| Inbetween games 20:25 - Sep 29 with 1497 views | Mullet |
An unchanged Town started, and arguably finished the game at St. Andrews. In the changed fluorescence of their orange away kit, teetering above the basement of the division and fragile, Hurst opted to keep things the same.
It was a Birmingham side who made a good measure for us right now as they so often do. Similar home kits, similar stadium, similar attendances, expectations and frailties in recent memory in perhaps very different contexts; all meant the second city’s second club, were this week’s hot tip to be the first victims to an Ipswich win under Paul Hurst.
27 minutes and some scares were all it took for things to look eerily like the fixture that kick started his predecessor’s reign at Ipswich. The hosts had the better of the ball and won niggly free kicks and corners perceptively, as well as using them well, to force Gerken into a floored stop after a flap. In the resulting play a long-distance Gardener chip bounced off the post when everyone stopped to watch it break the deadlock.
Had the man in two shades of green just caught the ball initially then all of that could have been avoided. At the other end, Lee Camp was making yet another appearance at yet another ground against Ipswich, and unable to catch the first thing of note we would throw at him.
Pennington had looked every bit the centre back in the early skirmishes. Pinning Maghoma to the line and whilst Jonas was high up the pitch when off the ball, we had Chalobah dropping between Chambers and Nsiala. It was effectively meant to give us three at the back, but the young Evertonian lingered when he should have pressed, and the misshapen lines only severed much of Town’s rhythm and squeezed out a little of Brum’s.
When he did march forward down the line he bypassed Edwards and dropped a perfect ball over the top. Jackson didn’t just dance through the offside trap, he beat it. Nolan who had looked every bit the invisible man in neon again, mounted a cavalry charge in the right channel and met the layoff to perfection. One step, instep, goal. The away end didn’t know what to do with themselves or each other.
It had taken nine barren games, but the midfielder had shown the right belief and right technique to bring about an opener worth the admission fee but maybe not his just yet. The home fans went back to silence, those of us visiting fizzed a little.
Early in the game the ref had ignored the more desperate attempts to win a foul, such as Che Adams’ pathetic dive in the box, when a card was clear. As Maghoma and the game drew on it was clear he and Pennington would again have to keep a beady eye on the wonky winger. Brum don’t exactly have form or finesse when it comes to the dark arts, but Town don’t have any self-restraint either as the free kicks and fifty-fifties piled up in a frenetic and splintery game.
When a Knudsen long throw saw some far side intricacies bear a corner, the half was nearly done but Town weren’t. Ward swept a foot across the stationary ball and it swept across a stationary diorama of defenders. Only one, Pennington leapt forward to drive the ball in for a dizzying second.
Composure where there was none soon after at the other end of the stadium had reaped rewards. The contrast had seen another scrappy corner hooked off the line when an equaliser seemed certain, may have been Knudsen’s best contribution to the match. Blues of both persuasions seemed to look to see if the referee would raise with watch and make a digital pronouncement, but it never came.
There was a long pause between the 45 minute mark and the half time whistle four minutes of injury time had accumulated thanks to two innocuous looking head injuries for the home side and a lapse from Chambers who hobbled his way to the floor after 20 minutes or so. The skipper assaulted in the thrusts of an unclaimed aerial challenge and limped through 2 minutes of tepid tiptap before succumbing to the physio. Had he gone off then, or worse been ruled out for longer the game could changed there and then.
The injuries told more on Birmingham who at half time subbed the head-bandaged Gardner for “Dutch Mike” Kieftenbeld. The man they said can’t control a ball, has similar issues with his temper judging by a stamp on Chalobah deep into the half that saw both flare up.
But after 15 minutes of tentative hope, belief and tactical dissections beneath the belly of the stand, it was Town who started brighter and gutsier. A dancing Edwards had one or two slaloming runs at any defender who dared oppose him on the left. Firing behind or beyond with his crosses, Town failed to capitalise.
But it was again Pennington who put himself all over the game, his cross a better bet. Ward was unfortunate to find for the second time his run and timing excellent, but his finish weak. Chesting the ball down under pressure but stabbing fluffily into Camp’s arms from close range when a third looked likely.
