Championship - Ipswich Town vs Swansea City Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Ipswich Town v Swansea City



Saturday 11th November 2023 – 15:00

Portman Road









Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike



I think sometimes it is easy to forget just how far we have come in Eighteen months, the expectation levels grow and kind of expect perfection every week, such has been our start to life back in the Championship any little set back is seen as the beginning of the bubble bursting or we are getting "found out", now while I was as disappointed with anyone about last nights result and performance at Rotherham a bit of perspective has to be realised. One defeat all season after Fifteen games is incredible in itself and to sit in second place Eight points clear of Third and within touching distance of Leicester City at the summit is beyond any of our wildest dreams.

So just why are we seemingly finding it hard at the moment to outplay teams like we were in the first Ten games ? have we been found out to a degree ? Are teams now paying us far more respect than they were in those early games ? Are we maybe getting a little tired due to the incredible work ethic that has been instilled into the players ? Or is it most likely the fact that we are having One of those little bumps in the road that every man and his dog said we would at some point or other have to overcome in a long gruelling season, that I suspect is the top and bottom of it, nothing more. if this is indeed our blip then I will take it, Four not so dominant games, unbeaten and eight points, crikey we are on the slide.

Regarding the Rotherham game though, I must admit I did not think we were great all evening, that for me was the worst we have played by a distance this campaign. For the first time since his arrival at the club I disagreed with Kieran McKenna's take on the game, he felt that in the second half we were excellent and dominated the game, I'm sorry but I did not see the same game, yes we improved after the break and yes had the better of it but failing to test their keeper once other than the Two goals does not suggest we were excellent. Conor Chaplin had a mare in front of goal, Hirst was anonymous as a goal threat while Jackson & Harness didn't deliver as hoped. I also felt Massimo Luongo was way off his usual high levels and has been for Three or Four games now.

Defensively we started poorly and Axel Tuanzebe will know he should have done better twice with their first goal, as should Leif Davis with the way he tried to control Axel's pass, that said Tuanzebe improved and looked ok but I need to see more before I start waxing lyrical about him. I think it goes without saying we are a much better team defensively when Brandon Williams is in the side so hopefully he returns Saturday.

One thing that stood out for me when I looked at our results was that the teams we have failed to beat, Leeds aside, are Huddersfield, Birmingham & Rotherham, see the pattern ? Three big, ugly, high ball teams who play limited Football on the grass, you give us a cultured team that plays football, Sunderland, Southampton, Plymouth, Blackburn etc etc and we've beaten them all, thankfully there are more of those in this division than there are high ball scrappy teams.

One issue I do have is our strikers, sorry but as much as I try to take to George Hirst for his fantastic work ethic I feel we are requiring much much more, I saw zero goal threat from him at Birmingham, and the same at Rotherham, offside numerous times is becoming the norm too, set pieces into our box and how many headers can you remember him winning ? It is ok to say goals don't matter but they do, when Chaplin is having an off night and Broadhead is absent we need a goal threat from the recognised striker, for me I would like to see him rested and Ladapo given a run, he did score over Twenty last campaign after all but has barely had a start this season so coming on and looking ineffectual in games like last night is hardly surprising really, let's not forget without Ladapo's contribution for the first goal Saturday we lose that game as Harness doesn't even get the chance to score.

Having said all of the rubbish above we are in a fantastic place right now and everything is still go pretty damn well considering we've taken the big step up, it's all still very much in our hands too and this blip, if that is what it can be called won't go on for long, of that you can be sure. All will be forgotten should we gain the Win against Swansea and why shouldn't we.

The team from wales have had a mixed bag so far, very good one week, very poor the next was how I saw one of their own fans describe their efforts which is why they find themselves floating around mid table. I do feel this is a game that suits us more than the last Two, I believe they play it on the grass a lot more so it should be right up our street. One thing me must get back to doing is starting games on the front foot, we have been very slow out of the blocks in the last Couple of games, we need to get at them from the off, early goals make a massive difference, as it did for Rotherham.

Quite what the line up will look like is anyone's guess now but hopefully Williams & Broadhead are fit to return, the centre back selections are going to be very interesting, was it just a case of KM wanting to see what Tuanzebe can do or is it the beginning of Woolfy and co feeling the heat ? All will be revealed Saturday at 2pm.

