Aston Villa inflicted Town’s heaviest home defeat in precisely seven years as the Blues were beaten 4-0 having had Grant Ward sent off just prior to half-time. Ex-Blue Conor Hourihane put the Villans ahead on 25 and then in the second half, after Ward had been dismissed for catching Neil Taylor with a high boot, Lewis Grabban scored on 57 and 78 and sub Henri Lansbury in the 82nd minute.

Bersant Celina returned to an otherwise unchanged Town side having missed the trip to Nottingham Forest last week as he was ill, with caretaker-boss Bryan Klug in charge at Portman Road for the first time.

The on-loan Manchester City man came into the side for Ben Morris, who dropped out of the 18, and lined-up just off main striker Martyn Waghorn.

For Villa, ex-Blue Hourihane and Birkir Bjarnason came into the team for Robert Snodgrass, who was among the subs, and Jonathan Kodjia, who was injured.

Town, with pop star Ed Sheeran watching from the stand, created the first chance of the game in the fourth minute when Waghorn found Ward was a cross-field pass. As a Villa defender slipped, the right wing-back crossed and the ball reached Myles Kenlock in space beyond the far post but the left wing-back scuffed well wide when he had a good opportunity to net his first senior goal.

Villa first threatened on 13 when Hourihane sent over a freekick which Bartosz Bialkowski punched as he was foul by Mile Jedinak. The keeper looked to take a knock on the hip but was OK to carry on.

As the game approached the 20-minute mark Jordan Spence’s cross from the right eventually found Tristan Nydam, who teed-up Jonas Knudsen, but the Danish international’s shot was blocked. Nydam subsequently whipped over another cross but ahead of his team-mates.

In the 21st minute Hourihane struck a powerful effort from distance which stand-in skipper Cole Skuse deflected over.

While Villa had had most of the ball, Town had looked the more dangerous side but in the 25th minute the visitors took the lead in slightly fortuitous circumstances.

Lewis Grabban cut in from the left and hit a shot which deflected of Skuse and struck Bialkowski’s right post. The ball rebounded straight to Hourihane, who tapped home his 11th goal of the season from close range.

Town looked to hit straight back, Ward broke away on the left of the box but his low cross was cut out.

Hourihane curled a freekick over at the other end in the 40th minute with chances rare at both ends.

Two minutes later, the Blues were reduced to 10 men when Ward was sent off for catching Taylor with a high boot. The dismissal seemed a touch harsh on the former Spurs man as his eyes were firmly on the ball as he looked to take it down on the turn from a Luke Hyam header and inadvertently caught the Villa left-back with his studs.

One or two Villa players tried to rather unnecessarily square up to Ward before referee Simon Hooper issued his card and the disconsolate Ward made his way along the touchline to the tunnel.

There was little of note in the remaining minutes - aside from boos directed towards Taylor - before the break.

The half-time scoreline was tough on the Blues who had been looked the more dangerous side prior to the goal.

Going by the letter of the law the red card may have been justified as Ward caught Taylor well up his leg, however, there was no malice and he was trying to take the ball down rather than make a tackle. There was certainly no intention to injure the Villa player.

The Blues, who had switched to a 4-4-1 system for the remaining minutes of the half, had an uphill battle if they were going to take anything from the game in the second period.

Villa’s Birkir Bjarnason scuffed wide three minutes after the restart, then Josh Onomah hit a low effort which Bialkowski, named Town’s Player of the Year for the third season in a row earlier in the afternoon, tipped wide.

Celina made way for Freddie Sears in the 56th minute with Villa having had most of the ball since the break but without creating a serious chance.

But within a minute they had doubled their lead. The ball was played into Grabban’s feet on the right of the box, the former Norwich man turned his man and hit a shot to Bialkowski’s right and into the net off the inside of the post.

Waghorn hit a low effort which Villa keeper Sam Johnstone claimed with little trouble on the hour, but the visitors were dominating and looking likely to add to their lead.

On 62 Bjarnason shot wide from distance on the right, then three minutes later Villa, keen to improve their goal difference as they continue to target an automatic promotion spot, swapped Taylor for striker Scott Hogan.

Spence made a strong run from deep in the 66th minute and threaded through a pass which was only just beyond Waghorn.

Three minutes later, Bjarnason smashed into the side-netting to Bialkowski’s right, then Nydam was replaced by Callum Connolly for the Blues, Hourihane by Henri Lansbury for Villa and then, after Onomah had shot wide, Hyam by Ben Folami for Town.

Villa made it 3-0 in the 78th minute when Skuse was sold short by Carter-Vickers five yards outside the area on the Town left and Onomah stole possession. The on-loan Tottenham man fed Grabban, who lashed his second of the game into the net, again off the inside of Bialkowski’s right post.

Villa’s fourth of the game came only four minutes later. Bjarnason crossed from the left and the untracked Lansbury headed home from close range.

The Midlanders continued to look for more goals, Hogan shooting not too far wide in the final scheduled minute, then in injury time the former Brentford man shot over on the turn.

But the scoreline remained at 4-0, Town’s heaviest home loss since the 5-1 defeat to Norwich, coincidentally seven years ago to the day.

Despite having gone behind the Blues were very much in the game until the red card. From there it was always going to be tough for Town against one of the division’s top sides, however, caretaker-manager Klug won’t be pleased with the manner in which some of the goals were conceded.

Town, who are now 14th, play their final away game at Reading next Saturday before Middlesbrough visit Portman Road on the final day of the season, a fortnight tomorrow.

Villa: Johnstone, Elmohamady, Chester, Jedinak, Taylor (Hogan 65), Bjarnason, Hourihane (Lansbury 74), Whelan, Onomah, Grealish, Grabban (Adomah 83). Unused: Bunn, Samba, Snodgrass, Bree.

Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Carter-Vickers, Knudsen, Ward, Skuse (c), Hyam (Folami 76), Nydam (Connolly 74), Kenlock, Celina (Sears 56), Waghorn. Unused: M Crowe, Gleeson, Carayol, Smith. Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire). Att: 20,034 (Villa: 1,981).

Photo: TWTD

JCBLUE added 20:13 - Apr 21 Blueboy, don't worry, no nerve hit, for what it's worth I am very happy that MM has left. I do not however constantly berate fellow supporters. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, why don't you try to articulate yours a little better, as opposed to constantly trying to wind up fellow supporters. Probably time for you to go to bed ........
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BlueandTruesince82 added 20:13 - Apr 21 Sunderlands plight today should give us all cause for thought. Their owner, worth a cool £250 (£1billion vs £750 million ish) million more than ours decided when they were still in the premier league that he would no longer fund the club. Thats a man with deeper pockets with a bigger club in what was a better position than ours at least in terms of the pyramid. Sunderlands turnover is I suspect far higher than ours, the fans passionate and turn out in even the darkest times, although recent years have seen early exits to beat the traffic have become more frequent. The result of his withdrawal of anything other than absloute necessities sees them relegated for the 2nd consecutive seasons with what may well be largely a premier league wage bill. Evans could do the same if he had enough and I think we should see Sunderland as a warning and as barometer of the stead in which we should see our owner. Short has had a hire and fire em approach and coupled that with spending beyond the club's means. It makes Evans rather more cautious approach seem sensible. Sunderland were (2016 figs) £159 million in debt, that was before Moyes spent £25 million on relegation fodder. All of that should bring home just how difficult running a club had become. Sunderland had the £90 million pound a season saftey net of top flight football, bigger gates, a fatter cat of an owner and still couldn't make it work. The owner became disinterested, cashing out managers every year, failing to move on paid players who couldn't command the same elsewhere..... So the owner decided to sell, whilst still in the premier league..... but no one wanted to buy, then they came down and he said he would slash the price (£50 million) and write of the half of the debt the club owes him. Still no buyer......then he offered to give the club away (although not forget the debt), such a money pit it had become..... And now for a 3rd tier club that even with his portion wiped off is still £80 odd million in the drink to the bank...... who's buying? Sunderland have done a Leeds, look at Leeds an even bigger club and still stuck here with us. Now this didnt start as a defence of Evans just as a comparison. Evans has his faults BUT He is our only real creditor, he hasn't nocked to the bank (the instrument which was so nearly the source of our demise) He hasn't stopped funding the club, he still pumps in the not trivial £7mil a year. Or some examples from other owners.... He hasn't changed the strip to his "lucky" colour. He hasn't tried to rebrand the club Ipswich Trojans or anything equllay idiotic. He hasn't asset stripped the club, rarely have we sold our real assets and when we have always for decent money. Norwich have how much in parachute payments and they still got the fans to fork out for their new training/youth facility (tbey aimed to raise £3 mil in bonds, they raised £5). Where is Delia stuffing all that dosh? Up a dead chickens backside, her own recipe? When you consider the above is Evans so bad? When you see how hard owning a club is and how perilous does it not seem that whilst not ideal (Town supporting Chinese billionaires apply within) perhaps he deserves a little more credit? Of course we want to see a bigger budget, I agree Mick has had to work on fumes but really think about the comparison I have drawn and next time you think sell up, ask yourself, in all seriousness.... to who? And next time you look despondently at a losing scoreline just consider we could be by now be the Ipswich Panthers, playing at random name stadium in a green strip against Fleetwood town with debts well in excess of our current austere bank balance.... we really could. So whilst I dont for one min wish to paint him as the white knight we all thought at point of sale I hope that puts our owner in context for some....

