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Blues Out to Continue Impressive Away Form at Bristol City Thursday, 15th Mar 2018 18:56
Town will look to put their home woes behind them when they travel to take on Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday and continue an impressive recent run of form on the road.
While the Blues have failed to score in their last five home games - a first in the club’s history - and have won just once in their last nine matches at Portman Road in all competitions, they are unbeaten in five away fixtures and recorded back-to-back wins at Preston, 1-0, and Sheffield Wednesday, 2-1, in their two most recent excursions.
Asked whether it’s better that his side are away from home this weekend after the fractiousness of Tuesday’s night’s 3-0 home defeat to Hull and with the Blues in impressive away form, McCarthy said: “I think our record recently has been very good, actually. It’s been all right.
“I was watching the news last night and I saw my ugly kipper come up on TV and I thought, ‘I’ll turn that up and see what they’re saying’.
“So I listened to that, and then I listened to it afterwards where Norwich had had one shot and equalised and they’ve won one in seven and they’re three points beneath us.
“I don’t see any hue and cry, I don’t know if they’re shouting for the manager to get out, I’ve no idea.
McCarthy has been impressed with Bristol City, who go into the game eighth, three points off the play-offs and six ahead of 12th-placed Town.
“They’ve had a great season,” he reflected. “They’ve been one of the better sides all season, just dropped out of that top six, which I think shows you how top six is when Bristol City are outside it and Sheffield United are outside of it.
“They’ve done well. They’ve invested in their team, they went out and spent a few quid on Famara Diedhiou and they’ve got some good players.
"They managed to keep hold of Aden Flint which I think was a really big thing for them when there were lots of people trying to sign him. They’ve done well, they’ve been a good team this season.”
BRISTOL CITY: We have been informed that @bcfctweets will NOT be selling to #ITFC fans on the day. Tickets on sale online until 3:00pm today, or in-store to 12:00pm tomorrow. 1,033 sold so far. pic.twitter.com/k1fGXszZmx– ITFC_PlanetBlue (@ITFC_PlanetBlue) March 15, 2018
Bartosz Bialkowski will take his usual place in goal with the Blues probably returning to the back three which brought them the away wins at Deepdale and Hillsborough and ought to have yielded a further win at Norwich.
That would see Adam Webster return to the team on the left of the trio with skipper Luke Chambers in the middle and Cameron Carter-Vickers on the right.
Jordan Spence and Jonas Knudsen will be the wing-backs with Bristol-born former Robin Cole Skuse likely to return in the centre of midfield along with Callum Connolly with Luke Hyam, Stephen Gleeson or Grant Ward ahead of them
Martyn Waghorn is likely to return in the central striker’s role - Town having passed the 37-game mark where he and Connolly would have received two-match bans had they picked up their 10th bookings - alongside Freddie Sears or Bersant Celina.
The Robins will be without suspended centre-half Flint and full-back Joe Bryan, while another central defender, Nathan Baker, is a doubt with a groin problem suffered in last Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Burton, their most recent game.
Historically, Town have the edge, winning 29 (27 in the league), losing 21 (21) and drawing 13 (13).
At Portman Road in September, goals from Josh Brownhill, Diedhiou and Bobby Reid saw Bristol City to a 3-1 victory, their first win on Town turf in 39 years, while Waghorn netted for the Blues.
Brownhill’s deflected goal put the visitors in front in the second minute, Diedhiou doubled the lead on 31, before Waghorn pulled a goal back four minutes prior to half-time. However, there was to be no second half comeback from Town and Reid sealed the three points eight minutes from the end.
At Ashton Gate in December 2016, a Lee Tomlin penalty and a goal of the season contender from Luke Freeman saw Bristol City to a 2-0 victory over the Blues.
Tomlin converted from the spot after Bialkowski had been adjudged to have fouled Tammy Abraham in the 31st minute, then Freeman smashed home a volley on 72 to seal the three points with David McGoldrick having come closest for Town when he hit the post earlier in the second half.
Skuse moved to the Blues from his hometown club, who he had joined as a schoolboy, following their relegation in the summer of 2013 after making 245 starts and 62 sub appearances, and scoring nine times.