We can win this one, I think we will, I am not worried about Three or Four goal hammerings but I would love to see a good dominant performance, a clean sheet and of course a win, let's get back to doing what we know we are capable of, let's face it Three league games without a win will have the Suffolk Bumpkins choking on their Cornflakes. Town win. COYB'S




The Opposition – Swansea City - Honours



League


Second Division / Championship
Promoted: 1980–81
Play-off winners: 2011

Third Division South / Third Division / League One
Champions: 1924–25, 1948–49, 2007–08
Promoted: 1978–79

Fourth Division / Third Division / League Two
Champions: 1999–2000
Promoted: 1969–70, 1977–78, 2004–05
Play-off winners: 1988


Cup


Football League Cup
Winners: 2012–13

Football League Trophy
Winners: 1993–94, 2005–06

Welsh Cup
Winners (10): 1912–13, 1931–32, 1949–50, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1988–89, 1990–91

FAW Premier Cup
Winners: 2004–05, 2005–06



The Manager – Michael Duff








League Table as at 09.11.2023






Form Guide




Ipswich Town



7 Oct Ipswich Town 4 - 2 Preston

25 Oct Bristol City 0 - 1 Ipswich Town

28 Oct Ipswich Town 3 - 2 Plymouth

4 Nov Birmingham City 2 - 2 Ipswich Town

7 Nov Rotherham 2 - 2 Ipswich Town



Swansea City



7 Oct Plymouth 1 - 3 Swansea City

21 Oct Swansea City 1 - 3 Leicester City

24 Oct Swansea City 0 - 1 Watford

28 Oct Blackburn 0 - 1 Swansea City

4 Nov Swansea City 0 - 0 Sunderland




Head to Head








Match Referee – Sunny Singh Gill








IPSWICH TOWN 2 SWANSEA CITY 1

[marko69]

Excellent preview, nothing “rubbish” about it , and this part is spot on:


One thing that stood out for me when I looked at our results was that the teams we have failed to beat, Leeds aside, are Huddersfield, Birmingham & Rotherham, see the pattern ? Three big, ugly, high ball teams who play limited Football on the grass, you give us a cultured team that plays football, Sunderland, Southampton, Plymouth, Blackburn etc etc and we've beaten them all, thankfully there are more of those in this division than there are high ball scrappy teams.

Yep, , 100% in my opinion.

Going to predict the ITFC win in this at Portman Road, back to winning ways hopefully in front of a patient & respectable 28K
2-0 …… Chappers on the scoresheet.

Caption:

Duff (fake smiling) “Come on. Take the picture. This Reviva coffee is going right through me.”
Ref: “You are going to shyte yourself aren't you Michael?”

[LizinSpain]

Excellent preview, nothing “rubbish” about it , and this part is spot on:


One thing that stood out for me when I looked at our results was that the teams we have failed to beat, Leeds aside, are Huddersfield, Birmingham & Rotherham, see the pattern ? Three big, ugly, high ball teams who play limited Football on the grass, you give us a cultured team that plays football, Sunderland, Southampton, Plymouth, Blackburn etc etc and we've beaten them all, thankfully there are more of those in this division than there are high ball scrappy teams.

Well said! I don't think we've played better football in donkeys years, even my Celtic Supporting husband doesn't spend the entire match criticising us anymore (except when he's moaning at me for yelling at the telly! )

I'm going for 3-0 #coyb

[Bluemike]

This is the team I'd play, assuming they are fit.....

Hladky

Williams
Woolfenden
Burgess
Davis

Morsy
Taylor

Broadhead
Chaplin
Hutchinson

Ladapo

[shabba]

I think this could be another high scoring game, we look a tad fragile still at the back but can still score goals going forward - even if we haven't created enough of late for my liking. Agree with Rossi on the Rotherham threat that up front we looked below par and didn't create enough.

We have certainly dipped a bit since that insanely good Hull game, hopefully we get a win on Sat then regroup a bit on the training ground during the international break. WBA is a hard game back after.

Hopefully Williams is back, but would not expect Tuanzabe to start this game, even though I thought he did very well (after a rusty first 5mins or so). He will get even better, so be interesting where who's place he takes when he gets more starts after the break.

Very hard to have mixed emotions of late, the amazing start has massively changed all our expectations. However ALL teams WILL have dips, it'll be who can ride them out whilst still picking up points that makes the difference at the end of the season.

[Bluemike]

And so far Shabba we have done just that

[shabba]

Exactly, so we need to see if this is a dip or just our level and before was over-performing etc.

