Ipswich Town v Doncaster Rovers 
Saturday 27th February 2021– 15:00
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
I Think We've All Been To Hull And Back Lately........
What a pleasant change to be writing a preview with a little bit of the feelgood factor having returned, for weeks now I have struggled to find anything positive to write about at all and it has hardly made for good reading but sadly that has been the reality of it as I have seen it. Thankfully this One is being written after what for me was probably our best performance of the season, it looked like we got the game plan spot on and in doing so made Hull look very ordinary indeed, I say "made Hull" because I think the way we about our game plan restricted their better players to bit part roles, our closing down was first class as we hunted in packs at times, there seemed to be far more Grey shirts on the pitch than the Gold & black ones, the work rate was good to see and we seemed to ooze belief and confidence at a time when you would think we had zero of either.
There is one or Two suggestions as to what the formation was but for me it was pretty much a 4-4-2 at times and it worked a treat, as has been said already having James Norwood back to lead the line makes a massive difference and his cool control and finish was what we have been lacking all season, not to mention the sublime pass from a certain Myles Kenlock which put him through on goal. It makes Paul Lambert's comments of a few weeks ago even more bizarre in that we are crap when trying to play with two up front, he will probably say it wasn't Two up front but it's a s near as damn it.
I think some of the returning players have stepped in and tightened us up no end, the already mentioned Kenlock has been superb lately while the CB duo of James Wilson & Toto Nsiala have come back in and for the most part have looked assured and solid and in doing so have kept two clean sheets against good opposition. Toto has his critics and we all know why but he has a lot of good attributes too, none more so than the bravery he shows at putting his head in where it hurts, once last night was reminiscent of Luke Chambers who goes in where Angels fear to tread, I don't for One second believe we would see pretty boy Woolfenden doing the same thing, I just hope we stick with what we have stumbled upon now and see where it takes us.
While quite a few Town players had good games I think it right to single out Andre Dozzell who for me was superb on the night, as the home commentator repeatedly said he was, along with Teddy Bishop running the game throughout, I thought Andre oozed the class we have known is in there all game, offering himself at every opportunity, looking for the ball and spraying passes around the pitch to get us on the front foot and thankfully they were all pretty much forward thinking passes for a change, he looked the real deal. It has largely been accepted that Flynn Downes is the jewell in our crown but I would hope we stick with this Midfield pairing for the next game too and see if they can really start to build up a good relationship.
The win sees us climb to the giddy heights of Tenth place in the League table and a mere Five points off the play off places where Doncaster Rovers, our next opponents find themselves. With so many games to go we are still clearly in the mix and could we be that team that every season comes from the pack to gatecrash the play offs ? While we musn't get ahead of ourselves as it is only a couple of games since we were dire it isn't beyond the realms of possibility. February has seen us take Eight points from a possible Fifteen so far but we have now kept Three clean sheets in a row and are at least creating more openings, the win at Hull will have given us confidence and that is everything in Football, getting the monkey off our back of not being able to take a point off the top teams has now been lifted too and we don't need to keep mentioning that little stat anymore.
So what of Doncaster Rovers, Three defeats and a draw in the last Four games is hardly play off form and it could well be we go there at the right time, they have also conceded Eleven goals in the last Four games so defensively they look suspect, defeats to Fleetwood, Accrington & Sunderland have been anything but impressive so we should go there in confident mood for a change, it's amazing how a couple of good results can change the mentality and belief, a win would really have us all thinking have we turned a corner ? It would see us close to a mere Two points behind Donny who a couple of weeks ago were looking like league One winners, as Lambert has repeatedly said there is still a lot of Football to be played, not sure where I sit on him being right to be honest, does this change the behind the scene situation at Portman Road, I really do hope not. As for the outcome of this One, it could go either way but I am expecting Town to come back to Suffolk with something. COYB'S
The Opposition – Doncaster Rovers
The club was formed in 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a fitter at Doncaster's Great Northern Railway works. He gathered together some friends to play a match against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in September 1879. On walking back from the game, the team took a rest at the Hall Cross, and had a discussion in which they decided to play more and called themselves Doncaster Rovers.
They were first elected to the Football League in 1901, as a replacement for New Brighton Tower. Their first season in the League was in fact the one when Doncaster achieved their highest position ever (7th in the Football League Second Division). They only lasted two seasons in the league before being voted out in favour of local rivals Bradford City, having finished the 1902 season in the bottom three.
They spent the subsequent season in the Midland League, only managing 11th place out of 18 but were elected back to Division 2. This time, in 1904–05, Doncaster finished bottom with W3 D2 L29, adrift by 12 points, gaining only 8 points – an unfortunate still standing record. They were voted out once again.
They remained in the Midland League until they were again accepted into the Football League Division 3 North for 1923–24 to replace Stalybridge Celtic.
The next few seasons saw them rise towards the top of the table, then decline towards the bottom, before in the early 1930s finishing consistently near the top and finally becoming Champions in 1934–35.
Rovers spent two seasons in Division 2, before being relegated in 1936–37.