Currently injured keeper Dean Gerken also left Ashton Gate the same summer, joining the Blues after a trial during pre-season ahead of 2013/14, having made 60 appearances for the Robins after signing from Colchester in July 2009.
Blues defender Spence spent two spells on loan with the Robins, a two-month stint at the end of the 2010/11 season and then the whole of the following campaign at Ashton Gate. In total he made 21 starts and one sub appearance without scoring.
Town assistant manager Terry Connor played for the Robins between 1991 and 1993.
City boss Johnson, a close friend of Skuse from their playing days together at Ashton Gate, was born in Suffolk during his father Gary’s time as a player with Newmarket Town.
Saturday’s referee is Darren England from South Yorkshire, who has shown 120 yellow cards and two red in 31 games so far this season.
England, who is in his second season as a Championship official having taken control of 24 matches at that level, has only taken control of one previous Town match, the 2-0 win at Sunderland last month in which he booked Joe Garner and one home player.
As can be read this is NOT a turn-up-and-protest event (with anything from massive banners to pitch invasion or what what you!!!) rather this is peaceful mass-boycott! ....which imho hopefully will get lots & lots of backers/participants as Enough is Enough! ....in all kinds of ways obviously, but especially with regard to this constant verbally foulmouthed fan-disrespect, the fan-fingering as in the recent childishly pathetic blame-shifting (from himself & indifferent Evans to the fans) and overall just blatantly obvious divisive & polemical approach by Mick towards the fans i.e. the very lifeblood of this once proud & revered club .... and the same lifeblood who just so happens to be ones who ultimately facilitate both Mick & his favorite 'Proper Bloke's nice pay cheques!
I can't work out why we are doing better away at the moment.... ..oh yeah that will be cause those that go actually support and encourage the team and not play in a toxic environment. We go on about micks approach towards fans but the abuse towards him started way way before. Imagine in YOUR job achieving a position above the level of resources being given to you and being told your cr@p at your job and you don't know what your doing. Would YOU be happy??? How does boycotting a game help the CLUB? Less revenue means potentially lower budget, less ability to attract better players, etc..... Last 2 home games we were still within reach of playoffs, which given we are on budget of 18th is a fair achievement. So instead of better gates, good atmosphere pushing the team on we do the opposite, with Tuesday being crazy. How has that helped the team / club? We need to change and move in a different direction and get back behind the club not the opposite otherwise we are in danger of being the next Coventry.
It's not exactly the only thing @itfbam has CONVENIENTLY "forgotten" .... but it's apparently with him/her as it is with most Pro-MM'ers, especially if they belong to dreaded "POINTS FIXATED ONLY" ones among them = Extreme "Selective Memory" and of course above all:
"The abuse toward him (MM) started way way before"???!!! Hmmmm way way before what exactly ?
The beyond arrogant & severely 'Delusion of Grandeur' suffering Dino has been both verbally and demonstratively fan-disrespectful pretty much from Day 1 here! (As he btw factually has been elsewhere too!) There is an ABUNDANCE of both audio, video and written evidence to support that notion! Period!
With regard to to the whole ongoing debate as to whether paying fans are ENTITLED to object in various fashions AT a game, to being served something unequivocally dissatisfying or worse just plain sheeeeit from this particular "consumer product" they have paid for , aye and make no mistake mistake about it paying to watch ITFC play is imo in a sense not much different to paying for many more common consumer products here in life (but more about this below), well...
Firstly:
It never cease to amaze me how you so called "true supports" (Personally I refer to MOST of them as "simpletons" sorrrrry! :-) :-) lol) seems to think that ANYONE wearing the proverbial sacred "Shirt" is *per definition* thereby exempt from any form of criticism! lol Like any player , and in this instance any ITFC player, is some awe-inspiring individual manifestation of a freakin' DEITY!!!!!!!! lol Ehhhh no they are not! They are mere mortal h@m@ sapiens like the rest of us, who just happen to have football as their profession, and that btw at a nowadays very very good hourly wage ...particularly if you compared it to vast majority of the rest of us to quote MM: "f@ckers"!
Speaking specifically of Micks'handpicked selection of "Proper Blokes" at ITFC over the years: Some players are/were very skillful , others no quite so much but still pretty decent, and others again bang average or barely mediocre ...at best!, and then of course there also some who would have trouble getting a starting job anywhere else in this division, aye possibly even in a struggling League 1 side!
Bottomline with all pro football players anywhere is this though: If they as individuals (and preferably as a unit too!) do their best & and give their all ...well then nothing more can be asked of them really, and hence there are imo absoultely NO valid grounds for POTENTIALLY exposing them (but the manager is a different story!) to criticism of any kind, even if they get well & truly beaten 0-3 or by whatever score really! HOWEVER if they don't "show up" as is the popular term or visibly appears to "Can't be bothered" -- both of which has been the case in INNUMEROUS games both this season and previous ones with Mick! -- well then I personally find it perfectly legit & justifiable to POTENTIALLY let them bloody know about it!!!
I do agree with others here (incl. Pro-MM'ers) though:
A) That everyone can have an "Off Day", or in this profession a "Bad Game" (btw just like any bang average or below average football player will have the occasional "Good Game" if you keep running him out there week after week. It's simply put adhering to the 'Laws of Probability' people!) and in a perfect world that should ALWAYS be taken into consideration & respected as such. Unfortunately this is far form the case with ALL fans in this or other sports!
B) That 'rookie' and youth players should for a variety of **OBVIOUS** reasons be treated differently & with much greater care! I.E. with a LOT more leash and just general tolerance of them being prone to making mistakes. In other words heckling them in any way or form is very very seldom acceptable in my book too!
Secondly:
Well if you go to a restaurant and get served some crappy food or poorly prepared food (including the proverbial fly in the soup! lol) well then you are perfectly ENTITLED to object to both the personnel and even the chef aren't you???
If you go to a theater and pay good money to watch a play ...and one or all things (manuscript, acting, lightning etc.) turns out to be is toe-cringingly poor , well then you are perfectly ENTITLED to voice your displeasure aren't you???
If you go into an electronics store and a by a pricy IPHONE ... only to find out on your way out of the place, as you frantically tore open the package, that not only does it clearly appears to be a previously returned item?! but it also has several shoddy buttons and/or a semi-faulty battery, well then your are perfectly ENTITLED to toss the darn thing back into the face of the conniving salesperson or his superior and tell it straight up what you think of both them and their shop, aren't you???
And I could carry on with a plethora of similar analogues from a so called 'ordinary life', but I trust that I've already got my 2nd point across ....which is: That if in these or similar type of instances it is perfectly OK to voice your objection to something turning out to be grossly DISSATISFYING, well why isn't it according to SOME football fans not right to do it at a football game you have paid good money to watch, IF you there get treated to something indisputably DISSATISFYING (except for perhaps your team's actual point(s)-haul at games end! lol)??????????
Ohhh and while you contemplate that hmmm very double standard'ish "ODDITY" with some football fans, just for the record:
1) Personally I have never booed at any player or manager at ANY game in 40+ years! It's simply not "my thing" ...or agenda (btw my agenda going to a football game is and always has been to be ENTERTAINED! If I was only EXCLUSIVELY interested in my team's points-haul and thus the final result, regardless of how poor, boring or overall just either plain *negatively* or *fortuitously* they MIGHT get them point(s), well then I see absolutely no reason to go or spend money on it!) ....but as of right NOW with itfc I could actually see myself joining in on one of those joyful "Anti-MM or Anti-ME songs" at games's end though! :-) :-)
2) Personally I would greatly prefer that ANY fan wanting to object (incl. the dreading booing) only did it at the end of a half, end of both halves if so justifiable. As yeeeees **OBVIOUSLY** **OBVIOUSLY** doing it during the game is both bad for the overall atmosphere in the stadium and also potentially detrimental to your team's players and their confidence & morale ...(Although seasoned & veteran players, again not rookies and youths!, of any squad in ANY team sport really should imy be mentally able to handle & withstand a CERTAIN amount of heckling (aye sadly also occasionally from their own!) as it generally speaking quite simply comes with this particular well paid occupation, "comes with the territory" so to speak).
To clarify, i believe we need to change manager for the good of the club as we are on the edge of a massive downward spiral. Not necessarily because he has been a poor manager. Who knows where we will go with a new appointment hopefully forwards and the new manager will have more financial backing to work with. There are so many factors resulting where we are at now, and it goes beyond MM and ME. People need to look at and understand the whole picture and not be deluded into thinking we are this big club anymore. Let's hope we can start a new chapter and move forward.
I know, I'm a season ticket holder, you've already got my $$$$ whether I show up or not - I won't bother going - which will result in less rubbish being spouted by me in the stadium and upsetting less people around me.
itfcbam. Not true. I believe you'll find those fans at Norwich were singing derogatory comments just the same at Carrot Road as at Portman Road. And you can only get tickets for Norwich if you've been a regular away fan throughout the season (in principal) so that argument just has no weight!
I won't have anything more to do with ‘my club' until changes occur !
Short term McCarthy needs to go, he's continually shown his utter contempt towards people contributing towards his over inflated salary and in relation to on field antics, his ‘tunnel vision' has become totally ‘unbearable'.
Long term, which is obviously the most concerning , is of course, our ‘distant' capitalist owner! Unfortunately his ‘actions' or should I say ‘lack of action' mirrors common occurrences now associated with ‘rich powerful people' in prominent positions! ‘Don't respond let the ‘peasants' blow off steam' and it'll fizzle out' attitude is the ‘defence mechanism' amongst the ‘pigs in troughs' and as such the only way forward as I see it is to encourage ‘non attendance'. As for supporting the players, get real! There'll very well paid and won't ‘lose any sleep' whether you're are there or not, booing or cheering! ‘Mid table Ipswich'....this IS THE TIME FOR THE FAN NOT TO RESPOND !!
just to put things in perspective we beat Bristol city 6-0 under super jim at home i remember that one fondly ..oh for those days now in front of 22,000 fans too i may add so for all those who were not there etc because of age or whatever this is the sort of results us old ITFC fans want back not the turgid 90 mins on show at the moment,and that result was before jim was given much £ a flair player who knew what a footballer looked like,mick is an old school centre half hence our style of hoofball
just to put things in perspective we beat Bristol city 6-0 under super jim at home i remember that one fondly ..oh for those days now in front of 22,000 fans too i may add so for all those who were not there etc because of age or whatever this is the sort of results us old ITFC fans want back not the turgid 90 mins on show at the moment,and that result was before jim was given much £ a flair player who knew what a footballer looked like,mick is an old school centre half hence our style of hoofball
I think Mick has got the message in fact the whole world knows every single person alive hates Mick. So why don't these so called Ipswich Town fans support their beloved club and get behind the youngsters .
Booing Mick will not change a thing as he is here till the end of the season.....no matter what. Marcus and Mick know what's happening at the end of the season.
I'm certainly not against mass boycotts. What 'voice' do fans have other than staying at home to register their dissatisfaction? Doesn't mean their not proper fans or don't care about the club. Quite the opposite.
And to be fair, our fans have been doing just that for a few months now and I doubt it's going unnoticed. It's patently obvious we're below 10k for home games now so given the 'official' attendances of around 13k, there must be at least a couple of thousand season ticket holders staying home and very few matchday tickets being sold.
Like most Championship clubs we are highly reliant on gate receipts so given the seemingly irreparable rift between manager and fans, I think McCarthy's contract talks will come to a logical conclusion.
I won't be attending any more matches until he's gone.
itfcbam we've never been a big club we've always been little Ipswich punching above our weight it's what we do. I'd like to know where this notion that we were big once came from? Even in Sir Bobby's day we weren't a so called big club.
On Boycotting I don't see it working as said previously gates look to be unofficially around 10k the regime has and is doing nothing to change. Best way to make your feelings known is in the ground. No complaints inside will translate as happy fans enjoying the game!! Booing of players is not acceptable!! Support the players, chant at the ones that cause our problems Evans and McCarthy!! I bet there's some current players that don't like the playing style but won't say anything through fear of not playing. There are definitely ex players that think McCarthy's taken this club backwards one used the term ripping the heart out of the club.
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