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

[Blue Wilf]

I've not really commented since the final whistle blew on Saturday. Has been very interesting reading the various discussions on here.

I finally got to watch the MOTD and TownTV highlights and, ever trying to remain positive, I shall side more with Marko & RRangers posts.

Losing Omari late in the day will have certainly unsettled the side to a degree.

Another thing which nobody has really picked up on is the injury to Ogbene. Is it any coincidence that Brentford's first goal came down our right hand side and the player I believe Ogbene would have been picking up was heavily involved. There was just 9 minutes between Burns coming on, without a warm up and that goal. Yes it's conjecture now but I think there is more likelihood that they wouldn't have scored that goal and found a quick route back into the game.
Regardless of KM's tactics, did Burns end up leaving Clarke more isolated than Ogbene would have? We'll never know.

Of course throughout our team we are making so many mistakes leading to goals being conceded, but I think Brentford deserve a lot more credit too. They absolutely ploughed men into our box in that second half especially! At the same time the Bees, as a result possibly, were often left exposed at the back. Credit to Keiran for his starting formation there. Two players in from the cold, really caught them out stone cold with their goals. In fact that was a very different front line full stop, but it certainly worked for a time.

Muric! Well he's certainly the villain of the piece on all social media comments and even I don't quite know what he was doing for their 4th goal. What worried me the moment the ball crossed the line, was that we had 3 defenders marshalling 6 Brentford players in our box, 5 of them were closer to the goal than our next nearest player. There's a cluster of about 4-5 town players around the penalty box who are marking fresh air! So yes Muric is highly culpable, but a few others need to look at themselves.

No arguments with the penalty (I'd have been screaming for one if that was for us). As for Clarke's second yellow. From the clips I saw I feel sure that their player dived. Yes Clarke's leg went across him, but I didn't feel there was any contact. Like I say the one replay from behind was not brilliantly clear.

Am I defending KM, Muric, Clarke? Yes in ways! Are there lessons for them all to learn? Most certainly yes. However I'm sticking with my blue tinted glasses. It's very, very fine margins in the toughest of leagues! I heard enough in the commentary yesterday to STILL give me hope. Injuries are crippling us right now, when a fairly settled side, especially defensively, is what we need. I was sickened by that late loss yesterday, but for a few centimetres Delap could so easily have made it 4-4 and what a different narrative that would have been!

TRUST THE PROCESS

A very well written post, Mark, and obviously you have written it from the heart.
.
My problem with it is that it is full of what-ifs and supposition, wheras I prefer to look at the hard cold facts. It's all well and good having blind faith in your principles and trusting that things will come good in the end. The season has only 38 games, and I worry that trusting in the current process is just asking for time to run out. There's no guarantee it would ever work in th PL with the squad of players we have, let alone in time to avoid relegation this season.

A spider will attempt to climb up a greasy drainpipe only a few times, and fail, before he tries another route - I believe . we are at that point. Something needs to change, not next month, not next year - NOW

My point entirely, Rossi - just when is it too late for keeping the faith...

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

One thing I have to take you to task to; Have you any evidence of how many times a spider will attempt to climb a greasy drain pipe and whether they will indeed find another route or flatly give up? (And of course i jest ).

8 out of 10 spider owners who expressed an opinion said their spiders tried a different route after 9 failed attempts. Food for thought there for next Saturday

[RRanger]

There was definitely a bit of panic (not for the first time) in the last 5 minutes in our defending in the first half when Brentford scored their 2 goals but I would suggest it was partly Brentford actually wresting back the initiative with some very good play and ,yes, sloppy panicky defending.There is a well known aphorism about the best form of defence being attack and like most aphorisms it has more than a grain of truth ,and I believe it sums up K Mc's philosophy of football and most of the time it has worked well,except in my memory before this season ,our two games against Leeds .I believe he will stick to this philosophy in how he wants our team to play and is trusting that some of these very good performances so far this season will be wins rather than draws . Lets hope that happens sooner rather than later. It was an extraordinary performance by a very understrength Ipswich team for most of the first half and as someone who was at the game ,they literally blew Brentford away for the first 40 minutes as Tomas Frank basically said in his interview after the game. No other side have done that to Brentford ,certainly at home, so far this season. I'm sure Mckenna will be as worried as we all are about the defending to let them back into the game but remember we were without crucial players and particularly our first choice defenders.

