 | News
Comment | Villa Game Close to Sell-Out
at 18:17:46
Yet again, another huge cock up by Clegg. My beloved Town have become a complete joke under his stewardship. My son and I go to 8-10 away matches and 10-12 home matches every season, travelling from near Reading to do so - but it looks like we can't go to the Villa game because Clegg will not ask for any more tickets (an allocation of tickets we are entitled to!). Some of us will be at work at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning when the tickets go on general sale so not much chance of getting tickets for the Villa gane!!! I despair :-(
(We'll both be at the Bristol City and Charlton games!!) |
| News
Comment | McCarthy: Point Gained
at 21:24:05
Memories of Hunter and Beattie brought a smile to my face after today's dysmal performance. Both were outstanding centre halfs in their own right; Big Al a no nonsense, take no prisoners stalwark with the Diamond Beattie having the ability to take the ball from his own penalty area to the opposition's penalty area. And who can forget Big Al walking out for the second half of a game stubbing out his half time fag just before he went onto the pitch! Memories ..... |
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Comment | McCarthy: Point Gained
at 21:18:57
blues1: I agree with your asessment of Chopra. He was playing behind DJ in more of an advanced midfield role rather than an out and out strikers role and I thought he did quite well. He worked hard, went to get the ball on a number of occasions, took on players a few times, chased players down and also put in a few tackles!
For all the critics of Chopra, I accept that he didn't have any goal scoring opportunities but frankly nor did DJ who playing in the more advanced strikers role. With our woeful first half performance it's little wonder that both Chopra and DJ didn't get a sniff of a goal scoring opportunity!
Just wanted to add a little balance to the criticism!
(And I agree with most that Reo-Coker had yet another shocker - thank christ he's injured for a few weeks!) |
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Comment | Reo-Coker Determined There Will Be No Repeat
at 16:47:28
As others have said, Coker was the worst player on the pitch last night. He was blowing out of his backside after 10 minutes and had to walk around aimlessly for a few minutes to catch his breath before he started jogging around and looking for the ball. Another short burst, more misplaced passes, time for another rest as he ambled about looking disinterested. And he has the gall to say what he did - albeit I agree with his assessment!! |
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Comment | Wickham Linked With Return
at 16:39:14
I'd be very happy to see Wickham back at Town, but not so sure it will happen. If it does then we will need to ship out someone - I suggest Murphy. What we really, really, really need though is a decent right back; and we should take the very best we can irrespective of wages! |
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Comment | McCarthy: Being Murdered By Palace a Sobering Experience
at 09:03:01
Bluefeast I agree about Murphy - he's one of the "blindingly obvious" I was referring to in my post. Murphy was OKish in the first half and won a few headers that didn't lead to anything but second half he was completely anonymous. Not in a month of Sundays is he a left midfielder. Likewise Edwards: a reasonable right midfielder but a right back he is not. He caught the eye a few times because of some desperate saving tackles but they came about because he was out of position to start with! He drifts all over the place and exposes Chambers all the time. We all know that our defence has been shockingly poor for many years and no matter how we chop and change the centre backs Edwards has been the first choice RB throughout that time. I would add that he's the most inept and uninspirational Captain Town have had in a very long time. This is not a dig, I'm not one of the moaners that gets on players backs, but something has to change. I'd try Chambers at RB (he played there for Forest) and play Edwards at right mid. But as I said earlier, McCarthy picks the team!! |
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Comment | McCarthy: Being Murdered By Palace a Sobering Experience
at 08:32:25
For those that didn't go to the game let's be absolutely clear on one thing: Palace were most certainly the better side but we matched them for long periods and the scoreline is not reflective of the game. The main difference was that all the Palace players played well and with confidence; we had too many players off the pace and bereft of confidence (Coker in partcular was shockingly bad). Zaha and Appiah were frightenly quick and skillful and even the infamous Joel Ward managed to skip past 3 Town players with ease to set up their 4th goal on a plate. For us, only Wellens and DJ for his work rate alone come out of the game with any credit. Personally I would make a number of changes for Saturday's game but that's McCarthy's job - I only hope he can see the blindingly obvious!