Doncaster Rovers were involved in the longest ever competitive football match, against Stockport County at Edgeley Park on 30 March 1946, in a Division Three (North) cup tie. The match was deadlocked at 2–2 at 90 minutes, and after two 10-minute periods of extra time there was no further score. The rule at that time was that the game would carry on until one team scored. However, after 203 minutes, and with darkness closing in, the game was finally stopped.
In 1946–47 Doncaster set a record for the most games won in a league season (33), when they won the Third Division North title. The following season saw them relegated from the Second Division, but two years later, they won the Third Division North again. This time they stayed in the Second Division for eight seasons, their most successful period to date.
During the early 1990s, Ken Richardson, who was later described by detectives as "the type that would trample a two-year-old child to pick up a 2p bit"took over as the majority shareholder of the club. He ploughed a lot of money into Doncaster Rovers with one thing on his mind, a new stadium. When he was refused a new stadium by the council he soon lost interest. Richardson hired three men to torch Belle Vue and planned to sell the ground to developers. The attempt put Richardson in jail for four years. In 1998 Rovers dropped out of the league with a −83 goal difference.
The Westferry Consortium took over the Club just before the beginning of the 1998–99 season with a commitment to invest heavily in the club. They also brought in John Ryan as a non-executive chairman and he took over at the end of this season. Having aspirations of returning it to the second tier where he had seen them when he was a boy, he stated he would build a new stadium within ten years, both of which he went on to achieve within the ten years. Doncaster found their best form in 50 years in the 2000s.
After five seasons in the Conference League, under the helm of manager Dave Penney the club returned to the fourth tier (known at the time as Division Three) after winning the 2003 Conference Play-Off final.
In 2003–04, the first season they were back in the Football League, Rovers achieved promotion to the third tier as Champions.
A new stadium was completed in December 2006. Doncaster's first game at the new Keepmoat Stadium was against Huddersfield Town on New Year's Day, 2007.
On 1 April 2007, Doncaster Rovers travelled to the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to play Bristol Rovers in the Football League Trophy final which they won 3-2 to claim their first major trophy.
2007–08 proved to be one of the most exciting seasons in Doncaster's history. Defeat on the final day of the season cost them automatic promotion but they won their semi-final playoff to advance to the League One play-off final at Wembley on Sunday 25 May 2008 where they beat Leeds United 1–0 to move into Football League Championship after a half century absence.
The first half of the 2008–09 season saw Doncaster struggling to adapt to the Championship despite a promising start which saw them bottom of the Championship on 20 December 2008. Rovers managed to turn things around and ultimately ended their first season in the Championship comfortably in 14th position.
Doncaster finished two places higher in 12th in the 2009/10 season, however the 2010–11 season proved to be Doncaster's most trying season in the Championship thus far finishing in 21st place.
Doncaster Rovers struggled in the 2011–12 season and were relegated to League One with three games still to play.
The squad was rebuilt for the 2012–13 season with 19 players leaving. Expectations were low, but after an average start, Doncaster finished the season one point above Bournemouth as Champions.
Following promotion to the Championship for the 2013–14 season, Paul Dickov was brought in as manager. To boost support for their chosen charity, Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice, the club signed Louis Tomlinson of boy band One Direction on a non-contract basis.
On 9 November, John Ryan gave an emotional farewell and stepped down as Chairman of the Club after 15 years, amid reports of boardroom disagreements following a proposed takeover bid by a hedge-fund consortium lead by Sequentia Capital.
On 3 May 2014 Doncaster were relegated back to League One after just one season following a defeat to Leicester City on the final day of the season.
Rovers finished the 2014–15 season in 13th place, before being relegated to League Two after finishing 21st in 2015–16 with new manager Darren Ferguson.
The 2016–17 season saw them being promoted back to League 1 at the first attempt in 3rd position.
Darren Ferguson left his post in June 2017 and was replaced by another former Peterborough boss in Grant McCann ahead of the 2018/19 season. Under McCann, Rovers finished sixth in League One, qualifying for the end of season play-offs where they faced Charlton Athletic over two legs. A 2–1 defeat in the first leg and an early Krystian Bielik goal in the second left Rovers with a mountain to climb at The Valley, but goals from captain Tommy Rowe and Andy Butler forced extra time. John Marquis put Rovers ahead for the first time in extra time, only for Darren Pratley to equalise a minute later. Rovers lost the penalty shoot-out 4–3 with misses coming from Rowe and Marquis as they fell just short of making the Wembley Stadium showdown.
McCann left in the summer for Championship side Hull City and was replaced by former defender Darren Moore ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.
Last season Doncaster finished League 1 in 9th place
The Manager – Darren Moore
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 10th place with 44 points
9 Feb Peterborough 2 - 1 Ipswich Town
13 Feb Shrewsbury pp. Ipswich Town
16 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Northampton
20 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Oxford Utd
23 Feb Hull City 0-1 Ipswich Town
Doncaster Rovers Last 5 Matches – Currently in 6th place with 49 points
9 Feb Fleetwood 3 - 1 Doncaster
13 Feb Sunderland 4 - 1 Doncaster
17 Feb Doncaster 0 - 1 Accrington
20 Feb Doncaster 3 - 3 Hull City
23 Feb Blackpool pp. Doncaster
Match Referee – Martin Coy
IPSWICH TOWN 1 DONCASTER ROVERS 0
