CHAMPIONSHIP3

Leeds United: Transfers & Early Season Expectations

TSS — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 10:07:06 GMT

Leeds United will head into the 2020/21 season believing that they can quickly establish themselves in the Premier League. The Whites were a class apart in the Championship last term and should be able to make their mark in the top flight if they can strengthen their squad this summer. With owner Andrea Radrizzani willing […]

Why Barcelona would be a terrible fit for Marcelo Bielsa

TSS — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 15:31:24 GMT

‘Més que un club’ is as true today as it was when Barcelona arranged yellow seats amongst a sea of blue to proudly display their club motto in the middle tiered seating of one of world football’s most iconic stadiums. Translated into English, ‘more than a club’ might sound a little arrogant but in Barcelona’s case, […]

Elland Road expansion should be a priority for Leeds United

TSS — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 20:17:05 GMT

Flying high off the back of a Championship winning campaign which put an end to Leeds United’s sixteen year Premier League exile, the Whites are hot property right now. So much so, that when stadiums do finally reopen, ticket demand is expected to further exceed the already saturated market non-season ticket holders had to contend […]

We’re never getting back, are we?

Liam Tunney — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 22:04:54 GMT

We’re never getting back, are we? Leeds United have never featured on Match of the Day 2. It was first aired in August 2004, three months after Leeds were relegated – on a Sunday. I listened to the Bolton game on the radio – ordinarily a chore but occasionally you are grateful for small mercies. […]

Thankful for football, even if Bielsa risks ruining it

TSS — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 15:01:11 GMT

The return of football has been a welcome distraction from the miserable few months we’ve all endured while the world struggled to get to grips with a global pandemic. It was fascinating to see how quickly it brought some semblance of normality back to social media. The political arguments seemed to disappear with the first […]

20 Years on: Town fans' memories of the day Ipswich won promotion

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 29 May 2020 10:37:00 GMT

Monday 29^th May was, without a doubt, the best day of my life: when my beloved Blues reached the Division One Play Offs and George Burley’s heroes lifted us up to the promised land of the Premier League.

Hearing and seeing so many club legends recall the magnificent events of the day has been giving me goosebumps all week, and it made me wonder what different memories our fans might have to share.

Each of us experienced it in a different way, so I’ve asked Ipswich fans on Twitter and Facebook to share their favourite memories from our momentous trip to Wembley:

Travelling there

As a season-ticket-holders who lived in Cambridge, my Dad, middle sister and I travelled to London via the A11 and it wasn’t until we almost reached the M11 that we started to notice other blue scarfs flying from car windows.

We spotted one parked up on a layby just before we hit the motorway, a group of young men stood around looking at the flat tyre, yet still in high spirits as we waved and cheered to them on our way past.

To this day, we still turn to each other when we drive past that spot and remember that moment, it felt like the beginning of the Blue Army coming together for this special day.

Setting off from Ipswich was clearly a special experience, Kevin Higham left his home in Leicestershire at 4 am to drive to Portman Road:

‘Me, my Dad and my Grandad then travelled down to Wembley with the Town fans and when we got there saw a sea of blue and red on Wembley Way. They have both since passed away, so these are really treasured memories.’

Andrew Perkins travelled down by club coach:

‘I could only get one ticket and ended up heading there by myself, but the rest of the fans were in good voice! I remember the A12 was closed and we had to detour through Essex to get on M25.’

As did Colin Love:

‘The A12 was full of cars with scarves and flags hanging out of the windows, and then on the return trip people stood on the bridges waving flags and scarves at all the fans travelling home.’

While Professional Darts player and fellow Ipswich fan Kevin Painter almost didn’t make the game:

‘On the weekend of the play-off final, I was at a competition in North Wales. I left the camp at 6am on the morning of the match and headed to pick up a couple of pals.’

‘Somewhere along the M6, I had a blow-out! But I managed to get to my friends in Cambridgeshire to switch cars and then on to the game. Things could have turned out much worse!’

Many of our fans travelled huge distances to be there, like Andrew Tilly:

‘This is the only game I've ever been to. I flew over from New Zealand just to see it and back home again four days later. I was in heaven all day!’

And others watched it from home, like Frankie:

‘I was only 11. I remember running around the garden in celebration afterwards and getting told off for being too loud!’

Or even followed it while sat outside the ground, like Andrew Woodfield:

‘My dad could only get 2 tickets so he took my older brother (despite him being a Manchester United fan at the time).’

‘But we were due to go on holiday that day, so my mum and I sat in the car and listened to it on the radio!’

‘Even though I was technically at Wembley that day, I didn’t see a ball get kicked and I’ve never let my dad get away with it!’

Arriving at Wembley:

Once we arrived at the stadium, I remember my Dad parking up at the side of the road – something that definitely wouldn’t be allowed nowadays.

As we joined Wembley Way about halfway up, I was absolutely blown away by the blue, white and red colours and the hubbub of cheerful chants all around me.

Gareth Cook recalls playing football in the car park against Barnsley fans, while Laura Bilner tells me her 9-year-old-self greeted Barnsley supporters with a chant of ‘Blue Army’!

Our tickets meant we were seated quite centrally in the ground, almost next to the halfway line, a position that meant we could clearly see the cup being lifted later on.

Do others remember where they sat?

Andrew Perkins, who told me earlier he travelled by coach on his own, arrived at his seat to find it was right next to where his mates were sat after all!

A few fans recall the strange weather just before kick-off, something I had completely forgotten:

Dan Thomasremembers: ‘The hail storm about five minutes before kick-off.’

And Krissy Day told me:

‘I remember pre-kick off, it absolutely fell down with rain. I was thinking maybe the game won’t go ahead.’

‘But then the clouds parted and Wembley was bathed in sunshine.’

Barnsley score:

You all know how the game went, I think I’ve memorised every second of my Play Off Final DVD, so I won’t relive the details here. But it is interesting seeing which parts of the match were most memorable for those of us watching from the stands.

Starting with the moment we went a goal behind as a shot from Craig Hignett rebounded off the bar, only to hit the back of home-grown keeper Richard Wright’s arm and go into the back of the net.

Peter Abbottsays: ‘I remember going 1-0 down and turning to my wife and saying, ‘not a problem we can win this.’ The day just felt like it was ours.’

And I have to say, I completely agree. It’s probably the last time I felt truly confident that Town would win a game!

Mogga makes it 1:1

Mark Dowling flew over from Dublin on the morning of the game and walked round Wembley Way for hours trying to get a ticket. He finally bought one from a tout for £150, but it was in the Barnsley end!

‘When we scored, I jumped up – but quickly had to shout about Barnsley’s bad defensive errors to cover myself.’

‘By the time third goal went, in the lad sitting next to me gave me the nod to suggest he was a Tractor Boy also.’

Super-sub Naylor makes it 2:1

Again, we’ve all discussed for hours the day that Richard Naylor booked his place in the Ipswich Town Hall of Fame with a phenomenal performance after replacing the injured David Johnson.

Bam – Bam has long been one of my favourite players, I was lucky enough to interview him while he was Club Captain under Magilton and when he later played at Doncaster.

I’m certain it was that day which cemented him in my list of top 5 ever players!

David Pascoe sent me an excellent piece on this topic, ‘The Redemption of Bam-Bam’, which you can check out here.

Stewart puts us two goals ahead

For me, this was the best goal of the day: the build-up was superb and the way the player’s joined together for a seamless strike on goal was indicative of how well that team had been built.

Daniel Blowers agrees, but for another reason:

‘Stewart’s header was great because we were singing, ‘are you watching Norwich’, just as the ball was played down the left side of the pitch in front of us.’

‘It was a great header, not that Mowbray’s wasn’t!’

Reuser’s goal:

But I dare say there’s one moment that every single Town fan remembers from that day.

Remember when Manchester City secured the Premier League title in 2012? Well, this is our ‘Agueeeeeeeeeerrooooo moment’.

Christopher Overett told me:

‘Stewart’s was the best goal technically, but my favourite has to be Reuser’s at the end. It put an end to the agony of the final 11 mins of the game, thinking every time they got near our goal they’d equalise.’

Kev Sherwood added: ‘When Reuser scored scored the 4th everyone went nuts but all I could do was sink into my seat out of shear relief and exhaustion with ears running down my cheeks because we’d finally done it after years of hurt.

Daniel Blowers recalls: ‘George Burley and Dale Roberts celebrating on the touchline when Bam- Bam put Reuser in and he finished it.’

While Nic Wright remembers: ‘The top tier of the stand bouncing as we jumped up and down each time we celebrated our goals!’

Remember Andrew Woodfield from earlier who was listening to the game on the radio, his recollection of this moment is special too:

‘What I remember most was after the goals, we’d turn the radio off and here the insane noise from inside the ground!’

And Jack Saunders sums things up perfectly when he describes a sense of relief:

‘I just remember this overwhelming feeling of dread, right up until Reuser's goal. I just knew we were going to mess it up, right up until we didn't.’

It’s my Dad’s favourite moment too. Speaking to him just before writing this article, he described the reaction from the crowd as ‘an explosion of joy.’

He’s always been very reserved at games, but as my sister and I looked round to him to celebrate, we found him with his arms around the two supporters in front of us – absolutely elated.

To this day, that is one of my most treasured memories of him and of life as a football fan.

Reaction to the game:

Then the final whistle blew, and we had finally made it. At the fourth time of asking we had one the Play-Offs and secured our spot in the Premier League for the following season.

Andrew Perkins tells me: ‘I was in tears of happiness at the end!’

While Mark Dowling, the fan who was sat in the Barnsley seats decided to finally inform the policeman standing beside him that he was in the ‘wrong end’:

‘He let me walk over to the celebrating fans and I watched Matt Holland lift the cup amongst our fans. It was a great day and a great experience.’

Jack Saunders had a great view of this moment:

‘Our seats were right next to the steps and I remember everyone clambering over us to get closer to the players.’

‘But I was right at the end of the row, so I got a high five from every single player as they went past.’

‘I also got to throw my scarf to Matt Holland, which is one of the three scarves he's wearing in all the photographs!’

The celebrations carried on long into the night:

In his recent interview with Blue Monday, skipper Matt Holland talks about the journey home with the players (there was a lot of beer involved) and how he went back to see his Dad once they were back.

And it’s true that most of us have special memories from the day that took place well after the final whistle had blown.

As my Dad, sister and I pulled up the drive in front of our house we were greeted by my Mum standing at the door in an Ipswich Town shirt.

Never before had she worn one, and she usually didn’t even know the result of a match until a few days later – but that evening she knew and she joined us in the celebrations!

I’ll leave you with some more memories of those final hours of the bank holiday, my thanks to everyone who has contributed to this heart-warming article:

Simon Mason:

‘After we’d sung and cheered our hearts out in the stadium, I remember the walk back along Wembley Way towards the underground station.’

‘It was so packed that the police were stopping groups of fans from both clubs together to prevent a crush at the station.’

‘The noise level dropped to almost a whisper for what seemed like ages, partly out of respect for Barnsley’s position - after all, Ipswich knew Play-Off defeat heartache more than anyone at that time.’

‘Years later, after Barnsley won a cracking Play-Off final against Swansea to return to the Championship, I had a look at one of the Barnsley fans’ forums and found many Ipswich fans congratulating the Tykes on their win - and plenty of goodwill coming back from the reds.’

Jack Saunders:

‘I remember getting back into Ipswich and driving around the town, all the horns blaring, people waving, like nothing I'd seen before or since!’

Jack Todd:

'I remember so much of that game, but one of THE most memorable things was driving back into Suffolk and seeing the fans who hadn’t managed to go to Wembley on bridges and at the sides of the road with waving flags and scarves. Absolutely electrifying!

Kevin Higham, mentioned earlier telling us how he travelled from Leicestershire:

‘The drive back up the M1 home was great as well, driving passed the Barnsley fans with my Town flag out of the window. Sadly, both my Dad and Grandad have passed away, so that day holds many special memories and not just because of the result.’

And finally, a random one from ‘Super Frans’ which I simply couldn’t leave out:

‘Going into the urinal after the game to find myself standing next to Roger Osborne. God’s honest truth. Surreal moment.’

What are your favourite memories from that day? Let me know in the comments below!

My thanks to Stuart Goldsmith who provided the lovely photos for this article, I was shocked to find I have no photos at all from that day - something that would never happen now, my phone comes with me everywhere!

I'll be celebrating this special anniversary all day over on Twitter, so please feel free to come and say hello!

The Redemption of Bam Bam: Guest Post

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 29 May 2020 07:32:00 GMT

This week marks the 20th Anniversary of Ipswich Town's Play-Off Final victory over Barnsley at Wembley.

I've been asking fellow Blues fans to share their favourite memories from the day, and I will be sharing those shortly.

However, amongst the submissions was this fantastic recollection from the ever-eloquent David Pascoe, an Ipswich fan since the mid-1980's, and I felt it deserved a post all on its own.

So, grab a cup of tea (or pint if you're celebrating already) and enjoy his thoughts on the arguably unexpected impact that striker Richard Naylor had on our special day:

F*KING USELESS TT! OF COURSE HE’D BLOW IT, WOULDN’T HE? STRIKER? DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH! HE’S ALWAYS BEEN S**T. HE SHOULD NEVER PLAY FOR US AGAIN!

This was the rant I launched into as I watched a recording of the Play-Off Semi-Final First Leg, between Ipswich and Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on 16 May 1999.

My rant was the bursting of a dam which had been waiting to flood out from the moment Town’s chances of getting automatic promotion had been taken out of their hands.

They had suffered a late loss to Crewe, with two games left to play.

I was worried but convinced that it would all be okay, I was sure that Bradford would falter and when they drew 0-0 with Oxford the following weekend, I thought I had been proven right.

I continued to laugh in fate’s mocking face as Town went to Birmingham the following day and James Scowcroft twice had headers cleared off the line, before the home side scored the only goal of the game.

"No, we’ve got this," I said, trying to remain upbeat. "There’s still a twist to come."

Bradford had to travel Wolves

A side whose late run saw them trying to break into the Play-Off positions.

While we were at home to Sheffield United, a side with nothing to play for.

We did our job, the game was over by half-time, but although Bradford won their game 3-2, with a little help from one of the Molineux goalposts.

It would not be the first time that Paul Jewell would inflict a harmful blow on Ipswich Town.

But I was still positive and wanted to say to the tearful Kieron Dyer and that Town fan whose footage gets used whenever Sky do a package about 'Ipswich wanting to avoid any more Play-off Pain':

"It's still going to be OK. No-one loses three times in the Play-Offs and neither will we."

"Wembley, here we come," said George Burley on Ceefax, in the immediate aftermath of the Sheffield United match.

Watching that first leg the following weekend, I felt my rictus grin of optimism start to buckle and strain as the ball repeatedly failed to fall for Town when they were in attacking positions.

When Mark Halsey turned down penalty appeals, when David Johnson was brought down by, was it Mark Fish?

Anyway, with the score goalless and the 70-minute mark passed, suddenly Richard Naylor was through one-on-one. This was the moment, surely?

But, no..!

As he went into the box, he trod on the ball and by the time he had got it out of his feet, Steve Banks was able to dive on to it.

That was when I lost it.

To be fair, I think the rant was encompassing disgust at the whole squad for how they had bottled the last few weeks of the season.

But nevertheless, it was Bam Bam who took the brunt of my stored up angst when history seemed to be repeating itself and he tripped over his own bootlaces.

There was a further explosion of invective when Michael Johansen scored the only goal of the game, but with it came a certain serenity, as for the first time in weeks I accepted that we would fail.

The second leg was titanic but I was in a state of neutrality throughout. I couldn’t believe it would happen anymore; it either would or wouldn’t and thanks to away goal rules, it didn’t.

What did the future hold?

I hadn’t a clue, but if I’d been George Burley then it’s probable that Richard Naylor would have been sold.

But he wasn’t sold and at the beginning of the following season, he was an automatic pick and was scoring goals.

At least he was until injury inevitably sidelined him to the substitutes’ bench again.

By the time he was fit, he was fourth choice in any line-up behind Johnson, Scowcroft and new signing Marcus Stewart.

Yet on the day of the Play-Off Final in May 2000, after 20-minutes of the game, an outplayed Town were a goal down to Barnsley.

The man who I had excoriated so viciously a year before was getting ready to come on to replace the injured Johnson.

On the bench behind him, dressed in a suit rather than his kit was Scowcroft, who had been ruled out before the game.

For myself, I hoped that the Naylor who had played those early games of the 99-00 season would be coming on and that maybe Stewart could snaffle a chance, or perhaps we could work something from a set-piece.

If we were to do this, Naylor would be crucial to it with his physicality and never-say-die spirit.

What no-one counted on, least of all me, was that on this day Bam Bam would not only bring into the game all the things that we knew he could do, but a whole load of things that we never knew he had in him.

Touch, control, passing, thought, finesse.

Through him, the Town performance improved by around 20% and every time he got the ball, something looked like it would happen.

Barnsley simply could not cope with him.