It was also Pennington who had helped show that Nolan clearly had his pecker up as in the opening attacks. Skipping like a one-man Swan Lake into centre stage only to be felled. But Nolan was whipping the free kick from the right side into the right-side-netting.
More picante than #peppery, his hot streak cooled as Birmingham turned it up on us. The boss’ main man, had gone from deft and decisive at times to trying to win everything and getting nothing. Whereas Skuse had remained sensible in pass and tackle, and Chalobah had rouladed and rotated around oncomers to cheers and applause in the first half, it was again Town’s middle that would let the opposition exploit our lack of depth.
Jota from a previously lukewarm Birmingham cut through us like a laser, Jutkiewicz had been denied too many times already. When he found what seemed to be far too much space on the edge of the area, it was inevitable he would not only pull one back, but drag Town’s belief through the floor. Gerken spread himself, but like his colleagues it was too thinly and the shot was despatched easily.
Town’s inability to play a simple ball or do simple things had meant the lead was not indicative of the quality either team had deigned to show. Too often the right tackle or right ball had seen an orange shirt isolated, or an orange limb give away possession and territory. A booking for Pennington had come from this as he laid out the intercepting Maghoma once too often after Chambers and Nsiala had run out of options with the whole field ahead of them.
Nsiala would do this too often and once turned his man well before trying to lay off a ten yard ball to Skuse who was 15 yards away. It was an infuriating set of omens as the runes and sense of victory fell upon the afternoon.
Again, Gerken would pull of the spectacular when the simple who do, but the corner that saw Jutkiewicz nearly double his tally was met with a withdrawn arm as the ball hit the bar and remained a Town possession. The temptation to batter it behind or back into play for once was not conferred upon a crowded box of players.
The same could not be said in the 67th minute. The referee gave the softest of free kicks as all Jonas did was clear the ball. He could not possibly know an attacker would stoop his head in, nor should he care. But when Jota’s whip was parried by Gerken dramatically, farce ensued. More scrambles and clearances only resulted in one thing. You can clear the ball off your line once, maybe twice a game and it be heartening, to do that in one attack is an invitation to concede. So…. we did.
It was the inability to deal with a second ball that castrated Ipswich once again. The high-pitched shriek over the tannoy announcing it, only served to pour salt on the wound and the ground from whence our first victory looked to be coming.
Hurst made no changes until he brought on Sears in the 80th minute. It didn’t change much. His pace and Jackson’s had shown to undo Birmingham but we had not seemed to feel the need to pick at their back door often, even after they had got one back. Shunting into a 4-3-3 that pushed Nolan to LCM, and Chalobah and Skuse in the spaces to his right, whilst Edwards and Jackson took up wider positions.
Running straight at the Blues’ defenders seemed to pay dividends and when we did that it worked. Jackson again beat the offside trap from a deep free kick. Again, the home fans and players seemed utterly at a loss as he hit the line and pivoted. This time it was Sears not Nolan onrushing. This time it was behind his man, not in front that Jackson placed the pass. A golden chance to for a third and three points burnished in the setting sun.
At the restart Town found themselves with yet another familiar dispossession and disposition. Pennington who had brought the kind of sweetness only a Toffee can, left fans gagging as he clearly had had enough of Maghoma’s petulance. Upending him in a throw of one-upmanship, it seemed he was booked not for the foul but his refusal to return to the ref. He shrugged his shoulders and soon so did we. Some applauded him off, some just sat crestfallen.
The last few minutes saw Birmingham paw and push for a lead they neither deserved nor should have had much trouble taking. This was the Ipswich way in a new era. Another red in a game with barely a scratch of violence, a little more than unruliness to it. Town stretched their time in the lead by around 20 minutes or so, and showed that when had belief, we at least had hope.
As prayers go unanswered, and what looked like a chance to make St. Andrews a place of pilgrimage for downtrodden Ipswich fans and managers alike goes begging, where do we turn to now? It was a victory we needed and a draw we got with little artistic merit. Even Pollock could inspire a sense of awe from his freneticism and asymmetrical dots and slashes. Town can barely fill their shirts these days, such are the stickmen we put upon the field.
