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Season Review - August 2014
Friday, 22nd May 2015 12:00 by HarryFromBath and Mullet

In the first part of a series reflecting on what has been a memorable season, Mullet and HarryfromBath turn the clock back to when it all began, looking through their eyes and also those of the opponents we encountered along the way.

Season Review:

After the first season in a while where Town hadn’t danced their way over the second tier's trapdoor, the 2014/15 campaign marched into a sunny Portman Road with expectations sometimes rising higher and burning brighter than the August sun. The unknowns of yet another football marathon already started to grate before it all even began, but then it did.

Live on Sky Town took on a brash mix of youth and cash in the shape of Fulham. The recent Premier League club's cartoonish character of a manager got a sharp dose of reality as he and his boys cowered in the shadows as hard and flinty as Mick's Yorkshire outlook of the task ahead.

A Town well cultured in Championship football smashed a two-goal lead past the Londoners. Only the removal of Cole Skuse took the midfield shape with it and Fulham got a goal back. It wasn't enough and Town rocketed to a first win and a first top six placing of the season.

The loss of David McGoldrick at the tail end of last season, took with it our momentum. He hit the ground running albeit after hopping off the bench. Daryl Murphy took around half an hour to open his and Town's account for the season, alongside lanky recruit from Dortmund, Hungarian Bálint Bajner.

The Eastern European ran fast, hard and out of gas fairly soon in a debut lasting just shy of a half. When McGoldrick replaced him the whole place lifted and so did Town as the mercurial number nine went on and made it two. So far so good.

“I was super optimistic. What a crashing reality. Felix Magath will be first out”, “It's a new team who have only played a couple of games together. We have to realise this is going to take time and it's not going to be smooth sailing. I'll say it - at this moment in time Ipswich are better Championship side than us and that's the truth.”

Cottagers felt that they had been ambushed by a team which was more street-wise when it came to Championship football and which also had more cohesion that the visitors’ “team of strangers”.

“We have to get used to their physicality”, and so began one of the major themes of our campaign. “It's hard to win at Ipswich, but I thought McCarthy’s cloggers were a poor set of individuals with McCarthy’s principles written all over them. We should not have lost to this outfit.”

“This Fulham team has potential, and I would rather be a Fulham supporter than an Ipswich one, because they will be mid-table at most. Fulham will finish higher as we have more quality, how much higher remains to be seen.”

Transfer InFeeClub
Alex HenshallFreeManchester City
Cameron StewartFreeHull City
Jonathan ParrFreeCrystal Palace
Bartosz BialkowskiFree plus top-upsNotts County
Bálint BajnerFreeBorussia Dortmund
Kevin BruFreeLevski Sofia
Transfer OutFeeClub
Carlos EdwardsFreeMillwall
Scott LoachFreeRotherham United
Aaron Cresswell£3.75m rising to £7mWest Ham United
Freddie VeseliLoanPort Vale
Jack MarriottLoanCarlisle
Paul TaylorLoanRotherham United
Anthony WordsworthLoanRotherham United

There was much change to Town's squad as all but the very last remnants of the previous reign were chiselled away bar the most stubborn or most malleable. However, the fresher scars were healing less than a year on.

Mick had spent barely anything yet again and moved on not just the massive talent and assists of Aaron Cresswell for an initial £3.75 million but Town's reliance on McGoldrick's magic feet.

Set pieces and swift plays up and over would mark out a new direction, up and at em all. Before that was the small matter of the Capital One Cup. A mismatch of new faces young and old met lower league opposition in a calamitous display at Crawley.

Frank Nouble, a £25,000 bargain buy early in McCarthy’s time in charge, would seal his fate with a terrible turn and last season's big gamble finally shuffled out of the club on loan to Coventry shortly after Town shuffled out of the cup by a single goal.


The Red Devils were happy with their evening’s work, and there was widespread agreement about our toothless attack. “There was not much goalmouth action (I counted one shot on target each during normal time), but a very entertaining game. I thought we matched Ipswich all over except in the centre of the park where they kept coming through.”

Town went to Reading with many writing about the loss of Cresswell who was on his way to West Ham darlinghood and his replacement Tyrone Mings being a very different animal.

A still jaded McGoldrick and the endeavour of Madejski old boy Jay Tabb were not enough to see Town fall again to a single strike. The season was well under way and Town were looking undercooked with the sun feeling just a little colder upon our backs each game.

