Championship - Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion




Saturday 10th February 2024 – 12:30


Portman Road







Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike


Well one thing is for certain, there is nothing like a good old defeat to stir up emotion, discussion, and dare I say it, missing posters, yes this week has certainly had it all following our disappointing, and from my perspective, avoidable defeat at Deepdale last weekend. much of the debate has been about "should he, or shouldn't he have started the game" ? there are Two trains of thought, mine is firmly in the camp that he should have started, and by he I obviously refer to kieffer Moore, I felt the proof was in the pudding following our second half display and Moore's brace of goals, the situation we were in dictated a striker had to be on the pitch and we should have gone for our strongest Eleven to start the game, we didn't.

As far as I was concerned it was never intended to be a witch hunt of anyone, especially the manager, but it was in many people's eyes a rare error of judgement and I concur with that. one thing I think every Town fan agrees with is that we just have to get back to starting games well and on the front foot, week after week after week we are finding ourselves behind and chasing the game, even Maidstone managed it, back at the beginning of the season it was us coming out firing on all cylinders and taking the game to every opponent we came up against, there could be some truth in that teams have to a degree sussed us out and know what to expect, that being the case we need to adapt too and change it up depending on the opposition.

The game itself started off with a catalogue of disasters, kieran McKenna was spot on when he said everything that could go wrong did go wrong and we found ourselves Two down within Eight Minutes, the first was for me a clear foul on Morsy in the build up while the second needs no discussion, it bordered on incompetence or Corruption, that's how bad it was but either way it cost us dearly. Let's not kid ourselves though, our first half display was miles off what we have come to expect and even more miles off where we need to be to keep in this promotion race, thankfully I think we all know we will not see too many performances like that opening Forty five Minutes.

It is always good to try and find positives even in the face of adversity and thanks to the efforts of our new boys Moore and Ali Al-Hamadi we can do just that, both looked the real deal when they came on and added so much to our attack in all areas, aerial advantage, strength, speed, presence, we had it all once they were both on the pitch and the run in now looks far more appealing that it did Ten days ago, let's just remember they will not make a difference sitting on the bench.

Attention has also reverted back to the defence once again and rightly so, if the attack needs to sharpen up so does the defence, and some. For me inconsistency is the key word here, George Edmundson had a fab January with some solid performances but then was adjudged at fault for their Two opening goals, not something I agree with but he could have done a little better than he did. Luke Woolfenden, Axel Tuanzebe & Harry Clarke all have good games/moments but then on the other hand throw in errors and poor performances, they just need more consistency, thankfully we will be welcoming Cameron Burgess back into the fold and of all the defenders Burgess is probably the most dependable and consistent.

Taking a glance at the league table is not a reason for despair, let's just acknowledge where we actually are and in the grand scheme of things it is fantastic, but it is not yet over, not by any means, I know it's not going to happen but if we win the rest of our games we go up, simple as that, as it stands it is still very much in our own hands, other teams have tough games to come and while we cannot control what others do points will almost certainly be dropped, while we still have some tricky games to come we also have a run where you look at it and think yes we can win a fair few games, as always we will take it one game at a time and see where it takes us.

Next us probably One of the trickier games left for us too and while it may not be a Leicester or Leeds, West Brom outplayed us at the Hawthorns and looked a very good side on the night, tactically they out thought us and it showed, we need to address that and I think being at Portman Road will help us greatly, what I do not think will help is the blessed Sky cameras again and a daft kick off time but I guess it's the same for both teams, we just seem to struggle with it more than most.

With the Baggies well in the hunt for the play off's they will not be giving anything away easily and we will have to work for anything we may get on the day. Every man and his dog will be looking at social media come 11.30am to get a glimpse of the town line up and I hope I am not as jarred off as I was last weekend. Hlady, Morsy, Davis, Moore and Chaplin should all pick themselves, the rest are tricky to predict but I believe Hutchinson now has to play, he looked so good last week too and pace causes defenders problems, with Broadhead, Al-Hamadi, Sarmiento and Burns also available our options are pleasing, I think I would also go for Travis in Midfield on this occasion as Luongo may just be finding it tough at times with so many games and was clearly not at his best last weekend.