Another game, another performance as half and half as Chalobah’s hair. Equally baffling as it was eye-catching at times. Ultimately it was not enough to sense that any questions are answered, any partnerships or even bonds strengthened. We can look at the side again and say there’s something in there, but like Brad Pitt at the end of Se7en, do we want to open that box and find out?
|  |
| |  |
| Inbetween games on 12:55 - Sep 30 with 1266 views | HarryfromBath |
Thanks for this report, Mullet. A number of thoughts struck me reading through it...
(1) Our inability to play consistently well for 90 minutes is so worrying, as it means that teams in this streetwise world can be patient and wait for their chance,
(2) There seem to be signs that the lower-league additions are starting to grow in confidence playing at this level, even if not for sustained periods of the game.
(3) Monk altered things after the break, especially with the introduction of Mahoney with half-an-hour to play. People in the TWTD chat room were questioning why Hurst didn't react. I don't agree with changing things for the sake of it, but wonder if Monk outmanoeuvred Hurst tactically.
(4) Related to this were the thoughts that (i) our bench options weren't great (not sure I agree with this), and (ii) Hurst didn't know how to use them effectively.
(5) I wondered if the players' inability to build a rhythm is a legacy of prior chopping-and-changing we have seen, despite the unchanged starting XI. How well were the different 'departments' - defence, midfield -attack - linking through the thirds?
(6) Related to this was the thought that the lack of confidence may have played a part in or second half decline, whether through defensive errors or the inability to deal with committed running from Birmingham players.
Please don't feel the need to answer all these questions directly. I have listed them more to highlight what feels like a plethora of unanswered thoughts about this team right now.
We still seem a long way from forging an identity which will carry us through games for a consistent 90 minutes, even though there are periods when it does come together. It feels as if our season hangs on whether we can reach this point of consistency, and reach it sooner rather than later. |  |
| |
| Inbetween games on 13:13 - Sep 30 with 1240 views | Steve_M |
| Inbetween games on 12:55 - Sep 30 by HarryfromBath |
Thanks for this report, Mullet. A number of thoughts struck me reading through it...
(1) Our inability to play consistently well for 90 minutes is so worrying, as it means that teams in this streetwise world can be patient and wait for their chance,
(2) There seem to be signs that the lower-league additions are starting to grow in confidence playing at this level, even if not for sustained periods of the game.
(3) Monk altered things after the break, especially with the introduction of Mahoney with half-an-hour to play. People in the TWTD chat room were questioning why Hurst didn't react. I don't agree with changing things for the sake of it, but wonder if Monk outmanoeuvred Hurst tactically.
(4) Related to this were the thoughts that (i) our bench options weren't great (not sure I agree with this), and (ii) Hurst didn't know how to use them effectively.
(5) I wondered if the players' inability to build a rhythm is a legacy of prior chopping-and-changing we have seen, despite the unchanged starting XI. How well were the different 'departments' - defence, midfield -attack - linking through the thirds?
(6) Related to this was the thought that the lack of confidence may have played a part in or second half decline, whether through defensive errors or the inability to deal with committed running from Birmingham players.
Please don't feel the need to answer all these questions directly. I have listed them more to highlight what feels like a plethora of unanswered thoughts about this team right now.
We still seem a long way from forging an identity which will carry us through games for a consistent 90 minutes, even though there are periods when it does come together. It feels as if our season hangs on whether we can reach this point of consistency, and reach it sooner rather than later. |
The early goal at the start of the second half certainly made it difficult for us, puncturing the optimism that had built up in the half-time beer queue (and the speed of that was another piece of familiarity). With our fragility, we needed to keep them out for 10-15 minutes and let them be the nervy side.
I was thinking about our inability to play for 90 minutes earlier, it really is one of the key problems and the root of many others
The other key problem being the scale of change and the difficulty of anyone stepping up in that environment, I can see something in nearly all the players we've brought in this Summer but there are just too many of them trying to make a step up in division at the same time - and that without the confidence and familiarity with each other's games that a promotion side would have.
