Ipswich Town v Aston Villa Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Ipswich Town v Aston Villa


Saturday 18th August – 15:00


Portman Road






Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike



Cup Woes Continue

The bright new era under Paul Hurst is certainly taking it's time to get up and running. Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie down in Exeter should have provided us with the perfect opportunity to get that elusive first win under the new gaffer as well as backing up the claims that he will be taking all cup ties seriously and will be looking to win each and every game, well Paul Hurst kept his part of the bargain by naming a very strong side, none of this Eight or Nine changes with which we have become accustomed to in recent seasons, unfortunately the players were not buying into it and such was the malaise in the way they went about their business they felt the wrath of Hurst after the game in no uncertain terms, to publicly suggest the players are not giving their all is not easy for any manager to say, especially when you've just bought most of them so he must have been very angry to say the least.

Hurst will not suffer fools for long (God I know that feeling) and anybody not stepping up will very soon find themselves in the wilderness, we have loads of options at this club now and with the hungry kids waiting in the wings, Two loan signings arriving soon and players returning from injury nobody's place in the side is safe, the problem is too much chopping and changing means it takes even longer to settle down and get into our stride, we do not want to be falling to far behind where points on the board are concerned, improvement is needed and it is needed now.


Kayden Jackson

Tuesday evening gave us the first real opportunity to get a proper look at our "big money" signing and I have to say that despite all the doom & gloom and distinct lack of support Jackson was one of the few bright spots to take from the game, his speed, strength and energy was there to see, his running of the channels as he ploughed a lone furrow up front resulted not only in our goal but also our best Two other chances which his teammates failed to take advantage of. I see nothing to suggest that the big price tag or big step up will be too much of a burden for him and he will score goals, One goal from One game is a pretty good start after all, especially on such a difficult night. I am still to be convinced that either Jackson or our other new Striker Ellis Harrison are best suited to the One up front role though, I would love to see them both on the pitch together but that would mean quite a change in how PH wants us to line up but the thought quite appeals to me.


The Bart Man

Is it just me or is anybody else less than impressed with bart's start to the new season ? Three games in and pretty poor in all of them from where I am sitting. It is hardly a surprise where his kicking is concerned because as I have said many times his kicking is about the worst I have ever seen from a keeper at this level, in fact not even this level. I am also far from confident when anything is pumped high into our box, he seldom commands it and his catches and punches leave a lot to be desired, this only heaps more pressure on an already fragile defence who are trying to gel together.

Against Blackburn he flapped at a cross which led to a goal and was all over the place several other times, the goal at Rotherham had me questioning his part in it too, could he have done more to protect his defence ? For me yes he could, and then at Exeter I just felt again he was less than impressive for their goal, not to mention a few other balls into the box. Nobody is beyond criticism but people seem afraid to point any finger of blame in Bart's direction because he saves us so often, I am sorry it doesn't work like that, making great saves is why he is there but there is much much more to being a top keeper and that is why we still have him.


Villa Up Next

Thankfully we have a nice easy game this weekend, yeah right. As bad as things appear right now we did have some decent spells in both League games to date and if we can replicate that but for longer no game is beyond us, however ALL Eleven players have to be at the races or we will get turned over, it's that simple. Following a Summer of uncertainty and upheaval Aston Villa seem to have started well, Third in the table with maximum points is a decent start, admittedly Hull & Wigan are not the toughest of games but hey neither were Blackburn & Rotherham, these teams still have to be beaten and Villa have done that, keepikg hold of some of their best players when it looked like they were heading out off the door has given them a boost and in Grealish, Chester, Adomah, Hourihane, Kodjia etc they have some real quality, we will no doubt be the underdogs so will need to be on the very top of our game.

