Premier League - Ipswich Town vs Southampton FC Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Ipswich Town v Southampton FC



Saturday 1st February 2025 – 15:00


Portman Road








Pre-Match Thoughts Mike



Last Saturday's trip to Anfield to take on the mighty Liverpool FC panned out pretty much as most of us expected it to go, second best throughout and basically outclassed from start to finish, but it has to be said that it was no disgrace given they are one of, if not the best club side in world Football right now. While the score may not have been nearly as bad as I was envisaging it did play out as a bit of a mismatch with Town struggling to ever really get a grip of the game and for the most part we were penned back and defending our box, conceding an early goal made it all the harder and clearly gave hem a freedom to go and express themselves which they did with aplomb.

Kieran Mckenna again opted to go with changes galore and while I get he is blooding in the odd new player and has One or Two injury concerns I repeat again they we are doing way too much of it, especially at the back, to get to almost February and have no clue of your best starting Eleven is a bit concerning, we are now at the stage of the season where we have to get some continuity into the team, it never helps to keep on chopping and changing, for me you have to go with the in form players and if that means favourites being dropped then so be it but stick to it for a run of games.

I felt the only time Town did not look second best against Liverpool was the last 10-15 Minutes when we made the substitutions, for a change they seemed to make a positive difference with Enciso, who really impressed me, Hirst & Delap all contributing to Town's best spell of the game, some of the regulars and starting Eleven just did not have a good day, for me Omari Hutchinson has been off form for a while now and I feel there are better options in his position at the moment, I felt Connor Townsend looked far better than Leif Davis defensively and showed he has good delivery too with a peach of a cross from which George Hirst really should have scored, and this is my problem with Hirst, yes he has good attributes in other areas, he links up play well, holds the ball up very well, runs down defenders all day long but we just need more goals from him because if Delap doesn't score then we rarely score. Delap had a bit of an off day for sure, seldom did he see the ball but when he did he just couldn't control it and often went to ground, I suppose we can let him off the odd poor game.

In the Centre I know One or Two have been calling for the skipper Sam Morsy to be rested, we all have our own ideas on if that is wise or not but for me when you see what Kelvin Phillips has to offer it just isn't going to happen, I have been kind of hoping we would send him back as he flatters to deceive time after time, sadly I feel the guys career is on the wane. To add to our woes the injury to Wes Burns looks a bad One, possibly season ending and how ironic is it that it should come at a time when for me he has looked at his brightest all season having been asked to play a different role, we can only hope it isn't as bad as first feared and wish him a speedy recovery.

I have lost count of the number of people who have said to me this week, "our season starts now", while it is One way to look at it having got Two or Three very tough games out of the way I have also reminded them that this could also be the weekend our season is virtually over because failure to beat the worst team in the division at home would, in my opinion, confirm we are going down, I just don't see where Five or Six wins are coming from if we can't win this One, it just won't happen so for me it is a MUST WIN game, no ifs or buts, we cannot simply hope another Chelsea or Spurs moment will arrive, this game has to be won, no hard luck stories or feeble draws, it has to be a comprehensive win on the back of a dominant performance.

One of the things that worries me is that we seem to have got worse in certain areas over the last Two or Three games, we look slower and bereft of offensive movement, the supply to Delap has never been in it's abundance but it seems to have almost dried up at times, we need creative players on the pitch which is why for me Enciso and Broadhead have to start, not sure about Philogene yet so can't say, I also wish Conor Chaplin was fit because he can create things out of nothing, either way it is KM's job to get it right on the day.

Let's not be fooled though, Southampton are no mugs and can still play a bit, their record may suggest they are the worst team in Premier League history as it stands but I think that it will be folly to think we can just rock up and they will roll over because they certainly won't. This game has to be won, we need Portman Road to be a hostile cauldron of noise, just like it was last season when Sarmiento sent the place to another planet with his last ditch winner, we need more of that, we need to stop looking a bit flat and lethargic and come out all guns blazing and really take it to them.

I think there will be goals in the game and for me the first One could well be crucial, we have to make sure it is us that gets it because coming from behind against teams who shut up shop is simply not our forte, I do not wan't us having to come from behind. This game is potentially make or break for our season, anything less than a win simply won't do on this occasion, I just have a feeling the boys won't let us down this time, they will know the importance, it will no doubt have been drummed into them. Just stay error free and play your hearts out, it could just be a happy Saturday evening at last. COYB'S




The Opposition – Southampton FC Honours



League


First Division

Runners-up: 1983–84

Second Division / Championship

Runners-up: 1965–66, 1977–78, 2011–12
Play-off winners: 2024

Third Division South / Third Division / League One

Champions: 1921–22, 1959–60
Runners-up: 2010–11

Southern League

Champions (6): 1896–97, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1903–04