Before the start of the season, Joe wrote a very informative post showing how teams at all levels were playing 4-1-4-1 and yet it's hard to discern that in the first team at the moment. Were we 4-2-3-1 at the start yesterday? It looked it but I couldn't be sure. Going forwards it was sporadically effective, Jackson's pace standing out and some odd good stuff from the test of the midfield. Defenders now know Edwards will be trying to take them on now and wait for that. He doesn't have the pace to knock it past them and run and has struggled a bit as a result.
We were awful defensively yesterday, not just the goals but the failure to mark from corners happened time and time again. That after being a little more solid in recent games it was back to the porousness of the first month. It just adds to the picture of things being a bit of a mess.
And that was in the first half,the second half was nowhere near as good as even that. Jutkiewicz really should have scored a third late on and we only had Jackson's run and failed cross for Sears in our favour - had the cross been better we might be cheering a slightly fortunate win.
Your last paragraph is key though. I really can't see enough signs of progress to think we're about to pull out of this run and get the sort of gritty win that McCarthy specialised in whenever we had lost a few. |  |
| |
| Inbetween games on 13:33 - Sep 30 with 1206 views | nshearman1 |
| Inbetween games on 13:13 - Sep 30 by Steve_M |
The early goal at the start of the second half certainly made it difficult for us, puncturing the optimism that had built up in the half-time beer queue (and the speed of that was another piece of familiarity). With our fragility, we needed to keep them out for 10-15 minutes and let them be the nervy side.
I was thinking about our inability to play for 90 minutes earlier, it really is one of the key problems and the root of many others
The other key problem being the scale of change and the difficulty of anyone stepping up in that environment, I can see something in nearly all the players we've brought in this Summer but there are just too many of them trying to make a step up in division at the same time - and that without the confidence and familiarity with each other's games that a promotion side would have.
Before the start of the season, Joe wrote a very informative post showing how teams at all levels were playing 4-1-4-1 and yet it's hard to discern that in the first team at the moment. Were we 4-2-3-1 at the start yesterday? It looked it but I couldn't be sure. Going forwards it was sporadically effective, Jackson's pace standing out and some odd good stuff from the test of the midfield. Defenders now know Edwards will be trying to take them on now and wait for that. He doesn't have the pace to knock it past them and run and has struggled a bit as a result.
We were awful defensively yesterday, not just the goals but the failure to mark from corners happened time and time again. That after being a little more solid in recent games it was back to the porousness of the first month. It just adds to the picture of things being a bit of a mess.
And that was in the first half,the second half was nowhere near as good as even that. Jutkiewicz really should have scored a third late on and we only had Jackson's run and failed cross for Sears in our favour - had the cross been better we might be cheering a slightly fortunate win.
Your last paragraph is key though. I really can't see enough signs of progress to think we're about to pull out of this run and get the sort of gritty win that McCarthy specialised in whenever we had lost a few. |
Agree with all this, including the interminable queues at the bar! I think confidence is a key thing as there were flashes of good play and that could come with a settled side instead of the endless chopping and changing. Pennington obviously won't be playing on Tuesday so I assume Donacien will come in but otherwise I'd argue for simply playing the same team.
Ward was allowed to stay on way too long yesterday, we had problems all afternoon down that side, I'm not sure about Freddie, could have been Edun (though PH seems to have gone off him), but giving Freddie 10 minutes was never enough. |  | | |
| Inbetween games on 15:12 - Sep 30 with 1148 views | cbower |
Sorry. Fat fingers - meant it as an upvote!
Defensively we were all over the place. A lack of any proper challenge at set pieces, free headers galore for Brum in our box, and another Town keeper all too often either rooted to his line or indecisive when he does come for a cross. When we had a corner very late on the contrast when Camp (no giant) calmly came and caught the ball at his back post was stark. That said, Gerken did make several good stops to preserve the point in the end. I hope nobody is fooled by Nolan's goal. Yes, it was well taken and great to see him getting up there but his all round contribution remains borderline anonynimity. An influential No10 he does not seem to be. Edwards is not delivering enough for me despite lots of promise. Got to feel for Jackson. Boy is he working hard and his pace could be a threat but the service is poor. He needs balls into the channels or between defenders to use that pace. Instead, he is bombarded with high balls and I can't think of one occasion yesterday when he genuinely won one. The absence of any proper and coordinated pressing at all once they scored just after half time was lamentable and the equaliser almost inevitable. We are lucky that there are still five or six sides still so close to us because I am really not very optimistic of a major turnaround. [Post edited 30 Sep 2018 15:14]
|  |
| |
| Inbetween games on 17:54 - Sep 30 with 1057 views | Mullet |
| Inbetween games on 12:55 - Sep 30 by HarryfromBath |
Thanks for this report, Mullet. A number of thoughts struck me reading through it...
