League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Here you can chat about everything and anything related to ITFC and other football issues. This forum also hosts the now Internationally famous TB.com ITFC match previews which contain insightful pre-match thoughts, previous highlights, news links relating to Town, form guides and other bits and pieces. Feel free to discuss meet ups/travel plans in here as well.

Moderators: marko69, Bluemike, Charnwood

Another ugly win?

Rovers Win
0
No votes
Town Win
9
64%
Draw
5
36%
 
Total votes: 14

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:26 am

Shed on tour wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:36 am
Didn’t watch the game so can’t comment on the performance. However, had a quick look on one of the donny forums and there were quite few of their fans impressed with the way we played. They said that we were one of the better teams they have seen this season and we totally controlled the game.
Pleasing to read that Tony, I start to question myself as I thought finishing aside we played well last night and never looked in any real trouble.

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:29 am

tangfastic wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 8:41 am
Not sure about this MK free-hit thing. It’s a massive game and if we were to get 3 wins in a row then it would really feel like a promotion push and a massive boost for the team. It’s a bit of monkey on our back not getting a 3 game winning run. We can’t just select games that are winnable. We will slip up against unfancied sides (we’re not killing of teams) and so we need to feel we can win games against the top sides. Great opportunity to win 3 in a row and get a lot of confidence spreading throughout the squad….. and the fanbase. If we slip up against MK then it would feel we’re just flat-track bullies.

Thought that was a big improvement on Gillingham. It does feel a real struggle to score at the moment, but there were more chances created and our finishing wasn’t great.

Never completely comfortable sitting on a slender lead, but we seem to be better at seeing games out.
My meaning of a free hit is my thinking that to win Two from every batch of Three games will see us into the play off's and I feel we should be able to beat both Burton & Cheltenham at home but of course to beat MK Dons would be massive and certainly not beyond us although they are playing really well, to think Doncaster have beaten them twice is a reason to be positive, we also have Morsy back which does change the whole dynamic of the team, I know he will go with Evans alongside him but after last night I wouldn't, I thought he was the weakest of the Midfield.

Dazzz67
Posts: 1646
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 1:36 pm
Location: Swindon

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Dazzz67 » Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:31 am

Think after reflection you have summed it up perfectly Bluballs, it was a decent performance just frustrating.

But its a win and that is what matters.

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:32 am

BlueBalls wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:27 am
I thought the same. It wasnt a bad performance just frustrating at times.
Yep[ but as you know Town have been frustrating to watch for nigh on 25 years now with the odd exception, we are also in a period of transition with McKenna's brand of Football being new to everyone, not to mention a rookie manager who is doing a sterling job while learning the ropes with a squad that a so called successful and experienced manager assembled but failed to utilise in any way, shape or form.

mendipblue
Posts: 708
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 8:48 pm

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by mendipblue » Wed Feb 09, 2022 12:49 pm

A must for me Saturday is both Morsy and Aluko should play.
To fit Celina and Caplin in as well means playing 1 striker. Right now are strikers are the weakness. Bonne and Norwood get caught offside to often and Piggott lacks confidence, so what do we do, Jackson is crap in the air so he is not the answer. Is it time to release the beast and give Simpson ago?

Tangfastic
Posts: 4912
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:52 am

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Tangfastic » Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:13 pm

mendipblue wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 12:49 pm
A must for me Saturday is both Morsy and Aluko should play.
To fit Celina and Caplin in as well means playing 1 striker. Right now are strikers are the weakness. Bonne and Norwood get caught offside to often and Piggott lacks confidence, so what do we do, Jackson is crap in the air so he is not the answer. Is it time to release the beast and give Simpson ago?
Yes, the strikers are mis-firing and the best finisher at the club IMO is Chaplin. So I’d like to get him in the team. I thought Celina did well and put two great crosses on a plate for Bonne to miss. So I’d give him another go behind a single striker Norwood or Bonne. If our strikers keep missing, Ash might get his wish and Simpson gets a chance. Both Pigott and Jackson can’t play up alone.
Really like Aluko, but I think he’ll have to wait his turn. Not the worst problem in the world, but Chaplin, Aluko and Celina are fighting for 1 or 2 places in the team.

User avatar
ashfordblue
Posts: 2968
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 7:52 pm
Location: Ashford Kent / was Felixstowe

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by ashfordblue » Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:27 pm

rossi wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:40 am
Pleased with the 3 points, and results since KM took over have been great.