He looked lethal, he looked focussed.

He looked like he knew...

Here, on the biggest stage in British football and in a fixture that had taunted us like a mirage for four years, our fourth-choice striker was having the fabled 'Game Of His Life'.

His goal put us ahead, then a takedown from a long ball by Mark Venus led to the ball being crossed in for Stewart to make it 3-1.

When summarising that takedown on the ITV highlights, Ron Atkinson mentioned Richard Naylor in the same sentence as Stanley Matthews and Ferenc Puskas - never as great a player as either of them, but on this day, he played just like them, just when we needed him to.

And finally, the characteristic Bam-Bam fight to dig out the loose ball in a centre-circle scrimmage and set up:

“Reuser...PREMIERSHIP!”

He should have been awarded the Man of the Match title.

He bent that game to his will and decisively stamped his authority on it in a way which galvanised his team-mates.

It was also a decisive moment for him, 4 years after his debut, he had finally arrived as a footballer.

It would take a move to central defence before he truly established longevity at Ipswich, but his place in a line-up was now a symbol of a truly “good” player turning out for us.

With that, my 1999 rant turned to ashes in my memory.

As the injuries settled down, he had a career to look back on with some satisfaction.

10 years later, he would be on the winning side against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup with Leeds United, the photos of him running alongside Wayne Rooney still make me smile.

In assessing Richard Naylor’s career, one is tempted to use that well-worn phrase, “He got the maximum out of his ability.”

But at the 2000 Play-Off Final, he went beyond the limits of his ability in a way he never had before or subsequently.

And, for that, he earned the undying gratitude of every Ipswich Town supporter.

Is regionalisation the answer to helping clubs in League One and Two survive Coronavirus?

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 15 May 2020 08:05:00 GMT

Plans are afoot for deciding how and when football will return to our lives and one of the options allegedly being considered is regionalisation of League One and Two.

We find ourselves living a strange ‘new normal’ at the moment, where the Coronavirus is touching everything in our lives, including football.

We have no idea when or how the beautiful game will return, and I have even less idea of when I will be seeing my friends again.

There has been lots of speculation, suggestions range from cramming the remaining season into 56 days, to playing the matches behind closed doors or, of course, cancelling it all together.

Whatever happens, this situation is expected to take its financial toll on many clubs, and for some it may mean they cannot survive into next season.

As a result, a proposal has been put forward that we consider introducing a North and South divide to the leagues below the Championship: an idea which fills me with a fear.

Recently, I was asked to share my thoughts on this with the East Anglian Daily Times, but it's such a lengthy discussion I have decided to share a little more detail below.

If the proposed changes were to take place it would make it much harder for me to attend games, the football supporting life I know and love might never return.

For those who don’t know, I moved from East Anglia to Yorkshire just over ten years ago and, though I struggle to make home games these days, I regularly attend away games – especially those in the north.

I understand the arguments put forward to support making these changes to the league, but here are my main arguments against it:

Not all fans live locally to their club

When the cup draw allotted us Manchester United away back in 2015, I finally got to see The Blues play at the famed Old Trafford for the first time in my life.

Though I was born in Ipswich, I grew up down the road in Cambridge. At secondary school, I was one of only three Ipswich fans in a sea of ‘Manchester United fans’.

So it was a game I could not miss and I was proud to hear the Town fans in fine voice, singing: ‘We support our local club’ to a packed stadium of United fans.

But the truth is, these days there are a great number of us who do not, in fact, support our local club.

In general, people are far more transient, many do not stay in their birth town for their whole life.

Perhaps because of their job, perhaps for university, perhaps – like me – they meet someone and settle down elsewhere.

In the suburbs of Leeds, where I live, there’s an army of Ipswich fans who travel to away games.

Even more so across Yorkshire and the whole of the north, we even have our own branch of the ITFC supporters club.

Conversely, there is some incredible support for the team from the south-west of the country in Bristol, Devon and even Cornwall.

And it’s not just Town, there are fans from every club in the country based up here in West Yorkshire, including Cambridge United.

One of those is a friend of mine, Chris Vessey, who I met at the Wetherspoons pub at Leeds train station on my way home from a northern away day.

He and his friend had just been to see the Amber Army play and it was great for me to meet a fellow East Anglian living in Leeds.

Given the fact the Amber Army have been reported as supporting the proposed regional changes and that Cambridge have experience of how the north/south divide can affect a club in East Anglia, I asked for his thoughts on this debate:

‘I couldn’t be more against it,’ he told me. ‘Whilst I can see the pros (e.g. initially higher attendances from more local fixtures), the cons heavily outweigh them.’

‘The beauty of following your team home and away in the lower leagues is those far-flung Tuesday night games at places like Carlisle and Exeter that you hold like a badge of honour.’

Chris points out this is the case for most clubs:

‘For instance, Carlisle have a 200 strong supporters club in London, hence why their away support down South is so good - why deprive them of 'local' games at Leyton Orient and Stevenage to name just two?’

Reducing this league to a regional one would have a huge impact on those of us who live a long way away and I’ve heard several of my northern Blues friends say they would no longer go to games if this were to happen.

It makes no sense

Supporters argue that making these changes would reduce travel costs for the clubs: teams would not only pay less for travel, but for accommodation and so on.

But, let’s be honest, wherever Town are playing, are they really going to depend on East Anglia’s oh-so-reliable dual carriageways to get them to games on time?

Would you want to leave Ipswich in the morning and travel up the A14 for a game at 3pm and risk getting stuck in one of the many stretches of roadworks?

Surely, it is more likely that clubs would want to stay overnight before a game to allow themselves to prepare properly.

What’s more, it’s probable that in a southern league we would have to travel to places like Plymouth and Exeter (which are over 300 miles away).

As lovely as it would be to head to the south coast for a day out, it is further away from Ipswich than Fleetwood (around 280 miles away), the club at the centre of this debate.

Cambridge United fan Chris agrees:

‘There are logistical problems, particularly for Cambridge, we have flitted between the North and South in both the League Cup draws and EFL trophy in recent years.’

‘In the National League North you have an imbalance in geography: Hereford, Gloucester, Leamington and Brackley are all in the north split – and those teams are as northern as jellied eels!’

Another example is Gateshead, who currently play in the National League North and have to travel to Hereford and Gloucester for their away games.

There is no way you could set the league up that doesn’t leave someone still having to travel a long way for games. It simply wouldn’t work.

It’s a step back

Did you know that back in 1957, back when there was a north/south divide in football’s Third Division, Ipswich Town won the league and were promoted? (Thanks to my Dad for the history lesson on that one!)

The following year, the regional divide was removed and the football league moved closer to the structure that we know today.

As much as I would love to re-live us winning a league, I’m not sure a return to the 50’s is really what football needs.

For one thing, only the champions from each region was promoted, there was no play off competition at all.

Play-off competitions aren’t universally popular, but without them you have the potential for one team to run away with the title early on and the rest of the league having nothing left to play for.

Let’s say this problem is countered and they do decide to run a play-off competition, perhaps with one additional team from each region going up, that would logically mean four clubs must be relegated from the Championship.

But what if those four clubs come from the same region? You’re going to end up with a situation where clubs have to move from one region to another each year, something that has happened with Coventry in the past, as well as Cambridge as Chris explained.

It’s not clear who supports the proposal

It does appear that this is simply speculation from some sections of our media, research shows there doesn’t seem to be any official support for the suggestion.

Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley has been widely credited with pushing the idea during an interview with the BBC, but even he has clarified on Twitter that he didn’t actually suggest this is the right way to go.

What he did say is that all options should be considered, which is understandable and sensible – I just hope the idea is vetoed swiftly.

Conversely, Gillingham boss Steve Evans has added his vote to the ‘for’ column, claiming: ‘I have said privately for many years that if you did it north and south there would be more interest.’

Frankly, anything Steve Evans agrees with goes down as a bad idea in my book.

It’s not solving the main problem in football

I understand that football is a business and huge changes are going to need to be made after social distancing restrictions have been lifted if it is to survive this challenging time.

But I can’t help feeling this is sticking a plaster over the matter and hoping the actual problems in football will magically go away.

For a long time now, finances in football have been cause for concern and wide debate, most clubs run at a loss and many in the lower leagues are facing going out of business altogether.

The gap between the Premier League and the Championship is vast. Likewise, as we have seen this year, there is a huge gulf in quality between the Championship and League One.

Wouldn’t adding regional leagues simply make that divide even bigger? Even harder to overcome?

The Football League is already top-heavy when it comes to finances, this season alone we’ve seen Bury and Bolton face extinction in an extraordinary situation which included a Wanderers team of youth players pitted against our newly relegated team of Championship stalwarts.

In his interview with the BBC, Andy Pilley raised exactly this point, suggesting that better control on player’s wages is what is really needed to help clubs become more sustainable.

To my mind, the regional league ignores the core problem in football at the moment and will only lead to more problems down the road.

The suggested changes to the league would change the face of football forever, and not in a good way. I for one will be hoping it never happens.

CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 01-02: Leeds take points in feisty clash

Liam Tunney — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 13:15:24 GMT

DISCLAIMER: This is a FICTIONAL match! Manchester United 3-2 Leeds United A 52nd minute Harry Kewell goal was enough to see Leeds United seal a victory that saw them move just one point behind leaders Arsenal in the Premiership title race. Kewell’s strike was just one of many talking points in a game that saw […]

Has gut-wrenching injury time at Blackpool ended hopes of Ipswich getting promoted?

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 18:08:00 GMT

During the train ride home from Lancashire late on Saturday evening, I had something of a revelation. It came in the form of a group of Accrington Stanley fans, who boarded the train inexplicably cheerily from their goalless draw at Bolton Wanderers.

We got chatting and I was telling them how awful I think League One is and how gutted I am that we are more than likely going to spend another year in this division.

One of them said to me, ‘You’re not good enough to go up though, are you?’

‘Yes, we are,’ I responded.

We were unbeaten until October, we were only relegated last year, we’ve got the biggest squad in the league… blah, blah, blah.

None of it was enough to convince them, and rightly so.

The hard truth is, we might think this is a terrible league (and the lack of quality in both games and officials certainly lends itself to that argument), but that - sadly - is our level now.

Gone are the days where people hear ‘Ipswich Town’ and think of Sir Bobby Robson and our glory days, Mattie Holland and our stint in the Premier League, or even Mick McCarthy and his budget heroes of 2015.

Instead, they wonder what on earth has happened at Portman Road... and that fall from grace makes my stomach churn.

Pleading for those Accrington fans to ‘just look at our history, because we’re a big club’, was laughable – those years don’t matter anymore.

We’re going to have to earn our place in the hearts of neutral football fans again, by somehow getting out of this hole we’ve dug.

A game plenty of neutral fans will have loved watching

We spent the first ten minutes trying to work out what formation Lambert had gone for and I think we settled on 3-5-2, but I do wonder how difficult it must be for the players being asked to play different roles so frequently.

Despite this, the first half was a competent performance.

Blackpool barely tested us because, in my opinion, the defence was solid. I was impressed with how calm Woolfie and Chambers remained and it gave me some level of confidence we could pull out a result.

The trouble is, we weren’t testing their defence either and, as I saw someone on Twitter quip, we should perhaps have brought along a deckchair for their keeper.

Sears and Keane, though working very, very hard, were not producing any real chances of note and, though the Blackpool goal came against the run of play, it felt inevitable when we weren’t taking advantage of the possession we had at the other end of the field.

The second half was far better, perhaps Freddie’s goal instilled a bit of confidence, but we suddenly looked like a team outclassing their opposition, as we should.

Judge was a handful, and we were constantly pushing forward. Youngster Tyreece Simpson came on and made himself known, he's one to watch I'm sure.

But, again, aside from a couple of infuriating near misses that had us all throwing our hands in the air - there was no end product in that final third.

After several heart-in-mouth moments, we were faced with 30 seconds that I will never forget:

The ball fell to Freddie and he broke away to find himself in a one-on-one with the keeper.

This was it… the fairytale moment for the striker who had just been through a massive injury. He was about to claim the winner for his first full game back in the side.

I felt everyone hold their breath at the same time.

When he finally took his shot, after what felt like an hour of waiting, it was nothing short of heartbreaking to see the ball parried away.

And worse, sent into play for the home team to slot in the back of our own net at the other end.

It was a cruel ending, but we deserved to lose from the simple fact that we couldn’t score.

Lowering the bar… again

Coming into this season, I definitely had a feeling of quiet confidence. This, finally, was going to be a year we could enjoy.

I fully expected us to go up as champions and I wasn’t being intentionally arrogant – I just really couldn’t see things going any other way.

We had the biggest squad in the league, as Joey Barton moaned earlier in the season, we had a squad of experienced Championship and League One teams.

And, come on, we’re Ipswich – we love the Championship, so it was surely not going to be long before we made a return to it.

But we were warned; this is a tough league and our team had been badly damaged from the recent years of bad management.

We should have been better prepared for the challenge that lay ahead of us. We should have invested in January. We should have bought a striker. We should have waited before we started singing about winning the league.

I could discuss for hours who I think is to blame for our current predicament and I’ll save the full details for another blog.

But, the short version is that the bear minimum I expected of Lambert this year was promotion and he doesn’t look likely to deliver on that. If he doesn't, I believe he has to go.

For me, the season is near enough over for us. My biggest fear is that the crisis of confidence we’ve been having from the days of Mick McCarthy is still rearing its ugly head.

If we do make it to the play-offs we need to be in a far better frame of mind: we need to be mentally at our best and we need to believe that we can win them.

I don’t think anyone at Ipswich, on or off the pitch, can honestly say they think that right now.

I’ll hold on to the vague hope that we will, of course, because that’s just what you do when you’re a football fan, but I can’t see that happening.

What I can see happening is another rocky year for us Tractor Boys and Girls.

Bielsa vs The Curse, final round

Steve — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 17:36:26 GMT

May the 2nd, 2004. The Reebok Stadium. Not necessarily the day that the ‘Leeds curse’ took hold, but most certainly the day that we first felt I really take hold. Most of that day is a blur to me. Too young to drown my sorrows, but also too young to really understand how bad things […]

May Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Liam Tunney — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 21:44:00 GMT

The turn of a new decade sees reams of copy published as everyone has a go at their various compilations of brilliance that have lit up the last ten years in their respective fields. From a Leeds United point of view, the last decade has seen some minor ups, plenty of devastating and embarrassing downs […]

What Would Bielsa Do With O’Leary’s Squad?

Liam Tunney — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 22:10:32 GMT

Wednesday 4th April 2001. 8:09pm. Alan Smith is fouled and Leeds win a free kick on the edge of the box. César Martin the culprit. Harte steps up and rifles the placed ball into the net in front of the Kop. The zenith of my Leeds supporting life. The sheer ecstasy of that ball hitting […]

Ipswich Town must respond quickly and positively after defeat at Accrington Stanley

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 21:04:00 GMT

A lot has happened since Ipswich Town travelled to Accrington Stanley for an FA Cup match back in January…

I've been through nine months of pregnancy and given birth to my second baby, England have won the cricket World Cup, while Theresa May and Boris Johnson have had their Brexit deals rejected by parliament countless times.

But you’d be forgiven for thinking not a lot has changed for Ipswich Town: despite them sitting pretty at the top of League One, they still have the capacity to disappoint with a truly dire performance – just as they did back at the beginning of the year.

That is, of course, extremely harsh, given this was their first defeat of the season. But this weekend was my first game since May and I’m feeling a little disappointed after being very excited about returning to watch this high-flying side.

What follows here is not intended to be an analytical blog on the pros and cons of our performance at the Wham stadium, but more my experience of the game as a long-suffering, long-distance supporter of The Blues.

An unexpected line-up

We began the day with news that Lambert had made big changes to the side, a move which was forced - to some extent - by the fact we’ll be playing three games in a week and Norwood, Wilson, Vincent-Young and Downes were all unavailable.

By all accounts, the four have been some of our strongest players, Vincent-Young in particular has attracted rave reviews. So, it’s little wonder this team felt somewhat second strength, but it was an opportunity for some new players to make the step up.

Dozzell, sadly, didn’t do that in my opinion. I’d forgotten he was playing until he made a tackle somewhere in the second half and he was as ineffectual this weekend as he was during our previous game against Stanley.

This was a scrappy game, so perhaps not particularly suited to him, but as our new side develops under Lambert with the goal of heading straight back to the Championship – he’s going to have to prove himself able to adapt to these kinds of games which will be plentiful in League One.

Meanwhile, Jackson and Judge were selected to play up front, but from what I could see that actually meant Kayden was a lone forward with Judge playing slightly behind him. I cannot stand it when we play one up-front!

With Keane on the bench it seemed a shame to play this formation. It's possible Lambert has opted to rest Keane ahead of our next match, but I’d have liked to see him at least play 45 minutes to give Jackson more support.

Meanwhile, our defence clearly missed the solid Wilson – Nsiala was slow and lost and frankly not up to the standard of a promotion-chasing side. He may well have a big willy, as the song alleges, but he’s too much of a liability for me.

