Ipswich Town vs Rotherham Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:54 pm
Ipswich Town v Rotherham United
Wednesday 23rd October 2019 – 19:45
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts Mike
All Good Things......
Have to come to an end some time and so it proved Sunday with our visit to new bogey team Accrington Stanley, we won't be saying "who are they" anymore following our second inept performance in as many seasons, we certainly know who they are now ! Some would suggest the omens had already conspired against us prior to kick off what with Sky cameras in attendance and the so called curse of the International breaks messing us up big time, for me it is all a load of twaddle and has absolutely no bearing on our results whatsoever, for me it is more a case of Four key players being out for various reasons coupled with the manager on this occasion getting it totally wrong in the line Up and formation department, add to that the realisation that some of our squad players are not up to the level of first teamers Downes, KVY, Wilson & Norwood, that said the players that came in should, with all due respect to Accrington, have been good enough to get the right result, or at the very least put in a performance that was not just a tad embarrassing, unfortunately it didn't happen and we were well and truly second best for much of it and got what we deserved.
What I don't get is some of Paul Lambert's decisions, this one up front nonsense has proved often enough to not suit us at all and if we must play it Kayden Jackson is not a lone striker, for me Will Keane was the best bet for that role and yet despite just having a two week break was deemed not fit enough to start ??? We then need someone to replace possibly our best player this season in Flynn Downes so we opt for the ever unreliable Andre Dozzell instead of Emyr Huws who despite a Two week break was deemed not fit enough to risk ??? We then have to replace James Norwood so going One up top and one playing off him we opt for the woefully inept Alan Judge instead of either Danny Rowe who has played well prior to getting injured or the explosive Georgiou who has lit up Portman Road with a couple of cameo appearances, it just made no sense at all, we seem to have to try and fit Judge into the team at times no matter what and I am getting a bit sick of him if I am honest. So for me it has to be said we contributed to our own downfall in so many ways, nothing to do with Sky, International breaks, the weather or any other lame excuse.
While losing a game for the first time this season is disappointing it was always going to occur somewhere down the line, clearly Accrington were deemed cannon fodder by most of us but history tells us that is where Town often fail to come out on top, no game is easy that much is true and some of the nonsense already being written by the ingenious amateur scribes among us is truly hilarious, "Lambert doesn't know what he is doing" "I've never rated Lambert" "we'll be lucky to finish Mid table" just a few of the pearls of wisdom i've seen so far and while I have said Lambert got it wrong on this occasion for me those kind of comments and the goons that writhe them are idiotic, we are top after all, we do have a game after all, we have just been on a fab run after all, does all that suddenly count for nothing after a bad performance ? Get a grip for crying out loud, we were warned games would be lost or did we all really expect to go through the season unbeaten and play well every week ? Are we really that good all of a sudden ? No of course we aren't but as many pundits have said already, very few teams get relegated to League One and respond anywhere near as well as we have, we are still in a great place and will be fine.
A Quick Chance to Right The Wrongs
Defeat Sunday is not a disaster, it is how we respond to it that matters now, we don't want a blip to turn into Two poor results and run the risk of it becoming a bad run, thankfully the lads have a mere Three days before getting the chance to put things right and get back to winning ways, a night game under the lights at Portman Road against the Millers from Rotherham is not beyond us but we must approach it correctly, we must get our part of it right and we must go for it !!! I am sure we will, I don't want a One up front scenario again but if we get it then please play the right personnel best suited to it.
Rotherham have underachieved so far and find themselves in Mid table although they are just a mere Three points off the play off picture, inconsistency has been the name of the game with good results here and there countered with the odd bad one on occasions. There is no doubt they are one of the clubs that many fans think will be there at the death and they need to be taken seriously and respected, a win for Town would see us go a whopping Eleven points clear of a potential rival and even at this fairly early stage of the season that takes some clawing back.
I don't think this will be easy but I do think we need and indeed will see a reaction form the boys in Blue who will not have liked what they saw of themselves on TV Sunday, hopefully the players who missed out will be fit to return and in doing so that will make us much stronger, with the home crowd behind the team and raising the noise levels it's a narrow Town win for me by the odd goal, maybe 1-0 or 2-1. Let's get back to winning ways at the first attempt and stop the doom mongers from having a field day, keep them under their rocks !!!! COYB'S.
The Opposition – Rotherham United
Rotherham United FC (known as the ‘Millers’) was formed in February 1925 after the merger of two clubs, Thornhill United and Rotherham Town, who had been playing in the area since the 1870s.
The club's traditional home was Millmoor in Rotherham, where the team played from 1907 to 2008.