(1) Our inability to play consistently well for 90 minutes is so worrying, as it means that teams in this streetwise world can be patient and wait for their chance,
(2) There seem to be signs that the lower-league additions are starting to grow in confidence playing at this level, even if not for sustained periods of the game.
(3) Monk altered things after the break, especially with the introduction of Mahoney with half-an-hour to play. People in the TWTD chat room were questioning why Hurst didn't react. I don't agree with changing things for the sake of it, but wonder if Monk outmanoeuvred Hurst tactically.
(4) Related to this were the thoughts that (i) our bench options weren't great (not sure I agree with this), and (ii) Hurst didn't know how to use them effectively.
(5) I wondered if the players' inability to build a rhythm is a legacy of prior chopping-and-changing we have seen, despite the unchanged starting XI. How well were the different 'departments' - defence, midfield -attack - linking through the thirds?
(6) Related to this was the thought that the lack of confidence may have played a part in or second half decline, whether through defensive errors or the inability to deal with committed running from Birmingham players.
Please don't feel the need to answer all these questions directly. I have listed them more to highlight what feels like a plethora of unanswered thoughts about this team right now.
We still seem a long way from forging an identity which will carry us through games for a consistent 90 minutes, even though there are periods when it does come together. It feels as if our season hangs on whether we can reach this point of consistency, and reach it sooner rather than later. |
No bother, our busiest of ladygardens.
1) Yes, it is baffling, infuriating but also predictable. No one in that away end thought we would win it seemed for large chunks of that 2nd half once Brum scored. Only Sears' chance at the death alleviated that.
2) I really don't know why Nolan hasn't done that every game, and the fact he couldn't sustain things in this one was gutting. He literally proved the doubts wrong with that goal and then went back to captain ricochet and run around a bit.
3) Hurst did react by shifting to 4-3-3 but far too late. As with his subs he just doesn't anticipate the opposition at this level. Being out thought by Monk is like losing a game of draughts to a small child.
4) Edun for Ward would have solidified and balanced out our stopping game, quietened Jota and allowed us to use Sears late on to pin them back with Jackson
5) Undoubtedly. He's shoehorned Nsiala in who is now desperately trying to make amends and after any sustained pressure makes a mess. Not his fault but he is Tommy Smith meets Danny Shittu, he needs to play like that. He has lots of potential to do well at this level, he needs to accept that and not jump straight to thinking he's the abandoned Koeman.
6) We started really well. We went at them and when we didn't score it seemed to destroy us - revisit my "sandcastle of a team" for further notes on this.
We have the consistency of a tummy bug at best. It's really galling and essentially Hurst is to blame unfortunately. His talk of "dangerous scorelines" really rankled. As Brum sang "2-0 and [we] f***ed it up". Had we done what Rotherham and Bolton did to us you'd accept it, but we just shrunk and hid. Not only was it another goal from a set piece, it was another where defenders are lashing wildly and it hits one in the box and the striker pounces.
If Hurst is consistent Bart will be in goal Tuesday, but he can't win there can he? Gerken was making a meal of too many saves and his kicking barely reached half way too often. Even the improved "short" game from him wasn't enough. The best he did was look before rolling it short. | |
| |
| Inbetween games on 18:01 - Sep 30 with 1038 views | Mullet |
| Inbetween games on 13:13 - Sep 30 by Steve_M |
The early goal at the start of the second half certainly made it difficult for us, puncturing the optimism that had built up in the half-time beer queue (and the speed of that was another piece of familiarity). With our fragility, we needed to keep them out for 10-15 minutes and let them be the nervy side.
