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Saturday 6th January 2018 – 15:00
Portman Road
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Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
There is no doubt the festive season has been a bit of a disaster for Town, One point from a possible Twelve is not what was required and while it has to be noted that Three of those games were against very good opposition the fact remains we would have been expecting to pick up more than One meagre point. The latest defeat came at a blustery and wet Craven Cottage on Tuesday night, much has already been written regarding the obvious turning point in the game where we saw a One goal advantage turn into a Four goal thumping in the Space of Seven painful minutes, having watched it again and again I just fail to see what Spence was thinking, OK we had been wronged and should have had a foul but even so, you are never going to get away with that kind of reckless challenge, not only the barge but the knee raised and going into the guys midrift, it was an act of lunacy, Spence has been big enough to apologise but it is all so damn annoying to think we were ahead and in with a real chance of getting at least somethiong from a game most had written us off in prior to kick off. It was our first sending off of the season, thankfully our discipline is usually maintained to a much greater level than Spence portrayed but the Three game ban will do little to ease the pressure on our depleted squad. Some fans have been quick to apportion blame in MM's direction again but on this occasion I fail to see how we can, ok we capitulated but it really did happen so so quickly I don't think much can be laid at the gaffers door on this one, the players went awol for a short period of time and paid a hefty price, watching the goals again it is also fair to say that Fulham got Two or Three very fortunate bounces in the lead up to Two of the goals but that is the way it goes at times. To cap it all it looks like Grant Ward will now be out while Callum Connolly looked a bit worse for wear towards the end also so it goes from bad to worse.
Talk is still rife that Bart could be Palace bound and if this were to happen I think Town will be hit very hard on the terraces with a negative feel for the remainder of the season, the feeling now with many is that we will drop away and meander into Mid table at best so to lose the player regarded as our prized asset would just be another kick in the teeth for many. Of course every player has his price but some of the crazy figures I see bandaied about for Bart just isn't going to happen, for me 4.5 to 5 Million is about right and should we attain that while getting in a seasoned replacement then I would not grumble, One or Two more additions from the sale would obviously not go amiss either but as we all know that seldom happens in January for Town. We can however welcome Aaron Drinan to the club, his clearance has now come through and he is good to go, I am actually quite excited by this one and the players seem to think highly of him already so lets hope we have another bargain along the lines of Tyrone Mings on our hands. I think it is likely we could see a couple of good Loan deals being done to bolster our beleagured Midfield, names are already being suggested so it's a case of watch this space, Mick tends to go about his business quietly and suddenly someone arrives, I think for us not to bring in Two or Three would be madness as we have virtually a whole team out so surely to god we can look forward to things being freshened up a bit.
Thankfully we take a break from League action this weekend as Sheffied Utd come to town on FA Cup Third round day, we really could do with a little bit of cup success to at least give us all something to cheer about after a poor run, I think out starting Line Up is going to look quite different again from the norm and I can see the likes of Iorfa, Bru, Kenlock, Hyam, Sears, Drinan, McDonnell possibly all given a start, it won't go down well with many but I think on this occasion we have little choice, we just cannot afford to lose anymore bodies, for what it is worth I see Sheffied possibly doing the same as they are in danger of dropping away from the play off picture too so it may not be an entirely lost cause, with MM definitely not wanting a replay I think there could be goals in this one, the big question is will we be strong enough to get the win, I won't be betting on it.
The Opposition – Sheffield United
![Image](http://res.cloudinary.com/jpress/image/fetch/w_700,f_auto,ar_3:2,c_fill/http://www.thestar.co.uk/webimage/1.8502537.1492684278!/image/image.jpg)
Sheffield United formed on 22 March 1889 at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield (now the site of the Crucible Theatre) by the President of the Cricket Club Sir Charles Clegg.
The Wednesday had moved from Bramall Lane to their own ground at Olive Grove, and the tenants of Bramall Lane needed to create a new team to generate income. Sir Charles Clegg was incidentally also the president of The Wednesday.
Undoubtedly United's heyday was the 30-year period from 1895–1925, when they were champions of England in 1897–98 and runners up in 1896–97 and 1899–00, and FA Cup winners in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925, finishing runners up in 1901, and also eleven years after their cup final win in 1936. United have not won a trophy since 1925, bar those associated with promotion from lower-leagues, their best performances in the cup competitions being several semi-final appearances in the FA Cup and Football League Cup.