On a side note, it was interesting that back in January he stood out as our one decent player… he was quite the opposite on Sunday and perhaps that’s a reassuring sign of how far the team has come since then.

Stanley’s first goal was reminiscent of the many we conceded last year

From Accrington’s point of view, the first goal was a beaut – to me, it looked like a lovely cross into the area and a great header from Bishop. But, there were far too many opportunities for our defence to clear the ball, which they didn’t.

Edwards and Garbutt should have done better while the ball was on the wing and Bishop was largely unmarked as he headed it home. I was brutally reminded of the many awful goals we conceded last season, the defence was left helpless as the ball hit the net.

For me, the penalty was harsh on Nsiala, I felt at the time it was a case of ‘6 of one and half a dozen of the other’. It was the last in a long line of decision which went against us, in my totally biased opinion it seemed the referee was punishing us for being the ‘bigger’ side.

My opinion hasn’t changed since watching the goals back, but I know it’s a decision that’s since been debated at length by Town fans and not all agree with me. Blue Monday’s Rich provided a great summary of the tackle on this week’s episode which I was happy to be a part of.

Things could have been different

Having been at the right end of the ground to see the best bits of action from the first half – their two goals were the only two bits of action from the first half – we were also perfectly

positioned to see the main point of interest from the second half.

A great cross from Garbutt created Town’s best chance to score: sailing over the top of Jackson and Nolan, before their keeper punched it into the path of Woolfenden. His shot was cleared, but not – from our point of view – before it had crossed the line.

Sadly, the referee did not agree, and the away fans stood on the terrace were left bemoaning what really should have been a chance to celebrate on this dull day. In my opinion, Woolfenden should have taken away all doubt and just thrown himself at the ball to take it over the line.

Shortly afterwards, a kerfuffle in front of the seated away fans led to the referee waving a red card at the Accrington player Sykes… 'Here we go', thought I. 'A chance to turn things around with their team down to ten men.'

But it wasn’t to be. The next thing we know, Town substitute Dobra is sulking across the pitch, comforted by Jackson and shrugging his shoulders as if to say, ‘what did I do, Miss?’ Well, lad, you pushed someone in the head so you’ve kind of got to go!

And with that my dwindling hopes that we might get something from our trip completely disappeared.

The unbeaten run is over – and I’m kind of glad

It's been an enjoyable start to the season and I don’t think anyone would have guessed we’d be undefeated in the league for as long as this. But, I’m relieved the pressure of that unbeaten run is now over.

Rather than worrying about how long we can keep that up, we can go back to focusing on one game at a time. We remain top of the league and probably the best side in the third tier.

But, if we intend to stay there we must do better from now. Sky’s commentators summed up our afternoon perfectly: ‘Ipswich Town are getting Sunday schooled.’ That’s pretty embarrassing.

I’m not the type of fan who will get carried away after one win, or panic after one defeat. But with three games in quick succession, this week could quickly become a disappointing turning point in our season if we don’t respond quickly and correctly against Rotherham.

I’m taking comfort in the fact we weren’t as dire on Sunday as we were back in January – but I’m not going to be booking my train tickets for May’s open-top bus tour just yet. This league lacks quality, but so do we sometimes and we’ve got to earn our place back in the Championship.

The most important thing now is moving on and recovering. We need to pick ourselves up and regain control, regain that winning mentality. Do you think we can do that? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter - I'm @TractorGirlAmy8

A Dose of Football Required

Liam Tunney — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 13:35:08 GMT

I’m not sure what it is about July that makes everyone so highly-strung. Maybe it’s the rise in heat coupled with the predictably dreadful weather. Maybe it’s the footballing vacuum, the absence of the 90-minute hits of adrenaline that keep the junkies sane. Maybe it’s just that everyone is on holiday and has had a […]

The League One Tour starts here... but which away games absolutely must be on your list?

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 09:05:00 GMT

Is there a greater day of the year than fixture list release day?

At 9 am on Thursday 20^th June, my next 12 months are decided, I’ll know what I’m doing on each weekend and friends and family can once again start booking in plans with me.

Never mind the fact my second son is due to arrive at the end of August… my whole life will revolve around the dates and locations that are released by the EFL. The baby can fit around those, right?

So, what game will you be looking for first?

I imagine Southend away is going to be a popular one for Town fans, a local derby of sorts and a new ground for many, and there are plenty of others that will provide a few ‘ticks’ for us on our trip around the 92 (potentially 14 in my case).

For me, the early games will be important. By the start of the season I will be 8 months pregnant and I am at weddings for the first two games – so some nice southern away days or home games that I wouldn't be able to get to anyway would be nice.

My other half went to Uni in Portsmouth, so we’d love that one to fall on a school holiday when he will be off work. Then the final home game of the season I’m hoping will be the date for my hen do, so praying for that to be a good date too!

If you’ve worked out the dates and are wondering which away days to go to, I’ve spoken to some Ipswich fans and asked them to recommend their favourites from the choices we have now we’re in League One.

Back in January, I had a preview of the third tier during our trip to Accrington Stanley.

I have to say, the day out was far more enjoyable than the match. There is an away fans pub literally a stone’s throw from the ground, and after the game we were welcomed into the club bar to enjoy their £1 a pint offer which they run every time they win.

The Wham Stadium has an open terrace and seated area for the away fans, I opted for the terrace – thinking it might be marginally warmer standing up and chanting than sitting down for the game. I’m hoping the return visit this season will bring us a little more joy.

@HargraveGas is not a fan of AFC Wimbledon:

Wimbledon is a game I often go to and then wonder why. It’s a horrible ground for away fans, particularly when there is a good number of you. You can’t see the pitch (this picture makes it look better than it is!), but there is a nice, friendly area outside to eat and drink before the kick-off.

Blackpool is one I’ve been to a few times and it’s sure to be one Town fans are looking out for:

It’s amazing to think they were not long ago in the Premier League, the ground is definitely one of the better ones we’ll go to this year – but it’s no Old Trafford. Last time I went, the toilets were portaloos and it is so windy you wonder how the ball is staying on the ground.

As a day trip, though, it’s hard to beat. Obviously the ideal one for a weekender, with pubs and clubs a-plenty and loads of cheap places to stay. It was in Blackpool where I first met a group of Town fans that were to become my good friends for many years after!

Assuming Bolton are able to make it through the summer, the Macron Stadium (or whatever it is called nowadays) is one I’ll definitely be hoping to go to. It’s only an hour from me and I actually really like the modern ground.

With the excellent following earlier this year over 1,000), this was one of the more enjoyable away trips of the year, despite us already being all but relegated. There isn’t usually so many people who make the journey up for this on, which can make it quite quiet.

We always park at the Beehive Pub, it’s free and a good place to grab food and drinks. The walk to the ground feels like it lasts forever, but it’s actually only about fifteen minutes and if you’re going by train, the station is over the road.

@itmanSW75 has lots of experience of going to Bristol Rovers:

The first thing to note about a trip to Bristol Rovers is that you're not visiting the Red Side of the City. Parking around the ground is fairly abundant and trains run frequently from London to Bristol.

There is no alcohol available to away fans inside the ground, but the Annexe Inn and the Sportsman is recommended, and there are lots of other choices nearby.

The Memorial Stadium itself is a strange mixture of stands. Ipswich fans will find themselves in a small, uncovered corner of the East Stand and the new South Stand which has a feel of temporary seating. So, if we're placed there on a cold November evening, you're definitely going to want to be in the south end!

Blue Monday regular @IpsRich often shares stories about Burton Albion because it's one of the closest games to his home:

Burton Albion is a great away trip. As a Midlander, its a short hop up the road for me, so scores big convenience points!

I’ve always found Burton a welcoming place. The locals will strike up a conversation if they spot the blue of an ITFC shirt, and are very knowledgable and passionate about their club. They’re aware of their stature too though; Derby is very close by, and Leicester and Nottingham are also adjacent.

The away end is a terrace behind the goal and some seating to the side. Do yourself a favour, relive the good old days by standing (legitimately) behind the goal. A visit to Burton in the 2019/20 season will also mark only our third away visit to the Brewers in our entire history.

The lovely @hunimonster is an away days specialist. But, as a Midlands based Town fan, Coventry is actually her 'home' game:

I was born and still live just a couple of miles down the road from Coventry.

I remember my first away game and tightly gripping my Dad's hand on the way to Highfield Road. I don't remember the score but I will always remember the noise and the atmosphere.

Since then, the Ricoh has been the first taste my children have had of the away end and the magnificent support us Ipswich fans bring.

Portman Road will always be 'home', but I know no matter where Coventry City play in the seasons to come, I feel I'm always among friends when we visit the Sky Blues.

@Tom_Morken has these tips for anyone travelling to Fleetwood Town:

There’s no train station at Fleetwood and not much to see in the area around Highbury Stadium. So, you’re better off spending the pre-match in Blackpool and then hopping on the tram to Stanley Road which is about a 35-minute journey and only a few minutes’ walk from the ground.

Get a day travelcard on the tram (was around £5 when I visited last October).

Meanwhile, @DaveTractor is a fan of Gillingham.

The trip there includes a cracking pub and chip shop to visit. Gillingham is a desert for decent pubs, but all away supporters stop at the Wetherspoons at Rochester.

Lincoln City holds some bad memories for Town fans, @ChrisTalbot has these tips to make it a little more successful this season (off the pitch at least):

Sincil Bank is about a 15-minute walk from Lincoln Central Railway Station and the away fans are seated in the Stacey West Stand. There is a Fanzone on matchdays behind the South Park Stand and there is also a Wetherspoons on the High Street on the way to the ground.

@hargravegas adds: I have mixed memories of Lincoln – some absolutely cracking games, the city itself is quite lovely (in parts), but they sometimes need a police presence. I’ve been there when it’s kicked off, not good!

I’ve not been to Peterborough United for a while, it’s another that holds very bad memories.

Our last league trip there was the absolutely disastrous 7:1 defeat, when Tommy Smith was sent off – within 30 seconds of entering the pitch, if memory serves – followed by Lee Martin who never really found form after that.

When we visited for a friendly game more recently, I did enjoy the pre-match pub. It was a barge on the edge of the river, had a lovely atmosphere and I’m sure they had Aspall’s on tap too.

A good cider makes a good away day, I reckon.

@hargravegas added a quick review of Rochdale:

Rochdale is well worth a trip: old fashioned, really friendly, quite homely I would say and nice pies!

Rotherham is one of my favourite away days and this is one I’ll be praying doesn’t clash with anything.

The Bridge Inn was rumoured to not be taking away fans last season, although we were welcomed there afterwards and the bar man was quite confused about why we hadn’t been in before.

The pub is opposite the train station and a short walk from the ground. It’s not massive, but plenty big enough for the away fans we usually take to this game, and they serve pies and other food before the game – winner.

We haven’t had many amazing away days in recent years thanks to Mick 'the draw specialist' McCarthy, but Rotherham was one in 2016: a hat trick from Daryl Murphy (oh how we miss him) taking us to a 5:2 win and a lot of post-match partying… I didn’t actually make it home after that one!

@AnglianDriver has clear memories of Shewsbury Town from years gone by:

I actually saw Town at the old Gay Meadow ground in the 80’s in the UEFA Cup winning season when Burley broke his leg, and then we lost 2-1 in the FA Cup in 1984 (I think).

Shrewsbury moved to a modern, out-of-town stadium a few years ago, it has a large car park at the front (it sits back from the main road next to a Lidl Shop!). It’s a bit like Colchester United’s ground in design and capacity and there is a pub close to the ground call the Wild Pig and a retail park offering things like McDonald’s.

The town centre is about 2-3 miles away, where there are lots of nice pubs and bars. Shrewsbury itself is a fairly affluent place with a decent nightlife and some nice, historical architecture.

@Hargravegas also gave us his thoughts on Southend United:

I love Southend and I’m not sure why, it might be because they still have two Wimpy’s in town!

I tend to park in the street, somewhere around the school and there’s nice fish and chips near the ground too. The only negative thing that I would say is that it always takes longer than you think it will to get there.

I’d been looking forward to Sunderland when we played them two years ago.

Before the game I hadn’t expected we’d be seeing them relegated so soon (nor for us to follow them down the year after). My friends all stayed in Newcastle for the weekend and I joined them for breakfast at a Greene King pub near the station (always a fail-safe option).

We popped to St James’ Park to pay our respects at the Sir Bobby Robson statue, before jumping on the Metro to Sunderland. We found a pub there which was packed with ITFC fans. A lovely atmosphere but, to be honest, I regretted not staying in Newcastle for another pint.

Fair warning, as you’ll see in my video, the stairs to the away stand are both the highlight and the worst part of the trip… it’s a long way up, but they have little messages at each level to make you smile through the climb.

Let me know which game you’re looking forward to most!

'To say Webster's been a success would be a massive understatement': Bristol City vs Ipswich Town match preview from The Exiled Robin

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 09:14:00 GMT

The games fall thick and fast for Ipswich Town this week: following a fantastic draw at West Brom on Saturday, today they're on their travels again to Bristol City.

So, continuing my series of interviews with opposition fans, I've spoken to Bristol City fan Paul who runs the excellent Exiled Robin blog:

To start, tell us about your blog:

I always wanted to be a sports journalist, but ultimately pursued other paths at university.

So, I started writing a number of years ago when Twitter was first starting to be used by football fans as a means to connect with each other and to share content.

I saw what others were doing, including the likes of Ian King, The Two Unfortunates, and David Bevan, The 72, and decided I could do that for Bristol City. No one else was, so it seemed to make sense.

And how long have you been supporting Bristol City?

All my life! I was born when we were in the old First Division, but by the time I got to my first game we'd been relegated three seasons in a row and were bottom of Division 4 and had been close to folding. The only way was up, I guess!

I started going regularly when I was 9 or 10 and held a season-ticket for many years. In recent years, with a young family and now living on the other side of Cardiff, I tend to 'only get to around 13-15 home games a season.

Now the kids are 9 and 6, they're both properly getting into it, so perhaps a family season ticket is on the cards soon.

As an outsider, it seems to me that Bristol have had an excellent season. How are you feeling about it?

Yes, it's been better than most expected.

Having lost our three best players in the summer (Joe Bryan, Aden Flint and 20+ goal man Bobby Reid), I think most would have been happy with a steady, mid-table campaign, and that's very much where we were heading at the end of November when we played you at home.

A handful of our fans have even remarked after that game - which was no footballing classic - that they thought we'd both end up going down!

But that was the start of an incredible run which included 9 straight wins and left us where we are now, battling with Frank Lampard's Derby, Pulis' dinosaurs and a string of others for the last of the play-off spots.

More recently, February wasn't very kind to you, with a couple of defeats including a close game with our rivals Norwich...

No, and March hasn't started that well either, so the slide we encountered last year from January is threatening to derail us again.

The game against Norwich was so good, it was almost enjoyable despite the defeat. We played really well for 50-55 minutes, but they slowly started to take control and - although you won't want to hear this - they've got some cracking footballers going forward who taught us a bit of a lesson in the second half.

You do feel with them thought that they score so many late goals, they can carry on forever, but I suspect if they don't make it to the top 2 it'll be because a team has shut them out a little, they're not great at the back.

In a bit of a shock transfer for us, our defender Adam Webster made the move to you guys in the summer, leaving our defence somewhat desperate. How has he done for you?

Well, it seems Webster was Lee Johnson's only target when it became clear Flint was heading to Middlesbrough, and he clearly lined up a deal early on.

To say he's been a success would be a massive understatement, he's been our best player and his ability on the ball has allowed us to change shape and style. The way he steps into midfield has allowed us to play a 4-1-4-1 formation, with five relatively forward-thinking players, as Webster becomes an extra midfielder.

His partnership with Tomas Kalas has been the cornerstone of our success and as a pair, they're as impressive a centre-back partnership as any of us have seen at Ashton Gate.

I have not a single doubt that Webby will play in the Premier League before too long, and many believe he'll earn international honours.

What are your thoughts on Ipswich Town's season?

Well, from the outside looking in, it looks a shambles.

I know a couple of Ipswich fans, so get a bit of context, but appointing a new manager to revolutionise what had been a steady decline under Mick McCarthy and then sack him less than three months into te season seems barmy.

But I guess there must have been valid reasons of what was - or wasn't - happening behind-the-scenes and you'd hope there was more rationale than just poor results with a new coach and team.

Saying that the appointment of Paul Lambert seems inspired. Highly risky, for obvious reasons, and you're still bottom of the league - but I get the impression he's walked in and 'got' the club from the off and is earning credit from fans accordingly.

As a team that has made the step up from League One, what is your advice for us next season? Do you think we'll be able to come straight back up?

It's often not that easy. Last time we went down, we shed a lot of high-earners in the summer and struggled to adapt for one year, despite the brilliance of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.

Then the following summer, we picked up seven of the other League One club's best players (from the likes of Cheltenham, Stevenage, and Swindon) and gelled them with a handful of young players who hadn't quite made it in the Championship into a record-breaking squad.

