Ipswich Town v Blackburn Rovers 
Saturday 18th October 2014 – 15:00
Portman Road
Opening Thought - Jamma
We've said over the last couple of previews how the expectation levels have shifted on the back of our superb run of form in September. We approached the trip to the City Ground – a venue where we have not enjoyed the best recent record – not merely hoping for a result but confident in our ability to secure one. After the 95 minutes or so, we were disappointed to have only got a draw for our endeavours. The timing of Forest's equaliser had a lot to do with this, of course, but to come away from the home of the unbeaten joint leaders with a point which could so easily have been three is another sign of the continued progress we are seeing at the Club.
The Blues may have slipped under the radar at the beginning of this revival, quietly picking up the points to see us climb the table. That certainly isn't the case now, though, as others are starting to sit up and take notice. This increased awareness of Ipswich Town has been reflected in Mick McCarthy and Tyrone Mings being named the Championship's Manager and Player of the Month respectively for September. I mentioned in my previous opening thoughts that the managerial award is considered something of a double-edged blade, and we will be hoping there is no hint of the 'curse' striking on our return to action after the international break. Mick will be as pragmatic as ever in his approach to the game against a strong but inconsistent Blackburn side, demanding the same levels of discipline and hard work that have served us so well. Town will be looking to extend an impressive home record, at what is fast becoming Fortress Portman Road again. Another 3 points and the Blue Army could well have to reset those expectations once more...!
The Opposition – Blackburn Rovers
The club was founded in 1875 and on On 28 September 1878, Blackburn Rovers became one of 23 clubs to form the Lancashire Football Association.
Blackburn was an early F.A. Cup winner when on 29 March 1884 with a 2–1 victory over the Scottish team Queen's Park and then repeated the feat over the next two seasons for 3 consecutive Cup wins. They won the trophy for a fourth & fifth time in 1890 & 1891 respectively.
Blackburn Rovers were founder members of the Football League in 1888.
Blackburn Rovers struggled during the early years of the 20th century, but the results began a gradual improvement. During the first three decades of the 20th century, Blackburn Rovers were still considered a top side in the English league. They were First Division champions in 1911–12 and 1913–14, and F.A Cup winners in 1927–28.
Blackburn Rovers maintained a respectable mid-table position in the First Division until they were finally relegated from the top flight (for the first time since the foundation of the league) in the 1935–36 season.
When the league resumed after the war, Blackburn Rovers were relegated in their second season (1947–48). The club remained in the second division for the following ten years. After promotion in 1958, they again returned to the mid-table position they had occupied in the earlier part of the century.
They were again relegated from the First Division in 1966 and began a 26-year exile from the top division.
During the 1970s, Blackburn Rovers bounced between the Second and Third Divisions, winning the Third Division title in 1975, but never mounted a challenge for promotion to the First Division despite the efforts of successive managers to put the club back on track.
Following the Jack Walker takeover Rovers finished 19th in the Second Division at the end of the 1990–91 season, and the new owner had made millions of pounds available to spend on new players and appointed Kenny Dalglish as manager in October 1991. Blackburn secured promotion to the new FA Premier League at the end of 1991–92 season as play-off winners, ending 26 years outside the top flight.
Rovers made headlines in the summer of 1992 by paying an English record fee of £3.5million for the 22-year-old Southampton and England centre forward Alan Shearer. After finishing fourth in 1992–93 and runners-up in 1993–94, they went on to win the Premier League title in 1994–95.
Kenny Dalglish moved upstairs to the position of Director of Football at the end of the Premier League winning season, and handed over the reins to his assistant Ray Harford. Blackburn Rovers made a poor start to the 1995–96 season, and found themselves in the bottom half for most of the first half of the season. A terrible start to the 1996–97 Premier League campaign saw Harford resign in late October with the club bottom of the division. Relegation looked a real possibility, just two seasons after winning the league. At the end of the 1998/99 season Blackburn were relegated back to Division One.
Jack Walker died just after the start of the 2000–01 season, and the club dedicated its promotion challenge in memory of their benefactor. Fittingly, they returned to the Premier League after a much improved season, finishing second behind Fulham.
