Ipswich Town V Bolton Wanderers
Sunday 30th July 2022 – 15:00
Portman Road
Hi Folks, welcome to our final season in League 1.
I hope you are enjoying your summer, I am flying up to Rarotonga on Thursday to remind myself what warm weather feels like. Although I have just received a travel advisory recommending not to travel due to tropical cyclones. I can’t bloody win!
A few changes to this seasons match previews, the main one being is that Mike will just be doing weekly comments, rather than for every match. The commitment required to do a write up for every match was becoming a bit much, and rather than not having Mike contributions at all, we have come up a compromise, being a weekly post that will reflect the upcoming Saturday match as well as a review of a mid-week match should one have been played.
As always, thank you all for supporting and being part of this forum as it’s you that keeps it going.
Let the good times roll! Cheers Dave
Mike’s weekly comments
OK, I am not going to beat around the bush here, the new season is upon us and as with every other season before it fans up and down the country are expecting big things from their respective clubs. Here at Ipswich Town I am expecting One thing and one thing only, Promotion !!!!! Make no mistake about it, this is OUR season, our time has come, this is our destiny and I for one believe we will achieve our goal of Championship Football come next May. That may be very bold and brash to some but I am convinced we have the infrastructure in place from top to bottom and with a full season under Kieran McKenna to look forward to I really do see us as One of the teams to beat. The owners are very supportive and continue to flash the cash, the CEO is as professional and proactive as it gets, the back room staff are pretty much now all in place and most importantly the squad looks full of talent for this particular level of Football. New signings have arrived in the shape of Ladapo, John-Jules, Ball, Leigh and Harness and at the time of writing Two or Three more are expected through the door.
Season ticket sales have been very encouraging too with 16350 the current figure so Portman Road is pretty much guaranteed to witness crowds of 20-22k minimum every game which is without question the Twelfth man that could make all the difference. The upgrades to the stadium continue with the new dugouts and scoreboards to name but Two ventures that have been undertaken in the close season which will make Portman Road not only a loud place to be but also one more in keeping with modern day trends.
Of course all of this is all well and good but McKenna and co. will be judged on One thing alone and that is results, last season may well have seen the new boss vastly improve the style of play and entertainment but there is no doubt we still failed to kill off numerous teams when in control of games and this is something that has to be addressed from the off, failing to score goals became a real nemesis for us and it is little wonder that changes have been made to the attacking side of the team, out the door have gone the misfiring Norwood, Pigott and Bonne with the aforementioned John-Jules, and Ladapo coming in to the fold, that One big flagship striker still seems to have eluded us but with a couple of weeks to go until the big kick off there is still time for a Georg Hirst type signing to arrive at the club, I for One am expecting someone of that ilk to arrive.
So who do we see as our main rivals for promotion ? Personally I think if we get it right and find consistency then nobody will stick with us but I suppose we have to be looking at the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County, Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers and Oxford Utd as our main challengers, so include us in that list and you have the Top Six right there !!
It is always good to have a home game on the opening day, it's a chance to get off to a flyer and get early points on the board and as such we should be pleased to be at home, that said One of my predicted top Six are the visitors to Portman Road as we welcome Bolton Wanderers. It promises to be a tough start to the campaign but we are serious this time around and no-one should faze us at all, let's hit eh ground running and get this season that promises so much off to a flyer, if we take it to them crowd will respond in kind and the noise will be deafening. I am going for a Town opening day win by Two goals to Nil with Ladapo and Chaplin getting on the scoresheet.
There will be ups and downs along the way but let's not forget after Ninety minutes that this is one hell of a marathon so should we not get the start we all want there doesn't need to be any Ukraine style mass fallout, stick with the gaffer and the boys and keep a sense of perspective about things, they will deliver, we won't be disappointed, this is OUR time. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Bolton Wanderers Honours
League titles
Second Division/Championship
Champions: 1908–09, 1977–78, 1996–97
Runners-up: 1899–1900, 1904–05, 1910–11, 1934–35
Play-off Winners: 1995, 2001
Play-off Runners-up: 1999
Third Division/League One
Champions: 1972–73
Runners-up: 1992–93, 2016–17
Play-off Runners-up: 1991
Play-off Semi-finalists: 1990
Fourth Division/League Two
Third: 1987–88, 2020–21
FA Cup
Winners: 1922–23, 1925–26, 1928–29, 1957–58
Runners-up: 1893–94, 1903–04, 1952–53
Semi-finalists: 1889-90, 1895–96, 1914–15, 1934–35, 1945–46, 1999–2000, 2010–11
Football League Cup
Runners-up: 1994–95, 2003–04
Semi-finalists: 1976–77, 1999–2000
FA Charity Shield
Winners: 1958
Football League Trophy
Champions: 1988–89
Runners-up: 1985–86
The Manager – Ian Evatt
League Table at the finish of last season
Head to Head
Match Referee – TBC
IPSWICH TOWN 2 BOLTON WANDERERS 1
will make up for time by going to away games 
Couldn't work out who I had missed out and why I couldn't think of a more predominant player than KVY! Only missed out Edmundson, Doh!