Cup


FA Cup

Winners: 1975–76
Runners-up: 1899–1900, 1901–02, 2002–03

Football League Cup / EFL Cup

Runners-up: 1978–79, 2016–17

Football League Trophy

Winners: 2009–10

Full Members' Cup

Runners-up: 1991–92




The Manager – Ivan Jurić







League Table as at 29.01.2025






Form Guide




Ipswich Town





30 Dec Ipswich Town 2 - 0 Chelsea

5 Jan Fulham 2 - 2 Ipswich Town

16 Jan Ipswich Town 0 - 2 Brighton

19 Jan Ipswich Town 0 - 6 Manchester City

25 Jan Liverpool 4 - 1 Ipswich Town




Southampton FC




9 Dec Crystal Palace 2 - 1 Southampton

4 Jan Southampton 0 - 5 Brentford

16 Jan Manchester Utd 3 - 1 Southampton

19 Jan Nottm Forest 3 - 2 Southampton

25 Jan Southampton 1 - 3 Newcastle Utd







Head to Head







Match Referee – Michael Oliver







IPSWICH TOWN 2 SOUTHAMPTON FC 0

[hallamblue]

A simply " must win" game. The players must show up for this one. Question is will we continue with 5 at the back or go with 4 ?

[mendipblue]

A simply " must win" game. The players must show up for this one. Question is will we continue with 5 at the back or go with 4 ?

What does the TWTD forum say? They will obviously give you your opinion

[hallamblue]

Sorry? What do you mean by that?

Better still, why don’t you just f*ck OFF Derick

[shabba]

A simply " must win" game. The players must show up for this one. Question is will we continue with 5 at the back or go with 4 ?

I’m very confident we will see the return of the 4231. I think KM will know we have to win this and get at them, we have the better XI.

It’s different playing alot of these teams above us who have better squads so I get the being hard to beat thing but for this match I feel they will ‘unleash’ Encisco for a start in a central role.

Nice preview by the way Mike.

[hallamblue]

I think Saints have been released a little now that Martin has been given the boot. The bloke was incompetent frankly. Saints have got some good players and it won’t be a pushover. A very tough game Sat I fear, and Dibbling (?) is one to watch ….

[ITFC2024]

Frankly if we don’t win this, we don’t deserve to stay up. I expect an absolute beast of a game…like a cup final. If we fail to win, it’ll be the last nail in the coffin.

[shabba]

I think Saints have been released a little now that Martin has been given the boot. The bloke was incompetent frankly. Saints have got some good players and it won’t be a pushover. A very tough game Sat I fear, and Dibbling (?) is one to watch ….

Dibbling is injured

[marko69]

Nice preview and yep, got to be winning this one at home.

And the dominant win you speak of would be very good to claw back a bit of the GF1 GA12 scenario that's happened in the previous 3 games. A wee 4-0 ITFC would be fantastic.

A loss would indeed hurt. But looking at that table, all clubs have played 23 so its only halfway. For me, Spurs will get their act together fairly soon and get safe....., maybe Everton as well, but Leicester, Palace and West Ham could be sucked into that battle around the 40 game mark. Ipswich definitely DO need to be winning this one v Southampton but there is still plenty to play for even if its a draw. Just DO NOT Lose.

Not even close to Dire Straits yet........

So, "Why Worry" when the messiah is going to show us his "Latest Trick" by making relegation "So Far Away" , y'all be "Brothers in Arms" down "Portman (telegraph) Road" and "Expresso Love" to the team and make our very own, excellent "Lady Writer" Hallamblue happy this Saturday night......, and Shabba....., there ain't no "Parking for Nothing" dude...... "On Every Street."

Ref Caption.

Saints boss: "Hey ref, what is Mendipblue on about in his first post?"
Ref: (Picture)

[ITFC2024]

Word ^^^

[Frosty]

A loss would indeed hurt. But looking at that table, all clubs have played 23 so its only halfway. For me, Spurs will get their act together fairly soon and get safe....., maybe Everton as well, but Leicester, Palace and West Ham could be sucked into that battle around the 40 game mark. Ipswich definitely DO need to be winning this one v Southampton but there is still plenty to play for even if its a draw. Just DO NOT Lose.

Don't mean to p*ss on your parade brother, but theres only 20 teams in the Premiership, so 38 games in total rather than 46 fixtures like in the Championship.

[shabba]

A loss would indeed hurt. But looking at that table, all clubs have played 23 so its only halfway. For me, Spurs will get their act together fairly soon and get safe....., maybe Everton as well, but Leicester, Palace and West Ham could be sucked into that battle around the 40 game mark. Ipswich definitely DO need to be winning this one v Southampton but there is still plenty to play for even if its a draw. Just DO NOT Lose.