You can't get back up easily with Championship old-stagers in my opinion, there are too many fresh, hungry young footballers down there keen to make an impact on the 'names'.

Finally, can I have a score prediction, please?

It's more hope than expectation given our last two home performances, but I'll go with a 2:0 win with a goal in each half.

You can follow Paul on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you so much for taking part, Paul!

Ipswich Town take a point away to play off contenders West Brom, but deserved all three points

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 20:30:00 GMT

Living in Yorkshire, it's not very often I'll head to the Midlands to see Ipswich Town play. But, as I haven't been to West Brom before I felt this trip was one not to miss.

And I wasn't wrong! From the pre-match pub, which swum with blue and white shirts all munching on delicious curries, to The Hawthorns, a smart ground with an away end packed with singing, happy fans - I loved it.

I loved the ground, I loved chatting with relaxed Town supporters before the match, I loved the feeling of unity that we seem to have formed, despite the horrendous results we've been forced to sit through since August.

Sadly, the beginning of the game didn't instill quite so much joy. Within five minutes, Jonas Knudsen had conceded a free-kick in the exact same position that lead to his red card and suspension at Wigan just a few weeks ago.

The resulting free-kick was quickly taken and, as West Brom created a sly gap in the wall, it deflected off Knudsen and bounced slowly into the waiting goal. Keeper Bart had been sent the wrong way and, at the time, it felt like this was going to be the start of many goals for the home side.

But from this point on we seemed to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

We weren't going down without a fight, Town reacted well to their goal with chance after chance of making the score level:

A nice run from Teddy Bishop(one of many), who passed to Alan Judge, who hit the ball into the box where it was easily collected by the keeper

A heel flick from Judge that was just a joy to watch

A shot from Luke Chambers which went over the bar (oh, how I'd have loved him to score after the criticism he received from a section of our fans last week)

A cross, again from Judge, crossed the face of the goal, but Jon Nolan was clearly held back and walked away holding his head

Bishop took on three West Brom players, neatly skipping around each, before being completely taken out, earning Town their first free-kick of the game

And there was a solid performance at the other end of the pitch too, as Bart had the best game I've seen from him so far this season. One shot tipped over the bar, another saved one-handed, at point-blank range.

Meanwhile, the man West Brom fan Nikki picked out as her 'one to watch' in my match preview, Dwight Gayle, was not endearing himself to Ipswich fans: after he went down injured in front of the away fans, Chambers kicked the ball out of play to allow him to be treated. Only for Gayle to happily jump back up again, cue angry reaction from the away stand.

Shortly before half-time, there was a handball appeal for Town, it was at the other end of the pitch so I can't claim to have had a good look at it - but what I did see was the response from three of our players and that was strong. These decisions never seem to come for us, do they?

When half-time came I wasn't worried about us being a goal down. The performance from the boys had been so bright, I felt an unusual feeling of hope!

Following the break, Collin Quaner, who had been decidedly quiet first-half, was replaced by Kayden Jackson. Now, I wasn't impressed by the latter last time I saw Town play at Wigan, but I'm pleased to say he was much better this time around.

The chances on goal just kept coming, with the vast majority continuing to be engineered by Alan Judge who is an absolute joy to watch. Our goal actually came from a James Bree cross, Nolan rose, unmarked, to meet the ball and head it into the net.

What a feeling! I hadn't seen Town score a goal this season until Keane's equaliser against Stoke last month - but now I've seen 3 in 3 and it feels like Christmas! The away end erupted in an awesome roar, with absolute elation taking hold: this great day out just got even better.

There we were, 1100 fans and 11 men on the pitch, united in pure joy against this horrible season that is trying so hard to drag us down. The moment of elation felt so symbolic, of these people who are trying their best to pull together and make the best of a bad situation, of players and fans who aren't going to let relegation stop them working together for a better future.

And so it went on, chance after chance for Town. Just 3 or 4 months ago, I'd become used to them managing only a handful of shots on target in 90 minutes - and I'd often count myself lucky if they even managed that. Saturday was a new team the one we've been waiting for all year, possibly longer.

More lovely football from Bish who passed onto Judge, but his pass to Jackson went straight to the West Brom keeper. The three of them provided some real moments of quality during the first half until Teddy was subbed, presumably due to having only just returned from injury.

Jackson had a fantastic chance shortly afterward, when a terrible pass to the West Brom keeper Sam Johnstone went awry. He reacted quickly to try to take advantage but the keeper managed to clear.

He also had a shot set up by Myles Kenlock which he probably could have taken better, but it was good to see him putting himself in positions that could lead to goals. I feel like this is where Kayden will see the most success, he seems to be a bit of a goal poacher.

Nolan, too, had a real chance to put us ahead, as he raced ahead of their defence to just outside the area. But, at the last minute, he appeared to get stage fright and scuffed the shot well wide of the post.

There were chances at the other end, though it seemed to be far less. One moment, a one-on-one between their number 60 and Chambers really showed the quality of our captain. The man is awesome and I won't hear a bad word said against him!

The Baggies' lack of ability to regain control of the game was clearly frustrating the home crowd and, by the 85th minute, there were sections booing the team. Shortly afterward, they were leaving their seats in droves - heading for the exits like lines of marching ants.

In a season filled with individual errors - yesterday showed some individual talent.

Bishop was the highlight of the first half, a young man back to the highs from the early days of his first team career. In him, we have a real asset for the future (although I fear his value may only be experienced in pounds as we're surely likely to need to sell him over the summer?).

Meanwhile, Nolan was by far and away my man of the match overall. I wasn't a fan of his earlier in the season and have been rightly pulled up for it on the TWTD forum. I really felt he wasn't good enough to make the step up to our league, he was of absolutely no use to us at Forest and made too many errors at Accrington.

But on Saturday, he really came into his own. He's got better and better and that's hopefully a good sign for next season - if he can make himself into a decent Championship player in the remaining months of the season, it bodes well for his return to League One, in which he has more experience and may feel more comfortable.

Bart, too, has had a dubious season but was back on form. The man has saved us so many points in the last two seasons, I'd say he was the main reason we weren't dragged too far into the relegation battle last year, and he was well worth the alleged pay rise he received in the summer. There's still time this season to prove his worth some more.

Sadly, I suspect he, like Bishop, is at risk of leaving Portman Road at the end of this season and, to be honest, I think he's too good a keeper to be dropping down to League One. But I'd love to see him end his time with us on a high - he's a class act.

I could honestly pay tribute to every player on that pitch, each one played their part in our draw, but instead, I'll end this section by saying that Alan Judge is quickly healing the gaping wounds in my heart left by the departure of Marty Waghorn.

He's by far the best player on the pitch every time I see him and I love the quality he has brought to the team. We MUST do whatever it takes to keep him at our club.

We genuinely could have won this game and I felt the performance deserved all three points.

In my opinion, it's a performance we've been building to for a while. The defeat at Norwich could so easily have caused our heads to drop, but we followed that gutsy display with a shock draw against Derby and a further good performance against Stoke.

The following week, an away defeat to Wigan came despite another determined performance in which the players showed guts and withstood an hour of attacks from the home side with only ten men on the pitch.

True, Reading at home was reportedly not our best game. Perhaps the pressure of the 'must-win' game became too much for a side that has struggled for confidence this season.

But that's why this weekend's result was unexpected, having not been able to beat a fellow relegation battler on our home turf, it's not entirely unfair to expect defeat against a team currently sat in 4th position.

Despite Lambert's protests to the contrary, most of us know we're not going to survive this season with our Championship status in-tact. There's no doubt in my mind that League One eagerly awaits our arrival in the not-so-distant future.

Perhaps that's what made the difference on the pitch. Perhaps, with the pressure off, the players are able to breathe a bit and enjoy playing at their best. We're certainly enjoying watching it much more from the stands.

Perhaps it's simply the case that every manager needs time for his team to click, for them to get to know how to play together and to start to turn those performances round - and that's exactly what this side is doing now.

I wondered after the game how different things might have been had we rid ourselves of 'the Temp' Paul Hurst just a few months earlier - might we have seen this turn in performances early enough in the season to save our skins?

Who knows.

What I do know is I'm damned proud of the team we are becoming and when this ship goes down, there's a united team of fans, player and manager waiting to bring her straight back up again.

West Brom vs Ipswich Town: Match Preview from the Point of View of a Baggies fan

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 20:08:00 GMT

Ipswich Town head to the midlands this weekend, to play West Bromwich Albion.

Following the heartbreaking defeat in a 'must win' game against Reading last weekend, Blues fans will be wondering if the points tally for this season has climbed as high as it's going to go.

But on we trudge to the next game, a trip to The Hawthorns to face a side who currently sit 20 places and 39 points ahead of us. They come into the game following a 4:0 battering at Leeds United and a 1:0 home loss to Sheffield United.

It's a new ground for me, which is the main reason I'm dragging myself off to a match that I fully expect us to lose, but am trying to cling on to some slim delusion of hope.

I asked Ipswich based Baggies fan Nikki for her thoughts ahead of the game:

You live in Ipswich but support West Brom - how did that come about?

Euro 2004 summer in Tenerife, Linekers Bar. Got talking to a group of lads who were in Town shirts, we had just signed Tommy Gaardsøe from you so it was an ice breaker.

A holiday romance blossomed and six months later I moved to Suffolk. Although the relationship broke down my daughter was born and I've remained in Suffolk for her.

Do you get to see West Brom play very often?

I try to get to as many games as I can but my weekend job only allows me to have certain weekends free!

I was at Carrow Road for the 3-4 win and I was at Portman Road in November. I try and do as many of the "local" games as I can.

West Brom come into the game against Ipswich on the back of two defeats to two teams that are flying high this season, playing Ipswich must look easy by comparison?

The Leeds and Sheffield United games were a hard watch.

Both teams did their jobs: Sheffield United were organised, defended well and cut down anything we tried to create.

As for the Leeds game - I genuinely don't think I have any words for that one. It's gone and it's on to the next one.

I certainly won't be taking the game against Town lightly. Our home form isn't great and it's going to be hard coming into the game off two straight losses.

How has the rest of the season been for you guys so far?

Can certainly say it's been a real mix, we started the season absolutely flying.

I know they say one player doesn't make a team but I genuinely feel that the loss of Harvey Barnes has had a massive impact on us. He was certainly one of the first names on the team sheet!

What are you hoping for the end of the season? Where do you expect to finish?

Realistically I think our automatic chances have gone. I think the most we can hope for is a play-off place.

When I think of West Brom, I always think of them as a Premier League side. How has the Championship been for you, harder than some were expecting?

Thank you!

Relegation was always going to be tough, especially financially.

That aside, I find the Championship more exciting! The results this season have been so unpredicatble with everyone beating everyone.

That's what I always say, although it's not been so easy fo Ipswich to beat anyone! As someone who lives in Ipswich but supports a different side, how are you viewing our season?

Where do I start, I don't think I've ever known a club to go through so much in one season.

The loss of players through injury, Freddie Sears and Grant Ward both being sidelined with their ACL (along with some other long term injuries), and a change in manager.

I think the addition of Alan Judge and Will Keane is a good little duo!

Everyone can see what Mr Lambert is bringing to the changing room at Portman Road and I genuinely believe he is and will turn it around, they just need that rub of the green.

What can we expect on Saturday, players to keep an eye out for? What are West Brom's strengths/weaknesses?

Dwight Gayle: I have to say I wasn't entirely sure about the loan deal which saw Sol Rondon go to Newcastle in exchange for Dwight, but how I was proven wrong. He has been absolutely immense for us, and on their day he and Jay Rod can tear any defence apart.

Our weakness at the minute, I think, is our formation. We have been playing 4-3-3 with Dwight Gayle on the wing and, for me, this just doesn't work!

And how about off the pitch? This is a new ground for me, what's it like? Any recommendations for pubs to go to before the game?

The Vine Pub (Postcode: B70 6RD), located a short 15 minute walk away from The Hawthorns is very popular for home and away fans, serves the best curry!

Finally, can I have a score prediction?

I really want to sit on the fence on this one but I won't! I'm going 3-1 WBA.

Thanks ever so much for taking part Nikki. Enjoy the game, but hopefully not too much!

Why 2019 won't be the year Ipswich Town fans regret what they wished for (even if/when we go down)

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 16:00:00 GMT

2018 was a year of long wished-for change at Portman Road: the downward spiral of division and anger between Ipswich Town fans and manager Mick McCarthy - caused in no short amount by the lack of investment from Marcus Evans - came to a head.

But can 2019 be the year we finally say goodbye to that? I really do hope so. For years, we've been wishing for something different - both in the style of football on the pitch and the owner's style of management off it.

By the end of McCarthy's tenure you'd have been hard pushed to find someone who wanted him to renew his contract in the summer and to this day you would still not find anyone who doesn't concede it was best for all parties that he leave.

The relief of McCarthy's departure in April was followed by a risky appointment in Paul Hurst and a disastrous start to the 2018/2019 season. We find ourselves facing the very real prospect of relegation to League One in the coming year.

But, if we were to go back 12 months - would we change what happened? Would I regret adding my voice to the calls for Mick's resignation? Not. For. A. Second.

And what of our hopes for 2019? To finally move on.

A few months ago, former Norwich player Chris Sutton mocked an Ipswich Town fan during a 5 Live show for saying we were happy to have moved on from our previous manager, even though results since then have been poor.

Aside from the fact that his obsession with criticising our supporters is a bit weird, I do wish Sutton would take the time to learn more about what's going on at Portman Road before commenting. Surely that's part of his job?

It’s true the Hurst honeymoon period didn’t last very long, but that doesn't mean we regret the departure of McCarthy. Even if having him here would have meant we were safe. I think it's fair to say that most Blues fans are content the club made the right choice in moving on from him.

When speaking to Chris, Blues fan Tom explained this perfectly well, pointing out that anything was better for us than the dross we were served up last season and McCarthy’s repeated press conference digs at our fans. It seems Chris has taken offence to this point of view, but he might wish to consider that it's one held by a large number of Tractor Boys, before trotting out the ‘be careful what you wish for’ strap-line yet again.

(I’m sure he's completely professional and unbiased in his opinions and that his loyalty to our green and yellow neighbours in Norfolk has nothing to do with his inability to even consider this matter from a different point of view.)

Chris is, of course, correct that McCarthy had moderate success while managing our club: After saving us from relegation, he took us to 6^th, 7^th, 16^th and 12^th in the league – not too shabby for a man who wasn’t given the budget that other clubs around us are.

But, the closing years of his time with us epitomised the frustration we’ve all come to feel: he made us question whether we wanted to keep paying to go to games. He went to away games to play for a draw, introduced a hoof-ball style of play that gave us neck-ache and had an aversion to Cup competitions that bordered on disrespectful.

We never got beyond the Third round under his stewardship, and that included an embarrassing, pitiful defeat to then non-league Lincoln. That was a game Chris commentated on, on national radio, with glee and gloating. So, as I say, he's clearly objective and professional when it comes to this topic.

Don’t get me wrong, I understood what he was trying to do on the pitch – even though I was bored out of my mind watching it. But his attitude off the pitch became indefensible: when he reached the point of telling his own fans to f*** off after Chambers scored the late goal against Norwich, he reached the point of no return – he had to go.

What should have been a moment of celebration was completely ruined by his actions, it tainted the day even more than Klose’s 95th-minute equaliser – and given I’ve been waiting nine long years to see us win a derby, that’s saying something. I'd love to know what Chris has to say about that, but presumably it wouldn't suit his pro-McCarthy, anti-Ipswich fan agenda.

Sadly Chris isn't the only one that seems to be taking pleasure in our demise since the Yorkshire man departed. We've inexplicably appeared on the back page of one newspaper, who usually pays us no attention at all, under the headline 'Be Careful What You Wish For' and other pundits have followed suit.

Despite their liking for Mick, the only time the papers seemed to take an interest in him was when he was linked with the Ireland job. Not once did they cover our results on the pitch - ironically, that's likely to be because it was too boring.

Even now, as the club faces the drop to the third tier of football for the first time ever, the media insist on looking back at the end of last season rather than forward to the end of this.

I've seen more people criticising us for McCarthy leaving than discussing the current situation of the club and where we're going next. Outside of East Anglia (to be fair, Norwich have taken notice of the Paul Lambert appointment, they're still sulking), we are in the wrong for 'hounding him out'.

What they all seem to have overlooked is one glaring fact: We’ve been in this league for 17 years. Seventeen. I was at school when we got promoted. Since then, I’ve gone on to graduate from uni, moved up north, had three long-term relationships, lived in eight different homes, had a child, got engaged and bought a house.

Meanwhile, Ipswich Town remains stubbornly in the second tier of English football, not being promoted but not being relegated either. The loyalty our fans have shown throughout these years of tedium should be applauded, not mocked. When you’re a football fan, you have to deal with the trials and tribulations. You have ups and you have downs, but you never let that stop you going back for more.