“Well that was a good result. I thought we controlled the game first half without creating much. We then defended out the lead in the second as our scratch midfield got overrun. There were a few scares, but Ipswich rarely looked convincing up front and we could have sneaked another.”

“We couldn't have complained if Ipswich had equalised or even won that. Still a win is a win and Ipswich are a well organised side if somewhat limited so it was a decent result but Christ it made for poor entertainment.” Given their injury-ravaged midfield, Royals were uniformly delighted with a win and many felt we didn’t really threaten them.

“Both sides didn't really have a lot of chances but we took ours in the first half after shambolic Ipswich defending. Jake Taylor was quickly onto to nick the ball past their keeper. Otherwise we played some pretty tidy football and looked comfortable.”

With two-thirds of the month gone Town played games three and four. An all action away draw at Birmingham saw Town give away two cheap goals and Franco-Scottish defensive giant Christophe Berra rise above everyone twice to head and smash two equalisers in one game.

The second coming in the dying seconds to rescue a point and relieve fans (emotionally and physically in a few cases one suspects). New boys Alex Henshall and Bajner put in tantalising cameos, but it was the big boys of the first team that asked plenty of questions of themselves.

Juddering and rudderless at times, in a game which saw Town rise and flood the floundering hosts with a determination that built on the opening day victory.

“The referee is an absolute goon as well as his assistant. Two stonewall penalties not given and five minutes of stoppage time from absolutely nowhere. I'm actually furious. I don't think I've ever been closer to running on the pitch (mid-game). Football is finally back at St Andrews!”

Most City supporters were crestfallen after dropping two points to a late equaliser and they felt aggrieved that referee Roger East denied them a penalty for what they felt was a foul by Tommy Smith in the second half. It would not be the last penalty decision that this referee would make involving Town this season.

Shortly after that the derby. Norwich's first return to the scene of a criminal display. One of the darkest days of the Paul Jewell era. New manager, new hope, new slow death at the hands of defensive mix-up and all too familiar Dean Gerken fumble.

The filthy Budgies swept past Town in a display of vulgarity vs vigour. Thrifty Town were powerless in the face of such vast wealth and only surrendered once, but once was enough.

“Woohoo! Top of the league at Portman Road”, “There’s nothing better than some comedy defending from the home side to gift a goal”, “According to McCarthy, someone shouted 'Keepers' when Tettey headed the ball back in and he said it wasn't an Ipswich player. LOL, Grabban you cheeky bugger.”

“Some of our players are looking very shaky on the ball”, “The pitch didn't look great so it was bouncing off us quite a lot.” Despite their post-match euphoria, many Canaries were left anxious during the game by their team’s nervous and hesitant play. The winning goal, scored by an offside Lewis Grabban, was the turning point and settled the visitors’ nerves.

“Quite surprised how Ipswich played few passing moments, but used high hoofs in general. I didn't expect that. Murphy reminds me of our agricultural dinosaurs in defence from many years ago. I thought that they were big, physical and not very clean.”

MonthITFCDaryl Murphy
GoalsGoals per gameGoalsGoals per gameSeason tally
August5110.21

From top six to 18th Town would then slip another place, to record their lowest point of the season before the month was out. On the last day of August a trip to the iPro Stadium, Derby saw the hosts pride mark out their fall to a resilient Town side. With Didzy out and whispers of him leaving, Tommy's Kiwi mate Chris Wood stood amongst the Town faithful, stirring more speculation.

On the pitch Mick surprised us all with recent trialist-cum-recruit Bru in the massive hole off Murphy's broad shoulders. A small name in a big gap, he put in a bold opening 20 minutes, faded out and in as Town upped the tempo and the volume in the second half. Youngsters Teddy Bishop and Henshall caught the eye as captain Luke Chambers came off at half-time seeing stars after a collision.

Jonny Parr and Mings made the first of a much-touted 45 as Town's full-backs. It didn't take long into the second half for goal-magnet Berra to crash home from a set piece. Town held their nerve and herded the Rams into a captivating stalemate.

Even that wasn't enough for the indignity of slipping a place to the deadzone of 19th. A final affair with the relegation places and form before Town looked up at the stars and prepared to crash into the play-off places. With the international space between fixtures it was a 13-day countdown until Mick got to relaunch his side.

