Premier League - Ipswich Town vs Leicester City Preview & Matchday Thread

[AzzurroMark]

If you only get to a few games each season, I see the attraction, AM but week in, week out, its not the hyped up entertainment machine you suggest, sadly. We all have our expectations and they clearly differ, which is fine. For me, its all 'fancy' on the surface but belies a darkness underneath that is a very poor version of the football I grew up loving. Each to their own!

Yes, I also see your view point of view . However, I was in a stadium today filled with a high percentage of season ticket holders who are there, week in , week out and the feel the crescendo of noise gave me made me feel that this is a passionate support which is enjoying the entertainment being served up. Yes, there was a cocophany of noise aimed at the referee and the 'corrupt PL', but that was passion at the feeling of being robbed. That was as good an atmosphere as I have experienced at PR! Certainly everything was miles ahead of both the team and style of play we had under Mick McCarthy. I think the big thing that has changed and spoiled the game is the disparity. To do a 'George Burley' and achieve a 5th place finish on the back of a promotion is now nigh on impossible. So i understand the sentiment at the end of your post.

[Blue Wilf]

Just another observation - their wingers could beat both of our full backs at will. It really caused us problems. We seem to have a lack of pace in the team which will take somw rectifying.

[AzzurroMark]

Just another observation - their wingers could beat both of our full backs at will. It really caused us problems. We seem to have a lack of pace in the team which will take somw rectifying.

You know what, I did have a similar thought while watching the game. That their wingers generally looked more potent, quicker in their attacks, which generally I felt we contained pretty well.

[Cabanas Blue]

The first time I have watched MOTD for years, so they put us on last but the pundits did agree it should have been a pen and that Phillips pulled out of the challenge, its about time these decisions went our way and that ref should be demoted.

[AzzurroMark]

The first time I have watched MOTD for years, so they put us on last but the pundits did agree it should have been a pen and that Phillips pulled out of the challenge, its about time these decisions went our way and that ref should be demoted.

Agreed, how the hell is that not a penalty on Chaplin? My understanding is that VAR only get involved where the referee has made a "clear and obvious error!" There have been two decisions prior to this where decisions have been reversed (J.Clarke against Everton & H.Clarke against Brentford) in cases where it has (certainly on match highlights) taken several viewings and still not been conclusive. This one today, both MOTD pundits agreed it was a penalty and if PGMOL have not been able to see it is a penalty from the angles I saw it on TV just now then it defies belief.

[ITFC2024]

I think I’m responsible for the “Witch Hunt” idiom, but let’s face it…we’re going down!

[arana peligrosa]

They'll most likely be coming down with us in actual fact. All right they saved their as* with that late goal but they were by and large garbage, got away with a point many will argue they didn't deserve. Both club names may very well endure just the one season back but hope we survive nonetheless.

Phillips should not have been dismissed as the second challenge didn't warrant another caution. Player showed no malicious intent and attempted to break back from any contact. It's no use castigating the game official after the event as what's done is done but that was never a second caution offense. A stronger more competent referee would have just let it go.

The Chaplin incident, sure he went down in the area but didn't seem heavy contact from the opposition player. With the referee in question and his often bizarre decisions all manner of stuff could have occurred out there but Town fan or not going with a minority in which didn't believe it was an actual foul. From highlights it didn't appear the player went in on Chaplin with intention. Chaplin hit the floor as if fired from an elephant rifle, viewed incident and thought maybe a little too theatrical. The referee for all other times was an as*, but thought this call was probably the correct one.

Leicester seemed more focused on their overall result in denying us a win because we did a similar thing in the Championship to them last season. Yet you won the league ahead of us and it's still not enough. f*ck that nonsense, you move on. This appeared something of a cagey game with sets of fans more focused on what occurred between them last season other than what was happening at present time. It's another disappointing result despite fact we played well and should have won. Davis' goal was value for winning any contest. It should have done so.

[collinsc]

There's no way Town can survive in this bloody league, because the PL, officials, pundits, VAR officials, none of them, not a single one of wants clubs like Town to be in their closed shop, corrupt little club.

The PL STINKS, I hate it. It's plastic, soulless, and reeks of " looking after their own". They are driven by greed, anf its ALL about money and certainly dont want it to filter down to the lower leagues.