Their darkest days came between 1975 and 1981. After finishing sixth in the First Division at the end of the 1974–75 season, they were relegated to the Second Division the following season and three years after that setback they fell into the Third Division. They reached an absolute low in 1981 when they were relegated to the Fourth Division, but were champions in their first season in the league's basement division and two years afterwards they won promotion to the Second Division.
They did fall back into the Third Division in 1988, but new manager Dave Bassett masterminded a quick revival which launched the Blades towards one of the most successful eras in their history. Successive promotions in the aftermath of the 1988 relegation saw them return to the First Division in 1990 after a 14-year exile. They survived at this level for four seasons (being founder members of the new FA Premier League in 1992 after peaking with a ninth-place finish in the last season of the old First Division) and reached an FA Cup semi-final in the 1992–93 season before being relegated in 1994.
They would remain outside the top flight for the next 12 years, although they did qualify for the play-offs under Bassett's successor Howard Kendall in 1997 and caretaker manager Steve Thompson in 1998.
They were struggling at the wrong end of Division One when Neil Warnock was appointed manager in December 1999, and a financial crisis was preventing the club from being able to boost their squad, but in 2002–03 they enjoyed their most successful season for a decade, reaching the semi-finals of both domestic cups and also reaching the Division One play-off final, where they were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Three years later, however, Warnock delivered a Premier League return as the Blades finished runners-up in the rebranded Championship. They lasted just one season back amongst the elite, before being relegated from the Premier League amidst the controversy surrounding Carlos Tevez, the player who was controversially signed by West Ham United and whose performances played a big part in their remarkable escape from relegation. Neil Warnock resigned as manager after the Blades went down.
The club struggled to come to terms with life back in the Championship, with a spiralling wage bill not being matched by the quality of the players brought in, and a succession of managers within a short period of time. The Blades did reach the Championship playoff final in 2009 under Kevin Blackwell, but a period of decline then set in. The 2010–11 season proved disastrous, with the club employing three different managers in the space of a season, which ultimately ended in relegation to League One under Micky Adams, meaning they would play in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1989, and only five years after gaining promotion to the Premiership.
In the 2011–12 season, the club finished third in League One, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and entered the playoffs. With victory over Stevenage in the semi-final, United missed out on an immediate return to the Championship after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town. The Blades again made it to the League One playoffs in 2012–13 after a fifth-place finish, but were knocked out by eventual promotion winners Yeovil Town.
On 3 September 2013 it was confirmed that Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Musa'ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the royal House of Saud had bought a 50% stake in United's parent company 'Blades Leisure Ltd' for the fee of £1 with the promise of providing "substantial new capital" with the aim of returning the Blades to the Premier League as "quickly as possible".
In 2014 the Blades began to be described by areas of the media as "giant-killers", having reached the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, losing 5–3 to Hull City.
In 2014–15 the team reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Football League Cup, and despite being eliminated they remained in contention for promotion to the Championship.
United secured promotion back to the second tier of English football in the 2016–17 season under the management of lifelong fan and former Blades player Chris Wilder.
The Manager – Chris Wilder
![Image](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/12/09/33EE25AD00000578-3586457-image-m-28_1463043422564.jpg)
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Media Watch - K L Blue
Smith after Fulham game
https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/any-t ... s-message/
Kieffer Moore
https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/32902
https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/32894
http://www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/news/ne ... emId=28001
Was it a red? you decide(I think it was)
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/ ... of-madness
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches
16 Dec Ipswich Town 2 - 0 Reading
23 Dec Wolverhampton 1 - 0 Ipswich Town
26 Dec Ipswich Town 0 - 0 QP Rangers
30 Dec Ipswich Town 1 - 2 Derby County
2 Jan Fulham 4 - 1 Ipswich Town
Sheffield United Last 5 Matches
16 Dec Preston N.E. 1 - 0 Sheffield Utd
23 Dec Aston Villa 2 - 2 Sheffield Utd
26 Dec Sheffield Utd 3 - 0 Sunderland
30 Dec Sheffield Utd 0 - 1 Bolton
1 Jan Derby County 1 - 1 Sheffield Utd
Match Referee – Mike Jones
![Image](http://www.thewesthamway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/mike-jones.jpeg)
IPSWICH TOWN 1 SHEFFIELD UNITED 1