A promising but slightly nervous first match of the season. We deserved at least a draw despite the fact that JET had a poor game and the home debutants, Louango and Chambers, started nervously. Blackburn Rovers were workmanlike rather than spectacular. We seemed to gain in energy and confidence in the second half and our ability to pass and move bodes well for the rest of the season.

Edwards, Martin and Scotland (sub appearance from about 70 minutes) played with courage and skill but my man of the match was Hyam.

Despite JET's poor performance, I would like us to start with same line-up next time. JET is a confidence player and he will come good. The only change I would consider making is replacing Luongo with Drury, depending on Drury's fitness and whether Jewell thinks Luongo is ready.

I hope we continue to play passing football and the 4-2-3-1 system (4-4-1-1 when Jason Scotland comes on as sub). We need to work on retaining the ball when our centre-halves and goalie have it but this will come with games.

I was really impressed by Hyam today, I hope he has convinced some doubters- especially our coaching and management team!

Loach - 6. Average- couldn't be faulted for the goal and he had little else to do. Looked reasonably confident.
Cresswell - 6. Average- usual energetic self but his distribution and crossing not up to his usual standard.
Chambers - 6. Average. I thought he looked quite nervous on his home debut and was lucky on a couple of occasions not to be caught on the ball.
Edwards - 8. Very good. I like Edwards. He's a very brave player, even when things are not going well he is always available and willing to take on players. Clearly our best defender on the day.
Smith- 7. Good. Looks a lot more confident than this time last season.
Emmanuel-Thomas - 4. Very poor. I'm a great admirer of JET"s skill but he does let his head drop when things are not going well. Imagine what a player he could be if had Edwards's courage. Seemed relieved to be subbed.
Martin- 8. Very good. Full of energy and devilment, sure to be a key player for us this season.
Luongo - 6. Clearly a good footballer but allowed nerves to get the better of him at first. Needs to look to the examples set by Edwards, Martin and.....
Hyam - 9. Excellent. Full of running and strong tackling. Also had the courage to demand the ball, especially when Luongo was looking nervous. Topped his performance with a defence splitting pass that led to our goal. I hope Jewell will give him an extended run.
Carson- 7. Good. Seemed to get better as the match progressed, indicates that he has worked on his fitness. Could be his breakthrough season.
Chopra- 7. Good. Energetic without ever really looking like scoring

Subs
Drury - 8. Very Good. Looked impressive and lively as soon as he came on but he may have been helped by the fact that all other players had already been running in extreme heat for 70 minutes.
Scotland - 9. Excellent. Everything you would want from your sub. It's often said that we revert to 4-4-2 when he plays alongside Chopra. I don't see it like that. We seem to play 4-4-1-1 with Scotland very effective at finding space between our midfield and the opposition's defence and then causing mayhem. He was a constant threat in the final 20 minutes and made our goal.

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Hello everyone, enjoyed the game today and here is my report. Was a bit indifferent to the whole drumming thing outside the ground. Didn't mind it but it got in the way a bit when I went to grab a bite to eat. Anyway that aside, I thought that the buzz around the ground outside and inside was positive and you can tell that the crowd are happier with this younger, fresher side. Felt rather smug after seeing the team picked was exactly (even subs) the the same as my selection on here a few days ago. Thought the Blackburn fans were loud and proud and I find that our fans respond better to more lively crowds often making the game's atmosphere much better. Anyway onto the game...

The first half saw very little penetration from either team really and their goal was probably the only real chance of a pretty dull 45 minutes. Thought that CKR was very good and beat Tommy for pace a bit too often but credit to Smith he always recovered quite well. The heat was obviously a factor but we really lacked a cutting edge. To be fair, Rovers have kept most of their big players and they look a very physical team and just had a bit too much strength for us at times without possessing much real quality. Martin was our biggest threat and we were fairly comfortable apart from sloppy set-piece where we left their biggest, strongest man unmarked. Rookie mistake, but our young squad will hopefully learn and won't give up.

