Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion 
Friday 23rd November 2018 – 19:45
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike
My Belief Is Growing
Coming away from Reading with the feeling of disappointment at not gaining the win is in my eyes actually a good thing, so many times in the past we have come away having let a lead slip and as such had a feeling about us of relief and contentment at having picked up a point, no so this time, such was the level of performance, particularly in the first half, that we had every right to feel short changed, so good was that opening Forty Five minutes that Paul Lambert described it as the best First Half showing by any team he has managed, glowing praise indeed and can only be a great confidence booster to the players, it is fair to say that had we been two or Three ahead it would not have been an injustice. Obviously we were always going to have a period in the game where the home side were on top and that duly arrived after the break but even so we still tried to do the right things and unlike so many times before did not lose our shape or divert too much from our game plan and yet again but for a couple if individual errors we may well have got that all important win as Reading were not exactly cutting us open at will, clearly at the end some of our players were out on their feet which just goes to show the level of effort they had put into the game I for one will never criticise a player for that.
In From The Cold
Jordan Roberts continued his impressive form with another wholehearted display, it may only have been his second start but already he has made quite a difference to Town's attacking options, is it a coincidence that his presence in the side seems to have coincided with two of Freddie Sears best games in years ? While Roberts is yet to find the net he did get Two efforts on target, one which required a fine save from their keeper, so at a time where we are finding it hard where the shots on target stat is concerned young Roberts is doing all he can to change things. I like the look of his all round game, decent in the air, clever runs, strong on the ball and a general nuisance to the oppositions defence just some of his attributes, yes he needs to work on his first touch but hopefully with more game time and experience that will come, his first goal will do him no end of good too.
Home Form Going To Be Critical
It is generally accepted that most seasons Forty Six points will keep you in the Championship for another year, therefore we are looking at requiring another 35 points minimum to reach that target, on the assumption we will pick up a few points on our travels I am kinda thinking we need to be looking at around Nine home victories from our remaining Fifteen home games, sounds quite daunting but for me it can be done, cherry picking games where wins are imperative I have come up with Bristol City, Wigan Athletic, Millwall, Rotherham, Reading & Hull City as Six MUST WIN home games, that would leave us looking for Three more, on the assumption we will find it hard to beat the likes of WBA, Derby, Sheff Utd & Leeds those final Three wins need to come from the fixtures against Sheffield Weds, Stoke, Forest, Birmingham & Swansea, it certainly looks tough and of course on any given day anyone can beat anyone but Three point hauls really do have to be gained from the Six must win matches to have any chance, there is also the likelihood that will will pick up more points on the road than I've anticipated but we can leave nothing to chance, Portman Road needs to become a source of points again.
It Doesn't Get Any Easier
Having seen the manner in which the Baggies put Four past Leeds recently I think this is going to be a really tough game for us, that said it was their first win in Five games but it was a win that still see's them sitting pretty in Fifth place, just Five points off the summit. We are also coming up against the top scorers in the division, Thirty Seven goals in Seventeen games is a good strike rate although they do concede a lot too, their Twenty Five conceded is beaten only by Six clubs, us being one of them, if nothing else it looks like games involving West Brom guarantees goals and hopefully this is no exception, although a goalless draw would do for me every day of the week.
In Jay Rodriguez, Matt Phillips, Hal Robson-Kanu & Dwight Gayle they have some pretty potent attacking options at their disposal and it looks like the Town defence are going to have their work cut out in keeping them at bay, any of the silly errors which we make with alarming regularity will probably be pounced on and taken advantage of so we have to be on top of our game, at the other end they can be vulnerable, are Sears, Roberts, Edwards & co good enough to breach their defence ? Time will tell but the fact I have put this down as one of the games that I struggle to see us getting anything from tells it's own story, add to that the "live on Sky" stigma and everything points to an away win, except One small thing, we are still unbeaten under a certain Paul Lambert, you can just never tell in the Championship. COYB'S.
