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Sunday 10th February 2019 – 12:00
Carrow Road
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Pre-Match Thoughts - Bluemike
The Worst Ever ?
Such has been the disastrous state of our season to date I have found myself wondering if this is in fact the worst Town team in my lifetime, having attended my first Town game some 47 years ago I can honestly say I cannot remember a worse team in all that time, week after week you think it can't get much worse but week after week it does just that. I actually think we have some talented players at the club, Bishop, Judge, Chalobah, Downes, Collins etc, as individuals they are fine but we just look a total mish mash of a team, it is as if they have been thrown together and don't know each other, no cohesion or understanding of what each other are going to do, a player runs one way so his team mate passes it the other way, it happens time after time, after time.
Prior to Saturday's defeat to Sheffield Wednesday a few fans felt we still had a chance of avoiding the inevitable, I haven't met a single one since the game, every man and his dog are resigned to it now and while the latest defeat actually changed nothing, a Seven or Eight point gap is still three games, people need to start being sensible, it just ain't gonna happen, we are pretty woeful, it took until the 84th minute for Town to get an attempt on target and that was a header from Chalobah who probably can't wait to get back to Chelsea's reserve side.
The One positive for me was the performances of Teddy Bishop & Toto Nsiala, both had really good games, Bishop is definitely back to his best and is a must in the team every week while Toto had an excellent game, blocking and heading everything that came his way, I saw Cole Skuse's comments that he was a colossus and I think that is fair, he's waited for another chance and grabbed it with both hands, god knows if Collins and/or Chambers are out on Sunday we are going to need that kind of performance again.
We Talk The Talk But That's About It
I must admit I am just beginning to get a little bit jarred off with players coming out in the press after yet another defeat saying " as a group the players still believe they can get out of it" !!! How many times do we need to hear the same old garbage? Every week it is someone different, I think we were saying it a dozen games ago and we've still hardly won a game. Words mean nothing, it's performances on the pitch that will show me they truly believe it and that is not happening, not even close.
I wasn't overly impressed with Skuse's comments that the players felt at half time they weren't "at the races", it was a game we had to win !! That for me is a total let down, god knows how many times we have looked "not at the races" for Eighty minutes only to give it a right go for Ten minutes and actually have our opponents on the rack, in our situation we have to give it a go for Ninety Five minutes, nothing less will do, in fact anything less is unacceptable.
Oh The Joy
Just what we need, a local derby against a bang in form Canaries team, this is looking like being the biggest mismatch in East Anglian Rivalry history and I am dreading it. I usually look forward to it more than any other game, and for the last few seasons have felt it is our time but I feel completely the opposite this time around. I feel we have not had the rub of the green in recent games against the scum and in truth we should have won Two or Three of the recent games but it looks like we are going to need every piece of luck going to get anything from this. Having watched them turn over Leeds on their own patch just an hour after our limp effort had me wincing at the thought of this Sunday, it can only go one way, surely ?
If it was up to me I would scrap this pathetic One up front nonsense that Lambert seems to think is the way forward and play Keane and Quaner up front together with a Midfield Diamond of Chalobah, Judge, Bishop and Skuse/Downes, backed up with a flat back Four and give it a real go, we are going to get beat so take it to them and make a match of it. We need to start well, if they get an early goal I fear for us big time but their fans can get restless, especially against us as has been shown in the past so lets get out of the blocks and go at them, attack is the best form of defence.
Whatever may or may not unfold on Sunday I love my club, ITFC is a massive part of my life and always will be which is why I and 2000 other Tractor Boys & Girls will be there to see it through whatever the outcome, this write up is hardly inspiring but how can it be given the severity of where we are right now but one thing is certain, we will sing our hearts out from start to finish, we will do our bit to raise the team and be proud of our club, if the players truly do believe they can still get out of it what better place to start than Carrow Road, Top versus Bottom and the return of Paul Lambert, Football is a funny old game, could it be written in the stars ? A mega upset ? I doubt it very much but the chances of me being arrested should we win are high, very high. Ipswich Til I Die.
The Opposition – Norwich City
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Norwich City F.C. was formed on 17 June 1902.
Following a FA Commission, the club was ousted from the amateur game in 1905, as it was deemed to be a professional organisation. Later that year Norwich were elected to play in the Southern League and with increasing crowds, they were forced to leave Newmarket Road in 1908, moving to The Nest, a disused chalk pit. The club's original nickname was the Citizens, although this was superseded by 1907 by the more familiar 'Canaries' after the club's chairman (who was a keen breeder of canaries) dubbed his boys 'The Canaries' and changing their strip to yellow and green. During the First World War, with football suspended and facing spiralling debts, City went into voluntary liquidation on 10 December 1917.
The club was officially reformed on 15 February 1919. When, in May 1920, the Football League formed a third Division, Norwich joined the Third Division for the following season. The club went on to endure a mediocre decade, finishing no higher than eighth but no lower than 18th. The following decade proved more successful for the club with promotion as champions to the Second Division in the 1933–34 season. With crowds continuing to rise, and with the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation of the ground, but ultimately decided on a move to Carrow Road. The club was relegated to the 3rd Division just before the outbreak of Second World War. The league was suspended the following season and did not resume until the 1946–47 season. City finished this and the following season in 21st place, the poor results forcing the club to apply for re-election to the league.
In the 1959–60 season, Norwich were promoted to the Second Division after finishing in second place. In 1962 Ron Ashman guided Norwich to their first trophy, in a two-legged final to win the League Cup.
Sixth place in the league was the closest the club came to promotion to the First Division during the 1960s, but after winning the division in the 1971–72 season under manager Ron Saunders, Norwich City reached the highest level of English football for the first time. Relegation to the Second Division in 1974 resulted in the resignation of Saunders and the appointment of John Bond. A highly successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division. Bond resigned during the 1980–81 season and the club were relegated, but bounced back the following season after finishing third.