If (or maybe that should now say 'when') we start next season in League One, we will not regret parting ways with McCarthy - mainly because it has absolutely nothing to do with him. Our time with him had come to an end and what has happened since is really not linked - I'd suggest it's lazy journalism to claim it is.

And so, as we look ahead to what is going to be a challenging enough year for staff, players fans and management at Ipswich Town - my one wish for 2019 is that we can finally leave that name behind. May the initials MM never be mentioned to (or by) any of us again.

Let us just focus on going down...

Oh, and may Chris find something more interesting to focus on than what us Blues fans are up to, or at least learn how to do a bit of research.

This article first appeared in the magazine, Kings of Anglia, you can order your copy here: https://www.buyamag.co.uk/Leisure-Magazines/Kings-of-Anglia/KINGITF9

The sacking of so many managers didn’t give us the stability I craved, but with Bielsa being brought in now I like what I see: Leeds vs Ipswich Match Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:02:00 GMT

After the international break, the games are coming thick and fast for Championship sides - having lost to QPR at Portman Road on Saturday, Town now travel up to Leeds United for a midweek game and then down to London to face Millwall.

Blues fans head to Elland Road looking for, but not really expecting, only their second win of the season. It feels a long time since Mick McCarthy walked out of a post-match press conference and times are tough under new boss Paul Hurst - as shown by their position rock bottom of the league.

Meanwhile, their opponents have been flying high with some good results leaving them fourth in the league and looking like a competitor for the automatic promotion come the end of the season.

They have hit a bump in the road though, an unexpected defeat to newly promoted Blackburn at the weekend as dented their confidence a little, but the bubble hasn't completely burst as United fan Heidi explained when I got in touch to ask for her views.

Heidi is a home and away season ticket holder and has supported Leeds for over 50 years. She didn't miss a game for seven years in both the seventies and eighties and also went abroad to see them play:

'Leeds United were the local team even though I lived 30 miles away in between Goole and Selby. In those days the FA Cup was the big thing on TV and I started supporting them in 1965 after the FA Cup Final against Liverpool. I am privileged to have been there to see the great Don Revie side, Billy Bremner was - and always will be - my hero.

Winning the FA Cup in 1972 will always have special memories for me, especially seeing Billy lift the cup from Her Majesty the Queen. Tommy Steele (he was wearing white so he was supporting Leeds!) singing Abide with Me and The National Anthem with the whole stadium joining in was awe inspiring and the memories will stay with me forever.

I notice you run a blog, would you like to tell me about that too?

Follow Me and Leeds United is the name of my website and the blog I post after every game, including photos of the fan experience at games which is shared around the world with all the Leeds groups I am in.

I am the author of five Leeds United books, the first one - Follow Me and Leeds United - is based on a diary I kept in the seventies and I was a girl in a man’s world. It includes all the issues my friends and I had as girls following our team plus stories of loads of the troubles we encountered, including one of being ambushed in the Sporting Farmer pub at Ipswich!

Once I wrote my first book I started the website and Facebook/Twitter group to raise the profile of the book to encourage sales. As I have always enjoyed taking photos at games and have included many in all of my books, I started writing the blog too as per the diary I kept in the seventies.

It is a match-by-match report of what I see on the pitch and is about the fan experience at games where I take loads of photos. The majority of my followers like the way I write as I always give an honest account of what I see. I also get fans now actively asking to have their photos taken so they are included in the blogs.

Leeds go into this game off the back of a defeat at Blackburn, was that a big disappointment?

It was a big disappointment as we didn’t really get going. We were bullied in the first instance when Blackburn scored within two minutes and that was then I noticed they had giants playing for them. Our players looked minute in comparison.

We played into their hands by not playing to our strengths at times, with some high balls that we were never going to get.

We showed what we could do just before half time when we equalised: with 13

passes and no Blackburn player touching the ball, we had it in the back of their net! I think their second goal could have been prevented if we’d had a player on each post as Billy Bremner and Paul Reaney used to do.

I have to say, before the start of the season I wasn't expecting Leeds to do so well, did you expect it?

My aim every season is always to aspire for the top two and automatic promotion, although I am realistic enough to know it may not happen. Last season we started in the same vein but by the end of the season we ended up demoralised.

The sacking of so many managers didn’t give us the stability I craved, but with Bielsa being brought in now I like what I see. I know there will be ups and downs but I feel the club themselves are now on the same wavelength as me, i.e. wanting promotion.

What are your predictions for the rest of the season?

I don’t have any specific predictions as I like to wait until nearer the end of the season to see where the land lies. I just want us to keep winning as many points as we can and keep aiming for that automatic promotion. The play-offs are a waste of time for us as we never turn up for them!

What are the assets that could help you go up and what are the potential hazards that could hold you back?

Stability is the main thing and the club having the ambition to want promotion. For 15 years I don’t think promotion was on the cards at all, but that seems to be in the past now - that would definitely have held us back.

Are there any players I should keep an eye out for on Wednesday?

Not really although Bielsa doesn’t tend to change the starting line up by more than a couple of players, he wants them all to play the same way so if they all gel at once, we will be on fire.

Moving on to Ipswich, what are you expecting from them on Wednesday?

I take each game as it comes and tend to make my mind up by what I see on the pitch at the time. I don’t think there are any easy games in the Championship as anyone can beat anyone on their day. I only focus on Leeds United so don’t tend to know where anyone is placed in the league until someone mentions it.

For instance as soon as anyone says the opposition haven’t won a game or are near the bottom of the league, I know that goes out of the window when they play us. Everyone raises their game against us but I would rather you didn’t please!

I'm interested to get an outsider's point of view on our recent managerial changeover - do you think we did the right think letting McCarthy go? And what are your impressions of Paul Hurst.

To be honest I don’t think I realised McCarthy had gone, he was one manager I did know about. He always managed to get your team to get the better of us though.

I don’t really know anything about Paul, but as my friend’s husband comes from Shrewsbury I seem to recall them saying he had something to do with them getting out of the doldrums.

In recent years, there have been similarities between Leeds and Ipswich in terms of the discontent that fans have with the owners - but things have settled at your place now. Can you explain to us what has changed under the new management?

The club are now talking to the different fan groups, which is great progress, but they know they cannot take the support for granted.

After having years of different owners getting a great quantity of players in who were not fit to play for the club, they have realised that we need quality over quantity. Getting a first class manager in shows they have ambition too. Having stability will be key and to know not to panic if things don’t go as we want it all the time.

Finally, I've written a (tongue-in-cheek) blog about how 'we all hate Leeds' and wondered what you think of the impression that some football fans have of Leeds fans? Do you find it frustrating?

I think we are used to everyone hating us so we just get on with it. Some clubs don’t even register on our radar but all of a sudden we find there is a hatred for us which seems to be like sheep following a crowd.

The media played a big part in this during the seventies, they portrayed Leeds as dirty when all teams had hard men at the time. We played to win and there was nothing wrong with that and the football I saw at the time was absolutely fantastic.

It was that team that has made me the Leeds fan I am today and we just end up with the gallows humour taking over. The -15 season for us galvanized our support as it was us against everyone else but you know something that really was a great time to follow our team despite relegation to the third division!

Thank you ever so much for taking part in this guest post Heidi, I'm off to order you book as I'd love to read more and if anyone would like to check out your blog they can click here.

10 things I hate about Leeds United

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 14:02:00 GMT

I should begin this post with a little background information: I’m from Ipswich originally and am a lifelong Town supporter. But I moved to Yorkshire almost ten years ago and I’ve lived in Leeds for three and a half of those.

So, before anyone expresses concern that I’m jumping on the ‘we hate Leeds bandwagon’, I’ve lived here long enough now to know what I’m talking about.

I have met numerous Leeds fans, some of them are even quite nice (wash your mouth out Amy), my best friends' fiancee is one... but I still loathe them with a passion.

I even dated one, for my sins, and though I’m probably tainting them all with his utter shitness, I put up with him for two and a half years – so I’m allowed.

As we prepare to head off and support Town at Bellend Road… sorry, Elland… I thought I’d share with you all why it’s the club I love to hate:

The ticket prices. £37 quid for a midweek game, are you serious? It’s the same every year and it drives me mad that they get away with it.

The away stand with a restricted view. You pay almost 40 quid for a TV gantry and three poles to get in your way.

The endless rounds of the same bloody song. When people tell me the atmosphere at Elland Road is excellent, I laugh at them. Singing ‘We are the Champions of Europe’ for 90 minutes straight doesn’t make it good, it makes them a bad joke.

The concourse. If you have more than 100 fans up in the terraces, beware, you’ll be packed in like sardines and there won’t be a route through to the toilets. Plus, the food is terrible and the cider is warm.

The away fans pub. Actually, I quite like Drysalters as a football pub, but it’s too far for away fans to travel if they’ve come by public transport so it’s always dead and going there means you completely miss out on the amazing city we live in. Town fans, bypass this and head to Whitelocks.

The constantly looking out for trouble. Don’t get me wrong, I have never seen an ounce of trouble at a Leeds game, but that doesn’t stop the constant worry there might be some because of their reputation. They need police escorts to away games for goodness sakes and they take pride in the fact people think this.

The superiority complex. Yes, you were once a big club, but you’re not any more and no amount of sold-out away attendances are going to change that. Get over yourselves.

The fact most of their fans don’t actually go to the games. Before I moved to Leeds I lived in Wakefield and there were many Saturdays when I would pop into a pub to see how Town were getting on. Every single one was packed, filled to the rafters with Leeds fans getting hammered and watching the game on telly. You’re literally a 15-minute trip away – be a supporter and go to the chuffing game.

The time they threw coins and bottles at our disabled fans because we'd relegated them with a draw. Enough said.

The fact it’s the closest game to me so there’s no way I can miss it. Living so far from home, I can only really go to a small number of games and travel is an obstacle because of the cost. In truth, I simply can’t sit here at home and not be down the road watching my boys. No matter how much I hate the ground, the club, and a huge number of their fans.

Anyway, to those Blues fans making the not-so-enviable journey up the A1: be safe and I hope you have a lovely time.

Well... as much as you can when watching the current Ipswich side at that place. Halloween is about to come a week early for the Tractor Boys.

'The rest of our season is going to depend on whether Chis Martin can find some form' - Hull vs Ipswich Preview from a Hull Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 13:25:00 GMT

After a well deserved international-break from what is already proving to be a not-unexpectedly challenging season, Ipswich Town return to football this weekend with a trip to Hull.

As it's a Yorkshire game, I will be popping across from Leeds to sample the delights of the former City of Culture, and will be hoping to enjoy my time inside the KC Stadium too.

The Tigers are a team who have experienced far more success than us with promotion to the Premier League in the last decade, but in recent years conflict between the fans and the owner has placed them in the headline more than the results on the pitch.

Sadly, all of that has lead in no small part to their current position just one place above the relegation zone with just one point more than Town.

Kathryn with Hull player Jackson Irvine.
Listen out for chants about his lovely long hair this weekend!

So, I asked Hull fan Kathryn Batte for her thoughts ahead of our game this weekend:

1. Tell me a bit about yourself - how long have you been watching Hull, how did you start supporting them, how often do you see them play, etc.

I’ve been going to watch Hull City since the age of 5 when we were in the depths of League 2! My early years of supporting saw us gain back-to-back promotions under Peter Taylor before Phil Brown took us to the Premier League for the first time in 2008. It’s fair to say I’ve only seen mainly good times as a supporter compared to my Dad and Grandad before me! I go to all the home games and try to make as many away games as possible.

2. Fantastic to see that you won an award for your journalism this year, could you tell me some more about that (perhaps a link to some of your work too?)

Thank you! I was Sports Editor for my University Radio York last year and wrote articles for the student newspaper as well as being press officer for the women’s football team which I played for. I’m starting a Masters in Journalism at the University of Sheffield in a couple of weeks which I’m looking forward to.

3. How has the season been so far for Hull?

We’ve not got off to the best start, mainly because we failed to replace the players we lost or sold in the Summer. We’re currently on 4 points after an away draw at Sheffield Wednesday and win at Rotherham but we’ve lost our first 3 home games for the first time since 2006. We were unlucky to lose late on to Derby in the last game and have new loan signings Tommy Elphick and Chris Martin (who I’m sure will get a warm reception from the Ipswich fans on Saturday!!) who will probably come into the starting XI.

4. I see you've been predicted by some experts for relegation this year (don't worry, so have we!), do you think it's too soon to worry?

I think the lack of recruitment and the players we lost in the summer is probably the reason for the predictions. It’s early in the season but we’re certainly in a battle due to the lack of depth and experience in the squad. We have shown some promising signs in patches in games and Nigel Adkins will certainly work hard to get the best out of the players he has. Thankfully there’s a few teams who seem to have similar problems - Birmingham, QPR etc so like you say we’re not alone!

5. What are your predictions for the rest of the season?

I think a lot of it is going to depend on whether Chris Martin can find some form in front of goal and if Jarrod Bowen can rediscover his form of last season. Hopefully Elphick will help to cut out some of the silly mistakes we’ve been making in defence but that’s assuming he manages to stay fit for the season. There’s never a huge gap between the teams in the relegation zones and the ones just below mid table so I think we’re likely to be battling it out near the bottom with 6-7 teams other teams.

6. Are there any players I should keep an eye out for on Saturday?

As mentioned already - ex-Norwich player Chris Martin may get a start but Adkins usually only starts one striker and he’ll probably stick with Frazier Campbell from the start. Jarrod Bowen was the spark for us last year but hasn’t scored yet this season. He’s a match-winner if he’s on form and if Jackson Irvine is fit he’s another one to look out for.

7. Moving on to Ipswich, what are you expecting from them on Saturday?

You seem to be in a similar position to us in terms of losing big players like Martyn Waghorn without perhaps replacing them with the same level of talent. I noticed you signed Jon Walters, (who used to play for us back in 2004!) on-loan who is an experienced player and capable of scoring goals at this level. I think Paul Hurst is a good manager having seen how he did with Grimsby and Shrewsbury but might need time to get the team playing to how he wants. I’d expect him to come for a draw on Saturday however he may fancy his chances at getting a first win with our current home record.

8. I'm interested to get an outsider's point of view on our recent managerial changeover - do you think we did the right think letting McCarthy go? And what are your impressions of Paul Hurst.

It’s difficult to assess whether letting McCarthy go was the right thing as I didn’t watch the team play every week so don’t know how performances were etc. McCarthy is one of those managers who probably would never have taken you down from the Championship but obviously the style of football may not have been exciting to watch or particularly progressive. He’s a good manager to steady a ship but perhaps not to to take a team up anymore - unless he has substantial financial backing. Like I say, I think Hurst has done well elsewhere but it was obviously at a lower level and he’s clearly finding managing in the championship a step-up.

9. There are similarities between Hull and Ipswich in terms of the discontent that fans have with the owners - but I often use you guys as an example of how things could be a lot worse for us. What are your views of your owner?

There’s been conflict with the owners ever since they tried to change the club’s name in 2013 and relations with fans have only got worse since then. The removal of concessionary ticket pricing as well as other issues such as changing the club badge and a general lack of investment since Steve Bruce was forced out of the club has driven a lot of fans away. Whilst the owners have met with supporters, nothing has changed and they’ve held two ballots to gage supporter opinion but refused to release results. The only way the club can move forward is through a change of ownership but that is unlikely to happen until the current regime have recouped their loans to the club plus interest.

10. Finally, Hull have charged us just £12 for a ticket this weekend - which has made me and lots of Town fans very happy. We did hear that Hull fans are not happy with this and see it as the owners way of reducing ticket sales, is this true? Do you agree?

£12 is a good price for adults but as the club refuse to give concessionary tickets this will be the price for everyone. The price is cheaper due to yourselves being lower down the division but compare this to the upcoming visit of Middlesbrough, fans will be charged nearer £30 - and this will be for all age groups meaning if family were to come for the game they’d be spending £120 roughly without including travel expenses - this goes for home fans as well. You can get cheaper tickets depending on where you sit in the ground but many people but if you want to sit near the halfway line for example your ticket will cost more etc. Concessionary tickets have also been removed from season memberships which are now paid on a monthly basis and everybody pays the same rate regardless of age - the only variable is where you sit in the ground. Attendances are at an all-time low because of this and the other on-going issues.

Thanks ever so much for your thoughts Kathryn, good luck with your Masters and I hope you enjoy Saturday - although not too much!

Ipswich Town and Norwich City: Back on a Level Playing Field

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:55:00 GMT

As we came to the end of last season, there was a sense of huge relief for this Tractor Girl.

It wasn't just that we had finally said goodbye to our pain-in-the-arse manager that was making me feel this way, the final position of our bitter rivals Norwich was also making me smile.

As another Town settled into their familiar spot in the middle of the table, our noisy neighbours over the border in Norfolk had finally returned to the realms of mediocrity. Back where they belong.

We all know the Blues are the bigger and better club. We've seen more success, we’ve held more trophies, we’ve produced the two greatest managers England has ever had. So, this recent feeling of being the underdogs has felt odd to me.

