Derby Day Defeat a Good Thing Written by paulthebluealien on Monday, 29th Sep 2014 17:59 Wow, that really does make for some horrific reading, does it not? Yes, I was there as an Ipswich fan on that dreadfully depressing day where our football was poor, slow and lacked any real quality. When those, to put it politely, 'scum', came and pretty comfortably beat us 1-0. Of course, we had chances. Most notably Daryl Murphy's header which he put wide, much to the disgust of myself and thousands of others. I remember leaving the ground thinking, 'Where the hell do we go after this' and 'Where are our goals coming from?'. That negativity lasted the best part of five minutes. I agree with this blog's title wholly, as ghastly as it may be. The derby defeat has actually done Ipswich Town the world of good. Now a few people will question my 'Ipswich backbone'. Well, you can if you really want to, but I do not care. I am an Ipswich fan through and through. I wanted to beat Norwich more than anything but it just did not happen on the day. So, why and more importantly how can I argue such a thing? Well, the most obvious and simple thing I can point to is the results. We have catapulted from 19th to fifth in the table upon writing, picking up 13 points from 15, which is by all intents, title-winning form. Of course there will be ups and downs but in this run we have faced Derby, Brighton and Wigan. They are all decent Championship teams and the likes of Derby will no doubt be challenging up the top end of the table come the good old, 'squeaky bum time'. Moreover, I cannot be the only supporter who was critical of our slow build-up play and cursing our midfield for a lack of creativity. Well, now we seem to have creativity in abundance. The breakthrough of Teddy Bishop has been phenomenal and only God himself knows how good the boy will get. We now have Jonny Williams on loan. For anybody in any doubt about his quality, just watch his goal against Derby on YouTube. In addition, the likes of Hyam, Anderson and Tabb have stepped up a gear in their performances. Goals. Goals win you football games. The reality is Ipswich have also started scoring. We have, by all accounts, a superb defence for this level and the inclusion of Jonny Parr has not only provided balance into our team, but also much-needed quality coming forward in the right-back position. David McGoldrick has not only steadied himself after his initial disappointment from not moving to the Premier League, he has almost vented his anger out on the opposition. Which is, fantastic to watch, eh? Daryl Murphy on the other hand just needed a goal. Now, he just cannot stop scoring. The prospect of having such attacking options as McGoldrick, Murphy, Williams, Sammon, Bru and Bishop suggests to me that the goals may keep on coming still. So, what happens now? Well, Town won't win the remaining 37 games. Of course, we can hope. But it is all about consistency. If we can gain a decent level of consistency and continue to look strong at home then anything truly is possible. We have had a bit of luck in this four-game winning run, but we deserve it. Luck has deserted us, seemingly, for decades so praise luck for reappearing its beautiful face once again. Town look a strong team now. Defensively we are powerful, strong and hard to break down. Something that recently received praise from the maverick known as Ian Holloway. Attackingly, Town are now also sprinkled with a host of quality players who can create goals out of nowhere. Players such as Bishop, would they have got an opportunity if there had not been such a knee-jerk following the Norwich game to change things? Perhaps, but it certainly was not a dead on cert. So, I conclude, the Norwich game was horrific. Brutal. Difficult to watch. Yet, it seems to have provided us with a new lease of life. We seem more energetic, creative. This whilst keeping up the traditional McCarthy-esque philosophy of hard to beat and energised. A good combination, no doubting. Tomorrow, we face Sheffield Wednesday before taking on Nottingham Forest away. I am dreaming of six wins in a row. Now, that would show one heck of a rejuvenation, would it not? Let's knock those Canaries off their perch. Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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