The Opposition – West Bromwich Albion
The club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich, in Staffordshire. They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880. Albion joined the Football Association in 1883; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season. In 1885 the club turned professional, and in 1886 they reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2–0 to Blackburn Rovers in a replay. They reached the final again in 1887, but lost 2–0 to Aston Villa. In 1888 the team won the trophy for the first time, beating strong favourites Preston North End 2–1 in the final. As FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a Football World Championship game against Scottish Cup winners Renton, which ended in a 4–1 defeat.
In March 1888, William McGregor wrote to what he considered to be the top five English teams, including Albion, informing them of his intention to form an association of clubs that would play each other home and away each season. Thus when the Football League started later that year, Albion became one of the twelve founder members. Albion's second FA Cup success came in 1892, beating Aston Villa 3–0. They met Villa again in the 1895 final, but lost 1–0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900–01, their first season at The Hawthorns. They were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903–04. The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910–11, and the following season reached another FA Cup Final, where they were defeated by Second Division Barnsley in a replay.
Albion won the Football League title in 1919–20 for the only time in their history following the end of World War I, their totals of 104 goals and 60 points both breaking the previous league records. The team finished as Division One runners-up in 1924–25, narrowly losing out to Huddersfield Town, but were relegated in 1926–27. In 1930–31, they won promotion as well as the FA Cup, beating Birmingham 2–1 in the final. The "Double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since. Albion reached the final again in 1935, losing to Sheffield Wednesday, but were relegated three years later. They gained promotion in 1948–49, and there followed the club's longest unbroken spell in the top flight of English football, a total of 24 years.
In 1953–54, Albion came close to being the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double. They succeeded in winning the FA Cup, beating Preston North End 3–2, but injuries and a loss of form towards the end of the season meant that they finished as runners-up to fierce rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league. They remained one of the top English sides for the remainder of the decade, reaching the semi-final of the 1957 FA Cup and achieving three consecutive top five finishes in Division One between 1957–58 and 1959–60.
Although their league form was less impressive during the 1960s, the second half of the decade saw West Brom establish a reputation as a successful cup side. Albion entered the Football League Cup for the first time in 1965–66 and, under manager Jimmy Hagan, won the final by defeating West Ham United 5–3 on aggregate. That was the last two-legged final and, the following year, Albion reached the final again, the first played at Wembley. They lost 3–2 to Third Division Queens Park Rangers after being 2–0 up at half-time. Albion's cup form continued under Hagan's successor Alan Ashman. He guided the club to their last major trophy to date, the 1968 FA Cup, when they beat Everton in extra time . Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final and European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final in 1969, and were defeated 2–1 by Manchester City in the 1970 League Cup Final.
The club were less successful during the reign of Don Howe, and were relegated to Division Two at the end of 1972–73, but gained promotion three years later under the guidance of player-manager Johnny Giles. Under Ron Atkinson, Albion reached the 1978 FA Cup semi-final but lost to Ipswich Town. In May of that year, Albion became the first English professional team to play in China, going unbeaten on their five-game trip. In 1978–79, the team finished third in Division One, their highest placing for over 20 years, and also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-final, where they were defeated by Red Star Belgrade. The team around this time was notable for simultaneously fielding three black players: Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson; and is considered to be an integral part of the acceptance of black footballers in the English leagues. In his second spell as manager, Ronnie Allen guided the team to both domestic cup semi-finals in 1981–82. The mid-1980s saw the start of Albion's longest and deepest decline. They were relegated in 1985–86 with the worst record in the club's history, beginning a period of sixteen years outside the top flight. Five years later, the club were relegated to the Third Division for the first and only time.
Albion had spent the majority of their history in the top-flight of English football, but when the FA Premier League was founded in 1992 the club found themselves in the third tier, which had been renamed Division Two. In 1992–93, Albion finished fourth and entered the playoffs for the first time, having just missed out the previous year. Albion's first appearance at Wembley for over 20 years – and their last ever at the original stadium – saw them beat Port Vale 3–0 to return to the second level – now renamed the First Division. Manager Ossie Ardiles then joined Tottenham Hotspur, however, and a succession of managers over the next few seasons saw Albion consolidate their Division One status without ever mounting a serious promotion challenge.
