Blues boss Kieran McKenna was left rueing his side conceding “three really, really bad goals” just before half-time in their 4-2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest and admitted the gap to Premier League safety is now very big.

Once again, there was little in the game for the first half hour until the visitors, who are third in the Premier League, went ahead on 35 through Nikola Milenkovic with two Anthony Elanga goals following within six minutes to all but seal the three points.

Jens Cajuste pulled one back for the Blues with eight minutes remaining, Jota Silva made it 4-2 on 87, before George Hirst scored in injury time for Town.

To compound the disappointment, Wolves, 17th in the table, one place above the Blues, won 2-1 away against bottom side Southampton to increase the gap Town need to surmount to nine points, plus a goal difference of 16, with only nine matches left to play.

“A really disappointing day,” said McKenna, appearing more downcast than at any stage this season.

“I think it’s pretty clear looking at the timeline of the game and looking at the goals, it’s three really, really bad goals from our point of view in the first half, especially the first and the third goals in a six-minute spell that turns a stable game, an even game, into a near-impossible task at 3-0 down at half-time.

“Of course, that’s where the main frustration lies, in the goals and the speed with which they came and the manner in which we conceded them, and it’s took away the opportunity for us to compete in the game and try and get a result.

“They were terrible goals from our point of view, the first and the third goal, especially. That’s about us.

“The second goal is also maybe representative. We have a big opportunity on the breakaway, an overload against them, we had lots of them in the first half, but our quality and level to execute wasn’t good enough to really go and hurt them, and then we lose the ball and it goes out to [Anthony] Elanga and, to be fair, it’s incredible execution from him.

“That goal maybe you can say represents the jump in the level and the jump that our players and staff and everyone needs to aspire to get to.

“But the first and third goals are 100 per cent on us. Goals that shouldn’t happen and, again, not something that we can accept and we need to take real accountability for that.”

McKenna started with Omari Hutchinson as his number 10, Julio Enciso on the left and Jaden Philogene on the right for the first time before switching them around at half-time with Liam Delap as usual the centre-forward.

The Blues boss has said before that he has been unable to field the same team and the same partnerships throughout the season.

“I think that’s been a problem,” he said. “We’ve said that, in terms of building steady cohesion.

“We’ve tried to do that as much as we could over the last couple of weeks, that’s the first time that we’ve played with that permutation of a front four.

“But our execution wasn’t good enough. We lost the ball in too many good situations and we lost some big, big moments that we had, whether we broke the pressure in the first half or when we regained the ball in the first half and our execution in those moments wasn’t good enough.

“At an individual level, we’re better than we showed today. From a balance point of view, it’s something I’ve got to reflect on again and try and find the best partnerships.

“They’re not necessarily the best partnerships from a technical point of view or using the skillsets, it’s also about the experience, maturity, physicality, finding all the right ingredients that we’re going to need to be more competitive in the games than we were today. We certainly didn’t find what we needed today.”

McKenna, who confirmed the half-time substitution of Jacob Greaves was tactical rather than down to an injury, admits safety is now a very long way away.

“I think there’s been a mountain to climb all season,” he said when asked if there is now a mountain to climb to avoid dropping back into the Championship after one season in the top flight. “The gap’s big, there’s no doubt about that in terms of points and that is not where we wanted to be at this stage.

“On the other hand, we have two games in fairly quick succession when we come back. We play Bournemouth and Wolves in a three-day period, it’s a chance to pick up six points. Things can change really, really quickly.

“Again, it’s a game that for 35 minutes we were right in, there’s nothing in it, but there’s no point in us thinking about how many wins we’re going to need or what run we’re going to put together, we need to try and win the next one, we need to go to Bournemouth away and try get something.

“If we can do that, then we have Wolves here on the Saturday and the picture can change pretty quickly.

“We need to use the next two weeks well, the players who are here, players who are away, and then we’ve got a big week coming up.”

TWTD

TimmyH added 18:26 - Mar 15 Nothings changed Kieran - we've been conceding 'really bad goals' all season particularly at home, maybe tactically we (you) have to change this at Portman Road.
19

ipswichultra added 18:28 - Mar 15 Fine margins, but we take the positives and move on. Lots of games to go, a couple of wins and the season starts to look different. Some good individual performances today, need to maximise the international break and come back fresh.
-7

Leejames99 added 18:29 - Mar 15 Waffle, the first, third and 4th goal were Davis fault being g on left wing. Playing everyone in wrong positions, Phillogene is a left winger, Enciso a 10 and Hutch right, what you playing at? All to accomodate Davis. If you don't know with 9 games left the best formation and spend everyday on training ground with them then it's time to go. The pundits, press and sensible fans all know and stats and results prove we are better with Townsend in defense and our forwards playing in their best positions not phillogene at right back, J Clarke left back while Davis just running up and down doing nowt, teams see right through us. Why by Godfrey with all that experience and not play him. Too sentimental, time to go or Ashton to weird axe never been a better time than international break.

