| Three Imaginary Points 19:48 - Dec 8 with 2448 views | Mullet |
“They had more energy than us” seemed the be where Rowett and Stoke fans converged on their phone in after the game. You can only say that of men still in the fight. Contrastingly, they were bored, they wanted a star player who didn’t get a game, they should be higher in the table, the manager isn’t right for a club of their stature. These were the threads that wove around their perspective on a game where they entered the top ten, whilst Town edged to nine points from safety.
Bart dropped, who knows how it was done, or how gently the news and his fall from the side was broken before the game, but he walked off clapping his ungloved hands, his eyes as twitchy and unconvincing as his stopping of late. Chambers broke from animated conversation with Roberts to beat his chest, to beat our badge and salute the few hundred of the thousand left to chant “one fcuking Chambers” as they, like him were the last to walk away from today.
Sometimes you have to start at the end to really understand a story, and if the last half an hour of “Ipswich ‘til I die” doesn’t tell us the moral, then the meaning is clear. Even if this is Ipswich’s time, Ipswich’s turn, if the pitch is a scaffold and the mob in the stands baying and trying to engulf themselves in the theatre are as involved as they want to believe, then this must be what it’s like to watch a loved one executed. Whatever they’ve done or not, whether they were merely hanging around too long in the wrong place or not, there is a sense that without severe intervention a deathly drop is coming.
The Stoke ground is one of those you always think of as new, but it is as weathered and obsolete as any of the 90’s Prem-money megastructures now littering retail parks just off of motorways out of reach between 5pm and 6pm. Whipping wind drove rain in from the sides, as the seats given were not taken by the sensible in many areas near the front. Driven back into the height of a stand stood triple figures of Suffolk support. It was not a day for football, and that probably suited us.
Gerken was behind the same back four. Chalobah deputised for the injured Skuse with Nolan right and Downes left, in a tighter than usual triangle. Sears on the left wing, Lankester on the right and Jackson dropped right out of the squad for Roberts once more. If Lambert was shuffling his deck, or merely picking on merit whose to say? But it was an improved opening.
Stoke were another team just down from the big time, still full of big names, old names and familiar names in slightly different orders and places as to where they might be known to most of us. Huddersfield’ Tom Ince was back at this level, whilst Woods seems to have stood still figuratively and literally thanks to the woes of his former side. They were indicative of a team as unbalanced as ours for all the wrong reasons.
Town barely saw their central midfield get a meaningful touch for fifteen minutes. Only Chalobah in his part of the pass the parcel style approach out of the back really got on the ball long enough to move it to centre back or keeper and receive it again. Both Gerken and Butland slipped in the rain, such was the oddity of trying to do that in conditions so unsuited and in our case a side so unsuitable for precision and poise.
When Afobe tried for an early penalty at the charge down of our dithering keeper he was rightly jeered and wrongly not booked. It was a recurring theme that would soundtrack a game with little entertainment value.
Ipswich worked their concertina passing game with less rhythm and found that the slowness of Shawcross allowed him to receive long balls hesitantly. Diving his hands over Roberts’ shoulders like they were pockets every time, we got little charity from either him or officials who again saw Roberts’ lower league aggression, as lacking class.
There was a much brighter period from the Blues around 20minutes. Chalobah and Downes had benefitted from Nolan coming into the game more. The older, but less experienced head of red and his luminous boots looked to warm up proceedings just a little. Whether his weeks with Lambert have meant he has been reprogrammed in the privacy of the training ground or, were just seeing him emerge from the shell of a team his former boss left who knows. But we clapped appreciatively in the latter part of the half when he drilled a shot at the near post.
It was Chalobah who again showed the light and dark duality of his follicles and his football as he chested a ball down and found a great threaded pass with the outside of his boot to set Town away, but when the defending was done, he stepped over his own trick part-way through and landed in a heap allowing the Potters to skip past him, thanks to Allen’s excellence in doing the simple things.
Lankester forced a great save from Butland with Nolan too getting a distant drive onto the gloves, and out for a corner. There was a feeling that the second balls might have been falling kindly for Stoke but either side would improvise cushioned touches, and contorted limbs to distract and disorientate in blowy conditions.
When the youngster then trotted over to the flag and clipped it in moments later, it glanced off Chambers and was too acute to find the far the corner of the goal as it maybe should have done. This was the period where Town were not only matching Stoke, but making it look like either side could have suffered a recent relegation rather than being fearful of one.
