Rotherham United vs Ipswich Town Match Preview

[superchef]

Bournemouth, Derby, Middlesborough winning! Sorry, but we should be gaining 3 points not losing them of late!

[alants32]

Come on Town. Bournemouth have scored, Derby have scored. We have to win this.

[lucy]

Bournemouth Winning, Derby Winning, Norwich Winning, Middlesbrough drawing. Other results not going our way

[larrylamb]

Sorry to say i can only see this current slump taking a firm grip and us sliding out of the top 6 , nothing i have seen over the last 5 games has given me a view otherwise , MM seems unable or unwilling to change his team / formation...Bishop on the bench and arguably our most creative MF player...Parr on the bench despite being able to get forward , i honestly feel ht e team ( to their credit) overachieved and instead of consolidating on this decent chance we seem to be wasting it with in my humble opinion a non flexible team selection and no real impact as far as the January window..hunt was already here as such..so Sears in , and he may be a good buy but will hardly change our dynamic overall , and as for Paddy Kenny..a make weight while Gerks injured.

In summery i really fear for our season at present and feel it will just fizzle out to nothing

[herforder]

Important 45 mins coming up. We need to up the momentum, get closer to their midfield and play with some belief. We appear to have reverted to the one-dimensional, highly predictable, style of play seen a lot last season. Play to win, not to avoid defeat. COYB!

As a minimum, get Anderson off and Bishop on.

[James Scharmann]

Sears and Bishop on for Tabb and Anderson

[ipswichtownNo1]

Bournemouth, Derby, Middlesborough winning! Sorry, but we should be gaining 3 points not losing them of late!

Agreed . Thought this way since derby game. All games since have been ours to win but lost to low placed teams. Other teams in top six seem to be winning majority of those fixtures. Blue tinted spec fans have shot down any talk of slump and said its just a blip. Sorry but its more than a blip. Seems to me MM is doing worse with a bigger squad. Maybe a few mew faces have upset the balance??

[lucy]

Middlesbrough back to winning 2-1 Derby 3-1

[ipswichtownNo1]

Middlesbrough back to winning 2-1 Derby 3-1

Bournmouth now 3- 0 up against "banana skin" wigan. Says loads

[James Scharmann]

He had to score Sammon if only he was sitting on our bench

[Quasar]

i am uber pissed off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


2-0 down

[superchef]

Premiership! My "as*" We are officially crap

[alants32]

This is a real wake up call- everyone else winning. This is where Mick has to earn his money. Is he the genius we think he is? - or not!

[ipswichtownNo1]

He had to score Sammon if only he was sitting on our bench

Nah, he was and still is pony

[larrylamb]

Down to 5th now..!!..and we have a horrible March on it,s way..!!

[lucy]

And there was me thinking Rotherham and Sheff Weds would be 6 points in the bag

[alants32]

Radio Suffolk have been talking about the match on Tuesday against Sheffield Wednesday for about half an hour now. If they've given up on Town already I think it's all over!

[ipswichtownNo1]

Roth. 8 shots 4 on target, ipsw. 17 shots 6 on target. Maybe playing well just not our day?

[ipswichtownNo1]

Very quiet on here

[lucy]

Brentford also won today which is a right pain in the behind.

[number 9]

I think teams have just figured out how to play against us. We're not a very dimensional team and tactically we're a little predictable. I really believe we should have done a better job in the transfer window because the teams above us appear to be flying! It'll be an up hill battle now I'm afraid...be lucky to make the playoffs.

[marko69]

Jaysus H. Other results couldn't have worked out any worse for ITFC today. That'll no doubt make the fans a bit more furious with the result. Very much interested in hearing Mick's views on the game.

[lucy]

Jaysus H. Other results couldn't have worked out any worse for ITFC today. That'll no doubt make the fans a bit more furious with the result. Very much interested in hearing Mick's views on the game.

http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news ... -defending

There you go Marko

[marko69]

Thanks Lucy.