As far as Im concerned they SHOVE their so called " premier" up their arses.
They make me sick. Football is DEAD in the so called Premier League. It's a con , and a complete farce, corrupt from the top down, and run by the so called big five.

f*ck the lot of em

+1, couldn't have said it any better.

[hallamblue]

It'll be the same next week at Spurs, where we'll get sod all again. Whats the bloody point!

I cant even watched MOTD these days.Im sick to death of the absolutely crystal clear bias against us every week by MATCH OFFICALS,.....why????

[marko69]

It'll be the same next week at Spurs, where we'll get sod all again. Whats the bloody point!

I cant even watched MOTD these days.Im sick to death of the absolutely crystal clear bias against us every week by MATCH OFFICALS,.....why????

Did you go to bed angry then get up angry, Hallam? You need to sort that; life is too short.

Besides. Weren't you a fan of the old defunct Glasgow Rangers FC and maybe now are a follower of the new The Sevco Rangers FC? You should be well used to "absolutely crystal clear bias" happening in the soccer!!

[Bluemike]

The more you watch the penalty and Red card decisions it really is bordering on cheating and corruption

[Cabanas Blue]

The more you watch the penalty and Red card decisions it really is bordering on cheating and corruption

Totally agree

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Whichever way you look at things, it was a poor result for us.

Was it a penalty? Well, back in the '60s it definitely would not have been. But in these namby-pamby days, it probably was, even if Chaplin went down far too easily and theatrically.

Should Phillips have been sent off? If the penalty had been awarded, then no. However, from what I saw of it I think it definitely was a yellow card, although the acting by the Leicester player was pathetic.

Was Morsy fouled in the build-up to their goal? Not in my book - he showed his naivety at this level by trying to hang on to the ball instead of getting rid.

What annoyed me more than anything yesterday - even more than the p*ss-poor refereeing - was KMs post match comments:
“If we keep showing a lot of the things we showed today, we’ll keep competing and I think the margins aren’t just decisions and not just VAR and refereeing decisions but that’s one element of it that I think if we’ve even had a fair or an even split of a run of it, over the 10 games so far, then we would have a couple of wins.” . All teams get decisions that go against them, sometimes several in a row, but things invariably will even up over a season. Stop whingeing, man; start seeing both the wood and the trees, and sort things out.

[Shed on tour]

Although I agree that some decisions by the officials have gone against us this season it does appear that some supporters are putting that down to the sole reason of why we are in the position we are. I’m sure if you asked fans of other clubs they will say that decisions have gone against them at certain times in games.
For me I just don’t think that the current squad is good enough to stay in the Premiership. The fact is that even in games where we thought we would be good enough to get a win it hasn’t happened. Everton, West Ham, Southampton and now Leicester for example.
The result in some of these games certainly wasn’t down to refereeing decisions.
On to Tottenham next week where even a point would be a bonus.

[Bluemike]

I don't think our league position is down to crap decisions but the failure to get Three points yesterday was undoubtedly down to the fuckwits.

Regarding their goal, KM summed it up perfectly, Morsy did brilliantly to take the ball forward into space up the pitch to kill valuable time, something we all crave the team to do every week instead of dropping deep so this he got it wrong stuff is bullshit.

KM went on to say others bombed forward behind him leaving gaps which were exploited, he wasn't the one who mucked up at, nevermind the foul on him, his performance yesterday was incredible along with Phillips and Johnson.

[hallamblue]

It'll be the same next week at Spurs, where we'll get sod all again. Whats the bloody point!

I cant even watched MOTD these days.Im sick to death of the absolutely crystal clear bias against us every week by MATCH OFFICALS,.....why????

Did you go to bed angry then get up angry, Hallam? You need to sort that; life is too short.

Besides. Weren't you a fan of the old defunct Glasgow Rangers FC and maybe now are a follower of the new The Sevco Rangers FC? You should be well used to "absolutely crystal clear bias" happening in the soccer!!

After the game ( and during it as it unfolded), I was furious. Got home, and a non footballing friend came round so kinda forgot about it . Well my feelings re the game calmed down. Go and see my uncle today, and we talk about the game, and my heckles ate well and truly up again.

I didn't actually think Leicester were a particularly good team. Had it remained 11v 11 we would definitely had won yesterday.

