Ipswich Town v Charlton Athletic
Tuesday 30th December 2014 – 19:45
Portman Road
Opening Thought – Jamma
Ipswich Town’s festive period so far has been like the season as a whole: just as you thought things couldn’t get any better, the Superblues have again come up with the goods, with Boxing Day’s 4-2 demolition of Brentford a very welcome late Christmas present! To be top of the table (albeit for a mere two hours) was the icing on the cake, and a fitting reward for a team that seems to be going from strength to strength with each new challenge that is thrown at them. In the last few weeks, we have taken on four of the other sides currently occupying the top 6, with an admirable 2-2 draw at league leaders Bournemouth the only ‘blot’ on an otherwise perfect record. On Friday, we got off to the best possible start, with a goal inside the first 20 seconds setting us on our way to a comprehensive victory. Such is the confidence running through the team at the moment, it was effectively game, set and match once the third goal went in after half an hour, with Town looking more likely to extend their lead than let the opposition back into it. Tommy Smith was even able to take time out of his sterling defensive work to convert the fourth with a turn and finish that a certain Daryl Murphy would have been proud of!
The flip side of this verve that we are currently playing with is the risk of complacency setting in. The longer our unbeaten run goes on – now at 10 games – and the more in-form rivals we dispatch, the greater the chance, if only statistically, of being knocked back by an unexpected defeat. In a league as competitive as the Championship, it is inevitable that we will suffer a downturn in form at some point. However, we couldn’t ask for a better manager than Mick McCarthy for keeping some perspective when this sticky patch does come along. He has been the first to point out that, as nice as it is to be occupying the automatic promotion places, it will count for nothing if we aren’t still in those top 2 come the beginning of May. The players will need no reminding of the threat posed by our next opponents, Charlton, having only come up against them a month ago. Coming hot on the heels of that hard-earnt point at Bournemouth, the trip to The Valley was the epitome of what McCarthy’s team has been about this season: a resolute defensive line backed up by an industrious midfield and capped off by a piece of quality in the final third. All of this is encapsulated by Noel Hunt’s memorable 95th-minute winner, a repeat performance of which on Tuesday night would go down very nicely indeed...!
The Opposition – Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C. were formed on 9 June 1905 by a group of 15- to 17-year-old boys near to the present-day site of the Thames Barrier.
Charlton spent the years before the First World War playing in local leagues. After the war, they joined the Kent League for one season (1919–20) before becoming professional. They were accepted by the Southern League and played just a single season (1920–21) before being voted into the Football League.
In 1923 it was proposed that Charlton merge with Catford Southend to create a larger team with bigger support, however, the move fell through and the Addicks returned to the Charlton area in 1924.
Charlton finished second bottom in the Football League in 1926 and were forced to apply for re-election which was successful.
Three years later the Addicks won the Division Three championship in 1929 and they remained at the Division Two level for four years.
After relegation into the Third Division south at the end of the 1932/33 season the club appointed Jimmy Seed as manager and he oversaw the most successful period in Charlton's history either side of the Second World War.
Seed, an ex-miner who had made a career as a footballer despite suffering the effects of poison gas in the First World War, remains the most successful manager in Charlton's history. The organisation Seed brought to the team proved effective and the Addicks gained successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division between 1934 and 1936.
In 1937, Charlton finished runners up in the First Division, in 1938 finished fourth and 1939 finished third.They were the most consistent team in the top flight of English football over the three seasons immediately before the Second World War.
Charlton reached the 1946 FA Cup Final, but lost to Derby County.
When the full league programme resumed in 1946–47 Charlton could finish only 19th in the First Division, just above the relegation spots, but they made amends with their performance in the FA Cup, winning the 1947 FA Cup Final.
In this period of renewed football attendances, Charlton became one of only thirteen English football teams to average over 40,000 as their attendance during a full season. The Valley was the largest football ground in the League, drawing crowds in excess of 70,000. However, in the 1950s little investment was made either for players or to The Valley, hampering the club's growth. In 1956, the then board undermined Jimmy Seed and then sacked him, and Charlton were relegated.
