Fleetwood Town vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 10:20 pm
Fleetwood Town v Ipswich Town
Tuesday 16th March 2021 – 19:45
Highbury
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
Cook Is Up And Running.......
Thankfully and at the Third time of asking Town tasted victory under Paul Cook's leadership, free flowing classy Football it may not have been but neither was it a total disappointment or disaster. Of course we all have our own ideas and views of what we want to see and how it is achieved, I think by and large we all sing off the same hymn sheet where that is concerned, I do however think there are times when patience is important and it has to be accepted that when a new Manager comes in Three games is not a yardstick with which to measure anything, whether that be results, performances or entertainment value.
The win was a vital One when looking at our aspirations for the season, back in the top Six as we enter the home run is a good place to be and as has been mentioned numerous times the team who slips into the Sixth spot invariably do well in the end of season lottery that is the play offs, they seem to have the momentum where as those above them feel a sense of hardship and disappointment so if we can hang on in there we could yet see this campaign end in a positive way.
The first half was pretty much One way traffic with Town very much on top, especially the opening twenty Five minutes where quite honestly the game should have been put to bed such was Town's dominance and the ineptitude of Plymouth's game to that point. If we do have One big flaw in our game that needs to be addressed quickly it is that we fail to kill off games when on top and don't score enough goals, Cook is well aware of it and has mentioned it several times already. On the flip side of that is how well we are defending at times and while we rode our luck Two or Three times against Plymouth we still did enough to keep them out, this is a team that has been scoring a lot of goals, just ask Lincoln who shipped Four against them recently, when One player was struggling or out of position another stepped up and covered for him and that is the way it should be, at least Three times Myles Kenlock bailed out James Wilson and while Kenlock didn't have his best game in recent weeks it was invaluable contributions from him.
I must admit I didn't think we really missed James Norwood all that much, we sure as hell didn't give up so many avoidable free kicks or offsides when on the attack, while Kayden Jackson is not totally at home as the lone Striker I felt we looked quite dangerous when on the break and he was involved in Two or Three key moments, watching the highlights back it was Jackson that hustled the defender into gifting Troy Parrott the ball from which he scored, little things go unnoticed but that was as good as an assist for me.
The win takes our run to just Two defeats in the last Eleven games with Five wins and Four Draws to our name, that is play off form in anyone's book, irrespective of how it is achieved, results speak louder that performance right now. We now have a tricky little run of Three successive away games, Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic to come but first it's the long haul up to Fleetwood to take on a team who are so hard to read at times but currently their form is good with no defeats in the last Five outings, included in that run is an impressive away win at Lincoln so on their day they can produce good results. For me avoiding defeat in the next Two at Fleetwood and Portsmouth would be more than acceptable, anything else would be a massive bonus and would set us up nicely for what looks like a favourable run through April & May. We will again be without James Norwood as he will be attending a court appearance so it is up to Jackson & Parrott again to take the game to Fleetwood and with Flynn Downes also missing this could be One tough evening which is why I would accept the draw and that is my prediction. Low scoring affair with a point coming back to Suffolk. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Fleetwood Town
The current club was officially established in 1997 but, in two previous incarnations, the club's history dates back to 1908. The original club, Fleetwood F.C., were champions of the Lancashire Combination in 1923–24, and registered a hat-trick of Lancashire Combination Cup wins in 1932, 1933 and 1934. The side's goalkeeper in the first of those victories was Frank Swift, then only eighteen years old. After almost sixty years as a Lancashire Combination club, they were made founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968. The club finished in 10th place in its first season. As the NPL was one of several leagues immediately below Division Four of the Football League, this was effectively the fifth tier of English football, and the club would not surpass this success until 2010–11. Despite winning the Northern Premier League Cup in 1971, the club languished in the lower half of the table, finishing bottom for two successive seasons (1974–75 and 1975–76) and folded in 1976 because of financial difficulties. Its great players include the late Percy Ronson, after whom one stand is named.
The club was re-established in 1977 as Fleetwood Town F.C., with many of the original personnel. Initially placed in Division One of the Cheshire League, it was moved in 1982 to the North West Counties League Division Two in its inaugural year, and promoted to Division One in 1984. The team reached the final of the FA Vase in 1985, losing 3–1 to Halesowen Town in front of a 16,000 crowd at Wembley. The club was placed in Division One (second tier) of the Northern Premier League when the league established a second tier in 1987, becoming the inaugural Division One Champions in 1988. In 1990–91 the club finished fourth in the NPL Premier Division, at the time effectively the sixth tier. However, by 1996, this second club had also folded.
Re-formed in 1997 as Fleetwood Wanderers, the club was placed back in Division One of the North West Counties Football League (now the tenth tier of the English League system) and a sponsorship deal saw the club's name immediately changed to Fleetwood Freeport F.C.. The club was promoted to the Premier Division of the North West Counties League in 1999 and renamed Fleetwood Town F.C. in 2002. Tony Greenwood was appointed manager in 2003; soon afterward, Andy Pilley took over as chairman. Successive promotions, as North West Counties League champions in 2005 and Northern Premier League First Division runners-up in 2006, saw the club reach the Northern Premier League Premier Division.
Fleetwood Town won the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup in the 2006–07 season, beating Matlock Town 1–0, and finished the season in eighth place with 67 points.
In the 2007–08 season Fleetwood won the Northern Premier League, gaining promotion to the Conference North. Along the way they set a new attendance record for the division, and were easily the best-supported team in the Premier Division.
Fleetwood started the 2008–09 Conference North season poorly; with the club at the bottom of the league, manager Tony Greenwood, along with his assistant, Nigel Greenwood and coach Andy Whittaker, were sacked. Greenwood was replaced by Micky Mellon. His position at Fleetwood was made full-time in January 2009, a first for the club.
The demise of Farsley Celtic partway through the 2009–10 was detrimental to Fleetwood's campaign, as Farsley's entire 2009–10 playing record was expunged. Fleetwood were chasing promotion along with near neighbours Southport, and the ruling cost Fleetwood three points relative to Southport. Fleetwood appealed against the decision but the appeal was rejected the day before the last match of the season, leaving Southport one point ahead. Both teams won on the final day, giving Southport the championship. Fleetwood instead had to contest the play-offs, and after beating Droylsden on penalties in the semi-final Fleetwood won promotion to the Football Conference by beating Alfreton Town 2–1 in the final.
For the 2010–11 season the club made all of its players full-time professionals, though this resulted in a few players leaving the club, including club captain Jamie Milligan. The club spent most of the season in or near the play-off positions, eventually qualifying by finishing in fifth place. In the play-off semi-finals, against Wimbledon, a new attendance record of 4,112 was set in the home leg, but Fleetwood lost both games with an 8–1 aggregate scoreline.
Fleetwood's 2011–12 season was very successful, Fleetwood went on a 29-game unbeaten run, and were declared champions with two games remaining, giving them promotion to the Football League for the first time. At the end of the season Vardy moved to Leicester City for a fee of £1m, which subsequently rose to £1.7m—a record transfer fee for a non-league club.
Fleetwood had a good start to the 2012–13 season, and had risen to third in the league after 10 games. However, they only won two of the next 10 games, slipping to sixth position; chairman Andy Pilley and manager Micky Mellon fell out, after Mellon allegedly applied for the Burnley and Blackpool managerial vacancies. On 1 December 2012, following a 3–2 defeat against Aldershot in the FA Cup, Mellon was sacked as manager of the League Two side. Graham Alexander was appointed manager on 6 December 2012. Fleetwood were unbeaten for the next five games, and after a steady run of results had risen back to fourth place after 11 games. However, Fleetwood only won two of the remaining 15 games, and consequently slipped down the table to finish 13th in League Two; this resulted in a large rebuilding of the squad.
The 2013–14 season was another successful one. Having been in and around the automatic promotion places all season and getting to the League Trophy area final, the club narrowly missed out on automatic promotion, finishing in fourth place. After beating York City in the play-off semi-final, Fleetwood beat Burton Albion 1–0 from an Antoni Sarcevic free-kick in the play-off final at Wembley on 26 May to win promotion to League One for the first time.
Playing at the club's highest level, the 2014–15 season was very successful. After three games the team was top of the league for two games, and apart from a couple of games remained in the top half of the league all season, eventually finishing in a very creditable 10th place. Also in 2014, the club purchased a 57-bedroom hotel in Blackpool for the youth team; the following year, the club started to move into its new training ground in Thornton.
2015–16 was a difficult season. In July 2015, chairman Andy Pilley announced that the club's strategic direction would move more towards a self-sustaining model utilizing the development and sell-on of home-grown talent, rather than buying in players to attempt to climb the league pyramid further. The playing budget was trimmed heavily.
After a poor start to the season with only two wins in 10 league matches, Graham Alexander was sacked on 30 September 2015, with the club one point above the relegation zone. On 6 October 2015 Steven Pressley was appointed manager. After a season flirting with the relegation zone, Pressley guided the club to safety, five points above the relegation zone, with 10 wins in 35 league matches and an appearance in the league trophy northern area final. On 20 April 2016, Sir Alex Ferguson officially opened the club's £8m Poolfoot farm training ground complex with 18 pitches including a floodlit 4G artificial pitch, gym, cafe, bar, offices, etc.
Just before the start of the 2016–17 season, on 26 July 2016, Steven Pressley resigned from his position as manager. Uwe Rösler was appointed manager on 30 July 2016 who guided the club to its highest ever finish in 4th place but was narrowly beaten 1–0 by Bradford City in the play off semi-final.
However in the 2017–18 season Uwe Rosler was sacked on 17 February 2018 after seven straight defeats in all competitions with the club just outside the relegation zone by goal difference. On 22 February 2018 John Sheridan was appointed manager on a short term contract until the end of the season who successfully guided the club away from relegation and finished mid table in 14th place.
At the beginning of 2018–19 season Joey Barton was appointed manager on 2 June 2018 who guided the club to a 11th place with victories over local rivals Blackpool and giants Sunderland.
The 2019-20 season was unusual in two ways. First, the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) caused an early end to the regular season in March 2020. Second, the expulsion of Bury F.C. in August 2019 from the English Football League (EFL) for financial reasons meant the season started with only 23 clubs. Teams that were in promotion playoff positions when regular matches were abandoned went on to play the playoff matches in July 2020. Fleetwood Town were in 6th position and in a positive run, being unbeaten since losing to Burton Albion on the 7th January. However, they lost to Wycombe Wanderers 6-3 on aggregate in semi-final matches played in empty stadiums.
On 31 January 2021, Grayson was appointed manager of Fleetwood Town, following the departure of previous manager Joey Barton.
The Manager – Simon Grayson
Form Guide
Fleetwood Town Last 5 Matches – Currently in 14th place with 47 points
27 Feb Fleetwood 1 - 1 Accrington
2 Mar Lincoln City 1 - 2 Fleetwood
6 Mar Shrewsbury 0 - 2 Fleetwood
9 Mar Fleetwood 1 - 0 Gillingham
13 Mar Blackpool 0 - 0 Fleetwood
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 6th place with 54 points
27 Feb Ipswich Town 2 - 1 Doncaster
02 Mar Accrington 1-2 Ipswich Town
06 Mar Gillingham 3-1 Ipswich Town
09 Mar Ipswich Town 1-1 Lincoln City
13 Mar Ipswich Town 1-0 Plymouth Argyle
Match Referee – Gavin Ward
FLEETWOOD TOWN 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1