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Norwich City v Ipswich Town



Sunday 18th February 2018 – 12:00


Carrow Road







Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike



This weeks fixture should really need no big build up, the East Anglian Derby has always been the highlight of the season for fans from both sides of the Suffolk/Norfolk border, bragging rights are everything in these parts and for nigh on Nine years now we have not had that pleasure as our feathered friends have held the upperhand for all that time, aside from a couple of Draws it has been the Canaries in the ascendancy throughout those painful years, of course it is a far cry from what we have always been used to, it was very much the Blue and White of Town who had most to crow about, an illustrious and trophy winning history backed up with the edge in the all time head to head made Town the number One team in these parts for decades. The reality is though that more recent years are what count and in that respect we are in our neighbours shadow and I for one hate it, it hurts and gets under my skin big time. Circumstances may have played a part in where we find ourselves now and Norwich getting into the premeir League has put them way ahead in terms of revenue etc, thankfully that may well be evening out a bit next season should our rivals not gain promotion and that is looking about as likely as us doing it ! But for now all that matters is Sunday, everything else pales into insignificance, it is win at all costs, the desire has to be there, the pride in the shirt should shine through, sweat Blood for the cause and not shirk a single challenge, be prepared to get hurt and want it more than them, there is no other way to go into this game, I must admit this is where I am concerned because i saw none of that against rock bottom Burton Albion, in fact we pretty much waived the White flag and rolled over, we could not really be going into a derby game in worse shape after that fiasco, it doesn't get any worse so to say I am not looking forward to Sunday is something of an understatement, Mick too has really shown little passion for the Derby games over the years and that is where we could so easily come undone, he needs to be rallying the troops all week to lift them from what was a bloody shambles last saturday, a repeat of that and we will get spanked, no question about it.

Going back to the Burton game, and trust me I don't really want to, I can take almost zero positives from the whole sorry episode, it was a s bad as it can get, second best to a spirited but let's face it poor Burton side from start to finish, hardly a chance worthy of the name and nothing on target for what Eighty minutes ? Powder puff tackling, shoddy passing, reverting to some hoofing at times, just a general malaise throughout the whole afternoon, I scratch my head as to know why we are so damn inconsistent, we looked ok for an hour at Sunderland and then we dish up that tripe, if Mick is unable to motivate them for more than a game at a time then that in itslef is reason enough to get rid. With the exception of Bart and new boy Mustapha Carayol they should all hang their heads in shame and as much as I can't boo the team I fully understand those that did at the final whistle, I don't agree with it after Thirty minutes as it just makes the situation worse. How embarrassing is it to have Carayol come out after the game and have to admit what he watched was awful and not pretty, that says it all but he's been here Five minutes !! Hardly a good advert for Ipswich Town is it.

Mick McCarthy's comments over the last few days regarding his position have most of us even more perplexed as to if he will be here next August or not, personally I believe a decision has already been made between Mick and Marcus Evans and my feeling is that Mick will depart, I would utterly shocked to see this situation be allowed to carry on into next season, Evans is no fool but he would be a complete bloody idiot to allow the crowds to fall anymore, Thousands of fans are saying they will return if Mick goes and as the owner you have to listen to that kind of feedback, Evans has not made his Millions by sitting by and letting theings deteriorate. I was intrigued to read the comment from Ian milne that Marcus is very aware of the rift between manager and fans, that has not ever been mentioned before and for me it is another small indication that enough is enough, change is coming, it has to.

A final word on the Derby game, I am not in the slightest bit confident that we can take anything from this game given our current form, that said Norwich are not great although they have improved of late but they do have their weaknesses, James Maddison has to be kept quiet in Midfield or he will run the show, up front they do struggle for goald and if our defence can keep it tight we have a small chance, lets not forget we've just kept Two successive clean sheets which doesn't happen very often. I also think our strikers at their best can cause them problems at the back too, Waghorn, Garner, Carayol and Celina would be my preferred options and that could be a winning formula. I long for the day I see us win at carrow Road, I cannot wait to shove it down their throats, I will never forget those inbred farmhands goading us on the pitch at the end of the play off game, we will have our day again sometime soon, who knows it could be Sunday, I just wish we were going into it in a more positive frame of mind, the Town fans will give it their all Sunday, the away following always do, I just hope the Boys in Blue respond in kind, who know's we could just do it. ITID !!!!!!




The Opposition – Norwich City





Norwich City F.C. was formed on 17 June 1902.

