Ipswich Town vs Cardiff City Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:54 am
Ipswich Town V Cardiff City
Wednesday 21st February 2018 – 19:45
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike
I'm not sure writing an article so soon after the Derby is a good thing what with emotions still running high and opinions being of a very strong nature. I suppose the Two main things to come out of Sunday's game is the way some have perceived Mick to have set the team up and secondly his alleged foul mouthed tirade at the travelling fans following our goal. I've already made it quite clear where I stand on the former, for me Mick got pretty much everything right on the day, I must admit the line up prior to kick off had me bemoaning him too but as we have said Millions of times Football is not played on paper and the defensive approach that looked to be his preference really faild to materialise in a first half that we dominated for the most part, any chances that came fell to us and we were on the offensive a fair bit. It makes me laugh how in the build up to the game many had been saying how James Maddison had to be kept quiet and we did this very well, and yet still some fans (probably the same ones who were aware of Maddison's threat) were not happy with the starting personnel. I genuinely do think some tend to get very blinkered in their thoughts on line ups etc and it is very easy to have a loud opinion after the game has finished but I bet when Chambo headed us into the lead not One single Town fan was either thinking about Celina or ready to give it to MM big time and the reason for that is HE GOT IT RIGHT !!! What followed in the 95th minute undid all the good planning and work on the pitch, quite what Knudsen was thinking at the other end I just don't know, either run it into the corner or pick the killer pass which in truth wasn't a hard one, then Adam Webster must have had a brain seizure as he stopped while thinking the ball was going out when all he had to do was boot it into the stand and it was game over, his dallying then drew Bart into the c*ck up too and he didn't cover himself in glory either but for me the buck very much stops with Webster, it was his lack of reaction that cost us the win.
Clearly the thing that is getting all the press attention is Mick's outburst following our goal which many believe was aimed at the Town fans in response to their singing anti Mick songs during the game, which in itself is for me far worse than what the manager did, the difference is he is in a position of responsibility and as such cannot be seen to be swearing like that, did he aim it at us ? Well yes most probably he did and who on this occasion can blame him, many have and are clearly offended but this particular time I have sympathy for him, Mick likes to make out the criticism etc doesn't bother him at all but I don't believe that, every one of us has a tipping point and I think Mick reached his on Sunday which was clearly not helped by the emotion of the occasion and he let it out big time. He was already the devil in a large percentage of Town fans eyes and there is no way they will ever let this one go, I already felt he was going to leave in the Summer, now I know he will, this situation is untenable and has to be addressed.
One final thing on the subject and it is one that riles me so much, I read an article about how Mick's outburst was bringing the club into disrepute and dragging our name through the mud !!! Really ? Give me a break. Let's talk about dragging the club through the mud, I wonder if the fans who are so offended by being sworn at were the same ones that I watched rip down all the lights inside the stadium concourse prior to the match resulting in no half time drinks/food for anyone, or the same fans who smashed up the water pipes in the gents toilets causing more disruption, or were they the same fans that I watched smashing Beer bottles on the train on the way up there and covering the place in broken glass as another brain dead moron attemted to urinate out of the window while travelling at speed, or were they the same fans that hurled abuse at residents in their gardens as we walked to the ground, the language made Mick's look very tame and all because these people have the audacity to live in Norwich, yes I hate them with a passion too but let's not talk about draging the club into the gutter when the self same prats can behave in the way I have described, talk about hypocrisy, it is a damning piece of hypocrisy but I guess that is ok as it was only the few right?
Moving on.....Next up it's the surprise package of the season Cardiff City who pay a rare Wednesday night visit to Portman Road, I really am shokced they are still very much in the hunt for automatic promotion and while I do still believe they will fall short they have tremendously well against the odds, no doubt the lovable rogue Neil Warnock will take much of the credit, and rightly so but the players have also gone above and beyond what most expected and they have given themselves every chance of a play off spot at the very least, I do expect them to miss out if I am honest but anything can happen, especially in the play off lottery so there is much to play for which is why this game will be very tough indeed. Town really are now playing for nothing more other than to be top dogs in East Anglia and as it stands we are still above our friends from Norfolk, with them going to Wolves this is a great chance to pull a little bit further away from them. Funnily enough I believe we will win this one and win it well. If we can show the same professionalism as we did at carrow Road we have a shot for sure but second guessing what line up and tactics Mick goes with is just too hard to call, god forbid he gets it right again without the so called flair players in the team, we could see the lemmings heading for the nearest cliffs, are there any in Suffolk ? Town win 3-1. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Cardiff City FC
Riverside A.F.C. was formed in 1899 as a way of keeping players from the Riverside Cricket Club together and in shape during the winter months. In 1905, Cardiff was granted city status by King Edward VII, and as a result the club put in a request to change their name to Cardiff City, but the request was turned down as they were deemed to not be playing at a high enough level. To combat this, they arranged to join the South Wales Amateur League in 1907 and the following year they were granted permission to change the name of the club to Cardiff City.
Over the next two years, the club welcomed many of Britain's top sides to Cardiff, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Crystal Palace, with the matches being played at various grounds in Cardiff and nearby towns. The club would eventually move into their new ground, Ninian Park, in 1910.
