Ipswich Town v Owls Matchday Thread

[Holmowl]

       IPSWICH TOWN v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

                 Sat 16th March – 3pm kick-off

 

My first trip to Portman Road was an FA Cup 5th Round tie under Wilko in March 1985.

 

That season @nevthelodgemoorowl and I were hitch-hiking to away matches on the basis that we had a slight liquidity issue, in that we didn’t have a pot to pee in. We’d already managed to hitch-hike down to Craven Cottage in the 3rd round. Fulham were a very tasty side, yet we went down completely confident of a win, and sure enough we proceeded through to the next round with a 3-2 win that didn’t do justice to our dominance.

 

The 4th Round draw was much kinder – home to Oldham.  We murdered them, 5-1. Boy were had a fine team that season.

 

 

Licking our lips for a juicy home tie in the 5th Round, whoever pulled the numbers out of the FA ball sack was pure evil………..Ipswich………..away.

 

Ouch! What a thought. Trying to hitch-hike from Sheffield to flippin’ Ipswich. Nev and I discussed it, weighed up our chances of success, and being keen and stupid, we thought we’d give it a go.

 

Nowadays I forget small things, like putting the bins out, appointments, what I had for lunch, my childrens’ names, etc… but my memory for all-things Sheffield Wednesday is still pretty decent, so I remember the hitch-hike and the match rally clearly, though for the life of me I can’t remember why it was a Monday game. Anyone recall? 
 

Nev and I set off, and the first half of the trek went really well. With about 3 hours to ko we’d got down as far as Peterborough, but then got beached. We waited an age, thumbs out, sometimes wearing our blue & white scarves, and other times hiding them in case it put drivers off, but no lift. Looking anxiously at our watches we were at the point of giving up, crossing the road and trudging miserably and deflated back to Sheffield. We tried one last go, this time wearing our colours. Yet another car passed, a Mini, but 50 yards up the road it slowed, then, hallelujah, it stopped. We approached the Mini. It was our last hope.

 

The driver wound his window down. “Going to the match lads? So are we. Jump in.” 

 

Brilliant – Wednesday fans!

 

So let me describe this Mini to you. It wasn’t like today’s “Minis”, which are the size of a small continent. This was a proper 1980s mini Mini – absolutely tiny. And here lies the problem; it wasn’t one fan, it was 3 fans, and dare I say it, the lad with whom we were going to share the back seat for the next 2 hours was, how can I put it…..he liked pies. Added to that, neither Nev nor I were skin & bones. It was going to be intimate.

 

 

Two hours in the back of a tiny mini, shoe-horned in like satdines, the car manfully trying to deal with its now heavy load, Ipswich-bound at a struggling 50mph. But we got there, and if you are still out there fellas, thank you. You were great fun. Fantastic day.

 

The match itself – Here it is.  ALERT – look out for THAT GOAL! If you remember this game, and like me, 39 years later you are still bitter and twisted, look away now, put away any sharp objects, walk the dog, do not click Play. You were warned;-

 

 

They say that elephants never forget. In that case, call me Jumbo. That was NEVER onside.

 

We were stood enjoying a brilliant match that we never looked like losing. Ipswich were good, but we were better. Just like at Fulham, it seemed only a matter of time until we scored the winner, or at least secured a draw for a home replay. And then, the ref allowed THAT goal. OK, we were behind the goal, but we all knew it was a blatant offside. I’m pleased I’ve found the video to reignite the painful memories and nightmares I had for weeks afterwards back in 85. Sleep is overrated.

 

Apparently, football decisions come in swings and roundabouts. Well, if that was a swing, we are due the mother of all roundabouts this weekend at Portman Rd. Ugbo, scoring with his outstretched fist, 10 yards offside, while Poveda stands on the keeper’s fingers. Hopefully, it’s the same ref, though I suspect his eyesight has improved over the last 39 years. Wilko said he knew it was going to be an interesting game when the ref insisted he handover the team-sheet in Braille.

 

And so, 39 years on, to our match this weekend.

 

3rd v 23rd

 

Listening to the excellent podcast The Wednesday Week, they chatted with an Ipswich fan, Joe, who said he sees the game more as 3rd v 10th, referring to our form under Danny. I agree with Tractor Joe; that’s exactly how to view this match. They are 3rd on merit, but we are 23rd only because of Munõz the Magnificent. Danny’s team is far far better than 23rd.

 

For me, this weekend is all about damage limitation. Of course we could draw, or even nick a win – its football after all. But, in reality, Ipswich are 2/1 on with the bookies for good reason. I’ll be watching with my fingers crossed that we get something, and my toes crossed that Swansea, Birmingham, Blackburn, Plymouth, Huddersfield, Stoke, QPR and Millwall collectively have a poor harvest.

 

By 5pm on Sunday, after the Leeds v Millwall game, we can look at the table, eight games to go, and we will know the size of our task. We could be 2 points clear of the drop, or we could be 4 points behind 21st. If the worst comes to the worst, and we are 4 points off safety, with our “new” team, our manager, our home form, our fans and our fixture-list, I totally back us to escape. 

 

Who will Danny pick? I wonder if the aerial threat of Keefer Moore will mean Palmer is omitted so he can play three tall CBs. Famewo didn’t have his best game against Leeds, so it would not surprise me to see a back 3 of Iorfa-Iky-Bernard, or perhaps Bambo if Dom isn’t quite ready for 90.

 

Vaulks must have been in the red-zone. He’s been way too good to drop. He’ll be back surely. Poveda walks back into the side. Gassama worked harder and more effectively than Musaba. So:-

 

                                 Beadle

           Pol Iorfa Ihiekwe Bernard Johnson

              Poveda Vaulks Bannan Gassama

                                  Ugbo

 

To state the bleedin’ obvious, it’s really important that we don’t go behind. Until Bamford’s very avoidable goal in the 116th minute of the first half last week, we were every bit their equals. Unfortunately, once we had to chase the game against a team of such quality we were doomed. Similarly with Ipswich – if we can compete and frustrate, the scars of Ipswich’s last-minute defeat at Cardiff might just begin to show. Football is a stupid game, which twists and turns on the finest of margins. Please let it twist and turn in our favour for once this time. We deserve it. 
 

I’ll leave you with a lovely story by an ex-journeyman footballer, Fred Eyre. Fred never quite made it, and played for the likes of Wigan, Stockport, Crewe, Rochdale, Oswestry etc…In one of his excellent books, he tells this tale about the time in the early 80s when he was assistant manager of Wigan, who had just come into Division 4 from non-league.

 

 

On their way to a distant away match, Wigan’s knackered old team bus stopped off at a pre-arranged hotel for their usual shoestring-budget pre-match meal. He and his raggyarsed Wigan players were shown into a dining room, where instead of their usual tea and toast, they were served with the finest lean steaks and beautifully cooked fresh vegetables. The players were gobsmacked. He said they could only assume their chairman wanted to give them a one-off treat, but whatever the motive, the players loved it.

 

As they were getting back on their rickety old bus for the final leg of the journey, refuelled, refreshed and feeling a million dollars, a gleaming executive coach pulled up outside the hotel, and out climbed Bobby Robson and his crack First Division Ipswich team, bursting with shiny, athletic, posh track-suited, international players. They were shown into the hotel, led to a different dining room, where they expected to be served with their usual pre-match finest steaks and fresh vegetables, only to be served with……..yes, tea and toast.

 

Fingers crossed Ipswich have used the same hotel manager this week, and instead of the modern-day pre-match pasta and protein shakes, its been pasties and Pepsi all week for Keefer and the tractor boys.

 

COYO

 

Danny, Danny Röhl

 

   

 

[Emerson Thome]

Ipswich are very good at coming back after conceding (more points that anyone in the league I think?), but after BPF blowing the 1-0 lead in injury time at Portman Road and them coming back from 2-0 last season (that Smith miss for 3-0, but Flint hitting the bar near the end too...), I feel like we owe them one.

[sMacLean]

Can see this being a 0-0.

[unkastav]

Good work @Holmowl

[BOOFABI]

24 minutes ago, sMacLean said:

Can see this being a 0-0.

I'd be happy with that

[Geörge Whitebread]

That probably will be the starting XI, but presumably we'll set up in Danny's favoured lopsided formation, as per our pre-Leeds 5/6 wins (albeit with Iorfa in place of Palmer)...

 

                         Beadle  

     Iorfa  -  Ihiekwe  -  Bernard

              Vaulks  -  Bannan  -  Johnson

 Valentin - Poveda       -       Gassama

                           Ugbo

 

 

[Mighty Quinn]

3-1 Owls 

[debram]

46 minutes ago, sMacLean said:

Can see this being a 0-0.