Following a FA Commission, the club was ousted from the amateur game in 1905, as it was deemed to be a professional organisation. Later that year Norwich were elected to play in the Southern League and with increasing crowds, they were forced to leave Newmarket Road in 1908, moving to The Nest, a disused chalk pit. The club's original nickname was the Citizens, although this was superseded by 1907 by the more familiar 'Canaries' after the club's chairman (who was a keen breeder of canaries) dubbed his boys 'The Canaries' and changing their strip to yellow and green. During the First World War, with football suspended and facing spiralling debts, City went into voluntary liquidation on 10 December 1917.

The club was officially reformed on 15 February 1919. When, in May 1920, the Football League formed a third Division, Norwich joined the Third Division for the following season. The club went on to endure a mediocre decade, finishing no higher than eighth but no lower than 18th. The following decade proved more successful for the club with promotion as champions to the Second Division in the 1933–34 season. With crowds continuing to rise, and with the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation of the ground, but ultimately decided on a move to Carrow Road. The club was relegated to the 3rd Division just before the outbreak of Second World War. The league was suspended the following season and did not resume until the 1946–47 season. City finished this and the following season in 21st place, the poor results forcing the club to apply for re-election to the league.

In the 1959–60 season, Norwich were promoted to the Second Division after finishing in second place. In 1962 Ron Ashman guided Norwich to their first trophy, in a two-legged final to win the League Cup.

Sixth place in the league was the closest the club came to promotion to the First Division during the 1960s, but after winning the division in the 1971–72 season under manager Ron Saunders, Norwich City reached the highest level of English football for the first time. Relegation to the Second Division in 1974 resulted in the resignation of Saunders and the appointment of John Bond. A highly successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division. Bond resigned during the 1980–81 season and the club were relegated, but bounced back the following season after finishing third.

The 1984–85 season was of mixed fortunes for the club; under Ken Brown's guidance, they reached the final of the Football League Cup at Wembley Stadium, having defeated Ipswich Town in the semi-final. In the final, they beat Sunderland , but in the league both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated to the second tier of English football. This made Norwich the first English club to win a major trophy and suffer relegation in the same season.

City bounced back to the top flight by winning the Second Division championship in the 1985–86 season. This was the start of what remains in 2012 a club-record nine consecutive seasons in the top division of English football until they were relegated to the First Division at the end of the 1994/95 season.

English television cook Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones took over the majority of Norwich City's shares in 1996.

Nigel Worthington took over as Norwich City manager in December 2000 following an unsuccessful two years for the club under Bruce Rioch and then Bryan Hamilton.

The 2003–04 campaign saw the club win the First Division title, and returned to the top flight for the first time since 1995, but were relegated after one season.

Following this relegation, the club entered a 'dark' period with Worthington, Peter Grant, Glenn Roeder and Bryan Gunn all taking on the Managers role and achieving mediocre results, culminating in the relegation to League 1 at the end of the 2008/9 season.

Following their relegation, their first game of the season resulted in a shock 7–1 home defeat against East Anglian rivals Colchester United. This was the club's heaviest ever home defeat, succeeding a record that had stood since 1946 and Gunn was sacked six days later.

On 18 August 2009, Paul Lambert was announced as the new manager, leaving his post at Colchester, and nine months later led Norwich to promotion back to the Championship as League One Champions, after a single season in League One. The following season saw Norwich promoted to the Premier League, finishing second in the table, completing the first back-to-back promotions from the 3rd tier to the 1st.

A generally successful season saw the club finish in 12th place in their first season back in the Premier League. Manager Paul Lambert resigned within a month of the season's close to take up the vacant managerial spot at Aston Villa, and was replaced by Chris Hughton.

The 2012–13 season started poorly and a bad run of form that was followed by a club record unbeaten run in the Premier League. A 1–0 home defeat to Luton Town on 26 January 2013 resulted in Norwich becoming the first English top flight team to lose a FA Cup tie to a non-league side in 24 years.

Norwich secured their third year in the Premier League with consecutive victories in the last two games of the season, to finish 11th in the league, however they were relegated back to the Championship after finishing 18th in the 2013–14 season.

After a mediocre first half of the 2014–15 season, Neil Adams resigned which paved the way for the appointment of then Hamilton Academical manager Alex Neil in January 2015. The appointment reinvigorated Norwich's season and after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion back to the Premier League, victory in the 2015 Championship playoff final secured an immediate return to the top division of English football.

This was only temporary relief, however, they were relegated straight back to the Championship for the 2016/17 season.

The following season started successfully, with the club sitting top of the Championship in mid October. However, a poor run of form and results followed, which included five consecutive defeats, and saw the team slide to as low as twelfth in the table. On 10 March 2017, Alex Neil was sacked by the club , with first team coach Alan Irvine placed in caretaker charge for the remainder of the season, which saw the club finish eighth in the Championship.