In 2001–02, Blackburn won their first-ever League Cup by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
In November 2010 the Indian company V H Group bought Blackburn Rovers under the name of Venky's London Limited for £23 million. The new owners sacked manager Sam Allardyce and replaced him with first-team coach Steve Kean, initially on a temporary basis.
In December 2011 it was announced that Blackburn Rovers posted an annual pre-tax loss of £18.6m for the year ending 30 June 2011. Despite this the owners of Blackburn Rovers provided assurances over the continued funding of the club, even if they were relegated.
On 7 May 2012, the club was relegated to the Championship after being defeated at home by Wigan Athletic at home in the penultimate game of the season, ending 11 years of being in the English Premier League.
Last season Blackburn finshed in 8th place in the Championship one place ahead of us on the table.
One To Watch – Ben Marshall
For this week’s One to watch, I am going to focus on one of the players Tyrone Mings was up against in his successful bid for the September Player of the Month award, midfielder Ben Marshall.
It was something of a surprise when the former Manchester United schoolboy made the move to Ewood Park ahead of last season, following a successful run in the Leicester City side that would go on to win promotion. He had signed for the Foxes in January 2012 following various loan spells from parent club Stoke City and went on to become a regular at the King Power Stadium, making 40 league starts in his only full season. Marshall’s creativity on the left attracted the interest of Rovers, who signed him on a four-year contract last August.
The 23-year-old endured a frustrating first campaign in Lancashire as he picked up an ankle ligament injury at the turn of the year, keeping him out for the rest of the season. He looks to be making up for lost time at the start of this term, though, adding goals to his valuable assists as an ever-present so far in 2014/15. Marshall’s form in September, scoring 3 goals in two matches against Wigan and Derby, earnt him individual recognition and he will be keen to build on his recent performances as his team searches for the consistency to mount a challenge.
The Gaffer – Gary Bowyer
After playing non-League football for Westfields, Bowyer, a full back, signed for Football League team Hereford United on non-contract terms, making 14 appearances in the 1989–90 season. After the season ended, Bowyer moved to Nottingham Forest, but he never made a senior Football League appearance for them. Bowyer later signed for Rotherham United, making 38 appearances in the League over the next two seasons, before retiring due to injury.
After retiring as a player, Bowyer began his coaching career working part-time at Ilkeston, before being appointed as Under-17 coach at Derby County, where he spent six years as an academy coach. He then became Under 18's coach for Blackburn Rovers in 2004. He became Reserve Team manager in 2008, and in December 2012 he was appointed as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Henning Berg, steering them to a 3–1 victory over Barnsley in his first game in charge. It was later announced that Bowyer would remain in charge until the end of January.
Bowyer was re-appointed Caretaker Manager on 19 March 2013, following the sacking of Michael Appleton, until the end of the season. However, on 26 March 2013 Bowyer said he was unsure how long he would remain in the position, in case the club hired a new permanent manager, and on 8 April 2013 Bowyer was summoned to India for a meeting with the club's owners.
Bowyer was appointed the permanent manager of Blackburn on 24 May 2013, on a 12-month rolling contract.
In his first full season in charge the club finished 8th in the Championship, narrowly missing out on a play-off position.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
The same outcome on Saturday will do nicely ..........
Trev's Trivia
Players to play for both teams
Allan Hunter ITFC 1971-1982 BRFC 1969-1971
Gary Croft ITFC 1999–2002 BRFC 1996–1999
Shefki Kuqi ITFC 2003–2005 BRFC 2005–2006
Jordan Rhodes ITFC 2007–2009 BRFC 2012-present
Media Watch - K L Blue
Roy Keane's book is topical subject at the moment so this piece taken from the 'Lancashire Telegraph' considering who our opponent is on Saturday seems quite fitting.
Roy Keane admits to mistake over Blackburn Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes
First published Sunday 12 October 2014 in Football .
Roy Keane accepts the criticism that has come his way after selling Blackburn Rovers star Jordan Rhodes when the pair worked together at Ipswich Town.
Keane was boss of the Tractor Boys when he sold Rhodes, then 19, to Huddersfield for £350,000 in July 2009.
