Manager Paul Lambert said he couldn’t have asked any more of his team as they drew 1-1 at home to Preston in their first game in charge of the Blues. Freddie Sears put Town in front from the spot just before half-time but Paul Gallagher levelled for the Lancastrians on 73 and then ended up in goal after his side’s keeper Chris Maxwell was sent off two minutes later.

“Brilliant. It’s great, loved it, loved the atmosphere and I thought we were the better team,” Lambert said.

“I thought we started really well and couldn’t ask any more, they gave us absolutely everything.”

Lambert was philosophical that the performance didn’t produce the win he felt it deserved: “That happens at times, that’s football, that’s why it’s a great game. Sometimes results go for you if don’t play well, sometimes you play well and they don’t.

“I was proud of them the way they played, they were fantastic. I always say that the big thing for me is the reaction of the supporters, if you can get the crowd going.

“I’m pretty sure if you asked the majority, OK we wanted to win, but I’m pretty sure it’s more exciting than it’s been for a while here.”

The Blues are now five points off the three teams above them but Lambert believes the wins will come if performances remain at today’s level.

“A million per cent,” he insisted. “If they’d been playing like that since the start of the season I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you, that’s the reality of it.

“The performance, OK, we never got the winner, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying, that’s for sure. We gave a helluva account of ourselves.”

Regarding Preston’s freekick goal, he said: “I’ve not seen it back but Paul Gallagher’s been renown for his set plays, he’s really, really good. I haven’t seen it back.

“Bart’s had one save to make in the first half. From where I was standing it looked a good freekick, I couldn’t see how far away the wall was or Bart, but no blame attached to anybody whatsoever. Gallagher’s very good at set plays.”

Jordan Roberts was handed his first Blues start as Town’s central striker, a surprise pick for most observers.

“I just picked him because I thought we needed maybe a focal point up front and I thought the lad was unbelievable for coming in for his first game,” Lambert said. “I thought he was outstanding.

“But not just him, the front three lads, they pressed the way I asked them to press. Not just that, the whole team, the whole unit, you could sense the atmosphere in the place was great. But Jordan, I think everybody knows that he was very, very good.”

Lambert also gave Flynn Downes the responsibility of taking Town’s set pieces, the 19-year-old having caught his eye during training this week.

“Good player, very good young kid,” he said. “A huge future ahead of him, I think. He’s got a long, long way ahead of him, he’s got another 25 years in the game. We’ll see if he can keep doing that for the next 25 years.”

Overall he says he’s been pleased with what he’s seen of squad this week: “I’ve been here since Sunday and I couldn’t ask any more, the way they’ve trained, the way they’ve applied themselves, the way they’ve gone about their job.

“There’s so much information we’ve given them to take on board and we’ve only had a few days with them.

“Your best part of your season is your pre-season but we’ve come in in November, so there’s a lot of work but as I’ve said before I want them to enjoy it and I’m pretty sure if you ask any of the lads they enjoyed today’s game.”

Asked about next week’s big game at Reading, he added: “And you’ll probably ask me that the following Saturday and then the following one. They’ll all be big games, every one. I’d rather have that than not have a big game.”

Quizzed on whether he takes too much notice of the table in the current circumstances, he said: “I’ll just look at one game at a time and will bounce along with it. I’ll never be downbeat, I’ll keep going.

“The most important thing is this football club and the supporters and the team. If I can get them going, you heard the atmosphere yourselves today, you probably come here more than not and probably go away thinking there’s not much of an atmosphere but I don’t think anyone could question that this afternoon.”

He added: “I think I said it the other day, I watched the Middlesbrough game here the other day and saw the team lose and the fans never even booed. I think there was an apathy there.

“You need to kickstart it, you have to start somewhere. You have to stop that apathy and whatever happens outside when they come in here, the kids, the mums, the dads, the supporters, enjoy it and we have to give you something to enjoy.

“We need them, we need the team, we need the fans to get behind us and if they see performances like that they’ll go with it and I think that’s important.”

Alex Neil says Preston’s games are never boring at present: “It’s never dull at the moment for us, most games we’re involved in are a 4-3 or 3-2 or there’s some sort of incident within the game.

“I think the most important thing for us to be talking about is how we played defensively, something we’ve spoken about that we’ve not done that well this year.

“But I felt today Ipswich had one shot at goal other than the penalty which Paul Gallagher saved when we were down to 10 men. Other than that they didn’t have another opportunity to score.

“I thought we defended really well, I thought what we lacked, certainly in the first half, was that cutting edge at the top end.

“We had three or four really good opportunities for break aways and our use of the ball let us down.”

Regarding the penalty, he said: “I’ve watched it back and when you watch it back and you slow it down it looks as if Chris Maxwell’s the one that kicks the ball, but what I said to Maxy is that the trajectory of the ball looks as if it’s the player’s the one who is running on to it.

“So, it’s a difficult one, he’s taken a heavy touch, the lad’s gambled on it and tried to nick it.

“I felt that the linesman immediately was running down the line with his flag up. I think when you look at it back in real time it’s always difficult to say. If you look at it back it didn’t look as blatant as maybe it appeared.”