On 25 May 2017, the club appointed German coach Daniel Farke as head coach, becoming the first foreign head coach of the club in its 114-year history for the 2017/18 campaign.



The Gaffer – Daniel Farke








Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev









Media Watch - K L Blue




Form Guide



Norwich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 13th place with 44 points




13 Jan Bristol City 0 - 1 Norwich City


20 Jan Norwich City 1 - 2 Sheffield Utd


27 Jan Brentford 0 - 1 Norwich City


3 Feb Norwich City 1 - 0 Middlesbrough


10 Feb Derby County 1 - 1 Norwich City



Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 12th place with 44 points




13 Jan Ipswich Town 1 - 0 Leeds Utd


20 Jan Bolton 1 - 1 Ipswich Town


27 Jan Ipswich Town 0 - 1 Wolverhampton


3 Feb Sunderland 0 - 2 Ipswich Town


10 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Burton Albion





Fixtures of Interest




SUNDERLAND VS BRENTFORD




Match Referee – David Coote









NORWICH CITY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1

Budgies have a better manager and a better squad than us - add the home advantage and we don't have much of a chance.

As Blue Mike rightly says, for us to have any chance at all we have to keep Maddison quiet or else he will run the show in midfield. Can we do that? I doubt it - we do not have anyone capable of doing so individually, the only way to keep him quiet is if we put 2 men on him, and that will leave gaps elsewhere.

Naaaarwich 3 - Town 0

im going to this one, hope we turn up. Ive been to every match at Norwich in the last 12 years or so. Whats disappointed me most in the last 10 years is im not sure I can think of many games at Carrow Road where I felt we turned up and gave a good account of ourselves, last season was probably one of the better but we didn't look much of a threat apart from the goal.

I feel we cannot possibly be as bad as we were against Burton, I can see us getting a draw out of this one, or it being a tight 1-0 either way. If Norwich play to their potential then perhaps its more likely they will pick up the points but we are due a win against them, it has to happen sometime. Also worth bearing in mind we have Cardiff at home on Wednesday, IF we did lose this one then didn't get a positive result against Cardiff things could unravel a bit and the pressure on the manager and club in general could reach quite a nasty point. A win on Sunday would go a long way in giving the fans a memorable day out which doesn't happen very often

We seem to blow so hot and cold at the moment. But cant see us getting anything out the game. 2-0 to naaarwich.

Seems such a long time since we beat them that I'm surprised the video highlights aren't in black and white.
Every time after I leave there I say to myself that's it are ain't going back anymore. Yet still I do and will be there once again on Sunday.
Unfortunately, have a feeling I will be coming back once again disappointed.

Scum 2 Town 0

I bet the ref is going to be a right Coote as well.

The consensus is we are in for a loss but I would like to think Mick will play a defensive squad to try to earn at least a point. Bart is going to be busy

I think we may be showing Norwich too much respect here. They are not that good. A draw is more than possible and win not out of the question

Just as long as the players don't show them too much respect. If it's going to be a defeat, then so be it, but let's see 8 yellows and 2 reds in the process. Crunch them!

Certain ITFC players on the telly? -----> 4-1 Norwich.

Ref caption:
Norwich player: You like what you see ref? That's our owner, Delia.
Ref: Why yes, I do. Very nice indeed.

Farke caption:
85th minute and thinking: "Wow. Those Ipswich fans watch this every week."

Would be very surprised to take victory from this, a point seems possible but as before we sh*t ourselves whenever City are the opposition. McCarthy's "play not to lose at all costs" bullshit policy may bring the result he craves but to everyone else it will entail a game of few chances and standard far from a premium. Until both manager and owner are removed from position can only envisage a City victory each and every time we encounter them.

Norwich 2 Ipswich 0

Blimey, you lot are down at the moment

In my view this game will be a key moment in ME's decision on whether Mick will be with us come June. It's vital that MM get's the team properly gee'd up for this one and in case our boys look like they don't care and don't really turn up on the day, questions should rightly be asked in the corridors of power whether MM's and maybe the team's heart/s are in it.

However I'm positive and I really don't think there is any reason why we can't take home the points. Our early season style of controlling the opposition and hurting them on the break would be just the ticket for this one in my view. So maybe the key is how we achieve these breaks. Whether we can stop hoofing and move the ball equally swiftly but more intelligently to the Celina, Waghorn and Garner who can certainly do some damage.

I'm hoping to get finished at work in Riyadh early enough to get to a sports bar but probably won't make it till the 2nd half. Let's hope the game isn't already dead by then.