A few observations:
  • There is still far too much sideways and backwards passing. Possession is good but you need to use it
  • One possible reason for so much sideways and backwards passing is lack of movement further up the field. More often than not there are only static targets
  • In my opinion, the most disappointing player last night was Wes Burns. He was more guilty than anybody else of backwards passing, when he ought to be running at defenders every time he gets the ball
  • We're struggling to score goals. Bonne is not doing it, Norwood is not doing it, Jackson and Piggot are not capable of doing it. Maybe Ash is right and we should be giving Simpson a go
Bloody right I am rossi, everything to gain nothing to lose, I just want KM to try something different, MK Dons is definitely going to be a passing game so the gaps will be there to exploit, and Simmo is ideal for that little bit more of his aggressive side, and runs at defenders which we know defenders hate.

User avatar
ashfordblue
Posts: 2968
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 7:52 pm
Location: Ashford Kent / was Felixstowe

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by ashfordblue » Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:32 pm

Dazzz67 wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 10:51 am
Number9 do you have a problem? No I do not have a problem with 'tippy tappy' football, its all part of the build up in play. Yes, good possession and we controlled the game but it did seem a little like a training game, boring at times, we did enough but the lack of scoring oe finishing did not measure up.

Stop being ageist or me and you will fall out ok.
:lol: Love this comment Dazza, if anybody is ageist it has to be me, plus I always talk a load of bollocks :lol: :lol: :lol:

User avatar
arana peligrosa
Posts: 10485
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:41 pm

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by arana peligrosa » Wed Feb 09, 2022 3:55 pm

We won, we got three points, in reality you can't ask for much more. I keep in mind the opposition are fighting for their lives, it were always going to be a test going there, thought in truth a draw would come from it.

We beat them 6 - 0 in the reverse fixture so guess they've had enough of us for one season. Shame in a sense they'll most likely succumb to relegation, they done no harm to anybody and become something of an established name over the years but statistics showed last night they don't possess the requisite attributes to remain in this league. It's a pity but you move on and focus on the next opposition in line.

We may struggle at times to finish chances, all and any players may not be pulling their weight, there can and is room for dispute in other areas but looking from the top McKenna's record thus far (with us) is outstanding. If the dream of promotion comes to pass no matter how fanciful it may be, with a few new recruits in the summer and shipping out some further dead-weights, McKenna could really make an impact at Championship level.

Only problem then can or will be led away by a bigger more lucrative club name as his resume expands and improves but it's all hypothetical until the time arises.

Andym
Posts: 5355
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:47 pm
Location: Mid Suffolk

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Andym » Wed Feb 09, 2022 4:46 pm

rossi wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:40 am
Pleased with the 3 points, and results since KM took over have been great.

A few observations:
  • There is still far too much sideways and backwards passing. Possession is good but you need to use it
  • One possible reason for so much sideways and backwards passing is lack of movement further up the field. More often than not there are only static targets
  • In my opinion, the most disappointing player last night was Wes Burns. He was more guilty than anybody else of backwards passing, when he ought to be running at defenders every time he gets the ball
  • We're struggling to score goals. Bonne is not doing it, Norwood is not doing it, Jackson and Piggot are not capable of doing it. Maybe Ash is right and we should be giving Simpson a go
I haven’t posted about the football all season and was determined not to, but this has prompted me to because I agree with nearly all of it.
The point about lack of movement is spot on, and has been a problem at Ipswich for years. I used to criticise Skuse for it, he would hide so defenders could not give him the ball, he wasn’t interested when Town were in possession. We don’t have that problem now, but I get so fed up when people sat near me moan at every sideways or backward pass. They should be moaning at the other 9 on the pitch who aren’t making themselves available. We had one game recently where we passed it beautifully, lots of short passes, give it and go, finding space. There was none of that last night, which unfortunately is true for so many performances. Passing sideways and backwards is not the cause of our problems; it’s the effect of the bigger problem of lack of movement.
The other problem is that we are trying to fit players to a formation rather than vice versa. I would argue that generally Burns has been far less effective playing as a wing back. He was rightly criticised the other week for not tracking back; but it’s more than that. Playing as a winger you can take a defender on without worrying. As a wing back, if you take him on and lose it there’s no cover behind you. So you have to play safer or risk being caught out of position.
Bonne does get caught offside too often, but if you play off the last defender it will happen. It will happen a lot more if you make runs and the rest of the team are too slow to spot it. I agree he was poor last night but I watch him run and run week after week and the ball doesn’t come soon enough.
Finally, Simpson is a rookie. Maybe give him 10-15 minutes at the end of a match, but he is nowhere near a starter in my opinion. I’d prefer Bonne or Norwood any day.
I’ll go back to hibernation now.

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:52 pm

And yet their manager felt we were the best team to visit them this season.

User avatar
Charnwood
Global Moderator
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:25 pm
Location: Moraira, Spain.

