Premier League - Ipswich Town vs Tottenham Hotspur Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Ipswich Town v Tottenham Hotspurs



Saturday 22nd February 2025 – 15:00











Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike


Last Saturday saw Town put in a thoroughly commendable performance to bring a crucial point back to Portman Road, Villa Park is probably One of the toughest places to go right now as their home form proves and Villa are a team who have just breezed through to the latter stages of the Champions League which makes the feat even more impressive. As if that wasn't pleasing enough to do it with Ten men thanks to a ridiculous Red card for Axel Tuanzebe makes it even more satisfying, to go over Forty Five Minutes a man down says something of the character of the Boys in Blue and I think it is only right to say that on the day Kieran Mckenna got it bang on in all areas.

To be honest though come the full time whistle I was obviously relieved to have saw it out for a point but a large part of me felt it could well have been so much more had we remained with Eleven on the field of play, I felt that up to that point Town had actually looked the more impressive of the Two teams and there was no doubt in my mind that frustration among the villa players and home fans alike was starting to set in, obviously we will never know but once again lady luck seemed to go very much against us seeing at it has since been proven the first yellow card for Axel should never have been, that said he was stupid committing the second one when on a booking.

Much has been spoken about certain aspects of the game and how we won as a team and everyone deserved the plaudits and that is One Hundred percent correct but for me Two things lit up my afternoon, firstly the all action display of our talisman Liam Delap who put the cherry on the top with a world class finish that belies his age and lack of top flight experience, experienced defenders just cannot handle him when he is on his game, he's just my type of player and I love watching him doing his thing, he is just getting better and better.

The second thing was the superb performance of the MOTM Alex Palmer who was making his Town League debut, it was an incredible performance from palmer who pulled off several top notch saves, one in particular took your breath away and had his teammates congratulating him, it wasn't just the saves though he cut a clam and assured presence throughout the entire afternoon and can only have instilled confidence in his defence which is something that has been lacking all season, it was easy to say why the guy kept Eighteen clean sheets for West Brom last season and hopefully he can keep a few for us in what remains of the campaign.

I also think a special mention should go to one or Two others, Connor Townsend came in for the injured Leif Davis and it is fait to say we didn't miss Leif at all, Townsend defended well and grabbed his chance with both hands, Darragh O'Shea also had another impressive game as did Jacob greaves beside him, while Woolfy also did a lot of good stuff when he came on. I also thought George Hirst did well and put himself about once he had replaced Delap and he can count himself unlucky that his chances of league starts are only limited due to the incredible season Delap is having.

With both Leicester & Wolves losing it improved our position ever so slightly as we went up a place above Leicester and closed to within Three of Wolves who I have to say looked very good against Liverpool and in truth will take some catching if they continue to play like that, all we can do is our bit and keep picking up points.

Next up we welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Portman Road, if ever there was a team right now that you have no idea what is going to show up it is Spurs, to say they are as unpredictable as the British weather is a gross understatement, woeful One Minute, half decent the next, it really is a conundrum just what has happened with them this season, when we won at their place earlier in the season I felt we have taken a really big scalp but in truth they are often very poor and toothless and we go into this game with a real chance of points.

We have to get at them, we have to come out fired up and hungry because I truly believe they are there for the taking in this One. The crowd can play a massive part too, they were immense at Villa park, a lot of home fans have commented we were the best fans to visit them this season which is great to hear. Portman Road can be a cauldron and we need that Saturday, if we can get off to a flying start I am not sure Spurs will fancy it to be honest.

Kieran McKenna has decisions to make regarding team selection, players have put themselves in the frame and have made things even more tougher for the boss, clearly we will be without Axel which is a big loss but we do have options, will Davis and Sam Morsy be fit and if so do they come back in ? Who will come in for the unfortunate Enciso who thankfully doesn't appear to be too seriously injured, a lot of questions to be answered. What I do know is this is a massive chance to improve our chances of survival, we really are running out of opportunities and sooner or later they need to turn plucky performances into Three points, what better place to start than at home to Spurs, I get the feeling we may just do it ! COYB'S.