The Scotland international went on to score 87 in 148 appearances for the Terriers before signing for Rovers for £8m in August 2012.
Rhodes, now 24, has netted 57 goals in 107 games since his club record move to Ewood Park.
Keane, in his new book The Second Half, said: “I still get criticised for selling Jordan, and I have to accept that.
“But it was also a club decision. We sold him to Huddersfield, down a division, for (an initial) £350,000, and he started scoring loads of goals.
“I think I was the one who suggested a sell-on clause, and thank God we had it because they sold him to Blackburn for £8million.
“The mistake myself and the staff made with Jordan was, we discussed what he couldn’t do rather than what he could do.”
Rhodes, who will return to Ipswich on Saturday week when Rovers resume their Championship programme, last season admitted Keane’s decision to sell him has left him with a point to prove.
He said: “Absolutely, you want to prove one or two people wrong with a couple of decisions that have been made previously in your career.”
Stat Time
Head to Head
Ipswich Town Wins................15 (35.71%)
Blackburn Wins....................12 (28.57%)
Draws................................15 (35.71%)
Ipswich Town Goals...............50 (ave. 1.19)
Blackburn Goals...................51 (ave. 1.21)
Head To Head At Ipswich
Ipswich Town Wins.................10 (47.62%)
Blackburn Wins.....................2 (9.52%)
Draws.................................9 (42.86%)
Ipswich Town Goals................31 (ave. 1.48)
Blackburn Goals....................21 (ave. 1.00)[/color]
The Predicted Teams
Ipswich Town
Based on the thought that Murphy and Williams maybe unavailable this week
01 Gerken
02 Parr
04 Chambers
06 Berra
03 Mings
19 Hyam
08 Skuse
18 Tabb
11 Anderson
10 McGoldrick
32 Sammon
Blackburn
30 Steele
12 Marshall
05 Hanley
22 Duffy
14 Olsson
32 Conway
10 Cairney
07 King
17 Williamson
25 Tunnicliffe
11 Rhodes
Marko's Caption Contest
Some very funny entries this week with the Grant Holt picture.
Floors wins it though with:
"youre right fatboy, we have still won 3 things better than you"
Equal 3rd goes to Bluemike and The Don, both similar but very funny. 2 points each.
Blueblood holds top spot for two weeks in a row.
Floors 4 pts
Frosty 3 pts
Bluemike/Don 2pts.
Table:
1. Blueblood....., 9
2. FrostyNZ......, 8
3. Bluemike......, 7
3. Herforder....., 7
4. Quasar........, 5
5. Floors........., 4
5. Mr Punch...., 4
5. Jamma......., 4
6. James........, 2
6. LnP............, 2
6. Morph........, 2
6. The Don....., 2
7. Derick........, 1
7. Andy M......, 1
Have a go at this one......,
Match Referee – James Adcock
Final Thought - Frosty
One gets the feeling that this ‘International Window’ has done us no favours whatsoever. Will it affect our momentum which was seen throughout September? And equally has it left us with the issue that a key player in Murphy and another player we hold in high regard in Williams maybe out with injuries suffered whilst with their respective national sides.
Regardless of the above I think most of us are starting to feel a lot of confidence with the way that Mick is getting this side to gel (I have been dying to use that word all season
) and Blackburn are a side that if we play with commitment in front of our own crowd we can put away.It’s great looking at the league table at present but I also notice that only 6 points separate 1st place from 14th place after 11 games which I suspect is the ‘tightest’ table in years. Therefore I think we can expect a bit of a roller coaster ride for some time to come. Looking at our nearest competitors on the table, no-one has an ‘easy’ draw this week if there is such a thing in the ‘Championship’.
Great to see Mings and McCarthy recognised for their efforts during September, although huge credit must go to the entire squad who only conceded two goals over the 5 matches played over the month.
Even if its ‘ugly’ let’s hope we get a result on Saturday as I think it will set us up nicely for the remaining fixtures in October.
Have a great day out if you are attending on Saturday.
IPSWICH TOWN 2 BLACKBURN ROVERS 1
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