From the late 1950s until the early 1970s, Charlton remained a mainstay of the Second Division before relegation to the Third Division in 1972 which caused the team's support to drop, and even a promotion in 1975 back to the second division did little to re-invigorate the team's support and finances.
In 1979–80 Charlton were relegated again to the Third Division, but won immediate promotion back to the Second Division in 1980–81.Even though it did not feel like it, this was a turning point in the club's history leading to a period of turbulence and change including further promotion and exile. A change in management and shortly after a change in club ownership led to severe problems and the club looked like it would go out of business.
In 1984 financial matters came to a head and the club went into administration, to be reformed as Charlton Athletic (1984) Ltd. But the club's finances were still far from secure, and they were forced to leave the Valley just after the start of the 1985–86 season, in the wake of the Bradford City stadium fire after its safety was criticised by Football League officials. The club began to groundshare with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Despite the move away from the Valley, Charlton were promoted to the First Division as Second Division runners-up at the end of 1985–86, and remained at this level for four years (achieving a highest league finish of 14th). Eventually, Charlton were relegated in 1990 however Manager Lennie Lawrence remained in charge for one more season before he accepted an offer to take charge of Middlesbrough. He was replaced by joint player-managers Alan Curbishley and Steve Gritt who started to achieve results, however, the club was forced to sell players to help pay for a return to The Valley, which eventually happened in December 1992.
In 1995, new chairman Richard Murray appointed Alan Curbishley as manager of Charlton. Under his sole leadership Charlton made an appearance in the playoffs in 1996 and the following season brought a disappointing 15th place finish. In 1997–98 Charlton's they reached the Division One playoff final against Sunderland which they won on penalties and were promoted to the Premier League.
Charlton's first Premier League campaign began promisingly but they were unable to keep up their good form and were relegated back to Division One on the final day of the season. The club's board kept faith in Curbishley, and were rewarded with the Division One title in 2000 which signalled a return to the Premier League.
After the club's return, Curbishley proved an astute spender and by 2003 he had succeeded in establishing Charlton in the top flight. Charlton failed to build on this level of achievement and Curbishley departed in 2006, with the club still established as a solid mid-table side.
In May 2006, Iain Dowie was named as Curbishley's successor, but was sacked after twelve league matches in November 2006. Les Reed replaced Dowie as manager, however he too failed to improve Charlton's position in the league table and on Christmas Eve 2006, Reed was replaced by former player Alan Pardew. Although results did improve, Pardew was unable to keep Charlton up and relegation was confirmed in the penultimate match of the season.
Charlton's return to the second tier of English football was a disappointment, with their promotion campaign tailing off to an 11th place finish.
On 22 November 2008 Charlton suffered a loss to Sheffield United at home, which meant that the club had gone eight successive games without a win and had slipped into the relegation zone—particularly disastrous considering they were among the pre-season favourites for promotion. Hours after the game, Alan Pardew left Charlton by mutual consent.
Matters did not improve under caretaker manager Phil Parkinson, Charlton's were relegated to League One.
After spending almost the entire 2009/2010 season in the top six of League One, Charlton were defeated in the Football League One play-offs.
At that time, Charlton went through a change in ownership. The new owners decided to remove both Parkinson and Charlton legend Mark Kinsella after a poor run of results and another Charlton legend, Chris Powell was appointed manager of the club in January 2011.
In a busy summer, Powell brought in 19 new players and after a successful season, on 14 April 2012, Charlton Athletic won promotion back to the Championship.
In the first season back to the Championship since the 2008–09 season, the 2012–13 season of the Championship saw Charlton finish ninth place with 65 points, just three points outside of the play-off places to the Premier League.
In early January 2014 during the 2013–14 season, Belgian businessman, Roland Duchâtelet took over Charlton Athletic football club. On 11 March 2014 , two days after a disappointing FA Cup quarter-final loss to Sheffield United, and with Charlton sitting bottom of the table, Chris Powell was sacked by Duchâtelet.
