Charmless Man

ITFC v Nottingham Forest 29th March 2014

On Saturday lunchtime there was a genuine excitement and buzz around Ipswich. We could actually make the playoffs this season! A win against manager-less Forest, who were without a win in eight games was quite conceivable.

Max sporting a new trim

The sun was out which added to the feel good factor, that along with beers in Bowmans and The Curve Bar. It all paved the way for an exciting afternoon at Portman Road.

Definitely a day for watering the pitch

Ex Town loanee Danny Collins had other ideas though. He headed in a corner for the visitors after just four minutes, to bring us all back down to earth momentarily. The crowd however responded well and really got behind the Blues, there was belief that we would get back into the match.

Paul Anderson was taken off after thirty-five minutes, shortly after a collision with Greg Halford. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, his replacement, came on to give us a more attacking look.

However soon after the change Forest came close to scoring a second goal, Town's keeper Dean Gerken bravely denied Jamie Mackie with a great save.

Mick McCarthy made the bold decision at half time to replace Stephen Hunt, who wasn't having his best game, with big Frank Nouble. Why not? might as well go for it at this time of the season.

The second half was all about Ipswich attacking The North Stand (who were the loudest they've been all season). Forest had to defend for the majority of the half, I had the feeling that if we got level with them, we would then go on to win the game.

Karl Darlow, the Nottingham keeper was kept very busy and made a couple of really good saves to keep his side in the lead. The pick of them was his finger tip save to push Daryl Murphy's twenty-five yarder round the post, in the seventy-seventh minute.

The Ipswich number nine hit the back of the net with a thumping header just a minute later. Aaron Cresswell played a short corner to Nouble and just as we were all thinking in frustration 'F**ks sake, why did he do that for?' the Clack man chipped a delightful ball to the far post, which Murphy then buried.

It set up a really exciting finish, Forest came close to regaining their lead from a corner, Darlow was booked for time wasting and then Town had a great opportunity to win the match in the penultimate minute after a Collins mistake. Murphy, who had Town sub Paul Green calling for the ball decided to go for goal himself, but his shot cannoned off a defender and the chance was gone.

Fortunately Reading also drew and now with just seven games of the season remaining we're still only two points behind sixth spot and in with the chance of extending our season.

Jonny Williams went off to a standing ovation when he was substituted near the end of the match with the crowd singing ' We want you to stay'. We wait with anticipation that Crystal Palace boss Tony Pullis will extend his loan period. I honestly think that with him in the team we will have a realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Ipswich 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Murphy 77                     Collins 4

Att:17,955

The playlist

Charmless Man by Blur - after sacking their manager Billy Davies on Monday I read a tweet from Henry Winter - 'The Pele' of football journalists, in my opinion, he has the ability to say a lot whilst writing little. He could probably write decent songs!

In 2011 he summed up how far Ipswich had fallen from our former glory in one short sentence. 'Where once Ipswich had Brazil, now they have Scotland.'

That was in his match report on the humiliating 5-1 defeat to at home to Norwich on Maundy Thursday. Reading that again it still hurts! 

His tweet - @henrywinter: Billy Davies sacked. No sympathy. Charmless man. Hope #nffc fortunes lift now. Looking forward to going back there to cover games again.

This blog's inspired by you Henry.

The inspiration 

Johnny B. Goode

ITFC v Derby 25th March 2014

With Sharon away - in Derby of all places, I got the new look Park & Ride from the High School into town...

...where I met Max for pre-match drinks

Well, I should have kept my mouth shut regarding Ipswich keeping four clean sheets in my last blog. It only took third placed Derby thirty-three seconds to score at Portman Road on Tuesday night!
This was a really enjoyable game, under the floodlights. The Rams tried to bully their way through the game, particularly in the first half. We had a ref who should have sent ex budgie Chris Martin off within the first half an hour, for a couple of off the ball incidents. Johnny Williams (man of the match again) got kicked all over the place and got no protection at all from the officials. Mick McCarthy was so incensed that he had words with them at half time as they walked off the pitch.
Things were a little calmer in the second half, I guess lettuce (Steve McClaren, the Derby boss) had a  calming influence on his players during the interval!
After an hour of the match McCarthy made a double substitution, replacing Paul Anderson and Stephen Hunt with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Frank Nouble, a very attack minded strategy and it worked a treat. Town pressed the visitors and an equaliser came in the sixty-eighth minute. Aaron Creswell played a short free kick to Williams, who lashed the ball into the back of the net from thirty yards out.
The Rams almost got their lead back fifteen minutes from the end after Craig Forsyth's powerful shot hit the post, it looked to some (I'm not sure) like Dean Gerken got finger tips to it, but the ref awarded a goal kick. Soon after it was Ebanks-Blakes' turn to hit the post with a header.
The best drama was saved for the ninetieth minute when Cresswell sent a corner to the middle of the box, Christophe Berra buried it in the net with a powerful header to send the crowd wild.

'E I E I E I O..up The Football League We Go..'

With Luke Chambers off the pitch injured , it was over to Christophe Berra to take charge of the fist pump

I might have to start being a little more positive after this result, I thought by now that I'd be planning a trip to France in the early part of May. Ryanair are going to have to wait a little longer for that booking!
A win against Forest on Saturday and a loan extension for Williams and who knows?
Ipswich 2-1 Derby
Williams 68                   Bamford 1
Berra 90
Att: 17,399

The playlist
Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry - go Jonny go (but not back to Palace)

Up The Junction

Brighton v ITFC 22nd March 2014

Max's cheeky attempt to get rid of our spare ticket.
 In the end Sharon took it back to the ticket office for a refund.
Oh well nice try!

