Here you can chat about everything and anything related to ITFC and other football issues. This forum also hosts the now Internationally famous TB.com ITFC match previews which contain insightful pre-match thoughts, previous highlights, news links relating to Town, form guides and other bits and pieces. Feel free to discuss meet ups/travel plans in here as well.
After last Friday’s referee-assisted defeat to Reading, we were all feeling a bit sorry for ourselves. Players and supporters alike were frustrated to see a much improved second-half performance count for nothing, while Mick readily admitted that he had spent the weekend ‘in a murderous rage’. But if there’s one thing you can be sure about with a Mick McCarthy team, it’s that it will bounce back. Ever since he arrived at the club the best part of four years ago, the Blues seem to have gained strength from adversity. After being ‘slapped’ 5-0 by Crystal Palace in just McCarthy’s second game in charge, we claimed a 2-1 win over Burnley four days later. More recently, we followed up another setback at the Madejski this time last year with a valiant 1-0 victory at Elland Road. Granted, the circumstances were slightly different this time around, but Town again showed their resilience to come away from Pride Park with a very satisfying 3 points. We had all been appealing for the luck which had so deserted us, and we certainly helped ourselves to a large slice on Tuesday evening. The Rams made all the running, and forced two last-ditch blocks inside the first 15 minutes, first Adam Webster and then Luke Chambers preventing a seemingly inevitable opening goal. Realising that he needed to shake things up at half time, Mick brought on Tom Lawrence for his debut and Luke Varney to help an increasingly isolated Brett Pitman up front. The move paid off almost instantly, as Varney picked up the ball in the middle of the Derby half before driving forward and sending a powerful long-range shot into the net via Scott Carson’s glove. If the gods were smiling down on Ipswich at this point, they were positively beaming as Darren Bent contrived to blast over with a gilt-edged chance. There was still time for one more heart-in-mouth moment for the Blue Army to endure, with Bartosz Bialkowski denying Nick Blackman on the line, before the final whistle signalled a very different feeling from Friday night.
Speaking to a Newcastle supporter while up in the North-East over the weekend, I was interested to hear his thoughts about Mick McCarthy. He said ‘You won’t get anywhere while that manager of yours is in charge – he doesn’t play any football’. Resisting the temptation to point out that not all second-tier teams can afford to entice former Champions League-winning coaches with multi-million pound contracts, I responded with something suitably tactful. Mick is the first to admit that we aren’t always the easiest on the eye. His comments on Tuesday night echoed his sentiments from the Brentford match, and reiterate that he is fully aware of the discontent in some quarters about his perceived ‘substance over style’ approach. For me, the priority is winning games and, once we are doing that on a regular basis, we can start thinking about refining our style. The stats may have had Derby with 60% possession, and 24 shots to our 5, but the Blues held firm, got their blocks and tackles in and battled their way to the 3 points. It was the perfect illustration that, regardless of the money spent to assemble the two squads, a game of football comes down to the 90 minutes, and there is no team in the Championship better than Ipswich at playing to their strengths. This is something we will have to take into our next match, against another of the league’s big spenders, Aston Villa, who have had a mixed start on their return to this level. The team selection could present some difficult decisions, not least if Tommy Smith and Freddie Sears are fit, and it will be interesting to see if the Pitman/Varney partnership gets a chance from the start. We saw just how crucial the crowd can be in the derby, when it really did seem to act as a twelfth man. If we can generate a similarly hostile atmosphere against Villa, who will bring a big following of their own, we could be chalking up another big-name scalp.
The Opposition
Aston Villa Football Club were formed in March 1874, by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth, which is now part of Birmingham.
Aston Villa's first match was against the local Aston Brook St Mary's Rugby team. As a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under rugby rules and the second half under football rules.
After moving to the Wellington Road ground in 1876, Villa soon established themselves as one of the best teams in the Midlands, winning their first honour, the Birmingham Senior Cup, in 1880.
The club won their first FA Cup in 1887.
Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888, with one of the club's directors, William McGregor, being the league's founder. Aston Villa emerged as the most successful English club of the Victorian era, winning no fewer than five league titles and three FA Cups by the end of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1897, the year Villa won the double, they moved into their present home, the Aston Lower Grounds.
Aston Villa won their sixth FA Cup in 1920. Soon after, though, the club began a slow decline that led to Villa, at the time one of the most famous and successful clubs in world football, being relegated to the Second Division for the first time in 1936.
Like all English clubs, Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War, and that conflict brought several careers to a premature end.
Aston Villa's first trophy for 37 years came in the 1956–57, season when they won a then record seventh FA Cup.
The team struggled in the league, though, and were relegated two seasons later, due in large part to complacency. However, Villa returned to the top-flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions. The following season, Aston Villa became the first team to win the Football League Cup.
Villa were relegated for the third time in 1967.
The following season, the fans called for the board to resign, as Villa finished 16th in the Second Division. With mounting debts and Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, and after much speculation, control of the club was bought by London financier Pat Matthews. However, new ownership could not prevent Villa from being relegated to the Third Division for the first time at the end of the 1969–70 season.
However, Villa gradually began to recover and in the 1971–72 season they returned to the Second Division as Champions.
In 1975, the club won the League Cup and, at the end of the 1974–75 season, Villa returned to the First Division and into Europe.
Villa were back among the elite and this culminated in a seventh top-flight league title in 1980–81.
In the 1981–82 season, Villa won the European Cup with a 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam. The following season, Villa were crowned European Super Cup winners, beating Barcelona in the final. This marked a pinnacle, though, and Villa's fortunes declined sharply for most of the 1980s, culminating in relegation in 1987. This was followed by promotion the following year and a runners-up position in the First Division in the 1989–90 season.
Villa were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season. For the rest of the nineties, however, Villa went through three different managers and their league positions were inconsistent, although they did win two League Cups and regularly achieved UEFA Cup qualification.
Villa reached the FA Cup final in 2000 but lost to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. Again Villa's league position continued to fluctuate under several different managers. After 23 years as chairman, and single biggest shareholder, Doug Ellis finally decided to sell his stake in Aston Villa due to ill health. After much speculation, it was announced that the club was to be bought by American businessman Randy Lerner, owner of NFL franchise the Cleveland Browns.
The first cup final of the Lerner era came in 2010, when Villa were beaten in the League Cup final.
At the end of the 2011–12 season, Villa finished in 16th place, only just above the relegation zone.
On 28 February 2012, the club announced a financial loss of £53.9 million. Lerner put the club up for sale on 12 May 2014, with an estimated value of £200 million.
In the 2014–15 season, Aston Villa scored just 12 goals in 25 league games, the lowest in Premier League history, and Paul Lambert was sacked on 11 February 2015. Tim Sherwood succeeded him, and saved Aston Villa from relegation while also leading them to the 2015 FA Cup final.
Sherwood was sacked in the 2015–16 season, as was his successor Rémi Garde.
Eric Black took temporary charge of the team, but was not able to prevent Villa from being relegated for the first time since 1987.
On 2 June 2016, Roberto Di Matteo was announced as the club's new manager
The Gaffer - Roberto Di Matteo
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
A trip down Memory Lane, with highlights from a table-topping clash with Villa at the business end of the famous 1980/81 season. Watch out for a couple of Paul Cooper saves which even Bart would be proud of!
Wolverhampton Wanderers D 0-0 Away
Norwich City D 1-1 Home
Preston North End W 1-0 Home
Reading L 1-2 Away
Derby County W 1-0 Away
Aston Villa Last 5 Matches – 17th place - 7 points
Huddersfield Town D 1-1 Home
Derby County D 0-0 Away
Bristol City L 1-3 Away
Nottingham Forest D 2-2 Home
Brentford D 1-1 Home
Fixtures of Interest
BURTON ALBION VS BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN VS QUEENS PARK RANGERS
NEWCASTLE UNITED VS WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS NORWICH CITY
BIRMINGHAM CITY VS SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (Saturday evening)
Marko’s Caption Competition
I will score both the Reading and Derby entries in next weekend’s Leeds preview.
In the meantime, feast your eyes on this:
Match Referee – Tony Harrington
Final Thought - Bluemike
I think it is safe to say most Town fans would have been pleased with two draws from trips to Reading & Derby so to end up with three points over the two games should be seen as something of a success. I was not fortunate enough to have been at the Ipro on Tuesday but I think it is safe to say that one of those bits of bad luck from earlier in the season has been repaid as Town rode their luck throughout what appears to have been a pretty one-sided first half, but hey ho who cares? From what I have read, Webster returned to the defence and put in a mightily impressive display to hopefully cement his place in the team for this weekend. Sears out injured, does anyone really believe that? I don't.
Some of the purists among us would it seem have preferred a defeat while dishing up some exciting football. We all have our thoughts on that but for me only one thing really matters in football and that is winning no matter how it comes. Clearly it would be great to get both but we are what we are. A glance at this embryonic Championship table sees us nicely in touch despite not having been at our best and also having been robbed of points on three occasions (my opinion of course), so the difficult start to the season (on paper) has not gone too badly considering. We just need to keep picking up points in the next three games as October looks a little less daunting – famous last words.
Next up is a difficult home game with Aston Villa. They may not have started too well but have spent big and have some quality within their squad so this again will be a good test. So far we have seven points from nine at PR and it was always going to be crucial to our chances that we make PR the fortress it was two seasons ago. I think we can certainly get something from this game so I am edging towards a low-scoring draw, although it would not surprise me one bit if we were to nick it.
It will be nice if we take the 3 points, although I think a draw is more on the cards. It really depends on MM's approach...we should be attacking. Villa have struggled as some had suggested would be the case, but in my opinion it won't be long before they settle in. So, lets give them a shock before they figure out the Champ.
ITFC 1 vs Aston Villa 1
Caption: Reports of Benteke's Jekyll and Hyde behavior are realized as he begins to transition on live tv..."No! Not now you stupid c---, Hyde!!!".
Last edited by number 9 on Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
A long black wig on Di Matteo and he's instantly a Lady Boy from Bangkok.
Quote:
As a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under rugby rules and the second half under football rules.
End Quote.
Any blatant Villa hand balls in the first half, Mick........., its ok, ^^^^, ....., keep the murderous rages to a minimum.
And while we are speaking, Mick......., if Webster pleased you v Derby, just let him play on Saturday. Don't tinker for tinkering sake, for the fans sake, FFS, ok.
Draw for the gambling man who gambles on Ipswich. (not me) I think the Lady Boy really does have to get Villa up that table and soon. They'll not be easy opponents. A very hard fought draw for the Tractor Boys would probably be an acceptable result for the majority.
Ref caption:
Ref: Aw mate, like, no way...., that was like, a foul. I'm going to have to, like book you an that, like. I wasn't going to book you, but the linesman was like, "No way!" and the fourth official was like, "aw mate, roaster!" Really sorry an that like, Mate.
Player: What the hell age are you, Ref?
I remain my usual pessimistic self. Varney's goal on Tuesday is the only one a Town striker has scored this season apart from penalties. I'm think that indicates a lack of creativity and attacking intent rather than poor finishing, so I fear we will struggle for goals. Some would say we defended well on Tuesday; it sounded to me like we rode our luck and, with 17 fouls conceded and 4 yellow cards, we are in danger of being tagged as dirty as well as boring by away fans - that is certainly the feeling of some Derby fans after Tuesday.
3- 0 defeat.
I am reading that Villa could be without the trio of McCormack, Grealish & De Laet so that would be a bonus for sure. Kodijia is the one I feel we will need to watch and Websters pace would be vital in that respect as this guy has caused us problems in the past.
From my point of view I hope we play a line up something like this :-
.......................Bart....................
Chambo...Webster...Berra.........Knudsen
............Skuse.......Douglas...............
Ward...........Bishop...............Grant...
................Pitman.........................
We have the option to change it to a 4-4-2 should it not be working and with Lawrence, Best, Varney, Sears & Bru on the bench we should have plenty of options open to us. Villa have sold their allocation so I hope the Town fans turn out in greater numbers than last time. A draw would not be a disaster but Three points would do wonders for our league standing at this early stage.
CAPTION....."Why the f*ck did I look in on those ITFC fans forums....depressing or what !!"
Any chance of some of you voting in the preview poll. 80+ views but only 6 votes.
But from those 6 votes, I suppose we could do a Jeremy Vine......, "Yes David, only one vote thus far for the Villa win, not much of a swing towards the mighty Ipswich at their Ffffffffortress, Portman Road, witn one vote also, but the majority, in this fixture, David, on the fence, looking at the draw."
Without appearing pedantic, r.e. the pre-game write-up, Aston Villa did not win the 1974 League Cup, that honor went to Wolverhampton with a win over Manchester City if correct, they were victorious the following year (against Norwich of all things)
This game seems like stalemate even before it's underway. Voted for the scores even by end of game and see no reason to dispute. One of the supposed promotion favorites but we'll be motivated enough after the win at Derby, fortunate though it was. Maybe a good many would take a point from this before start of play but would obviously want the victory to keep the team moving from the previous result. If the players keep focused and play like they can, and McCarthy keeps high-ball tactics to a minimum, we can take something from this.
bluemike wrote:
From my point of view I hope we play a line up something like this :-
.......................Bart....................
Chambo...Webster...Berra.........Knudsen
............Skuse.......Douglas...............
Ward...........Bishop...............Grant...
................Pitman.........................
I would never play Pitman as a lone striker. Personally I'd start Varney alongside him.
Swap Lawrence in for Bishop and I'd say good line up. Why Lawrence? He's got more pace and directness going forwards. He's slso got height for set pieces.
"Yes thanks David, quick update says that the majority still seem to be on the fence and voting for the draw, and one more has added to the Villa win option.........., interestingly, TWO more votes have been added to the Ipswich win option, David and that has people pondering....., many of voters contributing by text are largely pessimistic, "let's all go jump of a bridge" fkers, so in essence, those two massive votes of confidence must be coming in secretly through the night from possible McCarthy loving, blue tinted spectacle wearers. But we hope the votes keep coming before kick off at 3pm, Saturday. We'll keep you posted. Back to you and your sister up there in Norwich, David. What you two up too?"
bluemike wrote:I am reading that Villa could be without the trio of McCormack, Grealish & De Laet so that would be a bonus for sure. Kodijia is the one I feel we will need to watch and Websters pace would be vital in that respect as this guy has caused us problems in the past.
From my point of view I hope we play a line up something like this :-
.......................Bart....................
Chambo...Webster...Berra.........Knudsen
............Skuse.......Douglas...............
Ward...........Bishop...............Grant...
................Pitman.........................
We have the option to change it to a 4-4-2 should it not be working and with Lawrence, Best, Varney, Sears & Bru on the bench we should have plenty of options open to us. Villa have sold their allocation so I hope the Town fans turn out in greater numbers than last time. A draw would not be a disaster but Three points would do wonders for our league standing at this early stage.
CAPTION....."Why the f*ck did I look in on those ITFC fans forums....depressing or what !!"
I sincerely hope the starting line-up is nothing like this - 2 holding midfielders and a lone striker at home is SO negative and defensive.
If this is the starting team, then what will happen is that Berra Chambers and Knudsen will hoof the holding midfielders and midfielders completely out of the game, and Pitman wins so little in the air as a target man that the ball will repeatedly come straight back at us.
I agree with Andy that Pitman needs a partner, it doesn't matter to me if it's Varney or Leon Best, but 2 strikers please. Then, only one holding midfielder required, and try our most creative midfielders together and go out and attack Villa from the start.
If we did this, I'm pretty sure we would get a result - sadly I do expect MM to play the more defensive option and in that case I think we will lose, and some would argue that we would deserve to.
Caption, reaction after hearing the ballboy say a joke :
An Aston Villa fan walks into a pub with his dog just as the football scores come on the TV. The announcer says that Aston Villa have lost 3-0 and the dog immediately rolls over on its back, sticks its paws in the air and plays dead. "That's amazing," says the barman, "what does he do when they win?"
The Aston Villa Fan scratches his head for a couple of minutes and finally replies, "I dunno... I've only had the dog for eight months."
Ipswich Town v Aston Villa