New manager, Jose Riga, despite having to join Charlton late into the season, was able to help Charlton survive relegation and the club ended the season in 18th position. Riga resigned at the end of the season to take charge of Blackpool which saw Bob Peeters taking over the managers role.
One To Watch – Jordan Cousins
In the midst of Charlton’s summer influx of signings in the attacking positions, one player to have retained his place from last season is exciting midfield talent Jordan Cousins.
The 20-year-old hails from Greenwich and came through the ranks at The Valley, having been with the club since his days with the U13s. He enjoyed something of a breakthrough season last campaign, featuring in 43 league games after only making his First Team debut in August. Cousins marked this first appearance, against Barnsley, with a goal and hasn’t looked back since. The versatile attacker, who is most effective playing just behind the striker, drew the plaudits for his pace and creativity and was named the Addicks’ Young Player of the Year. In a highly successful personal campaign, Cousins went on to be called up to the England U20s squad for the prestigious Toulon tournament in the summer, again scoring on his debut, this time against Qatar. He has been an ever-present so far in 2014/15 and has already attracted admirers from the Premier League. As demonstrated in the below video – of Charlton’s winning Goal of the Month entry for August – the pacy frontman has the ability to unlock defences at this level if given the chance.
The Gaffer – Bob Peeters
Bob Peeters was born in Belgium and he started his professional career for Lierse S.K. in the 1992-1993 season.
After five years he moved to Dutch club Roda JC, who sold him in 2000 to Vitesse Arnhem. Three years later Peeters was transferred to Millwall F.C.
In 2005 he moved back to Belgium, playing for K.R.C. Genk (2005–2006) and Lierse S.K. (2006–2008).
He was a very tall striker who played 360 matches overall for the above clubs, scoring 97 goals.
During the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, during which he was injured, he was a journalist who interviewed people for television.
He participated in the World Cup 2002 qualifying campaign but did not make the final squad for Korea - Japan.
His first Management appoint was with Cercle Brugge and one week after he was released in October 2012 he took over the reigns at Gent, but was fired in January 2013.
His next appointment came at Waasland-Beveren before he joined Charlton on the 27th May 2014.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Trev's Trivia
Players to play for both teams
Matt Holland ITFC 1997-2003 Charlton 2003-2009
Darren Bent ITFC 2001-2005 Charlton 2005-2007
Hermann Hreiðarsson ITFC 2000-2003 Charlton 2003-2007
Media Watch - K L Blue
An interesting piece from the EADT
Mick McCarthy glad he’s won over the hearts and minds of Ipswich Town supporters
In just two years, the Blues boss has slowly but surely transformed the club from staring at relegation to League One into one with a very real shot at promotion to the Premier League.
More than a decade of false dawns and disappointments in this division had prevented supporters getting too carried away. Now a run of just one defeat in 17 has convinced the vast majority that there is real substance to this revolution.
With a pragmatic and honest manager forging a hard-working side to be proud of, the fans are flocking back to Portman Road.
Half season tickets are selling like hot cakes, while a crowd of more than 20,000 is expected for the third successive league game today. The last time that happened was in 2008.
“It’s lovely, it really is – it’s fantastic,” said McCarthy. “I detected at one stage, when we were doing okay, that some were thinking ‘I’m not so sure’. I guess it’s that bit of trust that you have to gain.
“The fans don’t want to come back after you’ve just had a couple of good results and see you lose. I think Leeds (recent 4-1 win coming off the back of home successes against Wolves and Watford) was a really big game for that.
“We’ve been there, in and around the top six, for long enough now that I think they can believe that we might actually stay there.
“That’s great. We’ve now got to keep getting the results to ensure they keep coming back.”
On opponents Middlesbrough, Spanish boss Aitor Karanka now into his second season in charge, McCarthy said: “I found it interesting reading some of Aitor Karanka’s comments about playing against different styles. I think he has adapted to English football.
“When he first came here they’d just got slapped by us (3-1 at Portman Road), but they were ready for us when we went back up there (winning 2-0).
“They’ve changed the way they play, they’ve adapted to the league and I think that’s to his credit. He’s not come in and just thought ‘I’ve got a certain way of playing’ and ‘this is how we do it in my country’. I admire him for that.
“He’s actually far more pragmatic than that and they are actually more like us than some of the other teams.
“They’re good defensively, but they’re strong up front as well. They work hard and they’re hard to beat. They’re a really efficient Championship team.”
Asked whether the next four games could be season-defining for his side, the Blues boss said: “Our next four games will have a real bearing on where we’ll be by the end of next month. As regards the end of the season I have no idea. As has been proved by a lot of teams you can have a relatively bad month, then a good one.
“They are important games, of course they are. Let’s just focus on the next one, see if we can win that and go from there.
“If we can hit the top of the league before Christmas it would be great.”
Stat Time
Head To Head
Ipswich Town Wins................19 (40.43%)
Charlton Wins......................18 (38.30%)
Draws................................10 (21.28%)
Ipswich Town Goals...............66 (ave. 1.40 per match)
Charlton Goals.....................73 (ave. 1.55 per match)
Head To Head At Ipswich
Ipswich Town Wins.................10 (43.48%)
Charlton Wins.......................6 (26.09%)
Draws.................................7 (30.43%)
Ipswich Town Goals................38 (ave. 1.65 per match)
Charlton Goals......................34 (ave. 1.48 per match)
I have never understood why Charlton is known as the 'Addicts' ................................
The Predicted Teams
Ipswich Town
I wonder whether Parr will get another start with Mings given further rest from his infected toe, perhaps returning for the FA Cup fixture?
33 Bialkowski
04 Chambers
05 Smith
06 Berra
02 Parr
08 Skuse
11 Anderson
18 Tabb
27 Bishop
10 McGoldrick
09 Murphy
Charlton
44 Etheridge
20 Solly
26 Ben Haim
06 Bikey Amougou
03 Gomez
07 Berg Gudmundsson
17 Buyens
04 Jackson
08 Bulot
24 Cousins
29 Tucudean
Match Referee – Chris Kavanagh
Final Thought - Frosty
Funny old thing the ‘League’ draw as we come up against a side we played only a month ago.
Obviously we have had a great month since that fixture when we narrowly came away with 3 points, however things haven’t been quite so happy at the ‘Valley’. Including the match against us, Charlton have drawn 3 and lost 2, and in fact haven’t won a game since beating Reading back on the 8th November. This must be a concern for their fans who in the early part of this season must have been happy with the way the Addicks were performing in and around the top six until this recent wane in form.
Looking at our nearest rivals this week, no great clash of the titans in these matchups, however, Brentfords trip to Wolves will be no easy fixture to bounce back on. In other matches, Watford make the trip to Wales, Derby host dysfunctional Leeds, Rovers meet Boro and Millwall roll out the welcome mat to Bournemouth. Quite conceivably there may not be any great changes to the leader board after the Round 24 fixtures are completed.
Just out of interest I thought would look back on where we were at the same time of the season last year after 23 fixtures had been played.
2013/14 : Won 9, Drawn 8, Lost 6, 35 goals for/26 against, 35 points, 6th Place in the Championship
2014/15 : Won 12, Drawn 8, Lost 3, 38 goals for/22 against, 44 points, 2nd Place in the Championship
Looking ahead, including this fixture, a tough week or two beckons, after Charlton we have a break from Championship Football with a simple little FA Cup assignment against the 4th place Premiership side on the South Coast followed by a visit from one of this seasons form sides in Derby at which point we get a slight breather in a visit to the Lions Den against relegation threatened Millwall.
A big thank you to James (Jamma123) this week as he used some of his holiday time to do his 'thoughts' and 'one to watch' so this weeks Preview could happen promptly, its certainly appreciated by the entire Admin Team.
To everyone on here, have a Happy and successful New Year, and if you believe in making ‘wishes’ on New Years Eve …… choose the bloody obvious one please.
IPSWICH TOWN 2 CHARLTON ATHLETIC 0