The Opposition – Tottenham Hotspurs - Honours





Leagues


First Division / Premier League

Winners (2): 1950–51, 1960–61

Second Division / Championship

Winners (2): 1919–20, 1949–50


Cups


FA Cup

Winners (8): 1900–01, 1920–21, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1990–91

League Cup

Winners (4): 1970–71, 1972–73, 1998–99, 2007–08

FA Charity Shield / FA Community Shield

Winners (7): 1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1991

Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Winners (1): 1902


European


UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (1): 1962–63

UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League

Winners (2): 1971–72, 1983–84

Anglo-Italian League Cup

Winners (1): 1971



The Manager – Ange Postecoglou









League Table as at 19.02.2025






Form Guide




Ipswich Town




16 Jan Ipswich Town 0 - 2 Brighton

19 Jan Ipswich Town 0 - 6 Manchester City

25 Jan Liverpool 4 - 1 Ipswich Town

1 Feb Ipswich Town 1 - 2 Southampton

15 Feb Aston Villa 1 - 1 Ipswich Town





Tottenham




15 Jan Arsenal 2 - 1 Tottenham

19 Jan Everton 3 - 2 Tottenham

26 Jan Tottenham 1 - 2 Leicester City

2 Feb Brentford 0 - 2 Tottenham

16 Feb Tottenham 1 - 0 Manchester Utd





Head to Head







Match Referee – Tim Robinson








IPSWICH TOWN 2 TOTTENHAM 1

[shabba]

Really excited for this one - as my son is a mascot for the game. I would have dreamed of doing that as a kid!

Will be a tough game, with the players they are getting back and the recent form has picked up, 2 wins and 2 clean sheets etc.

As usual - if we are at our best we can get something.

[hallamblue]

I'm sure they can arrange for an " oversized" mascot Shabba .... wobbly, hairy knees and long baggy short. I can you now lol . Me n Mike would wave to you .....

[shabba]

I'm sure they can arrange for an " oversized" mascot Shabba .... wobbly, hairy knees and long baggy short. I can you now lol . Me n Mike would wave to you .....

Haha at 6ft 3 and 16st imagine me waking out holding Morsy’s hand

[Mauswara]

Great photo, takes me back.

[marko69]

Yes, had to google that photo and the year. 1970. Looks like an opening credit to 1960s Coronation Street. I do like the unindustrialised photos of yesteryear.

Nice preview, and very correct in the sense that KMcK has decisions to make. And they’ll be scrutinised and no doubt praised & criticised equally. But @ £5M p/a i’d play my 97 year old granny if I felt like it!!

Voted draw in this one. A win wouldn't be a surprise as Big Ange is struggling a tad. A loss at Portman Road would be a mess for the Messiah.
Go for the 2-2 draw. Delap maybe scoring……. But that H. Son always seems to score. So hopefully Palmer gets palms to all of Sons shots.

Caption:

Ange: “Ahhhh. It was way easier up here. Won everything.”
Ref: “You heading back up there when you’re emptied, Ange?”

[ITFC2024]

This is a difficult one. I'd like to think we could win, but I'm not sure that will be on the cards. Spurs are improving, and we're still dealing with a few injuries. With that said, if we put in a solid defensive performance it's possible we could squeeze out a win or a draw. I just don't have a good feeling especially since we had high hopes for the home games vs Brighton and Southampton and we all know what happened.

Prove me wrong lads! COYB!

[Denny61]

This is a difficult one. I'd like to think we could win, but I'm not sure that will be on the cards. Spurs are improving, and we're still dealing with a few injuries. With that said, if we put in a solid defensive performance it's possible we could squeeze out a win or a draw. I just don't have a good feeling
especially since we had high hopes for the home games vs Brighton and Southampton and we all know what happened.

Prove me wrong lads! COYB!

Il be happy with a draw here and a win at united next weekend....spurs are under more pressure than us as they have two games won on the run and expected to continue in that vain ,especially when it's against us l.a good performance. 0.0.or 1.1 .and will see how good palmer is as well or was it just a good day at the office against villa .. .

[ITFC2024]

Yeah I think Palmer will be key, and I'm hoping Townsend will start again...not sure how the backline will look with Tuanzebe's suspension. Also, who will replace Enciso? Will Philogene go on the right and Omari move to the center? Or will Broadhead or Szmodics come in? It'll be interesting to see how KM sets us up.

[Denny61]

Yeah I think Palmer will be key, and I'm hoping Townsend will start again...not sure how the backline will look with Tuanzebe's suspension. Also, who will replace Enciso? Will Philogene go on the right and Omari move to the center? Or will Broadhead or Szmodics come in? It'll be interesting to see how KM sets us up.