Reflecting on the match overall, he added: “It was always going to be a tough game. It was Paul’s first game, he was always going to get his team up and in your face and try and lock-on and make it difficult, turn the ball, play for second balls, get the wide players rolling in and ultimately you need to win that fight and that battle.

“I thought both teams were a little bit scrappy. I don’t think there was a huge amount of football played in the first half. I thought it would be sporadic, bits of it would burst out, maybe a couple of passing sequences.

“But to be honest I don’t think there was anything in the first half. I don’t think we created much, I don’t think they created much and then we gave the penalty away at the worst possible time. That was a bit of a kick in the teeth for us.”

He added: “I thought we should have won the game, we had a freekick right across the box, I think Tom Clarke maybe should have done a little bit better and for me Lukas Nmencha had the best opportunity of the game.

“I didn’t feel when we were down to 10 men that they had any ascendency. They had one shot from a corner which Gally saved, but other than that we looked the most threatening we did throughout the game.”

Regarding Maxwell’s second yellow card, he said: “I’ll have to look at it back because it was way over the other side of the pitch.

“I think after the game, we’re relieved that we didn’t lose it because we were down to 10 men with no goalie on the pitch and I think they tried to play as many minutes as they could until Ipswich scored.

“That elongated the game for about 30 minutes towards the end. After that we were relieved that we didn’t lose but a bit frustrated that we didn’t win with the opportunities that we had.

“That [the second yellow card] is something we’ll have a look at. Max is disappointed, he’s apologised to his team-mates for affecting the game in a negative manner. As far as we’re concerned, we’re a team and the lads then need to dig him out, and they did that.”

Photo: TWTD

naa added 23:10 - Nov 3 blueboy1981, maybe you should understand how these things work. To get the best from his players he's giving them a boost. If he said that we were weak up front and are drifting away from the rest of the division do you really think that would get the players to play without fear and play their best football? Of course not. I'm sure he knows what the league table looks like.

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naa added 23:15 - Nov 3 Pablo123, you appear to be an idiot. This guy had a job a few years ago and then left it. Now he has another job. Why on earth do you think he's a yellow? He's from Scotland. He also sued Norwich, hardly suggests he's a massive fan does it? People's inability to realise that it's a job for most players and managers (as it would be for us) is mind boggling. I'm sure you'd get a job with your employers rivals if it paid well so why shouldn't that happen in football?

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KiwiBlue2 added 23:23 - Nov 3 Certainly something to build on. Great to hear about the level of commitment and determination the team displayed after just one week with PL. No doubt him and his staff will be working hard on skills and the finer points of the game on the training pitch from here on in. Feeling more positive now that we can get out of the hole we are currently in. Hopefully there might be a free agent or two that could help us through at least until January........

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blueboy1981 added 23:50 - Nov 3 ....... still some posts on here not much short, if any, of being idiotic - still, I guess it takes all sorts. Where do they come from ?. Some just haven't a clue of how dire our situation is, and don't appear to want to know, or live in the real world. One even disagreed that the points gap was widening - WAKE UP and SMELL THE COFFEE - whilst hoping for much better than we achieved today. Believe me - WE NEED IT.

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WindsorBlueArmy added 07:31 - Nov 4 What a massive breath of fresh air.As has been said positivity breeds ennoyment.PL applauded good play and thumbs up to players when trying something good/tactically aware.Watching the warm up was even better with all units being put through a series of appropriate drills not same old same old!!!Thought Roberts was a revelation as was Downes.With another weeks training looking forward to home game at Reading(nice and local!!)Thanks to everyone for givibg me a positive 2 hour return journey:its been a long time coming

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Elkcib added 08:52 - Nov 4 Standard trolls remain on here, Blueboy, Pablo and a couple of others! Obvious canaries who want nothing but to stir the tank. Sad times how people get their kicks these days
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inghamspur added 09:17 - Nov 4 Certainly a bit more about us today. Looked threatening when in their half which I haven't seen this season. That would all be down to the manager & his team. Having said that, that was a game we had to win. Obviously not all over yet and the wins will come from more performances like that.
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 10:04 - Nov 4 Dissboy. Will you please stop telling people they cannot comment if they didn't go to the match. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I've seen no trolling on here for a while. We ARE bottom of the table. People are entitled to worry whether they are from Diss or Ulan Bator.
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TimmyH added 10:28 - Nov 4 As I said in my post yesterday with all the passion, commitment this group of players show it might not be enough certainly until January when we desperately need some quality (Waghorn, McG, Garner leaving) coming in. I think until then we need to stay in contact with the 21st placed club if possible...a relatively good start from Lambert BUT no win against yet another very mediocre side in Preston and that's the long and short of it.

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Bildestoned added 10:43 - Nov 4 If anyone had any doubts (and they did) about PL's suitability and commitment to The Task they needed but a few minutes of watching him on the Portman Road touchline yesterday. Constant encouragement and coaching across the pitch, an animated but thankfully not-bolshy persona, with a similar vibe being given out too by Stuart Taylor alongside him. So much felt right about Hurst's appointment but by the end he'd become the proverbial rabbit in the headlights and calmer heads were needed. It was telling too as to who WASN'T starting the game on the day as Lambert inevitably begins to cast an eye over Hurst's ‘chosen ones'.

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Daddio added 11:40 - Nov 4 A good start, not the 3 points that all the Town fans on here would have liked, but not a loss either. PL has only had a week with these players, not a long time at all. Little steps, if things continue to improve then I am sure that we will creep off the bottom, you cannot expect us to surge up the table from where we are. Yes the others around us won, we cannot affect that, but if we improve week on week with our performances then we will start to get positive results.

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dirtydingusmagee added 11:47 - Nov 4 pablo123 what a narrowminded p#''k you are.
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Davidwb20 added 12:04 - Nov 4 It saddens me to read such silly comments like “He is a yellow” PL has more passion and footballing knowledge than the idiots that make these silly comments! The last Manager I witnessed at Portman Road with his passion was Jim Magilton. At this time PL and the players need loyal supporters, not supporters that make childish comments!
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tractorboybig added 12:27 - Nov 4 I said on here in july 9 first div players in one go = div 1 team. got slagged off big time. That is what we have. that is what lambert has to work with. All the bright comments after a home 1-1- draw against the 2nd nearest load of crap in this div. WE ALL will pay the price for the evans hurst f ++k up and lambert has nothing in his amoury to pull the rabbit out of the hat.

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roytheboy added 12:33 - Nov 4 An amazing transformation from start to finish, I am fully confident that Paul Lambert will give this job 100% however I do feel that we could really do with another one or two proven strikers, players do have time out following injuries etc; so apart from added quality to our forwards, the additional players would give us extra assurance should we have any injury problems up front, I'm sure Paul will be thinking in similar terms, very well done to all who played yesterday, we certainly went home impressed albeit sad that we did not win, our performance overall certainly deserved the three points.

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Northstandveteran added 14:00 - Nov 4 Despite Lambert having possibly the poorest squad this club has had for as long as I care to remember, I really do believe that he will get us out of this. It has always been a crazy division with any team capable of beating the other, whatever their position in the table. Admittedly, he faces a titanic task. Although I have expressed that relegation could be a disaster for Ipswich, should that occur, I would rather have Paul Lambert at the helm than anyone else. Just pray that we are still in contention come the transfer window and that Evans splashes the cash to give him a chance.

1

ronnyd added 16:18 - Nov 4 WhoisJimmyJuan, That would be be a hell of a trip for a home game lol.
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warktheline added 17:15 - Nov 4 Under the owners continued wrong decisions we are now sitting rock bottom of the Championship! He foolishly stabbed Magilton in the back, allowed ‘high profile' Keane to waste money and then decimate the club's youth, appointed Jewell the ‘clown' for far too long, ‘wisely' employed McCarthy to pull the club out of the ‘mire' but then sat on his ‘hands' thereafter not giving a ‘tuppence'! Standing still has led to gradual decline followed by dilapidation ! Hapless Hurst ‘hurried up' the process, and now up step the ‘man of the hour' Paul Lambert! We are drinking at the ‘last chance saloon'! If Lambert ‘starves off relegation' surely he'll collect ‘Championship Manager 2018' award!

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TractorBeezer added 20:34 - Nov 4 In my previous post I asked whether there is a lesson to be learnt from Preston's free kick goal. I have just seen the replay highlights. Preston had a man in the wall who peeled away as the kick was taken creating a large gap. All defenders whether professional or Sunday morning should know how to react to deal with that. Something for the training pitch on Monday with someone in charge at the back.

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anditractor added 22:02 - Nov 4 What a change to the team in just 1 week !! If PL can do do this in such a short time seeing how the players gave much more since Ph then I can see us climbing the league. What an atmosphere with the fans also. Let's get behind the team and PL and cheer on the blues to safety
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Razor added 10:19 - Nov 5 Its amazing what a bit of loving will do!! Pablo 123----you are the sort of fan we do NOT need and will you please leave the building.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 12:55 - Nov 5 I like Mr Lambert, he seems to be a good fit for the club. As far as his previous employment goes, I really don't care if he is ex-Narch, ex- Villa or ex-KGB, he is one of us now. We can even forgive his being Scottish. I wish him all the best and hope his stay is a happy one for all concerned
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blueboy1981 added 17:13 - Nov 5 In some ways ' I couldn't have asked for more, they gave me everything' is concerning in itself, because we couldn't score in open play, we couldn't keep a clean sheet, we were against 10 men for twenty plus minutes, and we were playing fellow strugglers. Think about it before giving it a minus - maybe too much to ask from some though ..... !!
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oldtimer3 added 18:05 - Nov 5 Well i enjoyed the match the quality of football played in this division has inproved so much now Preston played well and so did we. Great atmotspere players from both sides gave their all. Some people who come on here give the Chairman a hard time why? He has tried to get the best managers in who apart from Hurst had got teams out of this division. When he came here we where in financial dodo. How did he managed get a quality manager here in our lowly position. Anyway lets get behind the team now and hope for the best.

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