Nine long years since our last victory over Norwich, we've watched them promoted to the Premier League twice, continue to sell out their ground and have money to spend thanks to parachute payments, the ludicrous reward for teams who are relegated.

When we faced our rivals for the semi-finals of the play-offs in 2015, I was proud of the way we performed. City fielded a team of ex-Premier League players worth millions, while our manager had spent just £110k on our side, yet still the Canaries needed a second leg and a sending off to get past us and into the finals.

Even their short time in the Premier League was overshadowed by ours, they never did equal our superb achievement of finishing fifth in the top flight.

(*Edit: I've been, rightly, called out on this one as Norwich did finish 3rd in 1993 - my mistake for not explaining myself. For me, the achievement of finishing fifth when we did and competing against the teams that we did, far overshadows the Canary's achievement almost ten years earlier, it was a very different league then.)

Since then, the beautiful game has begun to show them you need more than money to make it in this league, something they should have learned from us three years ago.

After years of yo-yoing between the first and second tiers, they have joined us back in the Championship and slipped further and further away from the chances of promotion back to the big time. What that means, of course, is that they face this season without the boost of the parachute payment.

Don't get me wrong, I know many Norwich fans and they’re alright, I guess. Friends and family have enjoyed the Canaries’ recent brush with success and I have been happy for them to see what it was like to be a success, it must have made a nice change for them.

When you live in East Anglia you know you're going to bump into three types of football fans: Ipswich, Norwich or Manchester United, so it’s inevitable we’re going to associate with the Budgies and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

My 94-year-old Grandad is a Norwich fan and, until recently, was a season ticket holder who trekked from Stowmarket to Norfolk every other week. My Dad's first game was at Norwich, but because they lived in Suffolk, Grandad gave him the choice of going to Carrow Road or Portman Road.

It was the Alf Ramsey era: my Dad was already smitten. Ray Crawford or Bill Punton? There was no choice really, was there? I love hearing stories of my Dad taking a milk crate into the North Stand and I’ll always be so glad he made the right decision that day!

Please don’t hate me for what I’m about to say: when it comes down to it, Ipswich fans and Norwich fans are cut from the same cloth. We've grown up in the same area, with very similar backgrounds. We’ve all chosen to support our local teams over the Premier League superstars, and that deserves a pat on the back.

But there will always be one huge difference - we have our history.

I've lost count of the number of times I've read Norwich fans teasing us for the 3 stars on our shirts. Do you know why they do that? Jealousy. They mock us because it’s something they don't have and, boy, do they wish they did.

There has even been speculation about a statue for the recently departed Wes Hoolahan. As I saw someone quip on Twitter: Statue? More like a doorstop! My Dad reckons they’ve probably even thought of erecting one for Grant Holt, but there is not enough plaster in the country to make it life size!

I know what they’re going to say… but, but, Norwich participated against Bayern Munich that time. Oh, and their programme was voted the second best in Britain for three years in a row. And all of Ipswich’s success is in the past.

It may be 40 years since we won the FA Cup and almost as long since we were champions of England and Europe - but at least we've done it. Our younger fans may not know what it's like to play in the country's top league, but they know what it's like to feel proud of their club.

So, I say to the Budgies: you may have experienced more joy than us in recent years; but look what we've been through and we're still standing. We haven't had to go down to League One to enjoy promotion, we haven’t bought our way to the Premier League and we haven't stopped looking at our trophy cabinet with its proud history.

We will always be the Kings of Anglia: here’s to proving that this season, when we finally right the wrongs of recent years and win both our derby games.

This article originally appeared in the Kings of Anglia fanzine, you can purchase the current issue and all previous copies here: http://www.buyamag.co.uk/search.aspx?search=kings%20of%20anglia

And now, the end is near - Mick McCarthy faces the final curtain at Ipswich Town

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 16:17:00 GMT

When I first graduated, I was lucky enough to have my dream job as a freelancer for a radio station in Ipswich and as part of that job – the best part – I got to report on Ipswich games and go to press conferences.

One Saturday afternoon I headed up to the Molineux and enjoyed us take a late equaliser through Tommy Miller. Then after the game, as we were waiting for Jim Magilton to come up from the dressing room, I decided to sit in on Wolves’ manager Mick McCarthy’s interview.

It’s one of my favourite memories from my short-lived time as a journalist, his interview was like no other I had listened to. The room was relaxed, he joked with the press that it felt like a defeat and even popped in a couple of swear words which made everyone laugh. He was relaxed and genuine… a nice guy.

Despite everything, I still trust that first impression and I still believe he showed traits that should be valued in a manager. Having had the pure nastiness of Roy Keane followed by the puppet that was Paul Jewell – I, for one, welcomed and have enjoyed Mick’s 'Barnsley-style' attitude of just being honest about what he thinks.

The trouble is, that approach is exactly what has got him in trouble – and rightly so. It’s been his undoing.

In my opinion, there has been a small section of our fans who have expected (nay, wanted) him to fail since he was appointed our manager. 'He wasn’t the right fit for Ipswich, Wolves fans have reported bad things and he’ll never take us anywhere', they said.

On the latter, they were wrong. 2015 was a tough year for me personally, but I will always remember it for that afternoon at Ewood Park, standing next to a chap I recognised only from Twitter who was listening to the radio through headphones.

‘They’ve got a penalty’ he said of Derby, the team we needed to lose if we were to make it to the play-offs. Then he held his finger to his lips and I swear the whole of the away stand went quiet… a few seconds passed, then – he thrust his fist into the air and we all cheered. Derby had missed the penalty – we’d done the impossible.

And that was the point – Mick McCarthy had taken a team on the brink of relegation, destroyed by a succession of two very poor managers, spent just £110k on them and reached the bloody play offs. It was unexpected, a miracle and, to me, it didn’t really matter that we lost to Norwich in the semi-finals – I was so proud that my little Ipswich was proving the world of big, bad, money-mad football that they were wrong. Winning can be achieved through passion and drive, this is how it should be done.

For that, I thank Mick from the bottom of my heart. For making me happy, for making me fall in love with my team and being a football fan again, for – however briefly – pulling our fan base back together to make us proud of our club.

He is well respected throughout football and rightly so. He is an excellent manager at this level, even if you don’t appreciate the way he does it. He will, I’m sure go on to manage another Championship side and no doubt we will lose to them when we play.

But his time with us is over and I am relieved, but sad it’s ended this way.

That small section of fans who have been openly against him all along has slowly grown and grown. As times have become tough, more and more people have gone against him, encouraged by his unnecessary digs.

Conversely, I’ve been a big supporter of him and have openly defended his sarcastic comments. He’s honest and that’s what I like, I agree that he knows how to do his job better than the section of fans that think it’s okay to sing ‘your football is shit’ in the middle of a game.

Hell, I even understand why he reacted like he did to the away section after Chambers scored his goal against the scum. He’s been on the receiving end of some nasty abuse from our fans and I think I’d have been hard pushed not to feel smug that the tactics they so loudly criticised had just seemingly won us the game.

But, to me, that moment signalled the point it had gone too far. The hate between our fans and our manager has become so much that he – in a moment of passion, probably without even thinking – directed the emotion at them, instead of celebrating with his own players.

This feeling of divide has grown and grown and I think there is fault on both sides, let alone the contribution Ian Milne and Marcus Evans’ actions (or inactions) have made. Something should have been done about it a lot sooner than it has – things didn’t need to get this bad.

It’s reached a point now where I actually started not wanting to go to games any more. Me, the girl who has long argued that I will always want to go to the football, no matter what the score, because it means spending the day with my friends. I just couldn’t be bothered with how miserable everyone had become, I couldn’t be arsed with the stress.

I honestly expected him to go last summer. Who knows why he didn’t: perhaps Evans is just happy because McCarthy doesn’t expect more money, perhaps Mick really does want to honour his contract, perhaps we couldn’t find a replacement for him (given how long it took to replace Daryl Murphy, I wouldn’t be surprised).

As we go into a new era for the club and finally answer the question – who could do better? I want o say thank you to Mick. Genuinely, you’ve given me a lot of joy over the past five years and I’m grateful. I’m also grateful you’re finally out of the door and we can hopefully start to get our club back.

Finale at Forest: Ipswich Town match preview

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 05 May 2017 20:06:00 GMT

Laura and her Forest fan friends joined us in the Black Horse pub
after the final home game of the season in 2015

As I prepare myself to head for a weekend in Nottingham, I become very aware that, while we could have an impact on the relegation battle in this league, our own season has been completely insignificant.

Forest go into the game needing a result, as they face the possibility of playing in League One next year. How nervous their fans must be.

Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys are letting loose a collective sigh of relief that another inconsequential season is over and we can take a break from the frustrations of following our team.

On speaking with a friend of mine who has been a season ticket holder at the City Ground for many years, one thing has become clear: we are so similar to them and it could easily have been us in that position.

Below you will find my interview with Laura, who I first met some years back in a bar by the river before a very foggy midweek game.

Laura's comments bear a huge resemblance to the complaints and fears that have been expressed by many Town fans this season, including myself.

Their best player was sold and not replaced, money from player sales was not reinvested and the team were inconsistent despite managing good results against some of the top teams.

The situation they find themselves in should serve as a warning to Ipswich Town - fans and those running the club - that this is where we could (some would say 'will') find ourselves if we continue as we are.

However, I feel they do also serve as proof that things could be far worse at Town. As you'll see, Laura mentions the restrictions enforced when they broke FFP rules and the effect that has had.

Whilst we all would like to see Evans spend a little more on the squad, it's important to note this very real consequence of spending too much.

Forest fans, like us, have become increasingly frustrated with the way their club is being run.

As we watch the feelings of either relief or devastation unfold in front of the Sky cameras on Sunday, perhaps it will stir something in us, because relegation to League One would be disastrous for us and it may well be for them.

With that in mind, here are Laura's fascinating thoughts on the match and their dreadful 2016/17.

Easier said than done, but can you summarise how your season has gone this year?

I don't think I need to summarise how our season has gone...people only need to look at the league table to see!

We started with a new boss, scoring goals and playing more exciting football, but that didn't last long. The owner sold the best player to have come from the academy in years but he didn't replace him and it just went downhill from there.

Two new managers later and we are in a total mess. This is all thanks to the owner destroying the club.

Why have things gone so badly wrong?

This has been coming for years.

Under the current owner we have had transfer embargoes, unpaid bills, winding up orders and lack of staff because people have lost their jobs.

This cannot help matters on the pitch, especially when you hear whisperings of players being paid late (of course, no one knows if that is true). The blame has to lie at the feet of our owner.

We have had a managerial merry-go-round throughout his tenure: no-one ever gets time to build a squad. Then we have some players who simply aren't good enough and don't seem to care about the club

At the start of the season where did you expect to finish? Did you ever think relegation would be a worry?

With a new manager who I had never heard of along with new players who, again, I had never heard of I wasn't particularly confident for the season ahead.

Unfortunately, yes, I did think we might flirt with relegation for a short time. But, no, I did not expect to be fighting for our lives on Sunday!

Can you tell us about more about your views on the owner of your club?

I think the fact that most Forest fans I know own a 'Fawaz Out' badge/scarf/or both, speaks volumes!

The man is the poison of Nottingham and he hasn't even set foot in the City Ground since September. This tells you the type of owner he is!

I think he could have been good for the club, had he got in staff who understand the English game. But, he didn't do that: he cut staff, he changed managers too often, he simply would not be told. It would have damaged his ego too much.

He lost the fans a long time ago. He did still have a few loyal to him, but I believe that changed when he sold our young star in August.

The lad's name was Oliver Burke, he came through our academy and was absolutely amazing. The big clubs wanted him, but rather than get a bidding war going amongst the likes of Bayern Munich and Liverpool, he took the cash up front from Red Bull Leipzig and pocketed it.

He took the money and I don't believe he reinvested it, despite what he claims.

He had the opportunity to sell us to an American consortium in January but this fell through at the last minute.

But, things are about to change on that front as you are about to be sold to new owners?

Yes, that's right. Fawaz had dealing with the Greeks before last summer until the deal collapsed.

Fawaz said the failed takeover in January 'wasn't in the best interests of the club'. We saw their plans, they had great plans for the ground, they had staff ready and waiting to go - namely Rowett as manager.

My initial thought this time was that he's selling to his friend Marinakis, maybe he'll keep a stake, but it's a 100% deal.

Maybe he knows there's no way back for him or maybe his family have pulled the plug, no one really knows.

In January, Forest were rumoured to have been interested in our captain Luke Chambers, who used to play for you. Would you have been happy to see him return?

We needed all the help we could get in January so, yes, I'd have taken him back!

You know yourself what a passionate player he is and a true leader too. I always rated him.

I would take him back, we need players who understand what is means to play for this club.

What do Forest need to do on Sunday to survive?

We need to win a game of football!

We must better Blackburn's result at Brentford. It will come down to who wants it more.

Forest have beaten five out of the top six at home this season and we have left the City Ground absolutely buzzing.

But the following week it is always 'business as usual' and we are back to being poor.

So for Sunday, we just need to win!

What are you expecting from Sunday?

I am absolutely dreading Sunday. I am expecting a lot of nerves, frustration and shouting!

I expect our senior players to lead by example, something we often lack. I expect Warburton to start the game with proven goal scorers.

We need to come out fighting, we need to prove that we deserve to be a Championship side.This is what I expect from Nottingham Forest.

I also expect a lot of alcohol to be consumed by us...Forest drive you to it!

Have you any expectations of Ipswich?

Ipswich are a decent side, a proper club like us. This hasn't been their best season for whatever reason.

I expect them to give us a good game, but I'm hoping that with nothing to play for their minds will be on their summer holidays!

Who knows...maybe Chambo will help us out (clutching at straws here!).

I will just add here that Ipswich is also a great away day,love meeting you and the guys for a drink and love the fact the landlady of the Black Horse pub is a Forest fan!

Are there any of your players we might like to keep an eye out for?

Ben Brereton is a fantastic young player, really talented, exciting to watch, a great eye for goal and still so young.

Assombalonga is always one to watch as well.Give him the service and he will score!

What will it mean for you, as a fan, if you are relegated?

As a fan, I will of course be devastated if we are relegated. The owner always said he'd get us out of this league, he just didn't specify which league!

But, if this happens, I will 100% renew my season ticket, back the new owners and the manager and hope next season we have people at the club who know how to run a football club rather than a refrigeration company.

The good thing about being a Forest fan is the supporters are so fantastic, even when the club is on its knees the fans keep going.

A special mention should go to the guys behind Forza Garibaldi - a group who have organised some cracking pre-match events over the last year.

The 90 minutes in the ground may be mainly awful, but these events at least get you to the ground in a good mood full of optimism (and beer!).

And alternatively, what if you stay up? What needs to change next year?

If we stay up... gosh I hope we do!

The new owners from Greece need to get proper staff in and leave people to do their jobs.

We need to back the manager and actually give him his own players. We also need a massive clear out and to get rid of a lot of players who are not good enough.

We need to lower prices and pack the City Ground out again. We need a bit of life back at Forest!

The current owner has lost us thousands of fans who will come back once he's gone.

Good luck Laura, I truly do hope you get enough to stay up...

Knowing us this season, I don't think it'll be too much of a challenge!

ITFC heroes make wishes come true at charity football match

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 08:32:00 GMT

As the Easter holidays drew to a close, my nerves were beginning to build. I'm used to feeling like this before an Ipswich match, but this time it was different...

Because last Sunday I was going to Bury Football Club's Ram Meadow to see the Town Legends charity match in aid of My WiSH and the Ipswich Town academy.

It's the third year running that this event has taken place but the first time I've been able to attend and so I took a raincheck on my favourite away day of the season (the Blues were travelling to Rotherham) and travelled from Leeds to Suffolk instead.

As it turned out it was the right decision not to head to Rotherham! We lost 0:1 in a dire game where the fringe and youth players of our side failed to take their chance to shine.

But there was one very special reason why I made the decision to make the journey down to East Anglia, my Vlog about the day explains all:

Barnsley v Ipswich Town: a match preview through the eyes of a Tyke

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 11:40:00 GMT

In Issue 2 of Kings of Anglia I had the chance to talk about my favourite topic: Ipswich Town away days.

I picked out my favourite grounds to travel to and among them was Barnsley.

This fixture is something of a 'home' game for me as when I first moved to Yorkshire I lived there for some years. I have written about my experiences living there, here.

As a result, I have many dear friends who are season tickets holders at Oakwell and the Reds have become rather dear to me.

I was so pleased for them as their journey to promotion picked up pace last season and was over the moon when they were promoted through the play offs.

Of course, that soft spot I have for them will be completely ignored on Saturday, as I head out for what is only my fourth game of this season, but one I've been looking forward to since the fixtures were announced.

As part of the build up to the game, I spoke to my friend Tom who once took me to a local 'home fans' pub before a game against Town, where a change in the toilets to hide the colours of my shirt sadly did not stop my southern accent standing out like a sore thumb!

"I've been going to Oakwell since the glory years of 1997/98, our only ever season in the top flight.