The red and white was adopted around 1928 after they originally played in amber and black, and Rotherham spent their time in Division 3, only just remaining in the Football League in 1931 as they had to apply for re-election.
Immediately after the Second World War, things were looking up. United finished as runners-up three times in succession between 1947 and 1949 and were then champions of Division Three (North) in 1951. Rotherham reached their highest ever league position of third in the Football League Second Division in 1955.
The club held on to its place in Division Two until 1968 and then went into a decline that took them down to Division Four in 1973. In 1975, they were promoted back to the Third Division, finishing in the 3rd promotion spot in the Fourth Division. The Millers won the Division Three title in 1981.
During the 1990s, Rotherham were promoted and relegated between the Football League's lowest two divisions and they slipped into the Fourth Division in 1991, just two years after being promoted, but reclaimed their status in the third tier (renamed Division Two for the 1992–93 season due to the launch of the FA Premier League). They survived at this level for five years, never looking like promotion contenders, before being relegated in 1997.
In 1997, just after relegation to Division Three, Ronnie Moore took charge of Rotherham United. His first season ended in a mid-table finish and then his second in a play-off semi-final defeat on penalties. It was third time lucky in 1999–2000, as Rotherham finished as Division Three runners-up and gained promotion to Division Two. They were favourites to be relegated in the 2000–01 season, but surprised many by finishing runners-up in Division Two and gaining a second successive promotion.
Rotherham managed to remain in Division One for four seasons until relegation to League 1 in 2005.
Early in 2006, it was announced that the club faced an uncertain future unless a funding gap in the region of £140,000 per month could be plugged. An eleventh-hour intervention by a consortium of local businessmen kept them in business, but they suffered relegation to League 2 and entered into administration in 2008, being deducted 10 points.
Local businessman Tony Stewart then took over as Chairman for the 2008–09 season and took the club out of administration via a Creditors Voluntary Agreement, resulting in a further 17-point deduction. The Millers were subsequently forced to leave Millmoor, their home of over 100 years, for the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield, after disputes with the landlords.
Chairman Stewart appointed Steve Evans as manager on 9 April 2012. Evans got them promoted back to League 1 in the 2012–13 season. The same season also signalled a new era for Rotherham United as the club returned to playing home matches in Rotherham, at the newly-built New York Stadium.
Rotherham gained back-to-back promotions by winning the 2013-2014 League One play-off final. Rotherham beat Leyton Orient 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw, having come back from 2-0 down.
In the 2014–15 Championship season, Rotherham's first after a nine-year absence, their survival was jeopardised by a points deduction for fielding the ineligible Farrend Rawson during their home win against Brighton & Hove Albion, Farrend Rawson's loan had expired two days prior to the match, and despite the club insisting it was an external administrative error, they were subsequently thrown back into a relegation battle with Wigan Athletic and Millwall, but safety was secured in the penultimate game of the season, a 2–1 home victory against Reading.
Rotherham sold key players from their promotion winning campaigns before the 2015–16 season, including Ben Pringle, Craig Morgan and Kari Arnason. Evans left the club in September and former Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn was appointed as his replacement, being sacked in February 2016 after a run of six defeats in eight games.
Neil Warnock was appointed as manager for the rest of the season, and the club stayed up, finishing 21st. Warnock left the club in May 2016 after not agreeing a contract extension. Alan Stubbs became the new Rotherham boss in June 2016, but was sacked in October.
Rotherham replaced Stubbs with Kenny Jackett, who himself was replaced with Paul Warne, as Rotherham finished the season bottom of the league and were relegated to League One.
At the first attempt, Rotherham returned to the Championship, defeating Shrewsbury in the play-off final.
Rotherhams stay in the Championship was short lived however, along with Bolton and ourselves, they were relegated back to League 1 in the 2018/19 season after finishing in 22nd place.
The Manager – Paul Warne
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 1st place with 27 points
17 Sep Milton Keynes 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
21 Sep Gillingham 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
28 Sep Ipswich Town 4 - 1 Tranmere
5 Oct Fleetwood 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
20 Oct Accrington 2 - 0 Ipswich Town
Rotherham Last 5 Matches – Currently in place with points
21 Sep Rotherham 0 - 0 Shrewsbury
28 Sep Bristol Rovers 1 - 0 Rotherham
5 Oct Rotherham 4 - 0 Coventry City
2-0 12 Oct Blackpool 1 - 2 Rotherham
19 Oct Rotherham 1 - 2 Oxford Utd
Match referee – John Busby
IPSWICH TOWN 2 ROTHERHAM UNITED 1