The appointment of Gary Megson in March 2000 heralded an upturn in the club's fortunes. Megson guided Albion to Division One safety in 1999–2000, and to the play-offs a year later. He went on to lead the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2001–02. After being relegated in their first Premier League season, they made an immediate return to the top flight in 2003–04. In 2004–05, Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder Bryan Robson, led the team to a last-day "Great Escape", when Albion became the first Premier League club to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table at Christmas. This feat was repeated by Sunderland in the 2013–14 season and Leicester the following year, but West Brom remain the only team to escape relegation having also been bottom during the final day of the season. Despite this success, they failed to avoid the drop the following season, and Robson was replaced by Tony Mowbray in October 2006. The club competed in the Championship promotion playoff final at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to Derby County.
The following season, Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth. One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship, but were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 campaign. Mowbray left the club to manage Celtic and was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo, who led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson. May 2012 saw Hodgson, having led West Brom to a tenth-place finish in his first season, leave to become the manager of the England national team. Steve Clarke then led Albion to an eighth-place finish in 2012–13, their highest in the Premier League, but was sacked halfway through the following season and replaced by Pepe Mel, who left by mutual consent at the end of the campaign. After the brief tenure of Alan Irvine, Tony Pulis was appointed head coach on 1 January 2015. On 5 August 2016, it was announced the club had been sold to a Chinese investment club headed up by Guochuan Lai, and John Williams replaced Peace as chairman. Pulis was sacked due to poor results in November 2017, and was replaced by Alan Pardew later that month after just one win in eighteen league matches, Pardew left by mutual consent in April 2018. Despite a good run of form under caretaker manager Darren Moore, during which time he won the Manager of the Month award for April 2018, West Brom were relegated after eight seasons in the Premier League. On Friday, 18 May 2018, Moore was confirmed as the manager of the club on a three-year contract.
The Manager – Darren Moore
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
[youtube] [/youtube]
Media Watch - K L Blue
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches - Currently in 24th place on 11 points
20 Oct Ipswich Town 0 - 2 QP Rangers
24 Oct Leeds United 2 – 0 Ipswich Town
27 Oct Millwall FC 3 – 0 Ipswich Town
03 Nov Ipswich Town 1 – 1 Preston North End
10 Nov Reading FC 2 – 2 Ipswich Town
West Bromwich Albion Last 5 Matches - Currently in 5th place on 28 points
20 Oct Wigan Athletic 1 - 0 West Bromwich
24 Oct West Bromwich 1 - 4 Derby County
27 Oct West Bromwich 1 - 1 Blackburn
3 Nov Hull City 1 - 0 West Bromwich
10 Nov West Bromwich 4 - 1 Leeds Utd
Marko’s Caption Contest – THE DON CUP
Some real beauties and was a few tied votes. After Watership Down explained his, that got a few chuckles amongst the older ones. Could just picture Blackadder saying that. Good stuff. Thankfully the international break is over, and even though Scotland won 4-0 (away from home no less) , I couldn’t give less of a feck. Such is the apathy towards international football. Back to domestic stuff, and Friday night for ITFC.
Scores and table below. Have a go at the WBA caption.
READING SCORES
AylesburyBlue 5pts
Tangfastic & Nicscreamer (Burley) 4pts
DerickIpsw & Frosty 3pts
BluePeter & Watership Down 2pts
LEAGUE TABLE
TANGFASTIC 41
FROSTY 37
NICSCREAMER 34
DERICKIPSW 29
BLUEMIKE 27
IPSWICHTOWNNO1 25
ANDO 24
BLUEBLOOD 21
AYLESBURYBLUE 19
NUMBER9 18
WATERSHIP DOWN 10
PATTHEGIMP 7
BARMY BILLY 6
JOHNNYB 4
SHED ON TOUR 4
BLUEPETER 3
BLUEWILF 3
MASSEYFERGUSON 3
MARVINBAY1973 2
CHARNWOOD 1
KL BLUE 1
OHIOTRACTORBOY 1
Match Referee –
IPSWICH TOWN 1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2