A season ticket holder for fifteen of the last twenty years, I sit in the East Stand Upper and get to about ten or twelve away games every year.

Strangely, I prefer the away games (I don't think that's strange at all Tom, I'm exactly the same!).

You can't beat five and a half hours on a coach to Yeovil, supping warm lager, seeing your side get three points, then knowing you've got to do it all over again on the way home.

I have a lad who I've taken to just one game (it didn't end well!).

He'd just turned four last season and we had Fleetwood in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy semi-final at home.

He wanted to go, so I took him.

All day he were excited, sat with hat and scarf on at 10 in the morning all ready - we weren't setting off until 2pm!

Anyway, we got in our seats and those words that I were dreading came out of his mouth.

It were 3:05 and he said, "can we go home yet? This is rubbish."

I weren't impressed, we ended up leaving at half time.

I were devastated!"

Asking Tom about last season, it's clear that he, like all other Barnsley fans at the moment, is still so proud of what they achieved.

"Last season's success was really strange, after Christmas it was when we really got things together.

I started enjoying going to the games again, we outplayed a very good Walsall side twice to get to the final.

Before the final we were stood on Wembley way about an hour before kick off and I could see worry on a few of my mates' faces.

I reassured them that we'd win that final, I'd never been as confident that we'd win a game in twenty years of being a fan.

I were proved right, we scored after about 80 seconds of the game, and that's when the lads started to relax and enjoy the occasion."

So, after such a good season last season, what were Tom's hopes for their first year back in the Championship?

"To be honest, I'd have been happy with fourth bottom come May, but it's not been that way.

We hit the fifty point mark in February, but success comes at a cost.

The big money boys have decided they want all our best players.

Hourihane, Mawson, Bree and Winnall have all gone to new clubs and that's left a big gap in the side. We never had a big squad to start with.

But we're coping; it's strange because our away form is a lot better than our home."

The last time Barnsley faced Town, the Blues appeared to be by far the better side, with a thrilling game at Portman Road that ended 4:2 to the home side.

Sadly, Town haven't lived up to the hype of that match back in August, so what does Tom expect to see from them this weekend?

"I don't know what to expect really.

I think Ipswich are a lot like us, not a bad side exactly but can't put a run together for a chance at the play offs.

There could be a lot of goals, after the opening game of the season which was a goal fest. (Sorry Tom, I don't think we are going to see that given our current phobia of the back of the net!)

I'm a big fan of McCarthy.

In the last twenty years we've had about twelve or thirteen managers and I always thought that when one of them got the sack he'd be given the job. But it's never happened.

Maybe he's never wanted it? Who knows. Either way, if he'd been appointed it wouldn't have been a bad thing.

Back to Barnsley and they've certainly made their mark on the league this year. Which players should I be watching out for?

"A player to look out for is Marley Watkins who, rumour has it, Ipswich made a million pound bid for in the August transfer window.

To me, he's been our best player of the season followed closely by goalkeeper Adam Davies.

Marley's fast and strong, can play up front, or out wide on the wing.

He's decent on the wing because he's got bags of energy and doesn't stop running.

I've always liked Ipswich as a club (apart from the sunny May bank holiday afternoon in North London in 2000, but the little said about that the better!).

I'd like to say I wish you all the best for the rest of the season, after Saturday of course!

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to talk to us Tom, we loved having you on!

Feeling the frustration at Ipswich Town

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:11:00 GMT

Such is the reliability of Town's inconsistency this season, that I should really have put money on us losing to QPR this week.

The Christmas period has been a rollercoaster with our emotions: defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day, then a decent result against Bristol City before the new year, inevitably followed by a disappointing game at Loftus Road in front of over two thousand Town fans.

Now, I can forgive the result against Fulham, who are a much better side this season. But what I can't forgive is the way our performances and results are up and down like a yo-yo.

It's getting tedious and even I am reaching the end of my tether.

So, me being me, I thought I'd write about what I'm feeling.

Hopefully it will resonate with other Town fans and, if it does, please do share this so we can let each other know we aren't alone!

I'm fed up my weekends are lovely til, shock!

I'm full of dismay come 5 o'clock.

I'm fed up with pouring myself a drink,

To stop this team taking me over the brink.

I'm fed up of hearing we've played too deep,

Just four shots on goal makes me want to weep.

I'm fed up of all this to-ing and fro-ing,

Should he stay? Should he go? Endless debating.

I'm fed up I can't often make it to games,

And I hate having to watch the score on my phone.

Meanwhile people I know, who go every week,

Are left wishing they'd been the ones to stop at home.

I'm fed up of seeing those friends looking sad,

People who care about the team feeling angry and mad.

I'm fed up with wondering who my son will support.

He'll watch the best, so at Town he will snort.

I'm fed up of seeing people ridicule each other,

Having to calm their moods down like I am their mother.

I'm fed up of being called nasty names,

Deluded, rose tinted, blind to the games.

I'm fed up of worrying where the club's going:

Ticket prices and low sales,

An ever increasing debt,

Owner who doesn't care

Boss on who I wouldn't bet.

I'm fed up of wondering how long we must wait,

A lifetime in the Championship seems to be our fate.

Relief for Ipswich fans in a foggy Wigan

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:10:00 GMT

It was an unexpectedly enjoyable game for me and the Ipswich fans who travelled to Wigan just before Christmas.

Frustrating too, having been a goal ahead in the first half.

My Vlog will hopefully give you a taste of the mixed emotions we experienced that day...

From the anger of fans when we went a goal behind, to the joy of singing adapted Christmas songs on the way home.

Please share this if you enjoy it, and let me know your thoughts via @tractorgirlamy8 on Twitter.

Tricky Trees Continue Trials of Town Fans

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 10:43:00 GMT

After Ipswich put in such a good performance against Sheffield Wednesday, I was foolishly looking forward to our home game against Nottingham Forest.

Because this game was on Sky, I spent Saturday evening with my friend Mark, who also lives in West Yorkshire.

We meet up often, though not often enough, and our conversations generally revolve around The Blues.

That's why it's always good to watch games together whenever they are live on TV.

A fellow long distance Blues supporter, he almost always holds a different opinion to me about the team, manager and owner.

But, we are united in our passion for Ipswich and frustration with the way things are at the moment.

Here, in my first football Vlog, I show how watching Town lose 2:0 to Forest felt from our side of the television screens:

The real Price of Football

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 14:52:00 GMT

Every year, BBC Sport release a study which claims to 'analyse data to find out how much it costs football supporters to follow their team'.

Several articles are released, looking at ticket prices across the football league, summarising the main points and grouping together the stats under the banner 'The Price of Football'.

It's an important topic and one us football fans talk about regularly, because it affects every one of us. There's no getting away from the fact that football isn't cheap.

But the BBC, once again, seem to miss the point of the conversation and an opportunity to send a strong message to our clubs - prices are getting to high.

To me, the article reads like someone let the work experience student go mad with stats and then picked out the biggest numbers to create a 'shock'. Perhaps I am being naive, perhaps that is exactly what journalism has been reduced to these days.

For Ipswich in particular, it betrays the average fan by portraying the details of a far more premium experience at the club that most of us will ever actually pay for.

Sadly, it's a stat that hits their headlines every year: the most expensive season ticket in the Championship is... *drum roll please*... Ipswich Town with £842.

"Eight hundred quid!!?" the neutrals cry, "that's an outrage. You can get a season ticket at Barcelona for less than that".

Except, like I say, that isn't what a 'normal' Ipswich fan will pay. I follow a lovely chap on Twitter who sits in one of those seats and he has explained in the past that he enjoys sitting there, so he is willing (and able) to pay that price.

The average Ted, sitting down in the Sir Bobby Robson stand in his blue and white replica shirt (more on that later), will have paid a generally more manageable fee of £500. It's still a lot of money, of course, but far less shocking.

So what actually is the Price of Football?

I don't intend to speak for all football fans, but I can talk through what the Price of Football is for me:

Matchday tickets: £30 per month - ish.

I don't go to many home games per season, so my focus here is on away ticket prices and those can vary greatly: for Leeds in September I paid £35 but for Wigan next month I am about to pay just £20.

I always budget around £30 for a ticket as that's what I am willing to pay to get into each game. I am happy if it costs me less than that and I do try to select games which will cost less to allow my budget to go further.

For home games I usually pay just over £30. It is more than I want to pay, especially when you add in the cost of travel, but I believe season tickets are the lifeblood of our club and so the cost of those should be more attractive then the matchday tickets.

For a season ticket holder, each individual game costs around £17 - almost half of what I pay - which I think more than reasonable. If you are unable to pay that in one go, you can pay by direct debit for around £30 a month: the same amount I pay each month for just one game!

In addition to that, the club currently have a special offer where you can buy a number of tickets for a reduced price. You do need to know which games you plan to go to, but surely we have all planned our lives around football games?

No?

Just me?

Whoops.

Travel: £20 per month (£60 if travelling to a home game)

As an away fan, I generally opt for games that are easy to get to via public transport. £20 is usually the limit for my budget when booking train tickets, it is equivalent to half a tank of petrol and I can get to most grounds on that amount of fuel.

I truly feel sympathy for the Ipswich fans who travel up to the northern games, which usually involves four or five hours in the car (and no drinking), or several changes and a large cost if going by train.

Ipswich is such a difficult place to get to, with journeys up north often involving two or three changes at places like London, Grantham and Peterborough, changes that increase the prices. As a result, I have known many friends book their travel months in advance to take advantage of lower prices, only to find the game has been moved to be shown on Sky and they lose the money they have paid for that ticket.

Food and drink: Between £10 and £30

This is an entirely subjective cost, which fluctuates depending on how much time I have for pre- and post-match drinks. The Price of Football for me though will inevitably involve a few pints and a couple of shots, because, as you know, my enjoyment of match days is based heavily on the social side of the day.

I know from when I was pregnant last season that I could easily find somewhere to eat lunch and have a soft drink for less than a tenner. It doesn't have to cost a lot, in the same way that one doesn't have to buy a pie despite it being included in the BBC survey.

Programmes and other memorabilia: £50 a season.

I recently moved home and, being pregnant at the time, I was unable to lift most of the items down from my first floor flat.

So, you can imagine the delight of my partner, Luke, when he came across my boxes of ITFC programmes. "Do you really need these?" he asks, before quickly scurrying away when given 'the glare'.

The same was true when my Dad moved home a few years ago, my Mum could not understand why we were carting boxes and boxes of the things all the way down to Cornwall. "Mum", I said, "these are from the eighties. Come on, be sensible".

The truth is, both Mum and Luke have a point. We really don’t need those programmes. But throwing them away would be like throwing away the treasured cuddly toy of your first born, or the little tag the hospital put on their teenie little ankle when they are born. You just can't bring yourself to dispose of memories that have had a profound effect on your life.

Yes, I did just compare my son's hospital name tag to my programme from Huddersfield away five years ago and, no, I'm not sorry.

As a result of realising how right Mum and Luke are, I have decided not to buy programmes when at games. I find I rarely get the chance to read them at the game and tend to prefer to find stories online in the days leading up to the match.

I have also made the decision not to buy a replica shirt each season. However, if I particularly like a shirt, like the 'Tractor-lona' away shirt we had last year, I purchase it at the end of the season at a reduced price.

I have cut back on the typical bits, but I do buy generic items that won't go out of date in 12 months time. Like the time I travelled to Ipswich only to realise it was much colder than I'd expected and I hadn't packed a coat. So, I popped to Planet Blue and paid £30 for a gillet, which I wear almost every day two years later.

My new expense, of course, is Ipswich Town babygrows for my son, Harry. I am not sure if I am brainwashing the child or being duped into spending money I don't need to... but the feeling of seeing him in blue and white, smiling at me when we've won is worth every penny.

In total then, it seems I spend around £850 per season. So, for the price the BBC has given the impression Ipswich fans pay for season tickets, I get a whole year of enjoying watching Town (I use the word 'enjoying' very loosely).

The thing that frustrates me is that this is actually an important topic, but the BBC miss the point by trying to focus on too many things at once.

People are being priced out of watching the game, particularly those who have children to pay for on top of their own tickets.

The prices at Portman Road are not great, particularly when compared to the amazing cost of a season ticket at Huddersfield this season.

But, those points are part of a much wider conversation, one which I'm sure I will return to at some point this season. In the Championship, it's not a simple case of the clubs profiting from their fans like it is in the Premiership and comparing the two is unfair and unhelpful.

£500 is a lot of money but the truth is, I am able to pay that at the moment and so I am willing to. Football is a huge part of me, the hobby that makes me happy. And, whether it's decoupage or watching sport that takes your fancy, hobbies cost money.

And I'd much rather be supporting Town than gluing together bits of paper.

I'm interested to hear hoe much you spend on football, so please do tweet me on @tractorgirlamy8

Memo to McCarthy: How not to make friends and influence people

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 10:16:00 GMT

There is no better feeling in this world than a last minute winner.

My three month old son's smiles are special... but they've got nothing on the moment I heard Luke Chambers had scored against Sheffield Wednesday.

The skipper joined Richard Chaplow and Noel Hunt in the hall of fame for goals that will long remain in the memories of those who witnessed them live.

My friend Anthony, who has only ever seen us draw at Hillsborough, was ecstatic: 'Absolute scenes when Chambers scored', he told me in a text after the game, 'Ben must have fallen down about 5 rows of seating'. We've all been there, right?

How happy I am for those who travelled to South Yorkshire on the back of a disappointing result the weekend before. They, more than anyone, deserved to experience that win.

This year has seen difficult times at Ipswich Town, so supporters back in Suffolk surely enjoyed that victory?

Oh no Amy, of course they didn't.

No sooner had the final whistle blown, than I saw tweets appear on my timeline declaring the three points were 'papering over the cracks'.

For many, it's going to take more than an unexpected away win to renew confidence and you can understand the continued frustrations of those who wish to see the end of McCarthy's reign (though hearing fans actually wanting us to lose is unfathomable).

So, what of our controversial manager? He, surely, would be smiling after that result?

Oh no Amy, of course he wasn't.

"Asked if it’s only fair to judge him now he’s got close to a fully fit squad available, he replied: “If you or anyone else wants to judge me then crack on. That performance today and that result reflects my time at Ipswich, my four years and 202 games, far more than the performances that some choose to carp on about." EADT

McCarthy aims these weekly digs at a set of fans who have endured over fifteen years of struggling to get out of the Championship. It is growing tiresome and is the main reason he has lost the support of a great number of fans.

But, to what extend are his comments justified? Are they really as offensive and arrogant as some would have you think?

Here's some other examples of his comments:

"Jonathan Douglas isn’t injured, I just left him out,” explained McCarthy. “That was the team I wanted to play, that strangely defensive team I wanted to play, to play s**t football, that’s why I did it.” EADT(Following criticism for defensive tactics.)

“I’ll just tell you that the more they shout the less chance there is they will come on." EADT(Responding to fans calling for McGoldrick, Bru and Pitman to used in the team.)

"Some people might be frustrated with that result? Some people can f*** off."Football website 'Joe' (Defending a draw away at Leeds.)

And in a similar conversation: "McCarthy was delighted that his side were able to deny a fellow relegation-threatened side all three points, admitting that he ‘wouldn’t have bothered getting on the bus’ had he been offered the draw prior to the match." Ipswich Star

Sometimes I read his post-match interviews and feel like banging my head against a brick wall. With the mood as it is, comments like this further rile those who are criticising him. In short, he is giving them ammunition.

I do wish someone with his many years of experience would have a little more diplomacy. But, I also wonder why people take it so seriously. Take, for example, his comments after that draw with Rotherham:

“If you are ever looking for a point in a season to turn a bad moment around, maybe that could be it, a wonderful strike from a really good player.” EADT

The accompanying headline ('Rotherham draw could be turning point, says Town boss McCarthy') created uproar online, with fans calling him deluded for thinking a point at home against bottom of the league was a 'turning point'.

However, when reading what he says in the context of his other comments, I get a very different impression.

Whilst giving a balanced view of the game, admitting that the second half wasn't good and that we looked nervous, he looks to the moment that saved us - David McGoldrick's late but great strike.

To me, he is saying the performance wasn't good enough but a goal like that, which will be a contender for goal of the season come May, could be the start of something better. The result itself isn't what he thinks is the turning point, but the confidence gained from that lovely goal couldbe.

Sometimes I think his comments are interpreted harshly by fans who already have an issue with him, those who complain are often the ones who have already decided they want him to go.

I also find it laughable when people take offence to the things he's said. McCarthy has always been an up front, blunt manager - it's the reason his interviews have become something of a legend.

‘I don’t intimate things, do I? I’m not clever enough to say one thing and mean another. I say it as it is, as I always do.’ Daily Mail (Apologies for linking to this website, an alternative was not available. #StopFundingHate)

Throughout his interviews over the years, a clear trend is visible: the majority include a sarcastic answer to a question or a little joke. It's just what he does.