It is still very early into the league season but a win no matter how it comes needs to arrive soon, this is not One I would put money on us winning for sure but as we know Town seem to do things arse about face, lose when we expect to win and vice versa so who knows, I cannot call it as I have no idea who we will even be starting with after the antics of Tuesday evening but One thing is for sure the team selection will give us a good idea as to who felt the wrath of Hurst in the dressing room at Exeter.

Strangely enough it may just be the mediocre display in the cup helps us because the players will know that cannot be accepted again and I expect One hell of a reaction at Portman Road from them, the fans really do need to stay on board at this embryonic stage of the season, anything else would be a disaster, the atmosphere against Blackburn was fantastic and a repeat of that will be the minimum requirement if we are to overcome very tough opponents. If I am pushed for a prediction I will say thanks to our own shortcomings Tuesday it may just help us here, ever the optimist we will hopefully pick up something from the game, at least that would be a start in righting some wrongs. COYB'S.



The Opposition – Aston Villa





Aston Villa Football Club were formed in March 1874, by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth which is now part of Birmingham.

Aston Villa's first match was against the local Aston Brook St Mary's Rugby team. As a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under rugby rules and the second half under football rules.

After moving to the Wellington Road ground in 1876, Villa soon established themselves as one of the best teams in the Midlands, winning their first honour, the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1880.

The club won their first FA Cup in 1887.

Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888 with one of the club's directors, William McGregor being the league's founder. Aston Villa emerged as the most successful English club of the Victorian era, winning no fewer than five League titles and three FA Cups by the end of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1897, the year Villa won The Double, they moved into their present home, the Aston Lower Grounds.

Aston Villa won their sixth FA Cup in 1920, soon after though the club began a slow decline that led to Villa, at the time one of the most famous and successful clubs in world football, being relegated in 1936 for the first time to the Second Division.

Like all English clubs, Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War, and that conflict brought several careers to a premature end.

Aston Villa's first trophy for 37 years came in the 1956–57 season when they won a then record seventh FA Cup Final win.

The team struggled in the league though and were relegated two seasons later, due in large part to complacency. However, Villa returned to the top-flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions. The following season Aston Villa became the first team to win the Football League Cup.
Villa was relegated for the third time in 1967.

The following season the fans called for the board to resign as Villa finished 16th in the Second Division. With mounting debts and Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, and after much speculation, control of the club was bought by London financier Pat Matthews. However, new ownership could not prevent Villa being relegated to the Third Division for the first time at the end of the 1969–70 season.

However, Villa gradually began to recover and in the 1971–72 season they returned to the Second Division as Champions.

In 1974, the club won the League Cup and, at the end of season 1974–75, Villa returned to the First Division and into Europe.

Villa were back among the elite and this culminated in a seventh top-flight league title in 1980–81.

In the 1981–82 season, Villa won the European Cup with a 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam. The following season Villa were crowned European Super Cup winners, beating Barcelona in the final. This marked a pinnacle though and Villa's fortunes declined sharply for most of the 1980s, culminating in relegation in 1987. This was followed by promotion the following year and a runners-up position in the First Division in the 1989–90 season.

Villa were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season. For the rest of the Nineties however Villa went through three different managers and their league positions were inconsistent, although they did win two League Cups and regularly achieved UEFA Cup qualification.

Villa reached the FA Cup final in 2000 but lost to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. Again Villa's league position continued to fluctuate under several different managers. After 23 years as chairman, and single biggest shareholder, Doug Ellis finally decided to sell his stake in Aston Villa due to ill-health. After much speculation it was announced the club was to be bought by American businessman Randy Lerner, owner of NFL franchise the Cleveland Browns.
The first Cup final of the Lerner era came in 2010 when Villa were beaten in the League Cup Final.

At the end of the 2011–12 season after Villa finished in 16th place, only just above the relegation zone.

On 28 February 2012, the club announced a financial loss of £53.9 million. Lerner put the club up for sale on 12 May 2014, with an estimated value of £200 million.