I would also suspect January is key in terms of recruitment, we don't really know how bold we will be there.

[hallamblue]

oh Our form has dipped since that international break. We’ve had 4 games, Bristol City,(a), Plymouth,( H), Birmingham (a) & Rotherham,(a) ( a potential 12points), of which we have secured 8pts …. So that’s good isn’t it!

[shabba]

We’ve picked up points but the performances have dropped a bit for sure.

[Bluemike]

Over 28k sold so far

[shabba]

You’ve got to be a member and even then most tickets are gone within first 15mins of being on sale. Amazing support!

[AzzurroMark]

Good to see that Burns & Broadhead could be available this weekend. This paragraph concerns me a bit though;

“We still have a little bit of sickness knocking about in the camp, but Nathan Broadhead trained today, so that was positive,” said McKenna, speaking at this afternoon's pre-match press conference."

[AzzurroMark]

You’ve got to be a member and even then most tickets are gone within first 15mins of being on sale. Amazing support!

I know when I was trying to buy two tickets (for the Coventry match) together in either the Cobbold or SBR on General sale that seats were disappearing rapidly. Didn't help that the website appeared to momentarily crash.
I'm not even considering the option of getting a seat for the local derby! Norwich will sell their allocation and there'll no doubt be a larger cordon between the home & away sections! I strongly believe that tickets will not make anywhere near General sale.

[hallamblue]

Could do with Ply Mouth doing us a favour tomorrow and getting a point at Leeds. Not that it’ll happen (just wishful thinking lol )… but of course we must try snd win. Swansea’s results recently aren’t bad so yet another really tough game snd you can put your house on it they come at us hard and fast with a high press in that first 20mins.

[hallamblue]

Over 28k sold so far

Another full house innit

[hallamblue]

Swansea take on Sats game:

Duff all in reserve for tomorrows fixture ! Bare bones Swans
It’s a right old toughie come tomorrow afternoon as the Swans take on Ipswich Town at Portman Road. The Tractor Boys are second in the league breathing down early pacemakers Leicester City, and say that reservedly with the season a third gone.
https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/

Swans opposition : The man taking Ipswich Town back to the Premier League ?
Ipswich Town provide the opposition this Saturday at Portman Road with a thirty seven year old manager in charge who has quietly gone about his business at the Tractor Boys since December 2021. Now his side sit in second place in the Championship with one loss all season.
https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/

Swans injury latest
Swans head coach Michael Duff will look towards his defence come Saturday afternoon to provide an accomplished rearguard action against high flying Ipswich Town. They themselves are looking to get back on winning terms after two away draws.
https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/

[arana peligrosa]

There'll be goals, there's always goals at Portman Road. Just hope we score more than they do but we don't do thing easy with home advantage. On paper it should be three points to us but can't always overlook the last three games have been uncertain. We can't afford to drop further points if the promotion objective is to become reality. By all account the last main game official we endured was incompetent and made a number of errors. Can only hope who we got this time around provides better standard but it's really the players we possess on the field who can dictate play / bring potential victory.

ITFC 3 Abertawe 2

[Mariner67]

Hope Wes & Williams are back,think we've been missing them.id like to see Axle & Williams in defence, guess they knew one another's game from Man u.

[Mariner67]

Hope Wes & Williams are back,think we've been missing them.id like to see Axle & Williams in defence, guess they know one another's game from Man u.

[Bluemike]

HLADKY

CLARKE
WOOLFENDEN
BURGESS
DAVIS

MORSY
TAYLOR

HUTCHINSON
CHAPLIN
BROADHEAD

HIRST

[AzzurroMark]

Hmm perhaps the most surprising one is that Williams doesn't even make the squad!!

[marko69]

Almost full strength line-up there. Will be checking scores from a bitterly cold Leith San Siro......., come on Hibs and Ipswich, send home the Killie & Swans fans greetin' intae their overpriced bovrils.

KAM AN!!!!

[Shed on tour]

COYB we need the 3 points today!

[lucy]

0-1 Swansea

[lucy]

Jack Taylor 1-1 Superb Goal

[JohnnyB]

Going to be another of those games

[Mauswara]

Going to be another of those games :)

Sure is :)

[lucy]

Chaplin 2-1

[Steve]

Sounds another great and exciting game. Was that another penalty not given ?

[Mariner67]

Should of had 3 or four goals by now ,easy chances missed,early goal second half should
finish them off.