It was back to all things blue & white after a brief flirtation with Borussia Dortmund and the German Bundesliga last weekend - there has to be a good reason to give up my season ticket and miss a game at Portman Road! Never mind l missed a 3-1 loss to Wigan.

The trip south had a detour through London to Clapham, where we dropped Sharon off just after 9am. She had arranged a shop meeting to coincide with our trip. Her plan was to catch a train from Clapham Junction to Brighton at 12pm.

Included in our £30 match ticket price was free train and bus travel within a large radius of Brighton, so we took full advantage of this and parked the car at Haywards Heath, about fourteen miles north of Brighton. We then caught a train the rest of the way, alleviating the hassle of driving in and out of Brighton, which from experience is always painful.

Walking out of Brighton railway station I imagined being in Grahame Greene’s 1938 novel 'Brighton Rock' (the only book that I can remember reading at school - no tell a lie I did read ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’). Today instead of looking for 'Kolley Kibber' and receiving ten shillings from the ‘Messenger’ we were looking for 'Burger Off' in Hove, which was a twenty minute walk away.

Recommended by one of Max's workmates, who once lived nearby, they apparently make the best burgers in Sussex including a speciality spicy one. Apparently it's so hot that customers have to sign a legal disclaimer saying they will not sue the owner Nick, before they can take their first bite!

Doesn't look much from the outside but the burgers are meant to be excellent, perhaps next season we'll try them out!

Bad news

On arrival we found that it was closed due to the owners stag do - what a bummer. Oops I shouldn't say that in a blog about Brighton!

Disappointed and hungry, we used our free transport option and got a bus back to the station where we found a pub and had a couple of beers whilst watching the start of Arsene Wenger's 1000th game in charge of Arsenal, a vital match versus Jose Mourinho's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It was 3-0 to Chelsea when we left the pub to catch a train to Falmer and the Amex Stadium. By the time we were inside the ground Arsenal had lost 6-0. Poor old Arsene!

Back at the station

Bad habits

Sharon caught her train from Clapham Common and met us by our seats. She had been waiting for us outside the ground, ringing me several times, before giving up! For some reason I hadn't heard my phone or felt it vibrate in my pocket, oh dear!

Brighton had their largest gate of the season 29,093 which included 1,784 town fans. Like us they still have a chance of making the playoffs, so it was a big game for both of us.

Being the home side the onus was on the Seagulls to attack and although they looked quite lively they lacked that bit of magic. Town had the ball in the net midway through the first half, Jonny Williams the Crystal Palace loanee was ruled offside when he chased in a loose ball.

How nice it is to be wrong, at half time I predicted a 0-0 draw, which would have been a decent result. 

An hour of the game had gone and Brighton were still trying to find a way through the resilient Town defence with no joy. We then got a corner, from a rare attack which Stephen Hunt took, he sent the ball to the far post where Daryl Murphy headed it back across the goal, Tommy Smith then nipped in and headed the ball past one time Town target Tomasz Kuszczak in the Albion goal.

There was ten minutes remaining when Williams, with a subliminal piece of skill got past Will Buckley on the by-line and sent a deft cross the towards the near post, Murphy looped the ball over Kuszczak with his head and into the far corner of the net. 

It's a great feeling, that seize mentality of being in the away end of a packed ground, your team scores in front of you and whilst you're celebrating the away win, the home fans head for the exits - brilliant.

Williams who had got loads of stick from the home fans, particularly enjoyed the moment and milked the applause when he was substituted shortly after.

That's now four games in a row since I've seen Town concede a goal, must be some kind of record for me.

Happy days

Brighton 0-2 Ipswich

                                                 Smith 60

                                                 Murphy 80

Att: 29,093

The playlist

Up The Junction by Squeeze - I've had that song on my brain since we planned to drop Sharon in Clapham.

Hello! Hello! I'm Back Again

ITFC  v Birmingham 1st March 2014

My first football match in four weeks, after a winter holiday in Vietnam (it's a hard life).

It seems like I haven't missed too much from what I’ve been told - a draw away to bottom placed Barnsley, followed by a boring goalless draw at home to Blackpool and the inevitable loss away to league leaders Leicester (3-0 including one from our nemesis David Nugent). The real bad news though is that top scorer David McGoldrick is out for the season with knee ligament damage. He could be fit for the playoffs (said in jest!)

The one thing that did strike me on my return to all things ITFC was the negativity surrounding Mick McCarthy's tactics. We all knew when he was appointed that we wouldn't get the "Kevin Keegan gung-ho" style of football. Big Mick has done a good job moulding us in to a top half team on a small budget. Some of us have short memories!

To be honest though the first half on Saturday was pretty dire, only brought to life by a good Town move seven minutes before the break. Paul Taylor fed a good pass to Frank Nouble out on the right touch line, he put in a low cross which evaded the Birmingham defenders allowing Daryl Murphy to knock the ball in at the far post.

The second half was a lot more entertaining thankfully. Paul Green on loan from Leeds had a decent game for us, as did Taylor who looked a real hand full, he went off to a standing ovation  from all sides of the ground when substituted just before the end.

The visitors didn't offer much of a threat going forward which meant that Murphy's goal was enough to take all three points and leave us four points off the playoffs in ninth position.

Ipswich 1-0 Birmingham

Murphy 38

Att: 15,596

The playlist

Hello! Hello! I'm Back Again by Gary Glitter - this glam rock tune was adopted on the terraces by almost every team in the land in the 70's "Hello, hello" insert your teams name here, “agro”.