16

Felstow1978 added 20:13 - Apr 21 Apologies EssexTractor, meant to upvote, curse of the chubby finger I'm afraid
0

WashbrookBlue added 20:19 - Apr 21 Concentrating on pitch matters rather than juvenile point scoring, I can't agree with this "no malice but a red card " line. The ball is coming out of the air over his shoulder, his eyes are on the ball as it drops and of course his foot is raised. I have no doubt at all that the reaction of the player, Bruce and others 100% influenced the ref into a knee jerk decision that even the opposition don't actually agree with. Game changer. Up until then, we were very competitive bar Spence's weakness in getting bullied by Grabban following a routine ball down the channel that he should have dealt with all day long. For me, he can be one of the long line of players that need to be shown the door in the new era. Led of course by so called captain Skuse who I thought today was frankly a disgrace. The most senior pro and leader on the pitch and he was everything but, awful performance and just spent the whole time looking at his feet like everyone else. If he's meant to be a "proper bloke", a man you want leading you into adversity then I'm Ronaldo frankly. The young boys called Nydam and Folami showed more energy and zest for the fight than so called senior pros. So, Chambers, Skuse, Hyam, Knudesn, Sears, McGoldrick (who?), and quite possibly also Ward and Spence your time is up gentleman. By all means follow The Master of the Art of Management to Leeds or wherever else you can recommence the great player love in, but leave others new and old prepared to fight for the shirt, the club and the supporters rather than the ego of whoever happens to be the boss. Only then can we start to make progress.