The 1984–85 season was of mixed fortunes for the club; under Ken Brown's guidance, they reached the final of the Football League Cup at Wembley Stadium, having defeated Ipswich Town in the semi-final. In the final, they beat Sunderland , but in the league both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated to the second tier of English football. This made Norwich the first English club to win a major trophy and suffer relegation in the same season.
City bounced back to the top flight by winning the Second Division championship in the 1985–86 season. This was the start of what remains in 2012 a club-record nine consecutive seasons in the top division of English football until they were relegated to the First Division at the end of the 1994/95 season.
English television cook Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones took over the majority of Norwich City's shares in 1996.
Nigel Worthington took over as Norwich City manager in December 2000 following an unsuccessful two years for the club under Bruce Rioch and then Bryan Hamilton.
The 2003–04 campaign saw the club win the First Division title, and returned to the top flight for the first time since 1995, but were relegated after one season.
Following this relegation, the club entered a 'dark' period with Worthington, Peter Grant, Glenn Roeder and Bryan Gunn all taking on the Managers role and achieving mediocre results, culminating in the relegation to League 1 at the end of the 2008/9 season.
Following their relegation, their first game of the season resulted in a shock 7–1 home defeat against East Anglian rivals Colchester United. This was the club's heaviest ever home defeat, succeeding a record that had stood since 1946 and Gunn was sacked six days later.
On 18 August 2009, Paul Lambert was announced as the new manager, leaving his post at Colchester, and nine months later led Norwich to promotion back to the Championship as League One Champions, after a single season in League One. The following season saw Norwich promoted to the Premier League, finishing second in the table, completing the first back-to-back promotions from the 3rd tier to the 1st.
A generally successful season saw the club finish in 12th place in their first season back in the Premier League. Manager Paul Lambert resigned within a month of the season's close to take up the vacant managerial spot at Aston Villa, and was replaced by Chris Hughton.
The 2012–13 season started poorly and a bad run of form that was followed by a club record unbeaten run in the Premier League. A 1–0 home defeat to Luton Town on 26 January 2013 resulted in Norwich becoming the first English top flight team to lose a FA Cup tie to a non-league side in 24 years.
Norwich secured their third year in the Premier League with consecutive victories in the last two games of the season, to finish 11th in the league, however they were relegated back to the Championship after finishing 18th in the 2013–14 season.
After a mediocre first half of the 2014–15 season, Neil Adams resigned which paved the way for the appointment of then Hamilton Academical manager Alex Neil in January 2015. The appointment reinvigorated Norwich's season and after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion back to the Premier League, victory in the 2015 Championship playoff final secured an immediate return to the top division of English football.
This was only temporary relief, however, they were relegated straight back to the Championship for the 2016/17 season.
The following season started successfully, with the club sitting top of the Championship in mid October. However, a poor run of form and results followed, which included five consecutive defeats, and saw the team slide to as low as twelfth in the table. On 10 March 2017, Alex Neil was sacked by the club , with first team coach Alan Irvine placed in caretaker charge for the remainder of the season, which saw the club finish eighth in the Championship.
On 25 May 2017, the club appointed German coach Daniel Farke as head coach, becoming the first foreign head coach of the club in its 114-year history for the 2017/18 campaign.
Last season the budgies finished in 14th place with 60 points.
The Manager – Daniel Farke
![Image](https://www.pinkun.com/polopoly_fs/1.5034662.1496413117!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/image.jpg)
Media Watch - K L Blue
Form Guide
Norwich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 1st place with 57 points
1 Jan Brentford 1 - 1 Norwich City
12 Jan West Bromwich 1 - 1 Norwich City
18 Jan Norwich City 3 - 1 Birmingham City
26 Jan Norwich City 2 - 2 Sheffield Utd
2 Feb Leeds Utd 1 - 3 Norwich City
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – Currently in 24th place with 18 points
1 Jan Ipswich Town 2 - 3 Millwall
12 Jan Ipswich Town 1 - 0 Rotherham
19 Jan Blackburn 2 - 0 Ipswich Town
26 Jan Aston Villa 2 - 1 Ipswich Town
2 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 1 Sheffield Wed
Marko's Caption Contest – THE DON CUP
Third week in a row for the 5 points, Ando. Had a look through the archives......, Thats never been done before. Closest was Derick with the 5-5-4 during his winning season. Great stuff. Keep them coming guys.
SHEFF WED scores:
Ando 5pts (balls)
Bluemike 4pts (Lardarse)
Aylesburyblue (Greggs) Number 9 & Quasar 3pts
Blueblood, Bluemike, (Marko) & Nicsreamer (Bluey) 2pts
LEAGUE TABLE
ANDO 67
NICSCREAMER 64
FROSTY 56
BLUEMIKE 53
AYLESBURYBLUE 52
DERICKIPSW 51
TANGFASTIC 45
BLUEBLOOD 38
NUMBER 9 38
IPSWICHTOWNNO1 35
WATERSHIP DOWN 18
PATTHEGIMP 12
JOHNNYB 11
BLUEPETER 9
KERRY BLUE 8
BLUEWILF 7
BARMY BILLY 6
SHED ON TOUR 5
QUASAR 3
TODD66 3
MASSEYFERGUSON 3
MARVINBAY1973 2
CHARNWOOD 1
KL BLUE 1
OHIOTRACTORBOY 1
![Image](https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/67/590x/Mick-McCarthy-Daniel-Farke-869582.jpg)
Match Referee – Peter Bankes
![Image](https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/incoming/article12570277.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/JS103000233.jpg)
NORWICH CITY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1