All teams get odd decisions go against you in games, but Town appear to be suffering almost deliberate marginalisation by match officials for every contentious issue/ decision and in.several games. There have been few games where we have total out thought or outplayed. In fact in many of the games we have more than matched these teams. So, " not good enough"? Whilst we have spurned a few golden chances has that been the reason weve not got the points? Maybe. But what's been clear as day to me inn thd last 2 games, is incorrect decisions by the refs, VAR? ( did it even get to var??) Have robbed us of 2 wins. The two sending off were laughable, but swing the games away from us.

Yesterday I thought Town played very well. We had Leicester on the back foot for most of the game. Ref sends Phillips off and it's just enough to tip it their way..

So if it's a case of things tend to even themselves out, we can look forward to equal treatment from officials/ VAR in the coming games then, yes?

[Bluemike]

I watched the highlights on Town TV earlier and Two observations for me.

Conor Chaplin in the 10 role was superb, I add him to my trio of Morsy, Phillips and Johnson while Omari was also very lively out on the right. As a team we played some superb stuff, especially the first half, tore them open at will.

Morsy was clearly tugged by the arm in the lead up to their goal causing him to go to ground, now it may be a case of some you get and some you don't but in the context of the game yesterday it was a stonewall foul and free kick, why ? Because the useless f**king ref set the benchmark himself and gave numerous ridiculous decisions akin to Morsy's so it was 100% a foul and we get done again.

We played so well yesterday and did little wrong, unlike last week at Brentford where we only had ourselves to blame.

[hallamblue]

Amen to this!!


https://www.instagram.com/reel

[AzzurroMark]

I watched the highlights on Town TV earlier and Two observations for me.

Conor Chaplin in the 10 role was superb[/quote]

AM wrote;
I was really impressed with his all round game and he can feel himself unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet. One attempt he took with his right, I feel had it have sat right to take on his left then he would most likely of scored. I feel he has fully merited a run in the team, so much so that maybe Omari will be played more on the right as a result?

......Morsy's so it was 100% a foul and we get done again.

AM wrote;
I still disagree with this, but that is by the by. I heard a lot of fans talking about the "2 fouls" in the run up to their equaliser. Having seen the MOTD highlights, I feel that Burns just wasn't strong enough and was brushed aside too easily. Am interested to know whether you saw that as a foul too? It's just interesting to see how others see incidents. I guess I try to flip each moment around and think would I have been screaming at the ref for stopping play if Morsy was the Leicester player. Personally if we'd got the equaliser in that exact manner I'd have had no problem with it.
For me, if Morsy had just hoofed it up the pitch for a throw or goal kick it would have allowed us more time to reset our shape.

[Andym]

..,the useless f**king ref set the benchmark himself and gave numerous ridiculous decisions akin to Morsy's so it was 100% a foul and we get done again.

I agree. I think he let too much go early on, and then you lose control. The game could have got out of hand, he was so weak. I don’t want the game stopped every 5 seconds, but these refs are professional on a very good wage and should do better.

I’ve seen another view of the penalty that wasn’t given. The linesman and ref are both in a really good position. How both of them and VAR didn’t pick up on it is beyond belief. If it’s given, even if we’re don’t score from the penalty, we still have 11 players on the pitch. And that really didn’t deserve a second yellow.

Meanwhile I’m waiting to see if McKenna gets in trouble for his post-match comments.

[Bluemike]

Yes ive seen a different angle, it gets more infuriating each time I see it, inexplicable for me, the guys on MOTD said stonewall and we have every right to feel aggrieved at the Red card too as Phillips was pulling out of the tackle. I just find it bizarre that the penalty didn't even go to review, how can that be ? I've not really calmed down much today such is the injustice of it all.

[Bluemike]

I watched the highlights on Town TV earlier and Two observations for me.

Conor Chaplin in the 10 role was superb[/quote]

I don't think the incident with Burns was a foul no, Morsy's was a foul for sure.

[RRanger]

I was pro VAR but now I agree it should be scrappedb(it won't be) but if we have to have it there is one change I'd like to see. At the moment you can't appeal a yellow card but I think it would be fair for VAR to get involved when the ( 2nd) yellow leads to a red card. Any thoughts on that.?

[hallamblue]

Yes ive seen a different angle, it gets more infuriating each time I see it, inexplicable for me, the guys on MOTD said stonewall and we have every right to feel aggrieved at the Red card too as Phillips was pulling out of the tackle. I just find it bizarre that the penalty didn't even go to review, how can that be ? I've not really calmed down much today such is the injustice of it all.

