League 1 - Ipswich Town vs Rotherham United Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:31 am
Ipswich Town v Rotherham United
Tuesday 23rd November 2021 – 19:45
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts Mike
Are We Still A Bit Of A Soft Touch At Times ?.........
It's hard to feel anything other that fed up and frustrated following our 2-0 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium Of Light on Saturday past, having bossed much of the game for long spells and limiting the Black Cats to Two shots on goal it is more than galling to come away with a Two goal defeat, several good chances going begging in the process, chances that earlier in the season we were putting away at will, Two attempts on our goal and Two goals conceded is not exactly something to enthuse about either, things had started to seem a bit better but suddenly it just feels like same old Town again with failings at both ends of the pitch.
It seems that One or two players have gone off the boil a bit too, Macauley Bonne in particular is suddenly finding the going a bit tougher than it was, admittedly at times the service isn't what it should be, Bersant Celina too is another who blows hot and cold and at the moment he is icy cold. I am not sure Samy Morsy is running games as we had hoped while Lee Evans rarely gets the pulse racing. I think without question it is time for Joe Pigott, Conor Chaplin & Idris El Mizouni to be in the starting Eleven, add to that we really need Wes Burns fit and available to us, your best players need to be on the pitch where possible and sadly Paul Cook often gets this wrong, purely my opinion.
W are entering a really busy and dare I say it crucial time of the season with games coming thick and fast, it is not time for a blip, after all we have had ours at the start of the season, some say it doesn't matter about that but it most certainly does, no goals scored in the last Three games is not what we have become used to and the One up front is suddenly looking everything I thought it is, fragile and at times not attacking enough, I feel we need to maybe try something a bit different as teams clearly now know what to expect.
Next up is what for me will probably be our hardest game of the season as Rotherham Utd come to town, I see them as winners of this division. Another defeat will hardly instill much belief that we are going to get into the top six so we really need a win in this one, teams are starting to pull away from us, still the consistency we need to climb the table is not there, we must find that run of form soon as we approach the half way stage of the season.
The Millers are currently second in the table, Two points behind the leaders Plymouth but have a game in hand, they are in good form and are unbeaten in their last Eleven League games, defensively they have the best defence in the division having only conceded Thirteen goals, at the other end have scored Thirty Two which is only bettered by ourselves. Striker Michael Smith is banging in the goals and already has twelve to his name, while Freddie Ladapo and Ben Wiles have also been finding the net regularly. Everything about them looks strong and this will be one tough game, Town at their best can beat anyone but we are some way off our best in recent games. I think this may be another difficult night for Town which will only increase the frustration and disappointment further. I am going for a Rotherham win by a couple of goals, I am hoping against hope that I have it wrong and Town spring back into life, pick the right team and mix it up a bit and we may just have a chance. 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.
At the first attempt, Rotherham returned to the Championship, defeating Shrewsbury in the play-off final, only to be relegated back to League 1 after finishing last season in 23rd place.
The Manager – Paul Warne
Form Guide
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 10th place with 24 points
3 Oct Ipswich Town 2 - 1 Fleetwood
30 Oct Plymouth 2 - 1 Ipswich Town
2 Nov Wycombe 1 - 4 Ipswich Town
13 Nov Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Oxford Utd
20 Nov Sunderland 2 - 0 Ipswich Town
Rotherham Last 5 Matches – Currently in 2nd place with 34 points
23 Oct Milton Keynes 0 - 3 Rotherham
30 Oct Rotherham 5 - 1 Sunderland
2 Nov Charlton 1 - 1 Rotherham
13 Nov Shrewsbury pp. Rotherham
20 Nov Rotherham 3 - 1 Cambridge Utd
Match referee – Adam Crysell
IPSWICH TOWN 1 ROTHERHAM UNITED 1