Yes it will .kieran no doubt will have his homework done ,and no doubt will have targeted spurs weak spots and who to put in there ,to exploit ...

[shabba]

This is a difficult one. I'd like to think we could win, but I'm not sure that will be on the cards. Spurs are improving, and we're still dealing with a few injuries. With that said, if we put in a solid defensive performance it's possible we could squeeze out a win or a draw. I just don't have a good feeling especially since we had high hopes for the home games vs Brighton and Southampton and we all know what happened.

Prove me wrong lads! COYB!

This

[marko69]

This is a difficult one. I'd like to think we could win, but I'm not sure that will be on the cards. Spurs are improving, and we're still dealing with a few injuries. With that said, if we put in a solid defensive performance it's possible we could squeeze out a win or a draw. I just don't have a good feeling especially since we had high hopes for the home games vs Brighton and Southampton and we all know what happened.

Prove me wrong lads! COYB!

This

Sort of "this" but sort of not as well ---->> Defeated Spurs, defeated Chelsea, defeated by Brighton, defeated by Soton etc etc....., similar to defeating Celtic & Hearts then defeated by Dunfermline & St Mirren. The dynamics of games with supposed lesser opponents vs better attacking teams are night & day different. Got to believe that Ipswich will get a lot more chances vs Spurs than they did v Soton --->> and hopefully whoever the strikers are rise to the occasion like the fans KNOW they can, ie spurs / chelsea.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Sort of "this" but sort of not as well ---->> Defeated Spurs, defeated Chelsea, defeated by Brighton, defeated by Soton etc etc....., similar to defeating Celtic & Hearts then defeated by Dunfermline & St Mirren. The dynamics of games with supposed lesser opponents vs better attacking teams are night & day different. Got to believe that Ipswich will get a lot more chances vs Spurs than they did v Soton --->> and hopefully whoever the strikers are rise to the occasion like the fans KNOW they can, ie spurs / chelsea.

And that's the nub of the matter - we lack any sort of consistency: well, at least in playing well.

I see that the no-iah is quoted today as saying that the lack of home wins is "mostly down to small margins".
Really Kieron? And there was me thinking that it was mainly down to the fact that our performances have not been good enough.
In any walk of life, when thinks aren't working you have 2 choices: analyse objectively and make changes based on the mistakes made; or stick your head in the sand, kid yourself that the actions you have chosen are the correct ones, and start feeling sorry for yourself and blame "small margins". It's really as simple as that.

[shabba]

Jeez Rossi.

Reality is we aren’t as good, it’s not easy to ‘make changes’ and suddenly come out on top of teams with much better squads. How to you get not as good players to be consistently beat better players?

It can happen but consistently?

[marko69]

Sort of "this" but sort of not as well ---->> Defeated Spurs, defeated Chelsea, defeated by Brighton, defeated by Soton etc etc....., similar to defeating Celtic & Hearts then defeated by Dunfermline & St Mirren. The dynamics of games with supposed lesser opponents vs better attacking teams are night & day different. Got to believe that Ipswich will get a lot more chances vs Spurs than they did v Soton --->> and hopefully whoever the strikers are rise to the occasion like the fans KNOW they can, ie spurs / chelsea.

And that's the nub of the matter - we lack any sort of consistency: well, at least in playing well.

I see that the no-iah is quoted today as saying that the lack of home wins is "mostly down to small margins".
Really Kieron? And there was me thinking that it was mainly down to the fact that our performances have not been good enough.
In any walk of life, when thinks aren't working you have 2 choices: analyse objectively and make changes based on the mistakes made; or stick your head in the sand, kid yourself that the actions you have chosen are the correct ones, and start feeling sorry for yourself and blame "small margins". It's really as simple as that.

Well, hmmm, it could be as simple as that. But attached to that, it could be players missing sitters, goalkeepers letting in “sitters”
If it’s the “small margins” you’re alluding to of course.
Got to believe those are the small margins The Messiah is alluding to.

[ITFC2024]

Small margins or silly mistakes! Take you pick.

[marko69]

Small margins or silly mistakes! Take you pick.

Both are the same in the context of what KMcK was saying.

[Blue Wilf]

Jeez Rossi.

Reality is we aren’t as good, it’s not easy to ‘make changes’ and suddenly come out on top of teams with much better squads. How to you get not as good players to be consistently beat better players?

It can happen but consistently?