Same here. Pissed off doesn't come close to describing how I feel. It's the fact that despite all the analysis, VAR retrospective this that and the other, nothing will change and weve been robbed of 3 points against a relegation rival. Leicester for all their PL squad etc etc, did not impress me one bit.


Yer, never a penalty in a millionnyears was it.... utta tossa of a ref , linesman and VAR tossa


https://x.com/jordanraffaele_/status/18 ... 1059359086

I know one thing for sure, had that been a Town defender challenging a Leicester player that c ..of a ref would have given it straight away.

[Charnwood]

I’ve watched the key talking points over and over again and how the penalty wasn’t given by either the referee or linesman given their positioning or by VAR if they missed it was unbelievable and highlights the injustice handed out to the smaller clubs in the Premier League.

The red card to Kalvin Phillips was also harsh, firstly because had the penalty been given the ball wouldn’t have been in play, and secondly because he pulled out of the tackle to avoid getting second yellow. Compare his tackle with the flattening challenge on Chaplin, then it could easily have been Leicester down to ten men, conceding a penalty and 2-0 down. As Kieran eluded to in his post match interview , the referee chose to get involved in deciding the outcome of the game, or words to that effect.

As for Sam losing possession close to the half way line, I still don’t see that as a foul, if those were given a game would never flow. In my opinion Sam simply ran out of steam and got himself in a tangle. That said given his brilliant assist and close to MOTM performance all is forgiven. For me I think the Telegraph match reporter summed it up perfectly when he wrote;
With Leicester encamped around the Ipswich area, Morsy broke clear. He could have headed for the opposing corner flag or even tried a speculative 50-yard lob over backtracking visiting keeper Mads Hermansen. Instead, he dallied unsure on the halfway line and lost possession from which Leicester scored.

[Bluemike]

Mckenna seemed to think what Morsy did was correct, it was others bombing forward leaving gaps that caused the problem, his opinion. Regarding the foul on Morsy Andy, normally I would agree but the ref set the bar by what he was giving all game, that one was no different so it had to be a foul, consistency is all I ask for.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

I’ve watched the key talking points over and over again and how the penalty wasn’t given by either the referee or linesman given their positioning or by VAR if they missed it was unbelievable and highlights the injustice handed out to the smaller clubs in the Premier League.

The red card to Kalvin Phillips was also harsh, firstly because had the penalty been given the ball wouldn’t have been in play, and secondly because he pulled out of the tackle to avoid getting second yellow. Compare his tackle with the flattening challenge on Chaplin, then it could easily have been Leicester down to ten men, conceding a penalty and 2-0 down.

I absolutely agree with most of this - except the bit where you say it highlights the injustice handed out to the smaller clubs.
Firstly, Leicester are hardly one of the bigger clubs in the league.
More importantly, a scenario of corruption is being suggested in as much as Referees and VAR are cheating in order to favour the bigger clubs - I simply do not believe it.

[MasseyFerguson]

I absolutely agree with most of this - except the bit where you say it highlights the injustice handed out to the smaller clubs.
Firstly, Leicester are hardly one of the bigger clubs in the league.
More importantly, a scenario of corruption is being suggested in as much as Referees and VAR are cheating in order to favour the bigger clubs - I simply do not believe it.

I agree with all of this. I never thought I'd write those words about a post by you!

[Ricco]

They've been in the Premiership 9 of the last 10 years, while we've spent some of that time in League 1, they even won the Prem 9 years ago and the FA cup 3 years ago, they have a more expensive squad than us etc etc. I'm not talking about the longer history of the clubs or fanbases, but in recent years there is no comparison whatsoever, sorry

Do I think there's a big vendetta against Town, no most likely not, but I think it certainly slips in to the subconscious of referees and can wreak havoc. As we've seen, we only need it to cost one or two decisions a week and we're really up against it.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

They've been in the Premiership 9 of the last 10 years, while we've spent some of that time in League 1, they even won the Prem 9 years ago and the FA cup 3 years ago, they have a more expensive squad than us etc etc. I'm not talking about the longer history of the clubs or fanbases, but in recent years there is no comparison whatsoever, sorry

Do I think there's a big vendetta against Town, no most likely not, but I think it certainly slips in to the subconscious of referees and can wreak havoc. As we've seen, we only need it to cost one or two decisions a week and we're really up against it.

All true - but one of the bigger clubs in the PL? I don't think so.