[Bluemike]

Frank also went on to say that those 40 minutes was the worst his team had played by some distance.

[marko69]

There was definitely a bit of panic (not for the first time) in the last 5 minutes in our defending in the first half when Brentford scored their 2 goals but I would suggest it was partly Brentford actually wresting back the initiative with some very good play and ,yes, sloppy panicky defending.There is a well known aphorism about the best form of defence being attack and like most aphorisms it has more than a grain of truth ,and I believe it sums up K Mc's philosophy of football and most of the time it has worked well,except in my memory before this season ,our two games against Leeds .I believe he will stick to this philosophy in how he wants our team to play and is trusting that some of these very good performances so far this season will be wins rather than draws . Lets hope that happens sooner rather than later. It was an extraordinary performance by a very understrength Ipswich team for most of the first halfand as someone who was at the game ,they literally blew Brentford away for the first 40 minutes as Tomas Frank basically said in his interview after the game. No other side have done that to Brentford ,certainly at home, so far this season. I'm sure Mckenna will be as worried as we all are about the defending to let them back into the game but remember we were without crucial players and particularly our first choice defenders.

I think regardless of what Curtains said, that part in bold (and the entire post really) is what matters. "Word" Ranger. I think when fans start listening to what the other teams bosses are saying AHEAD of sticking with the managers visions of HIS team, then its a bit of a lost cause. I think if more fans jump on that f**king bandwagon, then he and Mashton are farting against thunder.

I have read the history of ITFC along with Bobby Robsons autobiography in the past........, the whole thing smacks of the early 70s when people wanted him out. I'm sure guys older than Wilf or Mike or Rossi may be able to shed more light being part of that era, ...... speaking of Shed, maybe you Tony? Or Charnwood? Or LnP? Or even the City SLICKER, Ashfordblue? Must've been sh*t. ......., and then it ALL turned to FA Cups & UEFA Cups.
YES, different era, but definitely 100% relative with maybe the exception of the modern day "TOP 6" ---->> all relative.

[MasseyFerguson]

Everyone is entitled to have a view on how the season is going, how MMcK is doing, whether fans who trust in the process are deluded, or whether it is alright to believe things will improve.

Differing opinions make for interesting debates.

Might I respectfully suggest, though, that at the start of the season we were all both excited for the prospect of finally getting back into the premier league after so many years in the wilderness and a little concerned for our prospects for survival.

I also believe, if we are being honest, that we all recognised our squad, even with the additions, is inferior in quality and depth to virtually every other team in this league.

I would argue, given all of that, we made a really encouraging start to the season. We have suffered a couple of recent defeats but we have played pretty well for the most part. It would have taken very little for the Brentford result to have been a win and not a defeat. What would the mood of the forum have been today if that result had gone our way?

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

[marko69]

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

Same. Baffled.

And what is amusing is that some, not all, but some of the "noise" is coming from the same folk who wanted him emptied in League One AND in parts of the Championship season.

[AzzurroMark]

Everyone is entitled to have a view on how the season is going, how MMcK is doing, whether fans who trust in the process are deluded, or whether it is alright to believe things will improve.

Differing opinions make for interesting debates.

Might I respectfully suggest, though, that at the start of the season we were all both excited for the prospect of finally getting back into the premier league after so many years in the wilderness and a little concerned for our prospects for survival.

I also believe, if we are being honest, that we all recognised our squad, even with the additions, is inferior in quality and depth to virtually every other team in this league.

I would argue, given all of that, we made a really encouraging start to the season. We have suffered a couple of recent defeats but we have played pretty well for the most part. It would have taken very little for the Brentford result to have been a win and not a defeat. What would the mood of the forum have been today if that result had gone our way?

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

Absolutely spot on.

[Blue Wilf]

There is no anger with him - just frustration that we could have a couple more points if he had made different selections and different approaches to a few games. Before KM arrived, we had years of managers not 'having a plan b' and many on this site derided them for it (rightly!) but now, in my opinion, McKenna is falling into that bracket and he needs to do something different. How we play is 100% predictable! We have been doing it quite well but I can tell you the subs 10 mins before they happen and know when he will do it with a tolerance of +/- 2 minutes! I just want to see us try something else or adapt to a situation. Our game management is at times poor. If you cannot see that you are not watching the whole of games but just highlights (which again is fine) but trust me, we could be doing even better! Thats all I am asking for - not a manager change or the club to go back to the championship or anything else - just a sign that we have a bit more about us than repeating what we have done for the past 2 seasons in order to get results!