In the 2014–15 season Aston Villa scored just 12 goals in 25 league games, the lowest in Premier League history, and Paul Lambert was sacked on 11 February 2015, Tim Sherwood succeeded him, and saved Aston Villa from relegation while also leading them to the 2015 FA Cup Final.

Sherwood was sacked in the 2015–16 season, as was his successor Rémi Garde.

Eric Black took temporary charge of the team, but was not able to prevent Villa from being relegated for the first time since 1987.

On 2 June 2016, Roberto Di Matteo was announced as the club's new manager, before being replaced by Steve Bruce on the 12th October.

Last season Villa finished in 4th place and beat Middlesbrough in the Semi-Final playoffs before losing out to Fulham for a place in this seasons Premiership.





The Manager – Steve Bruce








Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev




[youtube][/youtube]




Media Watch - K L Blue




Paul Hurst reaction on Tuesday night...…………….


https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2018/august ... st-exeter/


http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/paul-hurst- ... -1-5652146


Paul Hurst on the loan window..............................


http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/hurst-mulli ... -1-5653279



Stuart Watson's point of view...............................................


http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/observation ... -1-5652136



Form Guide




Ipswich Last few Matches – Currently in 20th place with 1 point




4th Aug Ipswich Town 2 vs Blackburn Rovers 2

11th Aug Rotherham United 1 vs Ipswich Town 0

14th Aug Exeter City 1 vs Ipswich Town 1 (EFLC – lost on penalties)




Aston Villa Last few Matches – Currently in 3rd place with 6 points



6th Aug Hull City 1 vs Aston Villa 3

11th Aug Aston Villa 3 vs Wigan Athletic 2

14th Aug Yeovil Town 0 vs Aston Villa 1




Marko’s Caption Contest – THE DON CUP


Week 3






Match Referee -








IPSWICH TOWN 1 ASTON VILLA 1

[nicscreamer]

Great round up as always, thanks

I cant see a win here - a poor 0-2 defeat, but hey... surprise me

Caption - The FA's new "anti-heading" device causes a little bit of a stir.

[Shed on tour]

Caption: Town fans sing to Villa fan: I'd rather be a numbskull than a dickhead.

[marko69]

Excellent preview complete with very worrying “The Bart Man” section. I’ve only witnessed goals highlights. Is Bailkowsli flapping around in all the other insignificant minutes we don’t see?
Hopefully he finds better form soon.

Example of games few years back with Hibs in the Championship ...... yep different leagues etc, but definitely all relative.
Raith 1 Hibs 1
Hibs 0 Falkirk 1
Hibs 2 Aberdeen 0 (cup)
Alloa 1 Hibs 1
Hibs 2 Morton 2
Rangers 1 Hibs 2 (cup)

As you can see, struggling v the “park the bus” teams, but allowed to play actual football v the better sides. And for the record, Aberdeen & Rangers played full strength squads. The cup means something up here with Celtic dominating the league until the world ends.

My drawn out point......., hopefully ITFC will fair better against a better team like Aston Villa. More open, free flowing football like Hursty had Shrewsbury playing last season.

Don’t think it’ll be good idea to bet on the win but another draw could be on the cards. Fancy the 1-1 also.

Ref & Steve Bruce combined caption:

Me: Like my Hibs scores analysis there ref?
Ref: No more!! Ok?
Me: What about you, Steve?
Steve Bruce: (pic)
Me: Jaysus H, point taken!

[rossi]

Try as I might, I just cannot see us getting anything out of this game, there's just too much of a gap in quality.

I would hope that PH will play both Harrison and Jackson up front, but I realise that's not likely to happen.

Ipswich 0 - Villa 4

[Bluemike]

CAPTION

"Do i have the right credentials to join T. Boys. Com ??

[marko69]

Rossi ....... OUCH!!!

At PR, ———-> really hope not.

[marko69]

And OUCH to mike’s caption!!!