Dubai Blue wrote:........, I really don't think there is any reason why we can't take home the points.

* Note to Dubai *

Please seek out match reports!

Marko, which ones? That's our main issue this season IMO, inconsistency.

There's no reason why we can't but a million reasons why we won't

Dubai Blue wrote:Marko, which ones? That's our main issue this season IMO, inconsistency.

Mate, leading up to this fixture....... ALL recent reports.

But I do take your thinking...... it's a VERY inconsistent league and anything could happen. Really hope to be convincingly wrong, but fearing a tanking in this one. Keeping it non DVD worthy would be a start to keeping it respectable.

Edit to add: Not saying Norwich are Brazil or anything....., just saying that the reports from various sports writers have reiterated just how poor ITFC have been. My thoughts are not a reflection on NCFC being world beaters, but TC & Choo Choo struggling to get the players doing a job.

As someone said -----> the occasion itself should have the players buzzing for it.

You legends who are travelling to NCFC, lets hear you, loudnproud. Yes, you too Loudnproud if you are going.

Unfortunately we go into this game at the end of a poorish run of form whereas Norwich have been playing much better winning four of their last six Championship games since the beginning of the year and have lost only one of their last eight games.

The only stat looking favourable to us is that Norwich are on a 5 Match home sequence of WLWLW..... and we know what comes next !....

If only.

Unfortunately I expect us to lose this one 2-0, anything better will be a bonus and a complete surprise.

Not going tomorrow. No early morning trains. I was at Portman Road earlier on this season when we lost to them and not going to do the same kind of journey via coach as it was somewhat gruelling.

What I find quite sad that I'm not even disappointed that I won't be there. A reason? Mick McCarthy and his approach. The man sucks the passion out of me as does Marcus Evans.
This is the derby game where we want/demand our team to perform better against the biggest rivals, to give their 100%, to do their all to win the match. Will it matter for McCarthy? It won't. He doesn't realise what this means for the fans. He will be happy to pick up a point therefore I fully expect to do his usual that is trying to stop them playing. He will have no intention to win the match. Just another game for him

I will be watching on Sky. Yes I will be tensed but only until Norwich score their first goal.

Norwich 2-0 Ipswich

Soon heading off to scum land, lets f**king do this !!! The boys need to show passion, pride and a will to win and us fans need to get behind them and create the atmoshere....

COYB'S.....Ipswich Til I Die

Bluemike wrote:Soon heading off to scum land, lets f**king do this !!! The boys need to show passion, pride and a will to win and us fans need to get behind them and create the atmoshere....

COYB'S.....Ipswich Til I Die

COYB do it for Sir Bobby on what would have been his 85th birthday.

Have a good day out lads n lasses. I will be watching the game in the pub. 3-1 town knudsun hatrick!!

Just thought i’d take a look on here to catch the mood on Derby Day, holy moly where is everyone this morning.... hopefully on their way to Carrow Road.

Looking forward to watching on Sky but if I’m honest not holding out too much hope but would happily be surprised.

MM has put all defensive players on. 4 centre half's 3 holding midfielders and kunardson. Just Garner and Waghorn attacking. Oh dear it's going to be a long 90 mins.

Knudsen really should have put us one up. What a missed opportunity to open the score.

Am I becoming too easily pleased or are our boys playing better today ?

Not too much much boring about our play today and 0-2 up on “shots on target” & corners.

derick_ipsw wrote:MM has put all defensive players on. 4 centre half's 3 holding midfielders and kunardson. Just Garner and Waghorn attacking. Oh dear it's going to be a long 90 mins.

If Callum Connelly is a holding midfield player he doesn’t half do a good job getting forward into goal scoring opportunities.

Nice first half performance there. More of the same second half witn a couple goals please. Come on, Waggers, burst the net!

Yup Marko, that's my verdict also. So much for defensive........


........ and look who's on the bench!

A very satisfying first 45 min in which we’ve clearly been the more threatening of the two sides. I just wish we’d try to stay on our feet more in the penalty area and wait for the foul to come rather than continually look for a penalty which is less likely to come the more we dive or go down easily. Lorfa’s dive just before half time was shocking
Cole Skuse has done a massive job keeping James Maddisdon under control and I like the way our full backs are attacking down the wings.
Unlucky not to be one up.

0-3 shots on target & corners, all we need now is a goal.

Just hope our Mick doesn’t f*ck things up with his half time team talk.

Yes, hoping Mick changes nothing, but obviously matches their changes...... because they'll try something different.

Ipswich need to create something down the right. The reason being, they'll need to get past Hanleys fat arse & the keeper down the left.

COME ON, IPSWICH. Let's get it done.