-25

itfc2024 added 18:32 - Mar 15 same rubbish just tell the truth mckenna we ain't good enough ur signings ain't good enough especially philogene and Hutchinson both lightweight and do nothing for the team the defence is shocking all of them are prone to mistakes but I feel sorry for them cos we don't score goals so their even more pressure on the defence and that's down to you mckenna
-18

ITFCSG added 18:35 - Mar 15 All talk, no action. So why persist with Davis who can't defend and Greaves who is way off the past few matches? Walk the talk and drop them both next match!
-5

Suffolkboy added 18:37 - Mar 15 KM is right on the nail; we’ve players who need to look hard at themselves,determine to do better both individually and ,importantly, as a unit . Cohesion of thought and action was woefully absent at times ; I DO hope it’s being brought home to them AND that we witness compensatory improvement ! BUT who is directing ,encouraging and pushing on the field of play; there’s as yet no real sense of Premiership wisdom ,and some players are simply not matching our ,or their,expectations . MA and KM have been hamstrung by injuries in the planned progression ,but we should remain determined and proud of what has been achieved AND the other significant improvements at our smashing Club , COYB

9

IP9 added 18:40 - Mar 15 the players - and especially defence - are not premier league quality, rightly or wrongly, perhaps through no fault of the players. we can try play like we did at Arsenal away for every game, but there would be an equal amount of moaning. the quicker we all accept we are not at premier league level, the easier it will be to accept we will be playing in the Championship next season. bring it on....

6

eddiespearitt03 added 18:40 - Mar 15 What was a tough watch . If we can turn possession into a goal threat that would help. Abysmal defending again.
7

Broganonthewing added 18:40 - Mar 15 Like lots of games this season we are in the game until we concede. Apart from the Spurs game at home when we came out of the blocks very quickly, we never really threaten the opposition goalie or create real chances. We cannot keep possession and the game is mainly played in our half. Hopefully this has been a positive learning curve and we can win the Championship next season better prepared for the massive gulf that is thebpremiership?

4

ITFC_1994 added 18:43 - Mar 15 So poor today. McKenna's biggest mistake this season has been playing Greaves over Burgess. Greaves has been so so poor, our worst signing (along with Muric, but he cost more then double....) Burgess hasn't put a foot wrong and has looked up to the level, as shown in the second half today. That said, it's a young squad and a young manager who has done more for this club then all but two others... so those turning on him should be ashamed! Our fate has been decided this season and its a shame... but promotion has catapulted us along 10 years sooner in our journey so let's look at the positive. With Mckenna in charge I'm confident we will be the best team in the championship next season and we will have another go at the prem in two years time! COYB!

16

rodc added 18:43 - Mar 15 In the first half Philogene had lots of space on the right wing and there was not one ball over the top for him to run onto! He was calling and using his arms to attract attention but to no avail. The manager is standing nearby seeing him unused but the team continued going down the left. That is not Philogene’s fault!
19

Karlosfandangal added 18:49 - Mar 15 Clarke has the most Assit so play him…… go with a 442 and play Hirst up top with Delap Sign Cajuste as Luongo will be leaving us at the end of the season and Morsy is 5 years too late for the Prem…..both have been excellent and a massive part of Town making it to the Prem. No idea why we signed Godfrey…..Tunnzebe is too injury prone and can see him leaving. Delap I can’t see him leaving and with Szcmodic will rip up the Championship

5

bignics added 18:59 - Mar 15 What a poor performance but KM you say “ , and it’s took away the opportunity for us to compete in the game and try and get a result.” If that was your negative take at half time well clearly the players agreed! Why oh why again for the umpteenth time have you changed absolutely nothing 3-0 down in a must win game with Wolves ahead at half time you answer is to swap a CB for a CB hahahaha absolutely clueless! Talking of clueless JP OH and enciso all played out of position why? More of a worry is that it looked at times like these players had never played together before so I wonder how poor the training/coaching is?! 3-0 down and absolutely no urgency at all to the point of embarrassment you have been great KM but time to go I only hope if you stay your contract has a relegation clause to take out a zero to take you from 5 million to 500k otherwise Ashton needs shooting.

-11

WaltonBlueNaze added 19:10 - Mar 15 I thought all 4 goals were really bad, KM says subbing Greaves was tactical?? Let’s be honest Greaves and Davis have been poor for most of the season and Burgess has never let us down. Why on earth did KM play Omari as the number 10, everyone knows his best position is on the right. I’m sorry but it’s time for Hirst to start instead of Delap and Townsend needs to start instead of Davis. KM says we need to ‘own’ some of these mistakes but we are not learning! I’m pretty certain Gamechanger will be asking some serious questions around the amount of money we have spent and the return on investment - only Delap has increased in value! Even KM’s contract is now looking questionable.