Sounds like Mick can't be blamed for anything here. Obviously some attending fans views will help, but maybe it's just been two c*ck ups in defence, and some glaring chances missed. Which of course, on the field of play, isn't the managers fault. Substitutions looked like the correct ones, I may be wrong.

Let's hear it, Mike, Hallam, Charnwood..........

[Dazzz67]

Not over yet but ffs boys, losing to Rotherham, really should be doing better, makes you wonder sometimes what is going on.

Like most of you really annoyed but choosing my words wisely, rate we are going be lucky to stay in playoff position.

Bit more effort lads and sort it out Mr M and Big T.

[Charnwood]

Not wishing to be negative but;

Just arrived home from Rotherham and in short, that was shocking.

We could and should have been 1-0 up inside the first minute when Murphy "powder puffed" his shot in what looked from the other end to be within the six yard box, it was an opportunity which should have busted the back of the net instead of being completely fluffed, Murph also missed another opportunity soon after.

From the outset we played tippy tappy football going backwards and sidewards with short passes until in most cases we either gave the ball away or got caught in possession, and only rarely did we hit the ball cleanly of powerfully from any area around the box.

When the opener did come it was a result of a serious lapse of concentration by the defence who failed miserably to defend a free kick which was headed back across the six yard line yo Derbyshire who's diving header went in from close range.

From then on there only really looked to be one winner and it wasn't going to be Ipswich. Don't get me wrong Rotherham weren't anything special but they just looked to have the edge and played with far more pace and purpose.

We may have had a few shots on target but most were hit with no power whatsoever and some of our shots were so weak they would have struggled to reach the goal line.

After a shocking first half which must have been one of our poorest this season, the second half started much brighter especially after 7mins when MM did a double substitution, bringing on Freddie Sears and Teddy Bishop who between them brought our game to life and started to create opportunities. However this was short lived when we went two down on 65 mins following some dire defending of a corner which fell kindly to Conor Sammon who drilled the ball powerfully into the back of the net.

From there on in Town never really looked like getting back into the game and appeared to have all but given up, there were a couple of half chances but I think most of were resigned to the fact that we'd be going home with nowt.

That's one win only in the last six league games and surely even for the Blue Tinted Specs Brigade surely the alarm bells must be ringing, cos based on today's performace we can even forget the play offs.

If we really are planning to stay in contention MM definitely needs to shake things up a bit, maybe play Parr at RB and choose his best two central defenders, he needs Bishop on from the start and probably Sears or Hunt instead of McGoldrick. Today's performance should also confirm the fact that we definitely needs a couple of reinforcements to increase the options which currently look quite limited.

I've not completely given up hope yet, but we certainly need to win on Tuesday night if my faith is going to be restored.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

Where am I going to f***ing start? Sorry for swearing but really annoyed with what I've seen today.
By far the worst I've seen this season. Worse than Norwich at home or both Birmingham and Reading away.
Yes things might have been different if Murphy had scored one v one after 20 seconds but we ought to have produced far better display. The only decent period we had was from the beginning of 2nd half until Sammon scored for them.
Changes are IMPERATIVE on Tuesday. Anderson HAS TO BE dropped. He was shocking today. Skuse very poor too but Mick won't drop him. McGoldrick without a doubt a shadow of player from last season.
Mick PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE !!! Drop Smith and move Chambers into the middle as latter doesn't offer a pace. Parr and Mings as full-backs would give us that.
There is nothing positive to report. Honestly nothing. No Town player stood out.
For some reason Mick and Evans decided against bolstering our squad last month (bar Sears whereas our neighbours in top 6 did otherwise) so some loan is necessary. Someone like Williams. Really worried that our season is slipping away but things can change quickly in this league. Sheffield Wed game is an absolute must win to get the confidence back.
Rotherham were poor too and they lacked quality throughout. That ilk of opponent has beaten us today and that makes me really downbeat.
The best thing from today? Social aspect of the day in the Bridge Inn pub. Loads of Town fans, nice chat with them. Away days there is nothing better than this !!!!
Mick please make some changes on Tuesday !!!!

[Bluemike]

Just home from what can only be described as a terrible day out and awful performance, not quite sure where to start if I am honest. After last weeks draw with Wigan I was disappointed but not overly worried, today however i am concerned that this poor spell could, if we allow it, develop into something serious which completely undoes all the good work up to Christmas.

We should really have been one up inside 30 seconds but Murphy for once fluffed it, unfortunately that was as good as the first half got, our confidence looks shot and the belief just isnt there anymore, we have lost the swagger that we had and we are looking so predictable and fragile again, once again we have started the long ball hoofing up field again, I suspect this comes from the fact the confidence is so brittle all of a sudden. We just looked unable to string two passes together. The defending for the opening goal was poor and this would not have happened a month or so ago.

It was pretty clear to everyone at half time what changes were needed and thankfully we got them very early in the half and for a time it did the trick, Sears and Bishop made a difference and suddenly we looked like we could turn the game around, Chambers forced a cracking save from the keeper and Murphy had one cleared off the line, unfortunately we were to rue those chances as Rotherham secured the win with the second goal after another spell of poor defending. Once that had gone in we huffed and puffed our way through the final twenty minutes or so but never looked like getting anything from it.

We will all have our own ideas on what is going wrong and while I still believe we are at least good enough for a play off spot it is abundantly clear that changes have to be made, we need to shake it up. For me Anderson is plain bloody awful and has to go, Parr has to come in to the RB slot with Chambers replacing the dreadful Smith at CB and McGoldrick MUST be dropped, he has lost it big time and is not interested. Tuesday night needs to see a 4-3-3 formation with Sears & Bishop in from the off, I liked the look of those Two when they came on, the game against Sheff Wed really is a must win now, at present we need to forget about top Two and consolidate ourselves in the top Six, if we can stop this poor run it still can be turned around. Some will say that our hopes are now over and we have blown it but I don't believe that at all, however we have to get back to what we were doing before, some of our better players have lost form, Berra was a bit better today but Mings, Chambers, Skuse and McGoldrick have to step it up, assuming they are picked.

Three points is a must on Tuesday and someone needs to step up to the plate and support Murphy in the attacking third, once again it was only he who really produced any kind of theat to the Rotherham goal, MM has to change it, failure to do so could well be very costly, a few players are starting to look comfortable in the side and are not earning the shirt. Lets not forget we are still Fifth and have everything to fight for, a win Tuesday stops the slump and with Four of the big boys in the top Six up against each other points will be dropped.

[lucy]

Here's hoping we can do the business Tuesday and bag the 3 points.

[arana peligrosa]

I don't know how many more opportunities we are going to waste but somebody, somewhere, needs to get their act together - quick

It was only four or five weeks back that we were enjoying fine play and entertaining games and results of merit and now I don't know what the f*ck is going on. Was in the automatic promtion places with glory ahead and the way this is headed we'll be fortunate to grab a play-off berth by end of season.

I don't take this opportunity to berate McCarthy for this rapid decline, It's perhaps more a matter of we aren't taking chances presented and morale is low. After each previous game you say 'next time it will be better' and lo and behold, it doesn't get any better.

I think the biggest concern is we had something really precious for a time by way of being in the top two positions and realistically I can't see us ever being in those places again this season. Other promotion chasing teams continue to twist the knife by winning their respective games as we fall further away. Ok Rotherham are no great team but I was expecting something a little better from the journey today. It's going to be a real shame if by end of season we will have pissed away what was a real opportunity to achieve something but (as always) we can only focus on the next game ahead and believe next time will provide a better experience.

I (also) believed for a time a few short weeks back that this was the best squad assembled at Portman Road in 10 years but at least back then I can remember Royle's team being a little more consistent.