[arana peligrosa]

Let's not waste time, voted for a one goal home win although doubts remained that we could indeed emerge victorious and they maybe leave north with a one or two goal margin themselves. In the event of the latter there will be considerable level of meltdown in certain areas but nothing new.

Ipswich 1 Visitors 0

[AylesburyBlue]

Try as I might, I just cannot see us getting anything out of this game, there's just too much of a gap in quality.

I would hope that PH will play both Harrison and Jackson up front, but I realise that's not likely to happen.

Ipswich 0 - Villa 4

Would you consider 3 at the back to get the 2 up top?

—————————Bart———————————-

——- Chambo —Nsiala— Knudsen————

Edwards————————————Kenlock——

—————————Downes——————————

———-—-Nolan—————Chalobah ————-

————Harrison————Jackson——————

[Bluemike]

I still think he will stick to one up top but it could be Harrison with Jackson in behind as one of the Three, I dont see Hurst switching to Three at the back tbh.

[Tangfastic]

Caption:

If BlueMike was to shave off his hair and take of his Bono glasses .... it would be a spitting image

ITFC 1 Villa 0
Skuse the scorer.

[number 9]

Caption:

If BlueMike was to shave off his hair and take of his Bono glasses .... it would be a spitting image

ITFC 1 Villa 0
Skuse the scorer.

LOL! Here's the winner!

[number 9]

I'd like to think we'll compete against Villa, but I fear we just don't have enough cohesion to put on a good fight. I'll be generous and give us a goal, but for me this very well may be a hiding. I hope I'm wrong!

ITFC 1 v 4 Aston Villa

Caption: "This is what I get for using Viagra instead of Rogaine! Oh well, it won't be the first time I had to go in head first."

[Bluemike]

Caption:

If BlueMike was to shave off his hair and take of his Bono glasses .... it would be a spitting image

ITFC 1 Villa 0
Skuse the scorer.

LOL! Here's the winner!

Your both banned !!! And if that gets points Marko is too!!

[AylesburyBlue]

I still think he will stick to one up top but it could be Harrison with Jackson in behind as one of the Three, I dont see Hurst switching to Three at the back tbh.

I know he won’t do it, he only plays the one striker. Said in the interview his midfielders didn’t get forward enough to support the striker, he won’t be changing.

[Bluemike]

That's exactly what I said too, it was blindingly obvious that Jackson was about as isolated as you can get, select the right Midfielders this time !!! Edwards fit hopefully in place of Ward, Roberts in for Sears and Edun playing where he is supposed to be playing.

[Tangfastic]

I would put Harrison up top and Jackson and Edwards on the wings. If it’s the one up front scenario.

Jackson’s played wide before and he has the pace. Only thing is ... both Edwards and Jackson seem to prefer the right ( going by YouTube clips ).

Harrison looks more likely than Jackson of the physical work in the air and roughing up defenders for the solo frontman role.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Ben Morriss on the bench in place of Sears. I thought he looked decent against Blackburn when he came on.

[Bluemike]

Jackson bombed down the Left for his goal at Exeter so I am sure he could deal with it.

Correct regarding Morris, he did indeed look decent when he came on.

[ipswichtownNo1]

Well i hope im wrong but ipswich 0 - villa 3.
Caption comp
My missus thinks i look a right helmet in this hat
Or
On this occasion two heads are not better than one
Or
If bruce doesnt sort this lot out im shovin this rocket up his ar$e
Or
I thought this will stop the prat behind me rubbing my head for luck, now hes using both hands
Or
What do you mean ive got a p**** on my head? The bloke in the joke shop said it was a comedy cartoon bump.
Or
My misses left me, said i was too small and she wanted at least 6 inches. Well now im six inches taller she will be begging to have me back

[ipswichtownNo1]

Ref caption.
Im getting fed up with these 5 villa dwarfs with dicks on their heads bothering me

[derick_ipsw]

CAPTION

"Do i have the right credentials to join T. Boys. Com ??