Both he and the diminutive Woods looked a central midfield that at times was either two too small to really combine or when they did, they were like some sort of midfielder-squared when they clicked. But when Lankester bypassed them all and got in behind Williams to fire off target, you sensed he wasted a golden opportunity. With Roberts leading the pile of bodies in a wet and crowded area, a low driven shot could have gone anywhere.
Town might have looked at the change of referee after an unseen injury as a chance for a fresh start, but really, they didn’t want or need one for once. We’d played well enough to be in it, and you have to be in it to win it. But with a new ref and oddly a new flag for the far side linesman came change.
Stoke moved the ball cleanly, Allen and Woods left it to their advanced midfield colleague Clucas. Stood off he picked out the run of Ince who snuck behind a straight blue line. It was a simple finish in injury time, and all Pennington could do was appeal for an offside that wasn’t there. It was harsh on Town but might not be harsh to suggest that once again, he was watching the wrong thing at the wrong time and a goal was conceded.
As the fans all slumped and rounded their shoulders in all too familiar fashion the players trudged off. Town’s response between the restart and the half time whistle, was in keeping with their season. Easily dismissed and ultimately not enough, no matter your perception of luck and entitlement.
The second half started better than the first. Ipswich were out early with their heads up and their march from the tunnel saw them restart with Lankester halted on the intersection of the 18 yard box. Clipped down as he drifted into a crowd of Potters, he was spun and flung for a free kick, again no card came when it was persistently presented to both refs and not by either.
The teenager rifled a shot on goal with the arrogance that is so lovely to see and so needed right now. A defender intercepted it, as many blue shirts raised their arm in sympathetic protest that he had done the same. It was frustrating more that Butland was not tested, than a spot kick not given but the corner was nodded away and so were Town again.
The home fans were not exactly jubilant at their lead and simple moves were broken up by both sides’ obstinate approach to dispossession. When Sears had the temerity to chase down a loose ball in the Stoke box, the ref ran as fast as he could in preparation to give a foul as soon as he made an attempt to win the ball. Such was the inconsistency as Downes twice disarmed his foe with a shoulder barge that clearly a league up would have merited more than a wave of play on.
Pieters had trotted past Lambert and high fived him in the first half with genuine affection when the officials were being changed. No such niceties, when he somehow found Allen with an exchange that saw the Welshman double their lead upon the hour. Either it was a sublime finish, or he just ran into the cross and it shinned its way at high velocity past Gerken, but he like his team mates were left with almost no chance.
Edwards was brought back in from the bench as Lankester’s impressive game was over. The Welshman’s first action was to pick up a cheap booking. The second goal’s provider Pieters got a taste of Blue studs almost instantly.
The Welshman would keep Town’s shape exactly the same but offer a very different off the ball outlet. Roaming inside to an already narrow midfield and try to compress Stoke enough before arcing runs to the corner flag and get a cross off.
It is something that has become a feature of us under Lambert, but both wingers found the corner flag marked the bottom of a cul-de-sac all too often. When Edwards and Sears didn’t have the excellent overlaps from either wingback, their crosses were going to no one as Roberts went to meet the man no his cross too often.
This is the sort of thing that Hurst has to work with too many times in his half a dozen games. He might have a handle on the tools left by Hurst, but we have no cutting edge at all. All we can do is jab and bruise teams with repetitive thwacks and thuds of eager wing play and committed set pieces.
Town’s best chance from open play saw some good passing link Chalobah to Roberts. Once of Crawley but now haring through just off centre, and just off target his low shot completely missed by Butland, and just the wrong side of the post. Comically the referee gave us a corner and the chance to introduce Andre.
The youngster was clearly given instructions to change the shape of the midfield, and Chambers double checked and relied it via a complex set of finger puppetry and shouting. Whether it was foreign to our players too was of little consequence, on we ploughed with perhaps Dozzell as the no.10 withdrawn to being almost on the toes of Downes and Chalobah.
He took a good chance to pull one back when Spence won a free kick. Running forward again like an escaped goat, he humped the gaps ahead of him to bring four opponents upon him and was adjudged to have been neutered outside of the box despite tumbling well inside it. A penalty shout of substance, but it was never going to be given for logical and superstitious reasons you can choose yourself.
Rowett made late changes bringing in the old heads of Fletcher and Crouch just because he could. Lambert has no such luxury or resource afforded to him. Whatever today cost in terms of points and cementing our place at the foot of the table once more, it only crystallised the defiant diamonds stood behind the goal. Rowett suggested that whoever he brought on he’d be criticised, you simply can’t imagine the same for Lambert from us. Stoke fans were left bored and bemused today, Town fans must now be left wondering how many of us believe this is not just another step from the security of a Championship cell each year onto a long road.
