New TWTD columnist Chris Rand's latest stats-based article focuses on Town's surprising propensity for 0-0 draws during 2007/08.
With such a fantastically low number of goals conceded at home (at 88th percentile in the history of the Championship*, this season's single most extreme statistic), you'd probably guess that on the occasions that we did fail to score at home, the match would usually end up as a goalless draw.
But hang on: we're Ipswich. We don't do goalless draws, especially at home... do we? Well, not usually. Here's our record of home 0-0 draws in our 11 Championship seasons:
1995-1996: 1 (v Millwall)
1996-1997: 1 (v Wolves)
1997-1998: 2 (v QPR, Tranmere)
1998-1999: 1 (v Bury)
1999-2000: 2 (v Blackburn, Tranmere)
2002-2003: 1 (v Stoke)
2003-2004: 0
2004-2005: 0
2005-2006: 0
2006-2007: 1 (v Hull City)
2007-2008: 4 (v Barnsley, Burnley, Plymouth, QPR)
Ouch. George Burley seemed to have a home 0-0 every year, and an extra one when Tranmere came to play. Joe Royle had a home 0-0 early on in his spell as Town boss, then managed not to have any more over the following three seasons.
Jim equalled Royle's total in just his second game at Portman Road and this season's (un)spectacular four bore-draws is the highest total we've seen here in the post-Robson era, and possibly much further back - I haven't had the time to check back into the seventies and beyond.
Of course, 0-0s can be good - I'm old enough to have been standing on my green milk-crate in Churchman's for the epic cup-tie against Leeds in 1975, when over 38,000 packed Portman Road for the only time in the club's history. And hey, we'd have taken a 0-0at home to Watford this year in retrospect, as we'd then have ended up with the Championship's first-ever unbeaten home record. But I'd like to think that this year will prove to be an aberration.
Chris's previous pieces can be read here, here, here and here.
* In other words, if you put every season of every team in the Championship,
ever, in a table in order of goals conceded at home, we'd be 88% of the way
down (or up) the list. Very impressive.