I could be wrong but for me, the changes I think Rossi is referring to are the small tactical changes at points in games where you need to play what you see - same old examples but here we go... Brentford when 0-2 up 5 mins to HT, why keep attacking and not hold the lead to HT and then you win the game. Fulham away - winning but keep attacking against an (in reality) better squad than ours instead of consolidating and holding on to win the game. There are plenty of others. I have been banging on about them for months but it seems some people have forgotten. Those are the decisions that have killed our chances of staying up. Now it is backs to the wall and need 4 points from Spurs and Man Utd to give us a chance. We could have been clear and away...

[Bluemike]

I think you're wasting your breath tbh.

[ITFC2024]

Small margins or silly mistakes! Take you pick.

Both are the same in the context of what KMcK was saying.

Well for me, small or fine margins are bad referee decisions or hitting the post or crossbar. Sure, KM could have made better decisions but a lot of the points we lost were due to bad goalkeeping or bad defending under pressure. So maybe if KM would have made different decisions the pressure may have been alleviated to a degree.

With that said, I’m a huge fan of KM’s philosophy but I do believe he asks too much of the players we have. It’s all speculation and it’s obvious KM has had a monumental task to keep us up. I’m not sure Guardiola could have achieved survival with the squad we have. I’m still very proud of our squad and what they have achieved, but the competition is superior.

[marko69]

Small margins or silly mistakes! Take you pick.

Both are the same in the context of what KMcK was saying.

Well for me, small or fine margins are bad referee decisions or hitting the post or crossbar. Sure, KM could have made better decisions but a lot of the points we lost were due to bad goalkeeping or bad defending under pressure. So maybe if KM would have made different decisions the pressure may have been alleviated to a degree.

With that said, I’m a huge fan of KM’s philosophy but I do believe he asks too much of the players we have. It’s all speculation and it’s obvious KM has had a monumental task to keep us up. I’m not sure Guardiola could have achieved survival with the squad we have. I’m still very proud of our squad and what they have achieved, but the competition is superior.

Talking about the small margins that KMcK is actually alluding to. The part in blue you typed up is true. 100% fact.
The part in red is "if, whats & maybes" and no one knows how things would pan out. So it cannot come into the small margins discussion.
I reckon if you guys actually believe that the boss is not applying himself properly to the job , get down to the AGM and make your voices heard instead of a shitty forum. I mean he's on £5M a year. Get yourselves on the SKY NEWS headlines with a demo going.

[ITFC2024]

Yes as I said, it’s pure speculation…like an un muddied pond or muddied. I’m sure Saint will get that reference?

[ITFC2024]

My line up:

Palmer(please!)

Godfrey O’Shea Greaves Townsend

Morsy Phillips or Cajuste Davis

Hutch Szmodics or Broadhead

Delap

4-3-2-1

(Forgot about Godfrey.)

[Bluemike]

Both are the same in the context of what KMcK was saying.

Well for me, small or fine margins are bad referee decisions or hitting the post or crossbar. Sure, KM could have made better decisions but a lot of the points we lost were due to bad goalkeeping or bad defending under pressure. So maybe if KM would have made different decisions the pressure may have been alleviated to a degree.

With that said, I’m a huge fan of KM’s philosophy but I do believe he asks too much of the players we have. It’s all speculation and it’s obvious KM has had a monumental task to keep us up. I’m not sure Guardiola could have achieved survival with the squad we have. I’m still very proud of our squad and what they have achieved, but the competition is superior.

Talking about the small margins that KMcK is actually alluding to. The part in blue you typed up is true. 100% fact.
The part in red is "if, whats & maybes" and no one knows how things would pan out. So it cannot come into the small margins discussion.
I reckon if you guys actually believe that the boss is not applying himself properly to the job , get down to the AGM and make your voices heard instead of a shitty forum. I mean he's on £5M a year. Get yourselves on the SKY NEWS headlines with a demo going.

And that's the thing people don't grasp, there is a world of difference in criticising things he does wrong to wanting to hound him out of the club as you advocate. It's Black and white and nothing in between going down that route, he has f*cked certain games up and cost us crucial points, I'm actually amazed anyone disagrees with that, but I also accept he's learning to but that doesn't exonerate him from any drop of blame. I think anyone who pays 10 million and plays him for half a season despite numerous costly errors deserves criticism, I could have told him back in July to steer well clear, was f**king obvious and so its proven.

[shabba]

My line up:

Palmer(please!)

O’Shea Woolfy Greaves Townsend

Morsy Phillips or Cajuste Davis

Hutch Szmodics or Broadhead

Delap

4-3-2-1

This is my prediction of what I think KM will go with. Suspect it’ll be a 4231 in possession with Johnson AMR and then he will drop back to a 343 out of possession.
I also think Johnson may allow Davis to bomb forward - greaves and the back line can shift across then as Godfrey can play RCB and RB, Johnson slipping into RB etc if Davis is high up.

Palmer

Godfrey
Greaves
O’Shea
Davis

Philips
Cajuste

Szmodics
Hutchinson
Johnson

Delap

[ITFC2024]

My line up:

Palmer(please!)

Godfrey O’Shea Greaves Townsend

Morsy Phillips or Cajuste Davis

Hutch Szmodics or Broadhead

Delap

4-3-2-1

This is my prediction of what I think KM will go with. Suspect it’ll be a 4231 in possession with Johnson AMR and then he will drop back to a 343 out of possession.
I also think Johnson may allow Davis to bomb forward - greaves and the back line can shift across then as Godfrey can play RCB and RB, Johnson slipping into RB etc if Davis is high up.

Palmer

Godfrey
Greaves
O’Shea
Davis

Philips
Cajuste

Szmodics
Hutchinson
Johnson

Delap

I completely forgot we had Godfrey. I'm not a fan of Johnson, although he's had the odd ok performance. I'd still like to see Davis experimented with as a more advanced wing back with Townsend at LB for cover.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Jeez Rossi.

Reality is we aren’t as good, it’s not easy to ‘make changes’ and suddenly come out on top of teams with much better squads. How to you get not as good players to be consistently beat better players?

It can happen but consistently?

Who said anything about consistently winning? I didn't - I said consistently playing well. Pity you didn't read it properly, or maybe you just didn't understand it? I have no problem with us losing, but I do have a problem with poor performance.

[marko69]

Well for me, small or fine margins are bad referee decisions or hitting the post or crossbar. Sure, KM could have made better decisions but a lot of the points we lost were due to bad goalkeeping or bad defending under pressure. So maybe if KM would have made different decisions the pressure may have been alleviated to a degree.

With that said, I’m a huge fan of KM’s philosophy but I do believe he asks too much of the players we have. It’s all speculation and it’s obvious KM has had a monumental task to keep us up. I’m not sure Guardiola could have achieved survival with the squad we have. I’m still very proud of our squad and what they have achieved, but the competition is superior.

Talking about the small margins that KMcK is actually alluding to. The part in blue you typed up is true. 100% fact.
The part in red is "if, whats & maybes" and no one knows how things would pan out. So it cannot come into the small margins discussion.
I reckon if you guys actually believe that the boss is not applying himself properly to the job , get down to the AGM and make your voices heard instead of a shitty forum. I mean he's on £5M a year. Get yourselves on the SKY NEWS headlines with a demo going.

And that's the thing people don't grasp, there is a world of difference in criticising things he does wrong to wanting to hound him out of the club as you advocate. It's Black and white and nothing in between going down that route, he has f*cked certain games up and cost us crucial points, I'm actually amazed anyone disagrees with that, but I also accept he's learning to but that doesn't exonerate him from any drop of blame. I think anyone who pays 10 million and plays him for half a season despite numerous costly errors deserves criticism, I could have told him back in July to steer well clear, was f**king obvious and so its proven.

But it is all a big discussion over the complete unknown. You and others are asking him to do stuff in games that Mick McCarthy done. Defend leads that (in real terms) is a 50/50 on the outcome. Ok, yes, it MIGHT work, but I certainly wouldn't bet FOR it against a team like Brentford. My f**king GOD!! Had he gone defensive and still drew the game....., the daggers would've been out by WAAAY more people than just you, Wilf & Rossi. I'll never criticise a guy who has a winning mentality. He has that. YES, it is more difficult....., as 24 says, wouldn't even trust PEP to steer this team clear, but you cannot put black marks down against a guy who's out to win......, not a f**king "save face" Lambert or McCarthy.
To use a Mick saying re McKenna......, "better the devil you know"

[Bluemike]

Defend for 5 minutes Marko ? Surely that had to be the way in that game?

[Cabanas Blue]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10 ... _tn__=EH-R

Very attacking line up, no Broadhead on the bench again.