Don't mean to p*ss on your parade brother, but theres only 20 teams in the Premiership, so 38 games in total rather than 46 fixtures like in the Championship.

Yeah I was about to mention this. 15 games to go and we need 15 points or more

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

A simply " must win" game. The players must show up for this one. Question is will we continue with 5 at the back or go with 4 ?

What does the TWTD forum say? They will obviously give you your opinion

Grow up!!!!

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

A loss would indeed hurt. But looking at that table, all clubs have played 23 so its only halfway. For me, Spurs will get their act together fairly soon and get safe....., maybe Everton as well, but Leicester, Palace and West Ham could be sucked into that battle around the 40 game mark.

I don't pretend to understand the reasoning, but I assume this is some sort of tongue-in-cheek remark. Because when I went to school, half of 38 was definitely not 23

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Totally agree that this is a definite must win game - sadly I just cannot see it happening. 2-2

[MasseyFerguson]

Forget the last two matches, this one is the most important game we will have played this season.

If we lose, I think we can kiss survival in this league goodbye. If we win, we have a realistic chance of staying up. A draw will make survival a very difficult prospect.

I hate the cliche that this is a must win game...but, this is a must win game!

[marko69]

Oh dear. I had completely forgotten about that. Too busy trying to remember Marko Knopfler tunes.

Only 15 games to go? Oh jeezo.
It's a must must must must must win game then.

Edit:

A loss would indeed hurt. Because looking at that table, all clubs have played 23 so its well over halfway. For me, Spurs might not get their act together fairly soon and might not get safe but I think they probably will ....., maybe not Everton as well, but maybes aye....., , but Leicester, Palace and West Ham could be sucked into that battle around the, not the 40 game mark because it doesn't exist, but the 32nd game maybe?? Ipswich definitely DO need to be winning this one v Southampton because there is NOT plenty of time left to even play for a draw. And DO NOT f**king Lose.

Edited

[shabba]

Walton

Axel
Greaves
o’Shea
Davis

Morsy
Cajuste

Omari
Enciso
Philogene

Delap

[JohnnyB]

Walton

Axel
Greaves
o’Shea
Davis

Morsy
Cajuste

Omari
Enciso
Philogene

Delap

Not far off what I'd like. But I'd like Broadhead to be given a start over Philogene- feel like his recent performances have earnt it

[Bluemike]

Yep same Johnny

[Bluemike]

Not sure how it sits with me that the manager and certain players don't see this as a must win game, I think if ever there is such a thing it is today !

[hallamblue]

I think they do, they're just putting the dampeners on it do emotional is reduced and thry can perform better ( hopefully)

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Not sure how it sits with me that the manager and certain players don't see this as a must win game, I think if ever there is such a thing it is today !

Doesn't sit well with me at all, but at least KM is consistent with what he says in his interviews.
Trouble is, he keeps saying that this game isn't must win and that game isn't must win, and that there are still plenty of games to go. But each week there are less games to go - in another 10 games time if he's still saying the same things and we're still struggling to get out of the relegation places he's going to look pretty silly

[Bluemike]

Yes but we have to trust the process

[Cabanas Blue]

Walton injured ? Muric with Slicker on the bench.

[mendipblue]

Walton injured ? Muric with Slicker on the bench.

🫣

[Bluemike]

Car crash waiting to happen

Team ok apart from keeper

[marko69]

Yes but we have to trust the process

That is mainly Mashton the trust has to go in though and YOU trust it!!! I know you do! You were selling the Mark Ashton T-shirts, boyo!

[Bluemike]

Yes but we have to trust the process

That is mainly Mashton the trust has to go in though and YOU trust it!!! I know you do! You were selling the Mark Ashton T-shirts, boyo!

Nothing to do with Ashton, he's rebuilding the club, the messiah is supposed to be building the team.

[marko69]

Yes but we have to trust the process

That is mainly Mashton the trust has to go in though and YOU trust it!!! I know you do! You were selling the Mark Ashton T-shirts, boyo!

Nothing to do with Ashton, he's rebuilding the club, the messiah is supposed to be building the team.

I mean the word "process"......, does Kieron use it? In the limited interviews I've watched, any time he's used it, it has been in the context of the club moving forward as whole, not about team selection etc. Got to assume team selection is based purely on who's available and who is "doing it" in training.
The process really has to be about how the club as a whole are negotiating the future with other peoples money.

And if it IS a process that Kieron needs......., get the Forest one. 5-0 loss to Bournemouth ....., 7 days later, defeat THE AWESOME Brighton, 7-0.