I was thinking about our inability to play for 90 minutes earlier, it really is one of the key problems and the root of many others
The other key problem being the scale of change and the difficulty of anyone stepping up in that environment, I can see something in nearly all the players we've brought in this Summer but there are just too many of them trying to make a step up in division at the same time - and that without the confidence and familiarity with each other's games that a promotion side would have.
Before the start of the season, Joe wrote a very informative post showing how teams at all levels were playing 4-1-4-1 and yet it's hard to discern that in the first team at the moment. Were we 4-2-3-1 at the start yesterday? It looked it but I couldn't be sure. Going forwards it was sporadically effective, Jackson's pace standing out and some odd good stuff from the test of the midfield. Defenders now know Edwards will be trying to take them on now and wait for that. He doesn't have the pace to knock it past them and run and has struggled a bit as a result.
We were awful defensively yesterday, not just the goals but the failure to mark from corners happened time and time again. That after being a little more solid in recent games it was back to the porousness of the first month. It just adds to the picture of things being a bit of a mess.
And that was in the first half,the second half was nowhere near as good as even that. Jutkiewicz really should have scored a third late on and we only had Jackson's run and failed cross for Sears in our favour - had the cross been better we might be cheering a slightly fortunate win.
Your last paragraph is key though. I really can't see enough signs of progress to think we're about to pull out of this run and get the sort of gritty win that McCarthy specialised in whenever we had lost a few. |
We were nominally 4-2-3-1 but as I said to you and put above, the full backs were all over the place, this pushed Ward i n(who did well) but left Jackson isolated as Nolan drifted and Edwards wasn't sure when to stay and when to go too often.
You could see that in the breaks too when we weren't up to speed with each other. That actually worked out with Nolan's goal but we could easily have been repelled had Brum been expecting more numbers and tightened up.
It had that feel of Keane's 4Cb's 4Cms, 1 winger and a striker of latter permutations. But we had 3 CB's becoming 4 with Chalobah, Jonas as a wingback. Ward sort of trying to be a raumdeuter at Championship level was encouraging but didn't let him get off enough goal threat.
You;re right about Edwards, that flick over the head and chase is really fun, but he looked like he was controlled by a kid smashing the skill buttons on Fifa. | |
| |
| Inbetween games on 18:05 - Sep 30 with 1028 views | Mullet |
| Inbetween games on 15:12 - Sep 30 by cbower |
Sorry. Fat fingers - meant it as an upvote!
Defensively we were all over the place. A lack of any proper challenge at set pieces, free headers galore for Brum in our box, and another Town keeper all too often either rooted to his line or indecisive when he does come for a cross. When we had a corner very late on the contrast when Camp (no giant) calmly came and caught the ball at his back post was stark. That said, Gerken did make several good stops to preserve the point in the end. I hope nobody is fooled by Nolan's goal. Yes, it was well taken and great to see him getting up there but his all round contribution remains borderline anonynimity. An influential No10 he does not seem to be. Edwards is not delivering enough for me despite lots of promise. Got to feel for Jackson. Boy is he working hard and his pace could be a threat but the service is poor. He needs balls into the channels or between defenders to use that pace. Instead, he is bombarded with high balls and I can't think of one occasion yesterday when he genuinely won one. The absence of any proper and coordinated pressing at all once they scored just after half time was lamentable and the equaliser almost inevitable. We are lucky that there are still five or six sides still so close to us because I am really not very optimistic of a major turnaround. [Post edited 30 Sep 2018 15:14]
|
There's no way we can be friends now. Sorry.
As above, I still don;t understand Nolan. He is clearly a CM, says so himself but is given the most important position in a team lacking goals, to try and make them. We really should be playing 4-3-3 with that lineup.
Skuse holding and a tight triangle of Chalobah and Nolan ahead of him allowing the two wingers to play wide and press with Jackson. That would at least allow his well timed runs to break lines and them to rush up with him.
This press he perfected at Shrewsbury just doesn't happen here and I don't get that. You;d think he'd be drilling that at training and Nolan of all people would take the lead that on. Maybe he just isn't able to, or respected enough to be listened to as the boss' boy in a bad environment if all things rumoured are true? | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