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Swn98 added 20:20 - Apr 21 Shame about the red card the first 20 minutes had been entertaining once your down to ten men as the Fulham game showed its nigh on impossible to hold out for 70 minutes let alone get back in the game. Still onwards and upwards feel whoever the new manager is he has got his work cut out.
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blueboy1981 added 20:39 - Apr 21 JCBLUE ........ time to look in the mirror - you may just have a good vision of a typical hypocrite.
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blueboy1981 added 20:43 - Apr 21 ........ same old minus button punchers - win, lose, or draw. They will never change - how can a Club move forward with such NEGATIVE people claiming to be SUPPORTERS .
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WashbrookBlue added 20:55 - Apr 21 Bluesandtrues...an eloquent defence and yes, context is as important as it is rare in todays football. No, we're not Sunderland and no, he's not Ashely, Tan or so many other complete madmen. But is that all we can say?? You look at Sunderland but not Millwall, Brentford, Sheff Utd Bristol, Preston, Huddersfield, Burnley, Brighton, Southampton...the list of clubs who have overtaken us or are doing better than us with less resources at the time they did so long and ever lengthening as we are locked into the slow death of stagnant mediocrity. Every single decision he has made has been shown to be a poor one. His managerial choices have been dreadful, two out of the three of them tearing the whole club asunder, whilst he has shown at best apathy and at worst complete disrespect to the history of the club, the loyalty of its supporters and the place it has in the community of Suffolk. Even now, at such a low ebb when we cry out for leadership, he is silent, promising endlessly to do a interview that we will all "have access to" but which never comes , leaving empty suits to console us that the "powers that be" have it all in hand. No, he's not a publicity seeking idiot but he's been an absolute failure as an owner, as judged by the type of kpi dashboard he lives by and he has not a jot of empathy or connection with that which he owns. In that sense, he is every bit the modern football owner.

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grumpyoldman added 20:55 - Apr 21 blueboy1981 totally agree I posted that I enjoyed my return to PR and got voted down, now that is pathetic
7

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 21:11 - Apr 21 Today really showed a basic divide among the Town followers. On 77 minutes I was hugely disappoined to see people begin to stream out of the Sir B R. But then I was hugely proud of the way the remainder gave some of the best vocal support I've heard at PR for quite some time. What a psychological downer the leavers must have given our stand-in management in their hope that we all will stand together for a new beginning. And what a psychological boost the remainers must have given, as was evidenced by the players' reaction at the end. COYB!

6

warktheline added 21:20 - Apr 21 Really don't think it's as easy as 'sweeping' dead rubber defeats under the carpet! There has to be accountability and the sooner the better! The club's hierarchy has and continues to show its totally ineptness on 'basic' football issues! McCarthy's timing of departure and the way it was concluded has been nowt short of embarrassing. No contingency plan whatsoever!!! Let's have it right, the 'majority' wanted McCarthy out, he's now gone ( learn to accept ) but no longer can 'we' blame him! ( two games on....no points ) The 'focus' turns to Evans and Co, will they wake up and smell the coffee or continue to allow the club to 'aimlessly drift'? If as I suspect it's the latter, time is of the essence and the new manager needs to be installed promptly! Many of McCarthy's 'proper blokes' will need to go! Entrenched 'mickites' unwilling or unable to adopt or embrace a new managers philosophy! I point to McCarthy's 'departure history' and recent 'internal player outbursts' to an extent as reasons to 'clear out'. Make all the excuses you like but that won't put points on the board! Two straight defeats, and presently lacking leadership and guidance! Surely prevention is better than cure? High time for Ipswich Town Football Club to move on!

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phantom added 21:27 - Apr 21 Clueless team selection some old rubbish different manager. If clu is running our youth we have no hope. Club needs a complete over haul. 1 up front at home??? Really??? Clearly micks shocking style has rubbed off the whole club.
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stringtheory added 21:28 - Apr 21 BluesandTruessince82 - careful, your thoughtful, factual and non-abusive post will have people accusing you of being ME in disguise. A rich owner of dubious means ready to splash the cash does is not a guarantee of success, my Forest supporting mate will testify to that. However, I think that ME must give the new manager a modest budget of some kind at least (more than Mick had).