If you can't see the need for this then you are watching a different game to me

[Blue Wilf]

Everyone is entitled to have a view on how the season is going, how MMcK is doing, whether fans who trust in the process are deluded, or whether it is alright to believe things will improve.

Differing opinions make for interesting debates.

Might I respectfully suggest, though, that at the start of the season we were all both excited for the prospect of finally getting back into the premier league after so many years in the wilderness and a little concerned for our prospects for survival.

I also believe, if we are being honest, that we all recognised our squad, even with the additions, is inferior in quality and depth to virtually every other team in this league.

I would argue, given all of that, we made a really encouraging start to the season. We have suffered a couple of recent defeats but we have played pretty well for the most part. It would have taken very little for the Brentford result to have been a win and not a defeat. What would the mood of the forum have been today if that result had gone our way?

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

Absolutely spot on.

I agree with all of that up to a point. That point being that having a good start has yielded us 4 points from the first 27, has us 3rd bottom and apart from the team above us, the teams above them have a gap to the bottom 4. That makes Leicester a crucial win. If we do so - fantastic but my other points will still hold true as Spurs, Man U, Forest and Bournemouth ain't likely to yield a truck load of points for us...

[Bluemike]

I can't believe there was anyone that wasn't a tad angry Saturday, albeit for a few minutes, if it means something to you you'd have been angry at some point.

[Bluemike]

Everyone is entitled to have a view on how the season is going, how MMcK is doing, whether fans who trust in the process are deluded, or whether it is alright to believe things will improve.

Differing opinions make for interesting debates.

Might I respectfully suggest, though, that at the start of the season we were all both excited for the prospect of finally getting back into the premier league after so many years in the wilderness and a little concerned for our prospects for survival.

I also believe, if we are being honest, that we all recognised our squad, even with the additions, is inferior in quality and depth to virtually every other team in this league.

I would argue, given all of that, we made a really encouraging start to the season. We have suffered a couple of recent defeats but we have played pretty well for the most part. It would have taken very little for the Brentford result to have been a win and not a defeat. What would the mood of the forum have been today if that result had gone our way?

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

Jesus hallelujah, exactly !!!! That's all we are asking, change tactics for 5 damn minutes, I'm glad you agree.

[Bluemike]

There was definitely a bit of panic (not for the first time) in the last 5 minutes in our defending in the first half when Brentford scored their 2 goals but I would suggest it was partly Brentford actually wresting back the initiative with some very good play and ,yes, sloppy panicky defending.There is a well known aphorism about the best form of defence being attack and like most aphorisms it has more than a grain of truth ,and I believe it sums up K Mc's philosophy of football and most of the time it has worked well,except in my memory before this season ,our two games against Leeds .I believe he will stick to this philosophy in how he wants our team to play and is trusting that some of these very good performances so far this season will be wins rather than draws . Lets hope that happens sooner rather than later. It was an extraordinary performance by a very understrength Ipswich team for most of the first halfand as someone who was at the game ,they literally blew Brentford away for the first 40 minutes as Tomas Frank basically said in his interview after the game. No other side have done that to Brentford ,certainly at home, so far this season. I'm sure Mckenna will be as worried as we all are about the defending to let them back into the game but remember we were without crucial players and particularly our first choice defenders.

I think regardless of what Curtains said, that part in bold (and the entire post really) is what matters. "Word" Ranger. I think when fans start listening to what the other teams bosses are saying AHEAD of sticking with the managers visions of HIS team, then its a bit of a lost cause. I think if more fans jump on that f**king bandwagon, then he and Mashton are farting against thunder.

I have read the history of ITFC along with Bobby Robsons autobiography in the past........, the whole thing smacks of the early 70s when people wanted him out. I'm sure guys older than Wilf or Mike or Rossi may be able to shed more light being part of that era, ...... speaking of Shed, maybe you Tony? Or Charnwood? Or LnP? Or even the City SLICKER, Ashfordblue? Must've been sh*t. ......., and then it ALL turned to FA Cups & UEFA Cups.
YES, different era, but definitely 100% relative with maybe the exception of the modern day "TOP 6" ---->> all relative.

