No Place Like Away?

Blog written by Pessimistic
Published: 22nd December 2015 16:00

Why is it that we seem to play so well away and yet at home our place is anything but a fortress?

It is hard to put your finger on just why we have failed so miserably at Portman Road and yet on our travels picked up so many points but it surely it can't all be down Lady Luck deserting us?

If we look back to last season our home form was superb so something must have changed and yet, here we are, back in those play-off places, almost as if nothing had happened.

Perhaps teams have sussed us out and worked out the way we play. Our aim seems always to be the same and that is to deliver long balls in the general direction of our strikers in the hope that we will catch our opponents off guard.

It is not always pretty on the eye but at least last term it proved to be quite effective but I think there are mitigating circumstances for our fall from grace at our place.

For example, our defence has seen changes and they have not all been good ones. Dean Gerken has kept hold of the keeper's jersey for the most part and of course we have lost Tyrone Mings.

Personally I am not convinced that losing him has been the sole cause of our under-achievements at home but there is little doubt that his replacement, Dane Jonas Knudsen, is learning his trade on the job and is still struggling to come to terms with the rigours of championship football.

Our cause is not helped either though by Mick McCarthy's obsession of playing players out of their natural comfort zone in order to ensure he does not have to drop his personal favourites. He does not buy into the round pegs in round holes football philosophy and the man is not for changing.

It seems rather bizarre that our captain Luke Chambers has chalked up over one hundred appearances playing as a full-back when we all know he is at his best at centre-half and more recently, he has placed Freddie Sears out on the wing when we all know that he gives up so much more of a goal threat playing right down the middle.

Our passing success rate is appalling too at around 62 per cent which is the worst in the Championship but why there is such a huge gulf in terms of results and sometimes performances when we compare our away form to our home record?

Most penalties I have noted seem to go to the home teams, as referees are often almost bullied into them by the demands of the home faithful. Strangely we hardly seem to get any these days so is this something to do with the way we play?

The sad truth is that we have only won three games at home this season so far and that was against relegation threatened Bolton, Sheffield Wednesday and promotion candidates Burnley so we are in desperate need of another scalp this Saturday when we take on Queens Park Rangers at Portman Road.

I suppose you could argue too that our performances at home have not been bad but we seem to have either let leads slip or not created enough clear-cut chances and I am hoping that now that Ryan Fraser is back in the mix this might significantly change.

I am also pleased to see Luke Hyam back at the club but the one person that we perhaps miss most of all is the irrepressible Teddy Bishop.

His creativity is still sadly lacking and if he cannot get back soon then we must utilise the January transfer window and find someone who can provide us with some inventiveness and flair - otherwise we will continue to struggle I fear.

More blogs by Pessimistic: