41 Shots

Where did it all go wrong?

The penultimate home game of a what has now become a dismal and disappointing season was against Fulham, another Tuesday evening game for our enjoyment! Sharon  didn't want to go and Max, who, following his first day back at work after his recent shoulder dislocation, couldn't be bothered either, but he drew the short straw!

There was no hurry and little enthusiasm to get into town for a pre-match beer, so instead we had a cup of tea at his flat before walking to Portman Road.

The only thing that had either of us remotely excited, was seeing Andre Dozzzell make his home debut, following his second half run out at Hillsborough on Saturday, (where like his father Jason, scored for the club on his debut, as a sixteen year old).

In truth the game was another drab affair, Dozzell did okay and showed a lot of promise, a bright light on a dull evening. I stood there in The North Stand, glad that I wasn't renewing my season ticket, it's no fun listening to the 'fans' ridiculing their own team.

My main observation of the evening is that we've lost our way as a team, the confidence, togetherness and camaraderie of twelve months ago seems to have disappeared. My fear is that unless we have an injection of funds and sign some decent players, get rid of some of the dead wood, that we seem to have accumulated, then we could be facing a relegation battle next season!

For the record, Fulham took a second half lead, through Moussa Dembele, we took seventy-one minutes before we had a shot on target and Jonas Knudsen scored his first goal for Ipswich in second-half injury time to grab a draw for The Tractor Boys.

Andre Dozzell number 41 

Season Ticket Sabatical

I hate being negative, especially about ITFC, but after the last few weeks I have become increasingly disillusioned about football at Portman road. The truth of the matter is that I haven't seen a good game there all season, it's been pretty awful to be honest, not once have I walked out of the ground with a smile on my face, wishing that the game hadn't ended.

It's that bad that I predicted a 3-1 win to Brentford on Saturday and got it right, being a smart-arse was the only consolation on what was another drab Saturday afternoon.

I don't blame Mick McCarthy for it and if he left us to take the vacant Aston Villa job, I'd fully understand. He has done a great job at Ipswich, but in my opinion he has gone as far as he can with the 'tools' available to him. If Marcus Evan's seriously wants us to get promotion to the Premier League then he needs to show a bit of faith in the man who rescued us from the jaws of League One and back him.

We've decided not to re-new our season tickets, which is a bit sad really - but going to the match has got to be fun and exciting sometimes and never a chore.

The game itself got off to a terrible start for the visitors, following a horrendous leg break for Alan Judge following a tackle in the middle of the pitch from Luke Hyam. The game was held up for ten minutes whilst he received treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off. Hyam received a yellow card for his challenge and following the restart he was continually being wound up by the Brentford mid-field and booed every time he touched the ball by their fans. He eventually 'bit' and got his marching orders in first half injury time - silly boy!
That was fifteen minutes after we had conceded a controversial goal, Cole Skuse felt he was fouled on the halfway line, but the ref waved play on and Brentford broke forward and took the lead.
We actually looked better in the second half with ten men and did create a few half chances, but it was Brentford, who made the most of their extra man, putting the game beyond our reach with two more goals in the sixty-fourth and sixty-eighth minutes.
With time running out substitute Liam Feeney scored Town's first goal for more than six hours, to at least send me home smug!

Not a good afternoon for Alan Judge

Oh Dear!

Another Tuesday night of frustration at Portman road for Max and I, against relegation threatened Charlton Athletic, in what was surely a 'must win game' for both sides. The visitors looked hungrier than us but in the end it finished in a very disappointing 0-0 draw, which in effect means that they'll go down and we'll be staying in the Championship for the fifteenth season running. Two points and no goals scored in the last three games have in effect finished us off.

Max is not the only one with a dislocation, Town's season is also now disjointed !

Seven points off the play-off's

The last time that I felt so disillusioned about renewing my season ticket was in 2006, it was when I had season tickets in the North stand upper with Sam, Max, Paul and Tom. If I remember rightly it was a boring game and at half-time with the score 0-0 I said to Paul that if we lost I wouldn't renew, look what happened... 

Note the attendance 23,592 

If Saturday's home match against Brentford is anything like that, then I'll know what to do!

No Silver Lining

We left Ipswich for the trip to the Black Country nice and early at 9.30am and were in Wolverhampton three hours later, not bad considering that we had to use the M6 toll road, to avoid long queues around Birmingham. We walked into the city centre once we had parked the car and found a Yates's, where we had a couple of drinks before heading to the ground.

Molineux is one of my favourite football grounds to visit, it's been redeveloped over the years, but still has the feel of a 'Ground' rather than a stadium. At the back of the Sir Jack Hayward Stand there are several fast food stalls and I was looking forward to getting some food from one of them in particular - Sano Spices Masala Express. I had chicken tikka in a nan bread and afterwards just to be greedy I got some Masala chips, bloody lovely!

Inside the ground there was a strange and subdued atmosphere, it was almost like an end of season game with nothing to play for, in Wolves case it was true, but from our point of view we surely needed to win?

As for the match itself, it was quite a tame and lack lustre affair, Wanderers never looked like scoring and we didn't show enough ambition to go and win it. The home fans started chanting 'Boring, boring', during the second half, showing their disapproval of what they were watching. It was quite ironic, with their former manager, Mick McCarthy, standing in the visitors dugout, himself the target of being too negative in Town's shocking one-nil defeat at home to Rotherham, before the international break - a game that I was fortunate enough to miss!

It's only the beginning of April, but unless I have a change of heart and go to Sheffield Wednesday in two weeks time, or we make the play-offs, (which is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine, considering that we're now five points off the top six), then the trip to Wolverhampton will be my last away game this season.