Having lived in Yorkshire for almost eight years now, the bluntness of the locals has taken some getting used to, but they generally have kind intentions: McCarthy is, quite simply, a typical Yorkshire man.

In the early days of my time as a journalist, I attended an Ipswich game at the Molineux during McCarthy's tenure there. He came to speak to the press a little earlier than Paul Jewell, Town's boss at the time, so I took the chance to listen in to what he had to say.

As he made jokes and spoke frankly about the game, he held the attention of every person in that room. He came across as knowledgeable and likeable, so much so that I missed the beginning of the interview with Jewell because I had been listening too intently to what Mick had to stay.

I don't know him personally, but I have known people who do. They have spoken so highly of him I find it difficult to imagine he doesn't care about the team or he is using the club for a final pay cheque before retirement: two things he has been accused of by some of our fans.

This is also the reason I find it so difficult reading the nasty names and even threats of violence aimed at him on the internet. When I questioned one fan on his wish to 'smash a glass around McCarthy's head', thinking perhaps it was a poorly thought out joke, he responded that his feelings were 'justified'.

This kind of criticism is something McCarthy has faced many times before and he has always been honest with reporters about his feelings towards it, this quote is an example from his time as manager of the Republic of Ireland:

'The Irish media, incredibly, will tell you they have not been hard on me, but they're liars. They've given me a hard time and they all take exception to it when I say it to them, which doesn't bother me.' The Guardian

The quote rings true of things he has said about his time at Ipswich, where he has said he doesn't care if people don't like his tactics. To some this comes across as arrogance; to me it is a case of having to rise above the hate and get on with his job.

He has had to deal with far worse than 'criticism' at the hands of our fans:

“I’m a boring c***, somebody called me last week. I wish they would call it to my face on my own because his pint of lager ... he would have been wearing it." Independent

Though I would not condone the use of the 'c' word, unless referring to Grant Holt, I felt the focus on his use of it missed the point entirely. The criticism from a section of our fan base has turned nasty and personal, no person should ever have to deal with that.

In my previous blog, I wrote about the vitriol that has been aimed at McCarthy in recent months, explaining I think it is unhelpful. In fact, it is counter-productive and shows those who resort to it as extremely petty.

Nasty names are never justified and there are, sadly, more examples of fans being offensive directly to the manager and players. A friend of mine retold her experience of waiting to meet the players after an away game this season:

'The way [a group of fans] spoke to Luke was so rude and disrespectful, they pounced on him when he came out of the gates. I tried to defend him but they said we didn't know what we were talking about because we are female. I made a quick exit'

How awful to think that our fan base is resorting to this kind of hate, but it is not the first time a story has come out describing nastiness on the part of our fans. I am reminded of the time that Paul Jewell told a reporter about his experiences on a garage forecourt.

Nor is it the first time we have had to put up with our manager committing a faux pas in the media room. Compared with a sexist commentabout a female official or shouting at a journalist for forgetting to put their phone on silent, these errors from McCarthy don't seem as offensive.

If your opinion on the team differs from Mick McCarthy, that is fair enough. But, if your difference of opinion with him is based on, or influenced by your dislike of him personally, I would suggest you are doing him and our club a disservice.

Ipswich fans divided through tough times

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 07:25:00 GMT

When times are hard at Ipswich Town, it's often the angriest voices that seem loudest.

That's why, when I read East Anglian Daily Times columnist Karl Fuller talking passionately about why he feels Mick McCarthy should be relieved of his duties, I felt compelled to write a response.

Since my own article appeared in the paper on Friday a few people have contacted me to ask if they can read it online. Unfortunately, it isn't available on the website so I thought I would issue a more detailed version here on my blog.

Because, although I'm equally frustrated with our current form I don't think things are as bad as some fans believe. I also thought it was important to highlight that not all fans are calling for Mick's head.

I recently ran a poll on Facebook and Twitter asking who believed McCarthy should leave and who wanted him to stay: with almost four hundred people taking part, 51% voted for him to stay. That provides a decent guide to how split the fan base is currently.

Karl's 'Fuller Flavour' piece last Monday contained a letter from fan Mark Holdaway who summarised the reasons he feels McCarthy's time at Ipswich should be at an end.

Whilst I respect Mark's opinions, I do not entirely agree with them, here I have picked out the main points:

'The partnership of Skuse and Douglas does not work.'

The midfield partnership - affectionately known as Skuglas - does frustrate at times due to a lack of creativity. The two are very similar players and fielding them together generally results in a defensive performance from our side.

But, it is no coincidence that whilst the duo were in the side we had the second best defensive record in the league. Furthermore, it is telling to me that with Skuse unable to play against Newcastle we conceded three goals. While during our home victory over Burton, with Douglas absent, we reportedly allowed the opposition more opportunities to score.

For me, playing defensively is not an issue. In fact, it is going to be essential to us having any success this season. But I do understand this results in less entertaining football and agree that sometimes it is appropriate to set up the team with a more attacking approach.

'I also see a captain played out of position just to accommodate him a place in the team...'

Luke Chambers has received some stick for his success (or lack of) at right back for some time now, but it feels somewhat harsh.

Again, I agree he is not productive to an attacking formation and is prone to errors, but he has appeared in the EFL Championship team of the year several times. Only last week, following that home win over Burton, he was named in that team again, which has to suggest he isn't all bad, surely?

'...And one striker up front at home'.

I agree without reservation that a formation with two men up front would suit our current squad best. Neither Sears nor Best have shown themselves capable of producing the goods alone, so my preference would definitely be to play them together.

But without a main striker, like Murphy or McGoldrick, confidence in playing an attacking game will be low.

The sale of Murphy came very, very late and left us little time to sort a replacement. Whether you agree with Evans refusing to pay the increased prices demanded for our planned replacements or not, I personally do, turning down the high sum for Murphy would have been ludicrous.

The welcome return of McGoldrick should lift the pressure, giving us a player who can create chances and intimidate the opposition. But, he will need time to return to full match fitness and I suspect McCarthy will continue with the defensive approach until then.

It's daunting playing in this tough league without a first choice striker and it's understandable that McCarthy has reverted back to a 'tight at the back', defensive approach to games, at least until that situation is resolved, hopefully in January.

When it comes to Mick, I am yet to be convinced that the time has come for him to move on, though I am not unsympathetic to the opinions about why he ought to leave.

At the beginning of the summer I said he ought to be given time to show what he can do in the transfer window and then we should wait and see how the 'improved' team were doing come the end of October.

As we near that date I find I have wimped out of reaching for my pitchfork and chasing him out of Suffolk, but for good reason. Until the final week of the transfer window, McCarthy made some good purchases, bringing in some potentially exciting youngsters (something most Ipswich fans were calling out for last season, but few seem to be acknowledging this season) and a couple of wingers too.

Add to the sale of Murphy the list of injuries that we've experienced, it's clear McCarthy has been put in a difficult position and is making the best of what he has available.

Of course, these are all simply my opinions and being able to discuss different points of view is one of the joys of being a football fan in the age of social media. Less enjoyable is the tendency to criticise those with opposing opinions.

Karl and Mark have been branded disloyal because they have criticised McCarthy and that is not fair. Fans like Karl, who travel the country to watch our team play, should never be made to feel inferior to any other fans. In fact, the same should be true for any person who still cares about this club after nearly fifteen years in the Championship - whatever their opinions on McCarthy and Evans.

That includes those who, like me, understand and support the decisions made by our manager and owner. I don't think any of us are happy with the current run of performances, but to be called 'deluded' on a daily basis is frustrating when I too simply want the best for our club.

Last week I saw fans ridiculed for being stuck 'in the dark ages' because they defended our performances, as I have here. Equally, the names thrown at McCarthy, 'dinosaur' and so on, are unhelpful.

The mood and attendance at Portman Road will improve with better performances and results, should we really allow it to become quite so toxic in the meantime?

We all want what is best for our club; the fact we disagree on how that should be achieved does not mean we should be at loggerheads all the time.

That's not the Ipswich way.

Town see out the season with a special win at Derby

noreply@blogger.com (Tractor Girl Amy) — Wed, 11 May 2016 15:15:00 GMT

Be honest: when you saw the games Ipswich had to play in the final month of the season, you didn't think we'd be earning any points away from home, did you?

I have a confession... I didn't either.

Our run in included trips to Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough and Derby - each of whom were expected to be competing for promotion or the play offs by that point in the season.

So, as long ago as last June, I made the decision not to travel to the Riverside because I didn't fancy three trips in a month to see my team lose. I'm sorry for doubting you Ipswich!

It's fascinating to me that we survived each of those games undefeated, while the less daunting home fixtures against Brentford, Fulham and MK Dons saw us gain less points.

Truth be told, Saturday wasn't a match where you could make a fair judgement on either side: Derby looked to be holding back and Town didn't seem too bothered about making the most of that, even when playing against ten men for the final eight minutes of the game.

Given this week's play off matches, I was surprised to see The Rams hadn't rested their main players. But even with the first team on display, their performance was a shadow of what I had seen at Portman Road in December. Despite having the majority of the possession and nineteen shots on goal, they didn't really ever look like scoring or taking any kind of control of the game.

Ipswich, meanwhile, had their moments: the return of David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop has changed the style of football beyond recognition and bodes well for next season (assuming we are able to keep both players over the summer).

The difference between Saturday and the last match I saw at Sheffield Wednesday, was that the nice passing football actually lead to chances in the box and shots on goal. McGoldrick and Bishop were key to this.

Teddy, David and Freddie Sears all caused problems for the Derby defence, leading to Teddy being fouled in the box by Richard Keogh. Replays show two defenders failing to deal with him as he makes his way towards the goal with ease, before being brought to the ground.

After what felt like an age, the referee pointed to the penalty spot and I was happy for McGoldrick to get his name on the score-sheet once again. For me, it is absolutely vital that we hang onto him over the summer and do everything we can to make sure he stays fit for the whole of next season.

Just eight minutes from time, a shot on goal at the other end of the pitch lead to Derby's George Thorne suffering a major injury. From the reaction of our players, we could see the injury was serious as they gestured quickly for the medics.

Having used up all their subs, Derby were forced to see the game out with just ten men and I would have liked to see Town push on a bit more. We held on to the ball well, with some more of that nice passing football that we have so badly missed this year, and looked very much the side in control (as would rightly be expected).

It was nice to see Kenlock and McDonnell given a run out, the former certainly looks promising. Mick has made use of these 'meaningless games' to give the youngsters a run out, for some fans it is a case of too little too late but I trust the manager to know when they are ready for first team football.

I don't expect to see the likes of Kenlock, Emmanuel, Dozzell, etc. go straight into the side next year, but their availability will surely give us more strength in the squad? This is something that has been clearly missing this season.

Having watched three out of the four sides that have reached the play offs this season, I don't hold out a massive amount of hope for Derby. As I say, this game really wasn't a fair reflection of what either side is capable of but, in my opinion, Brighton are by far the superior team in terms of style of football and I think both County and Wednesday will struggle to progress.

That said, I might be slightly biased as I would love to have another trip to the iPro next season. It was only my second trip to the ground, with the last time being on the final day of the season in 2003 when we won 4:1, meaning my undefeated record there remains safe.

Wanting to avoid travelling up early in the morning, quite a few of my friends decided to make a trip of it and stay in Derby the night before. This meant we could all get together for the final pre match meet up of this season.

Debates around Mick McCarthy and his team seem to have subsided somewhat, perhaps down to the decent results that we have seen over recent weeks. Instead discussions focused on our plans for the summer and the new kit which Town revealed just a few days before (We are all getting the away one!).

After the line up had been announced, we made our way in the sunshine to the ground. One of the things I like most about the iPro is that you can see it from far away, as we exited the train station we spotted the tips of the roof on the horizon and it is even more impressive once you are stood in front of it.

That great impression continued inside the ground, which felt almost full and very loud. Respect must be given to the Derby fans: tickets on the day cost £30 and with the play offs this week I think I'd have been tempted to give a game against 'hoofball Ipswich' a miss to save my pennies.

Having the away fans situated right next to the louder section of the home fans certainly made a difference to the atmosphere, with them bouncing off one another to start chants. The highlight for me being Town taunting the Rams with 'we saw you cry on the telly', in reference to the final day of last season when Derby missed out on the play offs due to a defeat against Reading - giving us their sixth place spot.

Derby's response of 'at least we've been on the telly' probably had me chuckling more though!

To other Town fans, and even Derby ones, the win on Saturday may not have meant a lot, but to me it meant the world, as I will be seeing a lot less football from now on following the birth of my little one in the summer.

So, thank you Town for what has, at the very least, been a memorable year of football trips, and for ending the season with a Chambers fist pump just for me.

I don't know either

noreply@blogger.com (Germes) — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:51:00 GMT

Whether you're a season ticket holder at Cardiff City or just a guy that looks out for their results, you'll learn soon enough that disappointment is not too far away.

Only we could realise a long awaited dream of entering the biggest league in the world, make a decent start and then sack the man who helped us make that decent start. This ofcourse is the story that the club have sacked head of recruitment Iain Moody and replaced him with Alisher Apsalyamov. You know Alisher yes? One of the leading men in recruitment in world football?

Oh.

Well Vincent Tan has so I am sure it will all be fine.

Alisher Apsalyamov is a 23 year old from Kazakhstan with zero experience in football apart from shadowing Moody for a few months that is. Just last year he was painting our lovely walls inside the Cardiff City Stadium. A simple web search brings up results showing that he went to the same school as Vincent Tan's son. Iain Moody on the other hand had years of experience and arguably just as important, had an extremely good working relationship with Malky Mackay.

Moody is responsible for bringing in players that allowed the Bluebirds to make a decent start to their maiden season in the top flight of English football. Cardiff are currently 14th after seven games and sit one place above rivals Swansea. Several players have impressed during the opening of the season and almost all of them are here as a result of Iain Moody.

Gary Medel - Chilean midfield destroyer. He has had praise from nearly every pundit on TV, he has had acclaim from the likes of Xavi and Lionel Messi and looks at home here in Cardiff and the premier league.

Kim Bo Kyung - Outstanding in the latter end of last season and is showing no signs of being scared of the big time so far this season.

Steven Caulker - A big case for signing of the season if we stay up. It said a lot that other fans ridiculed us for even attempting to sign a player of that quality. It also says a lot that Spurs fans were very angry at the sale of a prized asset with a huge future.

Jordan Mutch - Scorer of the wonder goal at Fulham that won us the game and changed the game when he came on against Newcastle. Malky has said this week that Mutch has a fantastic career ahead of him.

All of these quality signings did not just happen because of a simple button press like on Football Manager (I think). A lot of work went into this, probably from quite a few people. But no doubt the main two were Malky and Iain.

It has also broke tonight that Vincent Tan has bought out shares from Paul Guy and Steve Borley and now owns a fair 98% of the club. Great.

Has Tan's money helped us realise our dream of playing in the premier league? yes. At what cost? in money terms, £140m. In terms of pride, heritage, tradition and stability, a lot higher than that.

The change to red, the changing of the badge, his row over bonuses and now the sacking of well respected staff. Vincent Tan is surely and not all that slowly, annoying nearly every Cardiff City fan. You do not have to be a brain surgeon to realise what our Malaysian owner has in his plans. He is adopting a FAW approach to management. He is doing this by replacing successful working staff with 'yes men'. Men that will happily let him do what he wants and when he wants. He takes this further by having a 'jobs for the boys' mentality when it comes to hiring new staff. So a friend has a job and won't stand in his our owners way. Everyone wins. Well actually not everyone, just Vincent Tan, but in his world that probably is everyone.

What does this mean for Malky? a successful professional bond has been broken for no reason whatsoever. Will he still want to be here? Will he still want to work for someone who has the footballing nous of an ironing board? Speaking from countless hours on Football Manager, if my staff were fired for no reason, I wouldn't be happy.

But the silence from the club is deafening. Despite attention from national media, not one statement has been on Moody or Malky. Not that a statement will explain anything to us ~~customers~~ fans, it will be the same monotonous rubbish.

It really is a crying shame that at a time when Cardiff are going forward on the field, our owner seems hell bent on taking us backwards off the field.

Cardiff City Launch Ambassador Day

noreply@blogger.com (Germes) — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:43:00 GMT

Cardiff City are again going to reward fans after the club announced the return of the successful event of Ambassador Day when they face Peterborough United on the 15th December.

This means that in the last home game before Christmas, fans of the Bluebirds can get exclusive gifts, cheaper prices and a special edition match programme. The club are also offering a chance to 100 ambassadors to upgrade to the BMW Lounge for just an additional £10. The club are also offering non ambassadors a chance to join in the festive fun by allowing supporters under the age of 16 to enter the ground for just £1.

The idea has been well received by supporters. Ian from Cardiff is taking his daughter to her first game. "At £1 a ticket I had to give it a go, it could help turn my daughter into a Bluebird and increase our fanbase so I think its a great idea. However I do think that they should do more than one a season preferably one after Christmas."

This is the first time the club has run this event in 2012 after rolling it out for the first time against Middlesbrough almost a year ago.