“Hats off to Ipswich. They have played very poorly so far this season, but yesterday I thought they played decent enough to get the point, regardless of some lucky breaks which they got and which mainly included us not finishing chances”, “Why did we change to a long ball team?”

“Ipswich did well and you can't take that away. They snuffed out our chances and stopped us breaking down the wings as we like to do.”

In what would become another familiar refrain as the season progressed, Rams were frustrated by our refusal to allow them to dictate the pattern and tempo of the game, especially after the break.

“Teams will come to frustrate us. We need to accept this and find a way around it. We never properly kept possession for long periods of the game today, especially in the second half when we needed to take the wind out of Ipswich's sails.”

MonthGFGAGDPointsHighest positionLowest position
August56-156th19th

While the opening month might have started and ended with a mixture of optimism and despair, the predictable early exit in a cup competition and signs that not all the signings were there just yet remained. If the fixture list was unkind as much as it was unrelenting, then next time we look at the month where Town made their first steps toward hitting their stride — September.

2014/15 Championship Date Range: 1-AUG-2014 to 31-AUG-2014

PosTeamP WDLGFGA WDLGFGA GDPts
1Nott'm Forest5 20060 21053 813
2Watford5 300113 10123 712
3Wolves 5 30051 10111 412
4Norwich City5 21072 10111 510
5Millwall5 20142 11021 310
6Charlton 5 20053 03044 29
7Derby County5 21072 01123 48
8Brentford5 02022 20142 28
9Cardiff City5 20041 02123 28
10Sheff Weds5 02112 20042 18
11Bournemouth5 10122 11174 37
12Wigan 5 21072 00213 37
13Brighton 5 11144 10121 17
14Blackburn 5 11043 10247 -27
15Reading5 10122 11136 -37
16Middlesbrough5 10244 10122 06
17Rotherham 5 10214 10111 -36
18Leeds United5 20122 00216 -56
19Ipswich Town5 10122 02134 -15
20Birmingham 5 11032 01217 -55
21Huddersfield 5 01115 10258 -74
22Bolton 5 01134 00316 -61
23Fulham5 01213 00227 -71
24Blackpool5 00224 00315 -60

Season Review:


Photo: Action Images



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KBsSocks added 12:08 - May 22
Cheers Harry and Mullett :-D
1

streety86 added 12:11 - May 22
I wonder what that Fulham fan has to say now the season has ended haha
2

gazzmac4 added 13:07 - May 22
That point at Derby, while dropping us down the table was the turning point for me. we just looked more organised, more forward thinking and more like a team that had realised that actually they and the ability to do something meaningful this year.

Its not surprise to me that we started our incredible run after that game! Although im not sure that my buoyant mood after that draw would have expected the run we embarked on to be quite so brilliant!!
1

bluefeast added 13:49 - May 22
The turning point was January ,when we came to play sides for the 2nd time ,they worked out that we press a high line except our back 4 ,who stay deep ,which is the reason why the space behind our mid and in front of our defence was exploited. But I'm sure 2015/2016 will be very exciting ,9 mini leagues of 5 games ,top them all and we are champions.
2

carlisleaway added 13:51 - May 22
Cannot wait until the next few months, excellent Harry.

What stood out for me in August was the form of McGoldrick and although Bishop was shown for his seasons work....what a player he is going to be.
1

weevil added 13:53 - May 22
Excellent opening post. Well done to the authors Harry and Mullet.
4

Gilesy added 15:20 - May 22
Great stuff - enjoyed that!
2

TheBoyBlue added 15:27 - May 22
It just goes to show how unimportant the league table that early on. Us down in 19th, Bournemouth in 11th. I bet Millwall fans look at that table and wonder what the hell happened to their season!
1

TractorBeezer added 23:28 - May 22
That opening goal against Fulham displays that burst of pace that Murph has in his locker plus that pinpoint pass from Hyam. Well done and thanks Harry and Mullett.
2

Garv added 13:07 - May 24
Hyam did look good in those early stages - a very decent bit of play setting up Murphy against Fulham. While limited, it was a shame he was out for so long.

I'd agree the game against Derby was the turning point. We actually started to play football with the likes of Bru and Bishop. And without wanting to go on about it, that game turned for us I think when Mings came on for Chambers and went to left back with Parr going right.

We really need to find a right back this summer. They are out there.
0

babyblueboy added 16:15 - May 26
Another season of disappointment and that lot up the road winning at Wembley how much longer do we have to suffer? thoughts !!
-1


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