[Post edited 8 Dec 2018 19:49]
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| Three Imaginary Points on 21:21 - Dec 8 with 2262 views | cbower |
With the obvious exception of not putting the ball in the goal, we were half decent at times and I didn't feel as downhearted about today as I did last week. Other than picking two goals out of his net, Gerken was rarely tested and some better finishing by Town may have seen a very different outcome. Chalobah is really not what we need in there for me. Classy and talented at times, his tendency to give the ball away cheaply in the wrong part of the pitch at least 4 or 5 times every game leaves us very vulnerable to the counter attack. For an England U21 centre half, he wins very little in the air too. Flynn is clearly a neat and tidy footballer with a career ahead of him but the snap and destructive game of Luke Hyam would be a bit more effective for me in our current predicament sans Skuse. Our biggest problem, however, is up top. Roberts was decent against Preston and again against Reading but he is quite obviously way out of his depth for me. Unable to hold the ball up, ineffective in the air, no pace or trickery to speak of and an absolute lack of movement or ability to spot the run the player in possession needs him to make, means decent central defenders have his number all day long. Harrison offers us so much more and showed this in his far too brief cameo. He offers more physicality and I think he should start. Nolan was better and was becoming more influential. I was a little surprised when he was taken off. Spence just isn't good enough but he too was better today. Freddie frustrated me. On quite a few occasions he had a chance to drive at defenders towards the penalty area a la his first against Brizzle but he was far too conservative and that was a disappointment. Lankester would seem to have a future. He will score soon. In January I would bring back Emannuel and Nydam, send Edun back (along with the end of Graham and Walters). Got to get some in early to give us a focal point up top and some more nous to plug the Skuse shaped hole that now emerges to deepen our woes. Knudsen may well go in January too. EVANS' chickens coming home to roost. The decision to let Garner go 10 minutes before the close of the window just irks me even more after today. He may well have wanted to go but he would have made so much of a difference today that I think we could even have taken all 3 points with him up there instead of Roberts. The black whole beckons I fear. Fantastic support today, right to the bitter end. [Post edited 8 Dec 2018 21:25]
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| Three Imaginary Points on 23:19 - Dec 8 with 2102 views | Vaughan8 |
Good to hear people say we played some decent stuff today. It's just a worry hat even when we play decent, we still let in 2 and struggle in front of goal.
We really lack a centre forward who if not scores goes, does a lot of "donkey" work like Murphy used to do.
We really need a win next week (I know we seem to say this every week haha). I don't think anyone cares how for now, we just need one! [Post edited 8 Dec 2018 23:20]
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| Three Imaginary Points on 00:30 - Dec 9 with 2019 views | Guthrum |
| Three Imaginary Points on 21:21 - Dec 8 by cbower |
With the obvious exception of not putting the ball in the goal, we were half decent at times and I didn't feel as downhearted about today as I did last week. Other than picking two goals out of his net, Gerken was rarely tested and some better finishing by Town may have seen a very different outcome. Chalobah is really not what we need in there for me. Classy and talented at times, his tendency to give the ball away cheaply in the wrong part of the pitch at least 4 or 5 times every game leaves us very vulnerable to the counter attack. For an England U21 centre half, he wins very little in the air too. Flynn is clearly a neat and tidy footballer with a career ahead of him but the snap and destructive game of Luke Hyam would be a bit more effective for me in our current predicament sans Skuse. Our biggest problem, however, is up top. Roberts was decent against Preston and again against Reading but he is quite obviously way out of his depth for me. Unable to hold the ball up, ineffective in the air, no pace or trickery to speak of and an absolute lack of movement or ability to spot the run the player in possession needs him to make, means decent central defenders have his number all day long. Harrison offers us so much more and showed this in his far too brief cameo. He offers more physicality and I think he should start. Nolan was better and was becoming more influential. I was a little surprised when he was taken off. Spence just isn't good enough but he too was better today. Freddie frustrated me. On quite a few occasions he had a chance to drive at defenders towards the penalty area a la his first against Brizzle but he was far too conservative and that was a disappointment. Lankester would seem to have a future. He will score soon. In January I would bring back Emannuel and Nydam, send Edun back (along with the end of Graham and Walters). Got to get some in early to give us a focal point up top and some more nous to plug the Skuse shaped hole that now emerges to deepen our woes. Knudsen may well go in January too. EVANS' chickens coming home to roost. The decision to let Garner go 10 minutes before the close of the window just irks me even more after today. He may well have wanted to go but he would have made so much of a difference today that I think we could even have taken all 3 points with him up there instead of Roberts. The black whole beckons I fear. Fantastic support today, right to the bitter end. [Post edited 8 Dec 2018 21:25]
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The real problem with Roberts being he is not fast enough. Time and again he flicked the ball past a defender and set off in pursuit, only for the other man to recover and still beat him to it. Harrison tried the same thing and retained possession. |  |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 09:21 - Dec 9 with 1839 views | Mullet |
| Three Imaginary Points on 21:21 - Dec 8 by cbower |
With the obvious exception of not putting the ball in the goal, we were half decent at times and I didn't feel as downhearted about today as I did last week. Other than picking two goals out of his net, Gerken was rarely tested and some better finishing by Town may have seen a very different outcome. Chalobah is really not what we need in there for me. Classy and talented at times, his tendency to give the ball away cheaply in the wrong part of the pitch at least 4 or 5 times every game leaves us very vulnerable to the counter attack. For an England U21 centre half, he wins very little in the air too. Flynn is clearly a neat and tidy footballer with a career ahead of him but the snap and destructive game of Luke Hyam would be a bit more effective for me in our current predicament sans Skuse. Our biggest problem, however, is up top. Roberts was decent against Preston and again against Reading but he is quite obviously way out of his depth for me. Unable to hold the ball up, ineffective in the air, no pace or trickery to speak of and an absolute lack of movement or ability to spot the run the player in possession needs him to make, means decent central defenders have his number all day long. Harrison offers us so much more and showed this in his far too brief cameo. He offers more physicality and I think he should start. Nolan was better and was becoming more influential. I was a little surprised when he was taken off. Spence just isn't good enough but he too was better today. Freddie frustrated me. On quite a few occasions he had a chance to drive at defenders towards the penalty area a la his first against Brizzle but he was far too conservative and that was a disappointment. Lankester would seem to have a future. He will score soon. In January I would bring back Emannuel and Nydam, send Edun back (along with the end of Graham and Walters). Got to get some in early to give us a focal point up top and some more nous to plug the Skuse shaped hole that now emerges to deepen our woes. Knudsen may well go in January too. EVANS' chickens coming home to roost. The decision to let Garner go 10 minutes before the close of the window just irks me even more after today. He may well have wanted to go but he would have made so much of a difference today that I think we could even have taken all 3 points with him up there instead of Roberts. The black whole beckons I fear. Fantastic support today, right to the bitter end. [Post edited 8 Dec 2018 21:25]
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I can see Lambert trying to extricate himself from all of the loans bar Pennington, who again without seeing it back seemed to be partially culpable for keeping Ince in it for the first.
I really like Chalobah but he's not what we need. He's a designer watch when your outfit comes from Matalan. We need to redress the balance throughout the team and only then will we get what we need from him consistently.
Nolan was the heartening one of the three for me. Lambert will get the best out of him, I just still convinced that it won't be more than an adequate Championship midfielder based on the evidence rather than the exceptional one we were promised.
The only benefit to bringing Emmanuel back for me is if we are resigned to going down and building a League 1 winning side now. I'm not of that mindset but will have accept it if everyone else does.
Win our next five home games and we gain so much ground it's back on, but draw any of them and we have to turn over some very hard opponents at their place. Doesn't matter where anyone is in the league every game is tougher than usual now too.
I think the fact the support was so good is brilliant. We needed that months ago as with so many other things. | |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 09:23 - Dec 9 with 1831 views | Mullet |
| Three Imaginary Points on 23:19 - Dec 8 by Vaughan8 |
Good to hear people say we played some decent stuff today. It's just a worry hat even when we play decent, we still let in 2 and struggle in front of goal.
We really lack a centre forward who if not scores goes, does a lot of "donkey" work like Murphy used to do.
We really need a win next week (I know we seem to say this every week haha). I don't think anyone cares how for now, we just need one! [Post edited 8 Dec 2018 23:20]
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I was always a big fan of Gestede and people saying he's a target both baffles me and gives me hope. If Evans is really serious about survival he's exactly who we should be funding.
Two weeks running I've had a conversation about "if we had Walters" and looking back at the Norwich goal if he did that every third game we'd be struggling but safe. | |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 10:41 - Dec 9 with 1720 views | Mullet |
| Three Imaginary Points on 00:30 - Dec 9 by Guthrum |
The real problem with Roberts being he is not fast enough. Time and again he flicked the ball past a defender and set off in pursuit, only for the other man to recover and still beat him to it. Harrison tried the same thing and retained possession. |
Whilst Harrison is better, he also had far less time to mess it up and far more tired defenders to go at. Neither man really did enough regardless unfortunately.
You'd love to think that we'll sign a couple of strikers this window to be honest. It was another appearance from Edwards for me that showed he's not up to it either. Like Nolan his best seems to be low end Championship and his usual a bit below that. | |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 10:54 - Dec 9 with 1693 views | Guthrum |
| Three Imaginary Points on 10:41 - Dec 9 by Mullet |
Whilst Harrison is better, he also had far less time to mess it up and far more tired defenders to go at. Neither man really did enough regardless unfortunately.
You'd love to think that we'll sign a couple of strikers this window to be honest. It was another appearance from Edwards for me that showed he's not up to it either. Like Nolan his best seems to be low end Championship and his usual a bit below that. |
We badly need someone to do that role, but better. Also fast enough to get in the box when crosses arrive.
The rsult is we are simply losing the ball before a shot on goal can happen, then the opposition breaks while everyone is up-field (particularly the FBs) and we're scrabbling to defend.
Agree about Edwards and Nolan, but the one thing I would say about the former is he was, once again, making runs, receiving no support and being muscled/crowded off the ball. Only once did Roberts (I think) come across to lend a hand. Doesn't help his effectiveness.
Good to see you yesterday. | |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 13:00 - Dec 9 with 1599 views | Steve_M |
Yesterday was what happens to relegation candidates a lot over a season, we played well in the middle of the pitch but, again, failed at both ends. We weren't even that poor defensively, just opened up too easily for Ince and one goal is normally enough these days.
I imagine Lambert was struck by a sense of how our predicament echoes that he inherited at Stoke last season; big improvements to both but far too much damage done beforehand to compensate for easily. Maybe he would like the chance to rebuild and have a positive season for a change, although I doubt it will happen if (when) we go down.
Yesterday, again showed the folly of selling Waghorn and Garner and not replacing them. It was obvious at the time despite the glee with which Hurst, and many Town fans, envisioned the money that was brought in. Roberts and Sears again worked hard but there isn't enough there (although Roberts was more of a threat than the £15m Afobe yesterday that reflects the latter's demeanour).
Performances like yesterday do give a bit of hope but to have only one a single match after 21 gamers makes our predicament more and more difficult. All we can do is go into next Saturday and play the same way, get points and have something to add too in January. |  |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 15:02 - Dec 9 with 1509 views | Mullet |
| Three Imaginary Points on 10:54 - Dec 9 by Guthrum |
We badly need someone to do that role, but better. Also fast enough to get in the box when crosses arrive.
The rsult is we are simply losing the ball before a shot on goal can happen, then the opposition breaks while everyone is up-field (particularly the FBs) and we're scrabbling to defend.
Agree about Edwards and Nolan, but the one thing I would say about the former is he was, once again, making runs, receiving no support and being muscled/crowded off the ball. Only once did Roberts (I think) come across to lend a hand. Doesn't help his effectiveness.
Good to see you yesterday. |
Yes mate, and yourself and many others of the regulars.
It's all part of the imbalance isn't it? So frustrating to watch and have any hope snatched away time and again. | |
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| Three Imaginary Points on 16:02 - Dec 9 with 1476 views | Mullet |
| Three Imaginary Points on 13:00 - Dec 9 by Steve_M |
Yesterday was what happens to relegation candidates a lot over a season, we played well in the middle of the pitch but, again, failed at both ends. We weren't even that poor defensively, just opened up too easily for Ince and one goal is normally enough these days.
I imagine Lambert was struck by a sense of how our predicament echoes that he inherited at Stoke last season; big improvements to both but far too much damage done beforehand to compensate for easily. Maybe he would like the chance to rebuild and have a positive season for a change, although I doubt it will happen if (when) we go down.
Yesterday, again showed the folly of selling Waghorn and Garner and not replacing them. It was obvious at the time despite the glee with which Hurst, and many Town fans, envisioned the money that was brought in. Roberts and Sears again worked hard but there isn't enough there (although Roberts was more of a threat than the £15m Afobe yesterday that reflects the latter's demeanour).
Performances like yesterday do give a bit of hope but to have only one a single match after 21 gamers makes our predicament more and more difficult. All we can do is go into next Saturday and play the same way, get points and have something to add too in January. |
It's harder because you walk away from yesterday and last week hearing fans moaning from other teams, and wishing you had those kind of problems again. I look at Forest after we nearly sent them down and still believe they are a club as similar as us as they always were. Maybe we are just getting the third tier relegation they had years ago, but I am sceptical that football is that literal in its justice.
You can argue Hurst deserves this, but we are picking up his bills whilst he'll probably be in work by the summer somewhere. I really feel like if we win both home games it'll give us everything we need in the short term. | |
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