talk but we need to see it carried through to the pitch, I can only see the players that were left out Tuesday returning and that may well be just enough to see us home, it won't be easy, no game ever is but let's at least put some pride back into the shirt guys, we can win this and I think we may just edge it.
The Opposition – Preston North End
Preston North End was originally founded as a cricket club in 1863, by Mr Walter Pomfret of Deepdale Road, who was the first person to rent the field on which North End has always played. The original rent was £8 per year. As Preston already had a strong town's club, they adopted the "North End" suffix because they moved to the North End of the town when Moor Park opened, playing their matches at Moor Park. Prior to that they played at Bow Lane. The club adopted rugby union code in 1877, but one year later they played their first game under the rules of association football, and in May 1880 unanimously passed a resolution to adopt the association code.
Preston North End were famously successful during the early years of professional football in England. In 1887, Preston beat Hyde 26–0 in the First Round of the FA Cup, still a record winning margin in English first-class football. Preston forward Jimmy Ross scored eight goals in the match, going on to score 19 goals in the competition that season, also still a record.
In 1888–89, they became the first league champions and the first winners of "The Double", becoming the only team to date to go throughout an entire season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup – winning the FA Cup without conceding a goal.
Preston were league champions again the following season, but have not won the title since. The club's last major trophy was an FA Cup triumph in 1938.
Preston were relegated to the Second Division in 1961 and have not played in the top division since. The club did reach the FA Cup final in 1964, but lost to West Ham United. Preston were relegated to the Third Division in the 1969–70 season. The club won the Third Division title at the first attempt and so returned to the Second Division.
Bobby Charlton, an England World Cup winner from 1966, was appointed Preston manager in 1973, but was unable to prevent the club from sliding into the Third Division in his first season and left after two years in charge. A brief respite in 1978 saw Preston win promotion back to the Second Division, but go down after three seasons. In 1985 the club fell into the Fourth Division for the first time in its history.
In 1986, Preston finished second from bottom in the Fourth Division and only avoided dropping into the Football Conference because the other Football League members voted in favour of the division's bottom four teams retaining their senior status.
A year later Preston won promotion to the Third Division and they were still at this level until 1990 when they were relegated from the first season of the new Division Two.
Preston were Division Three title in 1997, and in February 1998, 34-year-old defender David Moyes took over management of the club. Preston quickly developed into Division Two promotion contenders under Moyes, reaching the 1998–99 play-offs but losing out to Gillingham in the semi-finals, before finally being promoted as champions a year later.
Preston began the new millennium by winning promotion from Division 2 in the 1999–2000 season as champions. The club almost made it two promotions in a row in 2001 but lost 3–0 to Bolton Wanderers in the Division One play-off final. Moyes left for Everton in March 2002.
Preston were little more than a mid-table side until the 2004/5 season when Billy Davies took over and guided Preston to the Championship playoff final in his first season as manager, but they lost to West Ham United. The club reached the play-offs again the following year, this time losing out at the semi-final stage.
Preston spent much of the 2006–07 season in the automatic promotion or play-off places. However, from March 2007 the club slid rapidly down the league. On 11 July 2007, Nugent, the first Preston player to win an England cap for 50 years, left the club to join Portsmouth for a reported transfer fee of £6,000,000 and they did not recover from their poor run of form.
After a bad start to the 2007–08 season which saw the club pick up just three wins, Paul Simpson was sacked as manager on 13 November 2007 and Alan Irvine was appointed as Preston's new manager on a three-and-a-half year deal. He achieved his first objective as manager by finishing in 15th place, thus securing Preston's survival in the Championship.
The following season, he led Preston to 6th place in the Championship after a good run of form towards the end of the season, qualifying for the play-offs.
On 29 December 2008, Irvine was sacked after a poor run of results, with the club appointing Darren Ferguson as his successor and he narrowly secured their survival in the Championship.
In the 2009–10 season, Preston finished in 17th place and in the following season they were bottom of the Championship when Ferguson was sacked at Christmas.
Former Hull City manager Phil Brown was appointed as Ferguson's replacement, but could only achieve his first win in his 13th game in charge. This sparked an improved run of form, but could not prevent relegation to League One.
Brown was sacked on 14 December 2011 after less than a year in charge. After four weeks of interviews, Preston approached Stevenage manager Graham Westley and he was appointed manager on Friday 13 January 2012. Following a poor string of results, including a club record run of 12 home games without a win, Westley was sacked as Preston manager on 13 February 2013.
On 18 February 2013, it was confirmed that Simon Grayson had taken charge of Prestonand by the end of the 2012–13 season Preston were safe in 14th place, 11 points clear of relegation.
Preston won promotion to the Championship after beating Swindon Town 4–0 in the League One play-off Final on 24 May 2015, having failed in their previous nine appearances in the play-offs.
Since promotion to the second tier, Preston have achieved two successive top-half finishes despite having the third-lowest budget in the Championship, relying on a shrewd transfer policy and the development of young, relatively inexpensive players.
Last season Preston finished in 11th place with 62 points.
The Manager – Alex Neil
Past Match Video - Trev
Media Watch – K L Blue
Zach Wards view
http://www.haverhillecho.co.uk/sport/fo ... -1-8224272
Northstander's view
http://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswich-town ... -1-5260253
Mick's View
https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/32544
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 11th place with 21 points
Cardiff City 3-1 Ipswich Town
Burton Albion 1-2 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 0-1 Norwich City
Sheffield Utd 1-0 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 1-3 Bristol City
Preston Last 5 Matches – Currently in 10th place with 21 points
Preston NE 2-3 Brentford FC
Wolverhampton 3-2 Preston NE
Fulham FC 2-2 Preston NE
Preston NE 2-2 Sunderland
Hull City 1-2 Preston NE
Fixtures of Interest
ASTON VILLA VS SHEFF. WEDNESDAY
BOLTON VS NORWICH CITY
NOTT. FOREST VS Q.P.R.
Marko's Caption Contest - THE DON CUP
Don't forget this is now seperated from the 'Previews' and can be found at the top of the forum!
Here: http://www.tractor-boys.com/forum/viewt ... =1&t=65775
Match Referee – Andrew Madley
IPSWICH TOWN 2 PRESTON NORTH END 1
This is the frigging team Mick should have fielded against Cardiff, I cant see Scuse removing his injury replacements of Bru and Connolly in a hurry, Bru playing an excellent game, he certainly has got the bit between his teeth after Micks official I wont be playing Bru again, well done young man for proving Mick wrong, we certainly do need a permanent younger replacement for the ageing Scuse, who could do a good job as a Sub, anyway well done the lads for stamping your authority on a weak Preston side.