Welcome to Town Mick McCarthy!! |
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Comment | Reserves Win Away at Oxford
at 21:33:06
Very similiar to my take on the game. My report that I posted on the forum at 21.05:
For those that missed my earlier post Murray scored 2 and Lambe got the other. Smith and Eastman were strong in defence, Hyam was solid in midfield, Civelli showed lots of attacking intent and looked good, Drury was relatively quiet and was subbed in 2nd half. Up front Murray was busy, took his goals well and Lambe playing in a deeper striker's role scored an excellent goal. Both teams had chances in the 2nd half but good to see bottom of the table Town beat top of the table Oxford and keep a clean sheet (the young American was in goal). There were 20 or so Town fans at the game - you could tell by the cheers when we scored! |
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Comment | Austin Agrees Burnley Deal - Reports
at 12:25:46
So, so typical of Clegg. Austin apparently spends a whole day with us and Clegg fails to conclude the deal. Austin pops up to Burnley this morning and within a few hours the deal is concluded!! Whilst I acknowledge that we must have a wage structure I sometimes doubt Clegg's negotiating abilities. We just missed out on Derry who has a superb season with QPR, the Chopra saga was well reported and now Austin! At least we can recall Lisbie. |
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Comment | Town Topic: Who Should Replace Keane?
at 16:05:05
Like most, definitely not:
1. Fat Sam
2. Megson
3. Jewell
4. Magilton
Would be happy with:
1. O'Niell (but no chance!)
2. Wilkins
3. O'Driscoll
4. Curbishley
5. Mowbray
With Matty Holland as Assistant Manger for any of the above. |
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Comment | Clegg: New Manager In the Coming Days
at 13:34:18
Dear Lord, I'm not really a religious person but I fear that we might divine intervention to prevent the appointment of Jewell as the next manager of ITFC. Anyone but him or Fat Sam or Megson. |
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Comment | Keane Leaves Town
at 09:33:23
I never joined the debate about whether Keane should be sacked but I can now reveal that I actually like the man and I really wanted him to succeed. Alas, his team selections, match tactics and substitutions were all too often pretty bizarre, which ultimately led to too many defeats (albeit be were ratheer unlucky in some games) and thus his downfall. I was hoping that he would do a Bobby Robson, a couple of poor seasons before making his mark, but it wasn't to be. As for a successor? Please God not Paul Jewel (the man can hardly speak English!) and definitely not Fat Sam. |
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Comment | Clegg: Town Need to Kick On
at 16:46:26
What a completely pointless thing to say - we all know that Town need to kick on without the incredibly well paid Clegg stating the obvious. And it's all well and good for Keane to be given money to spend in the January transfer window on the targets he's already identified but no doubt Clegg will balls up the contract negotiations and we'll end up panic buying at the end of the transfer window. Not that I'm a pessimist! |
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Comment | Watford Match Postponed
at 18:21:36
Nearly 3 hours to drive to Ipswich, tuned into BBC Radio Suffolk at Copdock at about 13.10, ten minutes later as I approached Sainsbury's I got the bad news!! Before the return journey I mingled with a few Town and Watford fans outside the ground and like me they were stunned by the decision. Why on earth the pitch inspection was left so late is beyond me. Alan Ferguson, a brilliant carer of grass, should have had his team putting boiling water on the pitch throughout the morning, not for 30 minutes or so after the referee first had a look!! I doubt I will make the rearranged midweek game but cannot get a refund for this postponed game until the new date is announced! All in all not a great Boxing Day!!
(Apologies for all the exclamation marks!) |
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Comment | Referee Explains Late Postponement
at 17:58:17
Nearly 3 hours to drive to Ipswich, tuned into BBC Radio Suffolk at Copdock at about 13.10, ten minutes later as I approached Sainsbury's I got the bad news!! Before the return journey I mingled with a few Town and Watford fans outside the ground and like me they were stunned by the decision. Why on earth the pitch inspection was left so late is beyond me. Alan Ferguson, a brilliant carer of grass, should have had his team putting boiling water on the pitch throughout the morning, not for 30 minutes or so after the referee first had a look!! I doubt I will make the rearranged midweek game but cannot get a refund for this postponed game until the new date is announced! All in all not a great Boxing Day!!