How can anyone say our goalkeeping and defending was extraordinary?

[marko69]

Got to think its not easy to bark instructions with 5 minutes to play…….. you MUST believe that the thick as fk players know to shore it up, with a MASSIVE digital clock in the stadium. Concentrate 25% more maybe.
If it needs McKenna to bark a tactic change from the touchline on 42mins, then …… jesus h !

And Curtains would’ve heard him!!

[Bluemike]

I think Frank would have noticed it without having to hear it but he'd have had the much harder task of breaking us down in that Five minute spell.

[MasseyFerguson]

Everyone is entitled to have a view on how the season is going, how MMcK is doing, whether fans who trust in the process are deluded, or whether it is alright to believe things will improve.

Differing opinions make for interesting debates.

Might I respectfully suggest, though, that at the start of the season we were all both excited for the prospect of finally getting back into the premier league after so many years in the wilderness and a little concerned for our prospects for survival.

I also believe, if we are being honest, that we all recognised our squad, even with the additions, is inferior in quality and depth to virtually every other team in this league.

I would argue, given all of that, we made a really encouraging start to the season. We have suffered a couple of recent defeats but we have played pretty well for the most part. It would have taken very little for the Brentford result to have been a win and not a defeat. What would the mood of the forum have been today if that result had gone our way?

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

Jesus hallelujah, exactly !!!! That's all we are asking, change tactics for 5 damn minutes, I'm glad you agree.

That's what you got from my post?

[hallamblue]

Frank also went on to say that those 40 minutes was the worst his team had played by some distance.

Which may well be down to how the opposition,(us), were playing against them.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

I have read the history of ITFC along with Bobby Robsons autobiography in the past........, the whole thing smacks of the early 70s when people wanted him out. I'm sure guys older than Wilf or Mike or Rossi may be able to shed more light being part of that era, ...... speaking of Shed, maybe you Tony? Or Charnwood? Or LnP? Or even the City SLICKER, Ashfordblue? Must've been sh*t. ......., and then it ALL turned to FA Cups & UEFA Cups.
YES, different era, but definitely 100% relative with maybe the exception of the modern day "TOP 6" ---->> all relative.

When I started going regularly to watch Town SAR was still manager, so I well remember the early SBR years. Yes, a lot of people wanted him out - and he had not had the luxury of a £100M transfer fund (or rather, whatever that was worth in '69) - nonetheless I can remember far more calling for his head than that for KM at the moment.

I don't want to see him go because I think he will eventually become a very good PL manager - but there is no denying that he is floundering at the moment and I'm not sure that he will learn quick enough on his own to keep us from relegation this season - and who knows, we may have to wait another 20-odd years to get back again. I've said 2 or 3 times that I think he needs a mentor for the rest of this season.

[hallamblue]

Problem is Gary, no self respecting manager would want a minder. I can't see it happening tbh. And the other thing is, there's this edging towards younger coaches in the game now and gone are the days of the old managerial farts doing the managerial merry-go-round.

[Bluemike]

Everyone is entitled to have a view on how the season is going, how MMcK is doing, whether fans who trust in the process are deluded, or whether it is alright to believe things will improve.

Differing opinions make for interesting debates.

Might I respectfully suggest, though, that at the start of the season we were all both excited for the prospect of finally getting back into the premier league after so many years in the wilderness and a little concerned for our prospects for survival.

I also believe, if we are being honest, that we all recognised our squad, even with the additions, is inferior in quality and depth to virtually every other team in this league.

I would argue, given all of that, we made a really encouraging start to the season. We have suffered a couple of recent defeats but we have played pretty well for the most part. It would have taken very little for the Brentford result to have been a win and not a defeat. What would the mood of the forum have been today if that result had gone our way?

I am, honestly, at a loss to see, what seems like, anger at the manager in this thread.

Jesus hallelujah, exactly !!!! That's all we are asking, change tactics for 5 damn minutes, I'm glad you agree.

That's what you got from my post?

The most relevant part for me yes, the first Two paragraphs I agree with.

[Cabanas Blue]

I've taken this from the other site it's Originally from the Brentford forum, cheered me up a bit.