With the new ground in place, Cardiff joined the Southern League Second Division. Their first match was a 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa. They stayed in the division for the next decade, apart from when the league was suspended due to the outbreak of World War I.
The club's most successful period so far has been the 1920s, in which they finished runners-up in the old Football League First Division, followed by two FA Cup finals in 1925 and 1927, the latter against Arsenal. The final against Arsenal saw Cardiff become the only team to have taken the FA Cup out of England, with a 1–0 victory. The final was also notable as it was the first to be broadcast to the nation by BBC Radio.
On 30 August 1920, Cardiff City played their first Football League match at Ninian Park.
This early Cardiff City team showed more than enough class to match others in the league, and they were promoted to the top flight of English Football at the first attempt.
1923–24 has proved to be the best ever in the league for Cardiff City. After a dramatic season in which they and Huddersfield Town tussled for the Championship title, Cardiff would have to settle for 2nd spot on goal average.
The following season was the first time Cardiff City appeared at Wembley Stadium in an FA Cup final, versus Sheffield United, which they lost 1-0, and, as mentioned above, in 1927 they won the FA Cup final against Arsenal.
That FA Cup win was not the end of their cup exploits that season; they also won the Welsh Cup, defeating Rhyl by a scoreline of 2–0, and would go on to win the FA Charity Shield after beating the Corinthians 2–1 at Stamford Bridge.
In the 1928–29 season, Cardiff City were relegated from the First Division of the Football League. However, this was only a sign of things to come for the Bluebirds, and after two seasons in the Second Division, they were once again relegated in 1931 into Division 3 South, and in 1934 they had to re-apply to stay in the Football League after finishing last.
They were crowned champions of Division 3 South and returned to the Second Division in the 1946–47 season. Finally, they finished second level runners-up and returned to the top level after 23 years in the 1951–52 season.
During the 1960s, Cardiff began qualifying for European competition for the first time through the Welsh Cup. Two years later, the club would go on to reach the semi-final of the Cup Winners’ Cup, the furthest any non-top division club has ever gone in European competition.
The club remained in the old Second Division except for the 1975–76 and 1982–83 seasons.
Between 1985 and 1993, Cardiff were continuously in the lower two divisions of the league after being relegated to the Third Division. They were relegated to the Fourth Division once in the 1985–86 season and were promoted to the Third Division in 1987–88 as runners-up. Two years later, they dropped into the Fourth Division for the second time. Cardiff won the new Division Three championship in 1993 but were relegated two years later, and in 1996 finished in their lowest ever league position – 22nd of 24 in Division Three. They finished third in Division Three in 1999 and won automatic promotion to Division Two.
Having sold his interests in Wimbledon, Sam Hammam purchased control of Cardiff City in August 2000. Shortly after he took over at Cardiff, the club crest was redesigned. This new design incorporated the Cardiff City bluebird in front of the Flag of Saint David, and featured the Club's nickname superimposed at the top of the crest. Lennie Lawrence guided Cardiff to promotion via a Division Two play-off triumph in 2003.
The Bluebirds established themselves in Division One during the 2003–04 season, finishing in 13th position. They struggled to a 16th position finish at the end of the 2004–05 campaign and ended the 2005–06 season with an 11th position finish.
After failing to get the new stadium plans agreed by Cardiff Council due to concerns over financial security in 2006, Hammam agreed to a takeover by a consortium led by new chairman Peter Ridsdale but the club remained £40 million in debt.
Datuk Chan Tien Ghee (TG) took over as chairman on 27 May 2010 after a meeting on the same day. Vincent Tan also invested and joined the board.
Cardiff changed their home colours to red and black, as well as their badge, from the 2012–13 season in exchange for an investment plan from the Malaysian owners, including a new training facility, stadium expansion and a transfer budget. Cardiff topped the Championship and with it gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time, but were relegated after only one season with 30 points from 38 matches.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær was sacked on 18 September 2014, and replaced by Leyton Orient manager Russell Slade.
On 2 January 2015, Cardiff beat Colchester United in the FA Cup in front of the lowest ever recorded crowd of 4,194 at the Cardiff City Stadium, which prompted an emergency meeting of the Cardiff Board. A week later, the club announced an official statement, saying that, after deliberation with members of the board and chosen fans, the club's home colours would be changed back to blue with immediate effect.
On 5 October 2016, Neil Warnock was appointed First Team manager of Cardiff City, guiding Cardiff to a 12th place finish in the Championship.
The Manager – Neil Warnock
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
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Media Watch - K L Blue\
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 12th place with 45 points
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
18 Feb Norwich City 1 - 1 Ipswich Town
Cardiff Last 5 Matches – Currently in 2nd place with 61 points
20 Jan Sheffield Wed 0 - 0 Cardiff City
3 Feb Leeds Utd 1 - 4 Cardiff City
9 Feb Millwall 1 - 1 Cardiff City
13 Feb Cardiff City 2 - 0 Bolton
17 Feb Cardiff City 1 - 0 Middlesbrough
Fixtures of Interest That Could affect Towns standing on the table
MILLWALL VS SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
BRENTFORD VS BIRMINGHAM CITY
DERBY COUNTY VS LEEDS UNITED
WOLVERHAMPTON VS NORWICH CITY
Match Referee – Andy Davies
IPSWICH TOWN 1 CARDIFF CITY 1