Caption: YES you do!!

[Bluemike]

CAPTION

"Do i have the right credentials to join T. Boys. Com ??

Caption: YES you do!!

CAPTION..... "And here was me wondering how the hell I would recognise Derick at Rotherham"

[Frosty]

Caption:

"Mr Bobbitt attends a footie match" (as an aside, apparently he is still suing the surgeons)

[Charnwood]

I think if we lose by two goals or less the team will have done well given the gap in experience between the two teams. I know some of you on here don’t see it the same as I do,( and I have to accept that you guys have seen the team play and I haven’t), but I still think the club have taken a huge risk with a transfer strategy aimed at picking up star players at lower division teams. It remains to be seen whether these players can make the step up to Championship-level or not, and after a worrying start my fear is it could get even worse not better against Villa.

Town to lose 0-2 at best 0-4 at worse.

I think we need to bring in a couple of older more experienced players on loan to play alongside the newbies which in my opinion could facilitate their transition from the lower leagues to Championship football and would improve their chances of making the step up successfully, which is less likely playing alongside players like Knudsen, Sears and Ward etc who themselves struggle to make the grade let alone bring on others.

[derick_ipsw]

CAPTION

"Do i have the right credentials to join T. Boys. Com ??

Caption: YES you do!!

CAPTION..... "And here was me wondering how the hell I would recognise Derick at Rotherham"

Caption: BLUEMIKE tries to infiltrate the Villa fans by just putting a Villa shirt on!!

[Bluemike]

That's not very nice

[rossi]

Try as I might, I just cannot see us getting anything out of this game, there's just too much of a gap in quality.

I would hope that PH will play both Harrison and Jackson up front, but I realise that's not likely to happen.

Ipswich 0 - Villa 4

Would you consider 3 at the back to get the 2 up top?

—————————Bart———————————-

——- Chambo —Nsiala— Knudsen————

Edwards————————————Kenlock——

—————————Downes——————————

———-—-Nolan—————Chalobah ————-

————Harrison————Jackson——————

I like it. I would not merely consider it, that is definitely what I would play, except that I would play Chalobah where you have Downes, and Edun where you have Chalobah

[phily bon bon]

Its going to be a difficult match but sometimes there are the best matches for us,when the opposition are of a higher calibre. I hope he plays some of the kids in the midfield maybe two of the three positions ,maybe keeping skuse or the Young chelski lad the bringing in an energetic Downes and Dozzel.

The defence will really have to step it up this week as the fixtures dont seem to be getting any easier anytime soon,we have to start picking up those points.

Heart 2-2
Head 0-3

[MasseyFerguson]

Excellent preview, as always.

I'm new to posting here but I've been following the forum for a long time. Our start to the season has been underwhelming even allowing for the inevitable teething problems associated with a new manager, new players and bedding in a new system.

PH's condemnation of the players after the Exeter performance could go either way. If the players believe in him and buckle down to do what he wants then great. The danger is that they may take the view that he is blaming them for his tactical mistakes and he may lose the dressing room quickly. That could spell disaster. It does seem as if we are trying to play more attractive football but whether we have the players to execute that style remains an open question.

For all his faults, and they were many, MM got results, over the course of his tenure, that exceeded the individual and collective ability of the squad. It was dire to watch at times but, even last season when everything was coming apart , we started the campaign in flying form from a results point of view. Four wins from four if memory serves.

The time had come for a change and I agreed with the choice of PH as new manager. He has shown a great ability to succeed in the lower league. The v problem is that this is the championship and it is the toughest league in the country. I hope PH can overcome our bad start and in many ways this is the perfect opportunity to launch the new regime. Very few of us are expecting anything from the game. The players probably feel the same way. If we get a result, even if it's a draw, it could be just the thing to kick start a good season. If we lose I fear that confidence will slip away like sand through the manager's fingers and this could be a very long season indeed.

ITFC 1: Aston Villa 1