Manager has created a team that is better than the sun of the parts. Play same decent football. Work very hard. Defensively very vulnerable.

Their fans were great. Noisy. Kept behind Behind the team. Very loud applause for Holly

Thought there were far better than Southampton and Wolves and got something about them I like. I saw them play Villa on sky at home and thought were were impressive. They have a number of players out injured but think most teams may find going to Portman Road difficult. They probably have a decent team but whether their squad is good enough for the long haul of a PL season is another matter.

We could easily have been 0-3 down, at that point they were doing a number on us. I hope they can stay up. Decent team, and decent fans

Decent team with decent supporters. Well done also for the vast majority of their fans clapping on the 14 minute mark.. respect

Even when down to ten, they kept going.
Took their goals very well.
Will have to improve defensively and probably need home form to keep them up.

Against us, there is no question that Wolves were far worse than Ipswich.

I don't think there'll be much between them come May

They have a fantastic manager great fans and a togetherness and team ethic that we can relate to , they also have some quality in the likes of Delap and Phillips among other decent players.
Can they finish top of a mini league of 4 and stay up ? I would say as long as they don’t get injuries to key players they probably can and I actually hope they do.

I liked the way their fans stayed behind to support their team, despite losing.
Showed class too when joining in the applause for Holly West.

They were an entertaining side. Hopefully Everton will go down instead.

Best limbs aswell in their end this season

[marko69]

Got to the very end there, Cabanas and he / she lost me. Best limbs?

People of ipswich……., your arms and legs are AWESOME! I bet Mikes are tanned with all the bloody holidays!

[Cabanas Blue]

Got to the very end there, Cabanas and he / she lost me. Best limbs?

People of ipswich……., your arms and legs are AWESOME! I bet Mikes are tanned with all the bloody holidays!

Same here I've no idea unless it's Mike's they are taking about.

[AzzurroMark]

Best limbs?

'Limbs' seems to refer to fans celebrating a goal, with 'limbs' flying around everywhere. You know, where Dave in row 8 ends up in row 3 etc. See a lot of videos under that word.

[Bluemike]

Got to the very end there, Cabanas and he / she lost me. Best limbs?

People of ipswich……., your arms and legs are AWESOME! I bet Mikes are tanned with all the bloody holidays!

LOL, was brown as a berry but fading now

[hallamblue]

Best limbs?

'Limbs' seems to refer to fans celebrating a goal, with 'limbs' flying around everywhere. You know, where Dave in row 8 ends up in row 3 etc. See a lot of videos under that word.

My fav one is the late winner vs Saints at PR ...the celebrations and roar from the crowd just went on and on and on


https://www.skysports.com/football/vide ... -road-wild

[marko69]

Best limbs?

'Limbs' seems to refer to fans celebrating a goal, with 'limbs' flying around everywhere. You know, where Dave in row 8 ends up in row 3 etc. See a lot of videos under that word.

My fav one is the late winner vs Saints at PR ...the celebrations and roar from the crowd just went on and on and on


https://www.skysports.com/football/vide ... -road-wild

A definite bounce and a half. Must've been awesome.

[ITFC2024]

Is it me, or is anyone else getting tired of the same old rhetoric? We’re not good enough, the players are rubbish, the manager doesn’t have a clue.

Shearer can f*ck off! I don’t care about your opinion or the statistics. If we get relegated we still get parachute payments. Yep, if we don’t get the win against Leicester we’ll be doomed. So what, did we really think we’d be auspicious with 100-mil investment against teams with more than 500-mil investment?

My American niece would say take a chill pill! Enjoy the ride and you better hope KM is still our manager if we do get relegated.

Sorry just tired of the negativity. We all knew this would be a huge challenge and to be honest I think we’ve battled and played some very good football. Individual errors have killed us, but you can’t blame that on the manager.

Whatever it’s just how I feel. Dealing with sh*t for more than 20 years makes me at least proudly accept we’re battling in the Prem!

[marko69]

^^^^^ That is a Number 9 out of 10 for that post , IT24 ^^^^^

(Losing 1 point for making me look up "auspicious")

[ITFC2024]

^^^^^ That is a Number 9 out of 10 for that post , IT24 ^^^^^

(Losing 1 point for making me look up "auspicious")

Shhhhhhhhsh!