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Charnwood » Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:06 pm

That really has to be a p*ss take when you think only last Tuesday Rotherham played them off the park winning 0-5. Surely they must have played better than our laboured display last night. I can only assume the comment was made for the benefit of his players because in truth that was far from going one our best performances of the season.

mendipblue
Posts: 708
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 8:48 pm

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by mendipblue » Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:36 pm

It is probably meant we are the best "football " team they have played, let's be honest here Rotherham do not play much "football " but are very effective at what they do.

shabba
Posts: 2052
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:07 pm

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by shabba » Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:41 pm

Enjoyed another iFollow watch - never mind spending a tenner when we win :).

Very controlled performance just lacked sharpness upfront.

I thought the back three were good, Walton was solid again and I’d like to say I thought Thompson was fairly decent, he got up and down the whole side, was helping in attacks and dropping deep when needed - good energy in him and I think he might go from strength to strength as he gets settled in.

Midfield was ok but we do still miss Morsey. Celina was bright and the only one really able to carry the ball in the final third.

Bonne seems to do more running that Norwood but as others have said he has dropped off in front of goal.

Huge test on the weekend and I worry we have slipped back into a team who can beat the lesser sides but struggle against the bigger ones, I think we need to really think are we actually as good as we think in terms of the players? I’d say only a few are really top draw.

Shout out to Wolfie who looks a key part now.

MasseyFerguson
Posts: 391
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:50 pm

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by MasseyFerguson » Wed Feb 09, 2022 8:08 pm

Andym wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 4:46 pm
I haven’t posted about the football all season and was determined not to, but this has prompted me to because I agree with nearly all of it.
The point about lack of movement is spot on, and has been a problem at Ipswich for years. I used to criticise Skuse for it, he would hide so defenders could not give him the ball, he wasn’t interested when Town were in possession. We don’t have that problem now, but I get so fed up when people sat near me moan at every sideways or backward pass. They should be moaning at the other 9 on the pitch who aren’t making themselves available. We had one game recently where we passed it beautifully, lots of short passes, give it and go, finding space. There was none of that last night, which unfortunately is true for so many performances. Passing sideways and backwards is not the cause of our problems; it’s the effect of the bigger problem of lack of movement.
The other problem is that we are trying to fit players to a formation rather than vice versa. I would argue that generally Burns has been far less effective playing as a wing back. He was rightly criticised the other week for not tracking back; but it’s more than that. Playing as a winger you can take a defender on without worrying. As a wing back, if you take him on and lose it there’s no cover behind you. So you have to play safer or risk being caught out of position.
Bonne does get caught offside too often, but if you play off the last defender it will happen. It will happen a lot more if you make runs and the rest of the team are too slow to spot it. I agree he was poor last night but I watch him run and run week after week and the ball doesn’t come soon enough.
Finally, Simpson is a rookie. Maybe give him 10-15 minutes at the end of a match, but he is nowhere near a starter in my opinion. I’d prefer Bonne or Norwood any day.
I’ll go back to hibernation now.
Excellent observations.

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:24 am

Charnwood wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:06 pm
That really has to be a p*ss take when you think only last Tuesday Rotherham played them off the park winning 0-5. Surely they must have played better than our laboured display last night. I can only assume the comment was made for the benefit of his players because in truth that was far from going one our best performances of the season.
One less than we put past them :wink:

User avatar
Charnwood
Global Moderator
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:25 pm
Location: Moraira, Spain.

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Charnwood » Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:50 pm

Bluemike wrote:
Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:24 am
Charnwood wrote:
Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:06 pm
That really has to be a p*ss take when you think only last Tuesday Rotherham played them off the park winning 0-5. Surely they must have played better than our laboured display last night. I can only assume the comment was made for the benefit of his players because in truth that was far from going one our best performances of the season.
One less than we put past them :wink:

Not sure how 5 minus 1 = 1 less ? ( you’ve definitely got me stumped with that one Mike 😮 )

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Fri Feb 11, 2022 6:07 am

We won 6-0 at home.

User avatar
AzzurroMark
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:17 pm
Location: Norfolk

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by AzzurroMark » Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:17 pm

Interesting to see Doncaster recorded another away win at Lincoln tonight. We know we dominated the game against them but only had the 1-0 win to show for it, but when you take the wins they have now had either side of our victory there, perhaps it gives extra credence to the good job KM is doing. Afterall i thought Donny looked pretty lightweight going forward, but maybe they were being forced into this by their efforts to keep us away from their goal?

Edit. Ok so i forgot about their trouncing at Pompey on Saturday! :blush:

User avatar
Bluemike
Global Moderator
Posts: 29566
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Ipswich

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by Bluemike » Wed Feb 16, 2022 6:37 am

How dare you give us some credit lol.

hallamblue
Posts: 30856
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2004 3:30 pm
Location: Ipswich Town F.C.

Re: League 1 - Doncaster Rovers vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

Post by hallamblue » Wed Feb 16, 2022 7:48 am

Here’s hoping Donny do it again on Saturday then AM…. Coz They’re playing Sheffield Weds !

Post Reply