3

MrDiddle added 21:49 - Apr 21 I'm sorry, but losing 4 - 0 is in no way entertaining whatever way you look at it. Atmosphere may have been better today, but that's largely down to the pathetic gobsh1tes in the SBR not having anyone to moan at.
-1

OliveR16 added 21:59 - Apr 21 However galling it is, Mick will be chuckling tonight and we are not. Only someone who has never played football could ever hold the view that a 0-4 home defeat doesn't matter. It even matters in pre-season.
4

TimmyH added 22:01 - Apr 21 If Blackburn get promoted I'd be very surprised if he left them, he'd want to continue the work he is doing there you would think...but then again if the money is right as it was with McCarthy who knows.
2

BlueandTruesince82 added 22:10 - Apr 21 Washbrook..... Your point is fair, again it wasn't a defence more to get everyone to consider is what if Evans said you know what why should I continue to chuck money into the club with all the stick I get..... we could very well be Sunderland but if Evans did decide that it seems the debt may well be written off....... that's pretty honourable.... remains to be seen and its and buts...... but Still. As for manager I gave my thoughts on that on one of the blogs posts but the short version was most were v happy with Keane when announced. If someone offered you A big name to attract players, a legend in the gamr who had ironically turned Sunderland from certs for the drop to promtion on 6 months would you have said no? Equally following Keane a man with a rep for being close to players who had done will with clubs of a similar profile? As for Mick..... well I think most agree that he was right at the time....thats proven by the v fact we didn't go down. All he is guilty of there is misfortune....and with Mick of not pulling the trigger soon enough but that patience and trust in managers should make us an attractive proposition to potential managers. As for the list Southampton have far greater resource than us in part due to their academy.... a blueprint that Evans has stated he wants to follow. The rest of the list ..... Huddersfield Brighton and Burnley are a fair cop and I agree the right manager and a bit of backing do wonders. The rest are clubs as up and down as we have been over the years. Preston haven't been in this kind of position since Moyes and given one season didn't make a summer for Mick it's hardly fair to list Bristol or Milwall at least until one goes up. Shef U have a decent budget I think and have spent years trying to get out of L1. Let's see them deliver consistancy. As for the interview do you not expect that searching for the manager comes first and that it's far more likely to come at the end of the season? As for failure no..... thay would be Sunderland, Blackpool or Cov..... not success either as you point out that would be Burnley et al. My point is we make out like it's so easy but it's not and it is a very fine balance if you have what is if we are honest a smaller provincial club.... easy to under invest but easy to take the club to the brink which tonight Sunderland undoubtedly are..... fire sale, paying up of contracts, maybe yet another manager.........

2

Dog added 22:12 - Apr 21 There was a nonce called Bluebell81 Who berated posters for fun His comments are poo He doesn't have clue And was down voted by everyone Just do us a favour and shut the hell up. Roll on next season.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 22:26 - Apr 21 Are we really calling each other nonces?
4

TimmyH added 22:28 - Apr 21 Good post Blueandtrue - an air of realism there in that post but sadly that's the way football has gone not just at Championship level but in the Premiership as well, what would happen to other clubs with Billionaire owners like Man City, United etc. if they pulled out?...I think I heard that if Abramovich left Chelsea they would be in over £1 billion in debt. Many clubs run a tight rope with rich investors, I swear there is some sort of allegiance with the large clubs and the media that they are permanently in the news so never out of the eye for future investors.

4

BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 22:30 - Apr 21 No doubt that MM could have ground out a solid 0-0. People are going to wake up very quickly to what life is like post-McCarthy. The problem at this club (at root level) was never McCarthy.
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shakytown added 22:50 - Apr 21 We really need a new manager with a positive outlook on the game. We are still and will be for a long time Micks team and are playing micks footy. The best way to see that is to watch the players off the ball far to many are doing a Douggie impersonation standing still with their hands on their hips instead of moving into space. Skuse may not be the best ball player but anyone would struggle to pass it forward when nobody wants to receive it. Whoever takes over has a colossal job ahead just to change most of the players outlook on the game.

6

blueboy1981 added 22:54 - Apr 21 Dog - by name and nature ?
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blueboy1981 added 22:55 - Apr 21 ........ nice to know we have the likes of - NOT.
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BrettenhamBlue added 23:03 - Apr 21 Didn't see the game just the score so won't comment much today except "oh dear". We haven't been thumped like that in ions.
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