Predicting this one is not easy, my Head says honours even while my Heart says the win we so desperately need, all I do know is that if we go behind to this lot I do not see us winning the game, we must start fast and on the front foot, take them game to them, get the crowd up for it and onside, it makes a huge difference for Portman Road to be rocking as opposed to chasing the game, if we go ahead I think we will win it, if we slip behind, draw at best, Kieran, it's over to you. COYB'S



The Opposition – West Bromwich Albion - Honours



League


First Division / Premier League
Champions: 1919–20
Runners-up: 1924–25, 1953–54

Second Division / Championship
Champions: 1901–02, 1910–11, 2007–08
Runners-up: 1930–31, 1948–49, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2009–10, 2019–20

Third Division / League One
Play-off winners: 1993


Cup


FA Cup
Winners (5): 1887–88, 1891–92, 1930–31, 1953–54, 1967–68
Runners-up: 1885–86, 1886–87, 1894–95, 1911–12, 1934–35

Football League Cup
Winners: 1965–66
Runners-up: 1966–67, 1969–70

FA Charity Shield
Winners: 1920, 1954 (shared)
Runners-up: 1931, 1968




The Manager –Carlos Corberán








League Table as at 07.02.2024





Form Guide





Ipswich Town


29 Dec Ipswich Town 0 - 0 QP Rangers

1 Jan Stoke City 0 - 0 Ipswich Town

13 Jan Ipswich Town 2 - 1 Sunderland

22 Jan Leicester City 1 - 1 Ipswich Town

3 Feb Preston 3 - 2 Ipswich Town



West Bromwich Albion


29 Dec West Brom 1 - 0 Leeds Utd

1 Jan Swansea City 1 - 0 West Brom

13 Jan West Brom 4 - 1 Blackburn

20 Jan Norwich City 2 - 0 West Brom

3 Feb West Brom 1 - 0 Birmingham City


Head to Head







Match Referee – David Coote






IPSWICH TOWN 2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1

[goldandblack]

this game is your free pass to get back to winning. best to lock your sheep up until they are gone,

The seven dwarfs are involved in a mining accident, the roof collapses and they are all buried alive. After several hours of frantic digging the rescue team hear a faint cry: “ Albion are fantastic, Albion are fantastic “The rescue team leader turns to his assistant and says "At least we know Dopey is still alive..

[hallamblue]

Just bloody WIN it Town!

[ashfordblue]

If Wolfie and Edmundson are the centre backs then we will lose this, so let us go for shock-and-awe tactics with Burgess and Axel as the main CBs with Clarke or Williams at RB and Davis at LB, Travis in front of the back 4, midfield Morsy, Luongo, upfront Burns, Moore, Hamadi or Chaplin, with Moores height we need those crosses coming in so 2nd half bring on Sarmiento and Hutchinson.
I can't see our usual lineup of 4-2-3-1 working if we want to operate 2 main strikers, Southampton is using a 4-3-3 lineup with a lot of success, so like Leicester and Leeds, we need to be a bit more versatile and not stick to the main predicted line up all the time, we are getting sussed out and a change could help. so let's see how KM lines the team up, not Wolfie or Edmundson please, and the bench should be strong as well

[trimleyblue]

I reckon we'll start with
Hladky

Clarke
Woolfenden
Burgess
Davis

Morsy
Luongo / Travis

Burns
Chaplin
Sarmiento

Moore

[Charnwood]

I reckon we'll start with
Hladky

Clarke
Woolfenden
Burgess
Davis

Morsy
Luongo / Travis

Burns
Chaplin
Sarmiento

Moore

I’d be very happy with that starting line up.

[rossi]

If Wolfie and Edmundson are the centre backs then we will lose this, so let us go for shock-and-awe tactics with Burgess and Axel as the main CBs with Clarke or Williams at RB and Davis at LB, Travis in front of the back 4, midfield Morsy, Luongo, upfront Burns, Moore, Hamadi or Chaplin, with Moores height we need those crosses coming in so 2nd half bring on Sarmiento and Hutchinson.
I can't see our usual lineup of 4-2-3-1 working if we want to operate 2 main strikers, Southampton is using a 4-3-3 lineup with a lot of success, so like Leicester and Leeds, we need to be a bit more versatile and not stick to the main predicted line up all the time, we are getting sussed out and a change could help. so let's see how KM lines the team up, not Wolfie or Edmundson please, and the bench should be strong as well

They are indeed, and it's nice to see that one of the oldest formations is holding up very well in the modern game, it shows that 2 holding midfielders and one up front is not necessarily the answer.

Personally, I'd like to see us use either 4-3-3 or preferably 3-5-2. Will it ever happen? I doubt it very much, at least not in the forseeable future

[hallamblue]

It would be nice to throw a swerve ball and tweak our approach : we’re far too predictable .

[Bluemike]

The thing is Southampton's formation has seen them score 2 goals more than us, concede 6 less and lose the same amount of games, not really any great improvement on what we do, and all this with a far superior squad.