(Apologies for all the exclamation marks!) |
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Comment | Keane: We Adapted Better to the Conditions
at 22:52:28
So there was a bit of snow so what! I've certainly played in worse conditions and in the 60s/70s there would have been no thought about the game being abondoned. Town adapted better and actually tried on occasions to play football. A well deserved victory. |
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Comment | Keane: No 12th Man at Portman Road
at 09:54:51
Keane is spot on. The small vocal minority of dissenters do our club's reputation no good at all, we are fast becoming the talking point of other supporters for how quiet and wingey we are. After the Millwall game, that we won 2-0, I spoke to a couple of Millwall supporters who said we were the worst home fans they had witnessed this season. I have to agree, I have often reported on the funerial atmosphere at Portman Road; we've not been really vocal supporters for many years but it's absolutely dire at the moment. I don't accept the argument that's it's because we're playing crap football. Stoke play crap football and their support is brilliant - even when they're losing!!
In a way I'm not overly surprised with the demands for Keane's sacking because that is what we've done to just about all our managers. I recall McGarry's final months, then Robson's early years; of course those that remember the Duncan era will recall the demands for his sacking; more recently there was a vocal minority that wanted Big Fat Joe out, and then of course Magilton. Now it's Keane's turn!! He's not provided us with the instant success that we richly deserve (!) so let's get him out. Next man in will have a season or two then guess what? Yep, you got it ....
Someone above commented that our support so far this season has been brilliant - no it hasn't, it's been abysmal. Someone commented about how good Norwich support is - how right he is! Alas, we have become the laughing stock of football supporters. Our away supporters are generally brilliant (I go to 12-15 games a season) and I just wish we could get 2000 of our regular away supporters together in one stand, it just might make a difference.
Finally, I too am completed fed up with Keane playing centre backs as full backs, I'm fed up with Leadbitter's appalling corners and free kicks, I'm fed up with the long throws that don't work for us but work for other teams, I'm fed up that Edwards and Townsend (when he plays) don't get to the by-line before whipping in crosses, I'm fed up that our full backs don't push on and overlap and I'm fed up that 2 or 3 of our midfielders don't drive into the penalty area to support our forward(s) when we attack, ala Cahill of Everton. I'd love us to be playing scintilating football and winning more than we lose, I'd love us to be in the the top two, I'd love to see us the semi-finals of a cup and so on. But, at the end of the day, like or not, Keane is the manager of our club and I for one will stand by him and will NEVER boo - it serves absulutely no purpose other than to demoralise the players and make them dread playing at home.
For those that don't like Keane or our boring football then vote with your feet (as many have done) and don't turn up. I, like many I suspect, are completely fed up with the vocal minority and I say well done Keane for speaking his mind.
'Once a Blue always a Blue' |
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Comment | Beattie Hits Out at Barnsley Cheers
at 18:04:49
Divided opinion on here with some agreeing with what the Beat is saying others that state that they have the right to cheer ironically for the wonderful passing of the opposition because they've paid good money to watch dross. Yes, the football was shockingly bad but for me, the 'Oles' and boos epitomise the current dreadful support that we supporters provide for OUR team. We sit in stony silence even when we're winning e.g. against Millwall, now that was pretty embarrassing! I too am dismayed by the standard of football but booing and 'oleing' the opposition is counter-productive. Like most I'm incensed by the team set up and substitutions, the picking of Eastman at RB (poor young lad has had some shockers) the continuing hoof ball, the continuing use of Leadbitter to take corners and free kicks, the continuing use of long throws by Edwards and Wickham etc etc but I truly believe booing serves no purpose, so I suppose I agree with what the Beat has said.
When we lost 3 in a row there was the same clamour for Keane to be sacked. We then won three in a row and all was silent on the sacking front, which just goes to show how fickle many of our so called supporters are. I fear that another 3 defeats will now follow, to add to the current 2, so the clamour for Keane to go will only intensify. |
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