The second half improved dramatically and Ipswich went for it more as our quality started to show through. JET just wouldn't get anything right, he had a bad day, epitomised by his air pass some way into the half which saw him soon pulled off. When we switched to 4-4-2 we seemed more of a threat. Edwards was a bigger threat and Cresswell was more involved also. We started to pass and move more which overcame the issue with Rovers overwhelming physicality and our goal was deserved. The team pushed forward and at this point I saw the most buzz at a Town game for an awful long time. It was just SBR Lower that were singing, all four corners were making noise and it had a massive effect on our performance. For some the touch just wasn't there, for others (Hyam and Martin) they took control and pressed Rovers.

Overall, we fought hard and with a bit more cutting edge brought in I can see a strong season ahead. The defence was sound and apart from the goal which was a set piece they never really let Rovers do much. Hyam was brilliant in midfield while Luongo wasn't his usual self. Carson and JET didn't have much luck against a strong Rovers defence nor was Chopra and it took the introduction of the stronger Scotland and a reshuffle to start causing them real problems. In the end the point was probably fair but a battling performance in tough conditions leaves me hopeful of a good year for Town.

Quick final note, seeing Ogogo try and hide the fact he is a budgie was very amusing, very amusing indeed.

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A draw was the least we deserved. I did fear for us when we conceeded but rather than push further at us, Blackburn decided to sit back and timewaste. They defended well and I really couldn't see us equalising but once we did we looked like we could go on and win it. Both teams passed well at times but scorching temp seemed to effect their stars more as the match went on and the Town players ran themselves into the ground right to the end. We still lack height in the side and are prone to give free headers away at set pieces, until this is sorted we wont get anywhere. The only other thing lacking today was delivery from wide and set pieces with all either under or over hit. Perhaps this could be put down to first match nerves? Best players for us were Hyam and Martin but JET had one of his "panel-beater" performances and went to pot when he fluffed his good chance. Edwards and Cresswell also frustrated me today in going forward, seemingly running in trouble often and not delivering good crosses however both defended well. All i all a reasonable start, now to overcome that Watford hoodoo

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good start in extreme heat
not sure about JET trying to play the Daryl Murphy role
some work needed on the training ground for set pieces
crowd in good voice
don't mind the drums

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Drury and Scotland came off the bench to transform the game IMO. We played most of the game with 10 men, as JET had one of his REAL off days. Hyam was excellent, Luongo was comfortable on the ball, but needs to learn to hit the killer pass and overall we were the better side. Blackburn looked a very ordinary, perhaps because we are getting better?

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Undoubtedly an encouraging and energetic start.

In my opinion there were two MoMs. I agree that Hyam was one but Edwards was his equal. He is underrated by most commentators on this site and if only we had a fit right back who woud enable Carlos to play further forward. He remains a class act, in spite of his relatively advanced years.

I didn't hear any 'Kean Out' chants from Blackburn fans, which was not a bad thing but it is worth recording that PJ got more commitment and desire out of his young squad that Kean did out of his more expensive charges.

Did Blackburn fans really cause trouble in Holland - seems very unlikely given their rather docile performance at PR today and in previous years.

Dare we look forward to Watford.......?

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essexccc were u at the game? one minute they were chanting kean for england and the next kean out! and there thugs aswell when i was walking back to the car a group of them started on me and my mates!

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I was at the game and very much enjoyed it. I didn't hear the Blackburn fans and am sorry you experienced some thuggish behaviour. Still surprises me. I've been to Blackburn a number of times in the past and always found their fans to be docile.

This hooligan thing for them does seem to be a recent and unwelcome development.

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I sat in front of the Blackburn fans in the second half, was non stop digs at Kean.
Guessing that you essexccc must have been sitting next to one of them drums for far too long lol

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why would they chant kean for england? is he not scottish?!?
As for the game best weve kept the ball for along while. Hyam appears to have matured by 3/4 years over the summer, just hope PJ noticed it.

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