[hallamblue]

And all that mostly against teams from lower half of the division. I’m looking forward to seeing how they fair against the top 6-8 placed teams.

[arana peligrosa]

6 - 8 weeks back i'd vote without hesitation for us to record a win but things have changed in the time since, we're just not as robust or efficient as time before. We're getting picked off by opponents and losing points and victories when we ordinarily should be getting past them and taking wins.

Really not pleased about the 10, 12 point margin the team had around Christmas in second position and it's been pissed away and now find ourselves playing catch up. All right there's been players out and suspensions, injuries etc but we shouldn't have given up what we have - or had - in such a short space of time.

Want to win for the loss suffered earlier in the season at their venue but above all else victory is a must in order for need to get back in the automatic positions and reassert our authority. Somehow think it'll be easier said than done however.

Didn't vote on the game or provide score as really got no idea what will occur after the team's recent erratic form and scores.

[shabba]

Alllrighty then, been a hectic work at work and a bit of illness, and if I'm honest that last Preston result hit me hard.

I was at the Maidstone game and as we performed so well that I could easily take that result as a freak one and was very defensive anyone criticizing he players or manager.

The Preston game was VERY hard to watch first half, I felt really down about it as we badly needed a win - the recent form has been a bit of a disapointment as it feels the auto's are slipping away now, to the point its more likely against than for. Naturally this is a funny one to take as its way ahead of the earlier season vision we all had.

I feel the WBA game will be tricky, we NEED a win to keep auto hopes from really fading, and we have added firepower now - I think K Moore will get goals at this level.

Line up, Sarimento didn't do much to keep his start, but Broadhead has been off it, Moore has to start too. Defense is tricky, I probably wouldn't change it myself - maybe use the midweek game for that.

[mendipblue]

KMck says that the officials from last week have opologised for Prestons first 2 goals, for the foul on Morsey and the offside. Well, that really helps our points total. So this week we have premier league ref. Well, that didn't help against Maidstone when that premier league ref missed the foul for their winning goal and didn't give us a penalty . We must be due some decisions in our favour for a change

[QldBlue]

I feel like today’s game is crunch time. We’re at home, transfer window is done and we’ve got our new strikers who’ve had a week with the squad, seems like we’re relatively injury free. If we can win this, against a quality side like West Brom, then I think we can build from here and stay in the mix for that #2 spot.

[Bluemike]

KMck says that the officials from last week have opologised for Prestons first 2 goals, for the foul on Morsey and the offside. Well, that really helps our points total. So this week we have premier league ref. Well, that didn't help against Maidstone when that premier league ref missed the foul for their winning goal and didn't give us a penalty . We must be due some decisions in our favour for a change

Yep, great help, really pisses me off tbh, as bad as we played first half we wouldn't have lost that game and those prats are totally unaccountable for their ineptitude

[Bluemike]

Moore in for Jackson, the rest unchanged, Burgess not in squad.

[Shed on tour]

Moore in for Jackson, the rest unchanged, Burgess not in squad.

Bit surprised about Burgess would have thought he would at least been on the bench but not sure when he got back.

[Bluemike]

Probably got Malaria

[Mariner67]

Wolfy &
Edmondson playing ,not happy with that,rest of the team selection looks ok,Moore starts, Broadband up front.

[mendipblue]

Broadhead needs to step up his intensity when we press high up.he looks a bit lazy recently.

[Charnwood]

Disappointed to see Edmundson selected ahead of Burgess but maybe the later needs a break after the Asia Cup. Otherwise not a bad line up with another strong bench which seems to be our trademark these days.

[Charnwood]

I would like to see Hladky take fewer risks today than we’ve seen recently.

[Charnwood]

It looks like they’re playing us at our own game and very effectively too. We need to get hold of the ball and settle down or we’ll be playing catch up again.

[lucy]

So we nearly scored then they go up the other end and get the easiet Goal ever. Our defence was nowhere!

[mendipblue]

Woolfenden so weak in the tackle f**king rubbish

[Charnwood]

A very well taken goal by Fellows but omg, if it’s not Edmundson it’s fuckin Woolfie making a costly mistake.

[Ricco]

It feels like it's been about 3 season since we scored first in a game.

[Cabanas Blue]

How did Chaplin miss that.

[Charnwood]

WBA more clean sheets than any other Championship team so far this season, why am I not surprised. They are so well organised and quickly get back into shape.

We’re definitely struggling to break them down.

[mendipblue]

That was a very poor first half performance. Slow no tempo. We haven't used Kiefer Moores hight at all. Extremely one dimensional same old predictable play. Chaplin missed the best chance. It can only improve.