Would be a great point.

[Thurcroft owl 72]

I've always thought Portman road was a ground we had a decent record at.

[Costello 77]

I've had a look at their games and compared them with Leeds.

They're at least as good as Leeds and at home.

 

DR will set up to have a go at it but if we don't notch in the first half I expect we're pointless.

I know owt can happen but if we keep the GD decent I'll be happy.

[Sova]

Thanks, Holmowl. In answer to your question, the match should have been played in February, but, like several others in the round, was postponed until March. But the ties couldn't be played in midweek, because the next round was the following weekend, so there had to be time for any replays before then. Even that wasn't enough for Luton and Watford, who ended up meeting 3 times in 6 days (they also played in the league on the 19th, making it 4 in 16, and had faced each other in the league at the start of February too). Luton's 'reward' for coming through this epic clash against their local rivals was the infamous game against Millwall.

[Lombardo]

Great post as usual.

do you think we can get something out of this one? One way to find out….

[CircleSeven]

I think we will score one and Ipswich will score two. Both of Ipswich’s goals to be due to totally avoidable defensive lapses. 

[Irishman]

Brilliant holmowl, I liked the story at the end, anyway think we win this 2-1 but would be happy with a draw, just hope the others around us have poor results too to keep the pressure on them. Uto 

[Rogers]

Thinking positively, they have almost the same team we played last year and we matched them and I think we are a better team now.  
 

Of course, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and they are riding on the crest of a wave. 
 

Head says 3-1 loss. Heart feels like we might snatch something. 

[Holmowl]

4 hours ago, Sova said:

Thanks, Holmowl. In answer to your question, the match should have been played in February, but, like several others in the round, was postponed until March. But the ties couldn't be played in midweek, because the next round was the following weekend, so there had to be time for any replays before then. Even that wasn't enough for Luton and Watford, who ended up meeting 3 times in 6 days (they also played in the league on the 19th, making it 4 in 16, and had faced each other in the league at the start of February too). Luton's 'reward' for coming through this epic clash against their local rivals was the infamous game against Millwall.

Thanks that’s great.

 

I don’t recall that at all. When I checked the date and saw it was a Monday I thought I was going mad.

[Southie_Owl]

6 hours ago, Costello 77 said:

I've had a look at their games and compared them with Leeds.

They're at least as good as Leeds and at home.

 

DR will set up to have a go at it but if we don't notch in the first half I expect we're pointless.

I know owt can happen but if we keep the GD decent I'll be happy.

Not sure I agree with that, Leeds have more points, more goals, more wins, better GD than Ipswich. 
Leeds have done the double over Ipswich this season, scoring 8 goals past them, including a 4-0 win. 
Leeds have premier league players, Ipswich squad is largely the same as league 1 squad. 
In Ipswich last 4 home games they have needed goals in the 81st minute+ to win by one goal,  in 3 of those games they’ve needed goals after 90 minutes to win the points

 

I don’t like Leeds, but if I was a Leeds fan hearing that Ipswich were at least as good as them, I would be confused. 

 

 

[BIG D]

They’re not Leeds are they? Of course they are overwhelming favourites but I think we can get something today. 

[Wonder Spaniel]

Obviously Ipswich are favourites, but we’ve got nothing to lose by having a really good go at it today. They’ve shown a few inconsistencies of late so we might just catch them on a slight off day. 
First goal crucial . 

[Hyde2005]

9 hours ago, sMacLean said:

Can see this being a 0-0.

id defo take a point but cant see it been 0-0 . danny admits he will never set up to park the bus dont matter who we play . so teams will always get chances to score against us and we need to take our chances when we get them if we are to take anything today..  ipswich are a funny team , done incredibly but also had a shocking run at start of year 1 win in 9 before 6wins in a row . seen them in 1/2 games recently the cardiff away game they looked beyond ordinary very slow and laboured with the ball ,you can see from that game why they had a bad run . but they have an incredible team spirit and come back and win many games . 

 

for us to stop up we will need to pull off unexpected results like millwall and qpr did recently , you cant just say we will win swansea home etc etc it never works like that.  a win today would take the pressure off otherwise swansea stoke blackburn etc will become must wins