12

DifferentGravy added 19:43 - Mar 15 As much down to you McK.
3

Gforce added 19:45 - Mar 15 I genuinely believe our next win won't arrive until August,when we are back in the championship.
9

Bert added 20:05 - Mar 15 Today we lacked leadership on the field. We did not look composed, the back four were not confident and midfield lacked an attacking instinct albeit that Cajuste did his best to get things going. Too easy to blame KMcK when players underperform but his reliance on Davis, in my opinion, begs the question as to why he does not try Townsend at left back and Davis higher up. Adjustments to make that work would be needed. Sadly we are not up to PL standards but then I didn’t think we would be. The gulf is huge and if we are relegated, which looks certain, we have to recruit players with a bit more about them. We knew it would be hard but we should all remember that the club has been turned around and is in a better state than any of us could dream about 4 years ago.

10

shakytown added 21:18 - Mar 15 The real problem is that our recruitment defensively was beyond poor. We were average in the championship last season but were good enough in other areas to get away with it. Lessons must be learned if we are able to rebound in 2 seasons. Our defenders are NOT PL quality or even close to it.
9

poet added 21:51 - Mar 15 In my opinion, on todays performance, there are a few Town players who need to be asking themselves some very serious questions. But that’s not the only factor that sees us looking down the barrel of relegation. There are many more, significant injuries, blatant poor decisions by referees and VAR that went against us, and a very difficult fixture list, Liverpool and Manchester City first two games of the season, and which two clubs did we get one after the other in the very busy January period! Oh that will be Manchester City and Liverpool again then. Coincidental? Odd to say the least. Then there were silly unforced decisions made by experienced players, the match at Fulham for example. We were the better side winning 2-0, then we give away two totally unnecessary penalties, and instead of 3 points, it’s just the 1. The blatant penalty denied us against Leicester, the dubious penalty awarded to Forest for their 1-0 victory in the league. There were more, but highlighting these will only be called sour grapes, but it isn’t, because they are facts, and these discrepancies happened. This league is the finest league in the world for the abundance of talent to behold. But it’s also a putrid decaying league for reasons I’d rather not say in this post. That’s a very sad indictment indeed.

7

peckam added 22:43 - Mar 15 Why do so many fans expect us to stay up this season? So many fans on here have unrealistic expectations.17th was the best we could do due to the double promotion. We need more time to build the team. The team need our support yet so many seem to think KMcK should now go. You should give your head a wobble! The whole club is learning - so fast - what it needs to compete in the PL. We are currently ahead of the curve set by the club for promotion. We have unfortunately come up short this season but we have improved through the season. We will go down, be in a very strong position next season, and come back stronger with a more cohesive team who have grown together from this season into next. It would be good to not hear negativity in the stadium though - appreciate we all have views and can express them - but IMO negativity should be left for outside PR - support the Town up or down!! COYB!!

11

Beattiesballbag added 02:04 - Mar 16 They used to have a competion called spot the ball, maybe we could start a new one up called spot the left back, I don't think the sniper training is working as well as it should, as although I couldn't spot him for their last three goals I did spot him over on the right when the ball was put into the box for their first.
3

GiveusaWave added 02:04 - Mar 16 Nowhere near good enough for the Premiership and we honestly fully deserve to go down... Some tough teams in the Championship next season so could be interesting. Birmingham have made some highly significant signings and will be aiming for top 6. Wrexham could be interesting as they'll be unpredictable. Leicester and Southampton will be with us. West Brom and Coventry continue to build every season. Very tough season ahead.

2

Beattiesballbag added 02:49 - Mar 16 my mistake, it is late .....competition even.
0

KiwiTractor added 06:29 - Mar 16 Our recruitment has been poor for a side that needed to try and stay up this season, we really lack any Prem level quality. So many of our players have a poor first touch when under pressure, and so much of our passing tends to be to players in worse positions or behind the player, causing them to check their run. Our midfield generally gets overrun and our front 4 never play as a unit. We know all this, but KM keeps with exactly the same formation and tactics regardless - it's not working he should have tried to change something earlier in the season. I can't see us getting more that 2 points between now and the end of the season. I'm already looking forward to next season, but that said, I think it will be very difficult to get promoted straight away.

2

Dissboyitfc added 06:57 - Mar 16 Peckham, great post! Can't believe that some idiots were booing, WTF? yes everybody has a right to an opinion but how can anyone who claims to be a fan believe that Booing players is going to have a positive effect? Certainly isnt going to make them come out and try even harder is it! Really glad that Delap told them where to go as he left the pitch! Its not a great idea to p!ss the players off is it! And a word about the people leaving early ( reluctant to call them fans), so easy to support a winning team, but real supporters keep supporting when the going gets tough, i want the players to continue trying until the end, i expect nothing less! who knows the outcome of the MAN C charges, big ask of miracle size proportions i know! Surely our aim now has to be finishing highest of the 3 promoted teams! And as for people calling for KM to be got rid of, give your heads a massive wobble!

10

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls