Ipswich Town vs Bristol City 
Wednesday 28th November 2018 - 19:45
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
Let's Be Realistic
In the short time Paul Lambert has been at the club I think it is fair to say much has changed in such a short space of time, certainly the performances on the pitch have improved no end if not the results, the belief among fans and players that we can dig ourselves out of this mess in which we find ourselves has grown no end, several players have come out and openly stated that the feel behind the scenes is so much better, indicating there was a lot wrong with the previous regime and the way things were being done, players that were not at the races now look much more up for it, how great is it to have a manager on the touchline up on his feet for 95 minutes kicking every ball and showing some emotion ? Yes we have reason to cling on to the hope that we can get out of this mess against all the odds.
However !!!! And this is a big HOWEVER, I have been quite surprised by some of the reaction following Friday's defeat to a very good West Bromwich Albion side, it is as if this game was the pivotal one that potentially decided our fate, for me that could not be further from the truth, very few realistic fans expected a win from this game, I still maintain this was a free hit if you like and any reward from it would have been a massive bonus, of course it was not to be. Everything was built up prior to the game to make it a carnival atmosphere, giving tickets away to all and sundry helped fill the stadium with another Eight Thousand fans, taking it to 23K was great to see, Sky cameras, a call to arms from Paul Lambert to get right behind the team, clappers on every seat to generate extra noise, flags, drums, flares you name it all played a part and to a point it was superb. Sadly all of that is cosmetic and aside from lifting the players a bit does not change much else, they are still the same Eleven players with the same ability against a better quality of opposition, I think the build up had some believing a win would follow, as nice as it is to be positive, I am often to much that way, the truth is we have not evolved enough just yet to roll over the likes of the Baggies. What will make a difference is if the 15K that turn up Wednesday night against Bristol City can generate the same levels of support and noise in a game that can be won, or the Two Thousand or so that will trek up to Forest & Stoke in the hope of taking something from games that while looking tough are not impossible, so for me some of the after match disappointment was a little naive expecting better, our second half showing was actually not that bad.
This is A Must Win Game
November draws to a close with us still only having a solitary win to our name and a visit from Bristol City, I think the importance is not lost on anyone regarding this game, it just has to be won, especially when a glance at the Fixture list shows us facing Forest, Stoke, QPR & Middlesbrough away and Wigan & Sheff Utd at home in December, the gap to safety has crept to Six points, we need it less than that come the turn of the year and a win here will go a long way to helping us achieve that, especially when you look at the teams around us and who they are facing this midweek, Hull V Norwich, Leeds V Reading, Rotherham V QPR, Sheff Wed V Bolton, Preston V Middlesbrough and Millwall V Birmingham are all tough looking fixtures and Three points for us could very well see the deficit down to Three points if those games go to form, the truth is though all we have to do is our part, everything else is out of our hands but if we can start winning it will change very rapidly indeed.
Bristol City are dropping like a stone after a good start to the season, they are now in Fourteenth place and more importantly have now lost Four in a row, Stoke, Reading, Preston and Leeds all coming out victorious against the Robins, when you see Two of our relegation rivals taking the points off them it adds to the importance of this game, we have to win, a draw will be like a defeat for me, in some ways it is one of the most important games for Town in years, a win here could kick start us at just the right time. Surprisingly Town have only lost One more game than Bristol City so we have nothing to fear, a repeat of the First half at Reading would do very nicely, it also see's us come up against a certain Adam Webster who by some miracle has stayed fit, I would suggest someone give him a good hard kick in the first few minutes, that should do the trick.
We have to win and I think we will win, anything else is just not an option, defeat here and I will be contemplating the likes of Wycombe and Walsall in Twelve Months time, once again the fans have a part to play, we need to get right behind the boys from the off and keep it going, yes there will be a fair few less of us there but lets make it a great atmosphere and give the missing Eight Thousand something to cheer, 2-1 Town win.....COYB'S.
The Opposition – Bristol City
The club was founded in 1897 as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later when they were admitted into the Southern League. City joined the Football League in 1901. .
Winning the Second Division Championship with a record number of points when they became the first club in Football League history to win 30 games as well as equaling Manchester United's achievement of the previous season in winning 14 consecutive games (still a record today, which was also accomplished by Preston in 1950–51).
They finished as runners-up in their inaugural First Division campaign. Three years later they won through to their only FA Cup Final. After a five season stay in the top flight in the 1910/11season brought City's first ever taste of relegation and it was to be 65 years before top flight status would be regained.
The 1920s were a rocky time as City bounced between the Second Division and the Southern Section of the Third Division. By the 1930s they had slumped into the lower division, and stayed that way until the Second World War. Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a post he would hold for over 30 years. An engineer who had bought out the firm he worked for, he designed the first set of floodlights installed at Ashton Gate in the early 1950s. The late 1950s were a better time for City, with a five-year stay in the Second Division, a league they returned to for a further spell in 1965.
In 1967, Alan Dicks was appointed manager, and things gradually began to improve, with promotion to the First Division in 1976, ending a 65-year exile from the top flight.
City's second stint in the top flight was less successful than the club's first, with thirteenth position in 1979 being their highest finish during this era.
In 1980, the City team went back to the Second Division in the first of three relegations, their debt mounted and their financial losses increased, with two successive relegations following. Thus, in 1982, they fell into the Fourth Division, and were declared bankrupt. BCFC (1982) Ltd acquired the club's player contracts, and the highly paid senior players who became known as the 'Ashton Gate Eight', each accepted termination of his contract for half the amount due. The club failed to pay its debts to many local businesses which left the new formed club difficulty in obtaining credit because of bad feeling toward them.
City spent two seasons in the Fourth Division before winning promotion in 1984. They consolidated themselves in the Third Division during the latter part of the 1980s, and in 1990 achieved promotion as Third Division runners-up.
Meanwhile, City remained in the new Division One (no longer the Second Division after the creation of the Premier League in 1992) but in the 1994/95 season were relegated to Division Two.
Bristol City again achieved promotion in 1998 as Division Two runners-up, but went straight back down again the following season.
City was a regular Division Two Top Six side over the next few seasons but couldn’t advance through the playoffs each time.
Despite a slow start to the 2006–07 season, City were in the top six of League One by November and at the end of the month began an 11-match unbeaten run which drove them to the top of the division. Promotion to the Championship was confirmed on the final day of the season securing the runners-up place in the division and resulting in automatic promotion.
After a stop start run of form City went top of the Championship on 1 March, However, a poor run ended City's chances of an automatic promotion place. They made the playoff final at Wembley but went down 1-0 to Hull.
After a poor start in the first half of the 2008–09 season, City finished the season in tenth place.
On 22 April 2010, it was announced that former Reading manager Steve Coppell would become the new City manager at the end of the 2009–10 campaign, when he would start a 12-month rolling contract, and that Keith Millen, who had guided the club to Championship safety in his brief spell as caretaker manager, would remain at the club as his assistant. It was announced on 12 August 2010 that Coppell had resigned as manager with immediate effect saying that he would retire from football management altogether citing a lack of passion for the job. This followed his only two competitive games at the club.
On 29 November 2011, the club announced a loss of £11.45 million.
After a promising start to the 2011/12 season City only just survived staying in the Championship having spent time in the relegation zone.
After a poor start to the 2012/13 campaign, Sean O'Driscoll was appointed head coach on a 12-month rolling contract however on 16 April 2013, City were relegated to League One.
After the sacking of Sean O'Driscoll on 28 November 2013, Steve Cotterill was appointed on a three and a half year contract. When he joined the club were bottom of the table and 5 points away from safety with a −7 goal difference. Cotterill made a huge impact and guided the club to safety and finished the season 12th.
Bristol City were promoted back to Championship for 2015–16 season after securing a top spot in 2014–15 Football League One on 14 April 2015. 1955 was the last time they won a league.
With Bristol City just inside the relegation zone, and only 256 days after Cotterill had lead them back to the Championship, Cotterill was sacked by club chairman Keith Dawe, on 14 January 2016.
Caretaker Manager John Pemberton was replaced by Lee Johnson on the 6th February 2016.
Last season Bristol City made a good early start. At the midpoint of the season, after 24 league games, they sat 2nd in the Championship, whilst also knocking out Premier League opposition in Watford, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and Manchester United to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup. However, a bad run of form followed and City finished the season in 11th place
The Manager – Lee Johnson
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 24th place with 11 points
24 Oct Leeds Utd 2 - 0 Ipswich Town
27 Oct Millwall 3 - 0 Ipswich Town
3 Nov Ipswich Town 1 - 1 Preston
10 Nov Reading 2 - 2 Ipswich Town
23 Nov Ipswich Town 1 - 2 West Bromwich
Bristol City Last 5 Matches – Currently in 14th place with 22 points
24 Oct Bristol City 1 - 0 Hull City
27 Oct Bristol City 0 - 1 Stoke City
3 Nov Reading 3 - 2 Bristol City
10 Nov Bristol City 0 - 1 Preston
24 Nov Leeds Utd 2 - 0 Bristol City
Match Referee – David Webb
IPSWICH TOWN 1 BRISTOL CITY 0
brilliant. Nearly spat my dinner out reading that
If we play like we did 1st half last Friday, a Tonkin is on the cards, if we dig in and play like the 2nd half, we just might scrape a win, we need to turn out and play the whole 90 mins at full pace, smash'em up, go get'm boys
