Town’s relegation from the Premier League after only one season was finally confirmed after the 10-man Blues were beaten 3-0 by Newcastle United at St James’ Park. Town will have been pleased with their performance until Ben Johnson became the fifth Blues player to see red this season on 37 for two bookable offences - the first highly controversial - before Alexander Isak gave the Magpies the lead from the spot in first-half injury time, then Dan Burn added a second 11 minutes after the restart and Will Osula added the third on 80.

Injury and suspension-hit Town made four changes from last week’s 4-0 loss at home to Arsenal with Liam Delap, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess and Jack Taylor returning to the XI.

Woolfenden came in at right centre-half with Dara O’Shea moving to right-back with Axel Tuanzebe absent, presumably due to a knock.

Burgess was back at left centre-half with Jacob Greaves moving to left-back with Newcastle-born boyhood Magpies fan Leif Davis suspended following his red card last week.

Taylor was in midfield alongside skipper Sam Morsy with Jens Cajuste dropping to the bench, again probably due to a minor injury.

Delap, a sub for the last two matches due to a rib injury, returned as the central striker with George Hirst dropping to the bench.

While 10 were missing due to injury or suspension, Omari Hutchinson was back on the bench following his hamstring injury. Youngsters Somto Boniface and Tommy Taylor were also among the subs.

Newcastle made one change from the team which started the previous seven games with Joelinton having picked up an injury and Joe Willock coming into the team. Former Town academy youngster Nick Pope was in goal.

Town started brightly and were the first to take a shot at goal, former Sunderland man Jack Clarke picking up a loose Burn pass and then hitting a shot which deflected wide for a corner. From the flag-kick, the ball reached Delap beyond the far post but his strike was blocked.

But the home side quickly began to take control and dominate possession with Burgess and Greaves both heading away crosses into the box.

On 10, Jacob Murphy sent a dangerous low ball across the edge of the six-yard area but fortunately for Town with no one on hand to add the final touch.

Three minutes later, Fabian Schar failed to clear having dispossessed Julio Enciso and Delap seized upon it and hit a low which which deflected behind.

In the 18th minute, Delap picked up an overhit Newcastle corner in the right-back position and drove forward leaving Burn behind him but his pass to the unmarked Enciso breaking down the middle was too far in front of the Paraguayan and home keeper Pope was able to claim. A better ball and the on-loan Brighton man would have been in on goal.

Four minutes later, the Magpies had the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled out. O’Shea headed a cross from the right straight up in the air, keeper Alex Palmer looked to punch but was bundled over by Bruno Guimaraes as the Magpies skipper headed into the net. Referee Michael Salisbury immediately blew for a foul on the keeper and VAR upheld the decision, much to the annoyance of the home fans.

On 28, there was a VAR check after a clash between Morsy and Willock, the Newcastle man having had a pop at the Town skipper earlier in the half. On this occasion, Morsy had pulled the ex-Arsenal man over and was the subject of the check, but no action was taken.

On the half hour, Johnson was shown the game’s first yellow card after breaking towards the area past one defender before being felled by Burn’s outstretched leg just outside the box. However, referee Salisbury inexplicably judged that Johnson had dived and booked him. Two minutes later, Enciso shot over from well out on the right.

Newcastle created their first big chance of the game in the 35th minute. Murphy floated a cross into the box and Isak, who bagged a hat-trick in the game at Portman Road, heading over when the Sweden international will feel he should have done better.

Within seconds, Isak had another opportunity, another cross from the right reaching him but this time he scuffed his volley wide.

Two minutes later, Town were reduced to 10 men. Johnson, already on a yellow card following the controversial dive decision, hauled back Isak on the Newcastle left. It was a clear booking and following the earlier decision referee Salisbury issued Town’s fifth red card of the season and Johnson’s first of his career.

While the second caution was difficult to contest, the first was as poor as the one issued to Tuanzebe at Aston Villa earlier in the season and for a second time this season, Town were made to pay for what seems to be an anomaly of VAR that yellow cards which lead to red cards aren’t checked while all straight dismissals are.

Newcastle sought to turn the screw following the dismissal but with Town remaining resolute in defence. On 40, Clarke was sacrificed for Ben Godfrey, making his first Blues appearance in more than two months.

The Town goal began to lead a charmed life, O’Shea somehow diverting a low Murphy cross from the right away from the line and out for a corner off Palmer.

On 42, Woolfenden somehow kept out Guimaraes’s overhead kick, the Town centre-half diverting it over for a corner.

Burn and Delap repeatedly clashed holding up the restart and eventually referee Salisbury booked both of them. The pair subsequently ended up on the turf again after the corner was taken but no further action was taken.

As the half moved into its scheduled final minute, Isak scuffed another shot away, the ball falling to Murphy, whose shot struck Palmer’s post with the keeper perhaps getting a touch on its way.

Seconds later, the home side were awarded a penalty. Enciso pulled at Murphy as the ex-Norwich youngster burst past him into the area. Initially, referee Salisbury waved away the protests but after a VAR check took a second look and pointed to the spot.

Isak confidently beat Palmer from the spot to claim his fourth goal against Town this season.

There was no further action in a half which had been going as well as might have been hoped for Town until Johnson’s red card, or perhaps the former West Ham man’s first wrongly awarded first yellow card.

The Blues had defended steadfastly at one end, while creating one or two openings at the other.

However, the red card saw the home side put Town under more pressure with chances coming more frequently before Enciso gave the referee and VAR a decision to make with his pull, even if the contact almost certainly had nothing to do with Murphy going to ground.

The second half began with Newcastle renewing their siege of the Blues penalty area, Sandro Tonali blazing over three minutes after the restart. Within a minute, Harvey Barnes shot not too far over Palmer’s cross-bar from 25 yards.

Willock sent a dangerous ball across the Town area which no one was able to reach, then on 55 Isak hit a shot which deflected wide.

And from the resultant corner, the Magpies doubled their lead. The ball was played short to Kieran Trippier on the right, the England international stood up a cross to the far post and Burn headed into the net from on the line.

Murphy shot wide on 62, before Newcastle assistant boss Jason Tindall was booked for speaking out of turn, then Greaves joined him for a foul on Murphy.

Newcastle continued to put the Blues under pressure, presumably seeing an opportunity to boost their goal difference, Woolfenden nodding off the line from Willock before a bout of head tennis in the six-yard box was ultimately ended by a raised linesman’s flag.

The Magpies swapped Willock for Lewis Miley and Murphy for Anthony Gordon on 67 with Barnes moving to the right flank.

On 70, VAR looked at Barnes playing the ball against Greaves in the area but ultimately opted against awarding a spot-kick for handball.

A minute later, Schar shot well wide and moments afterwards Enciso and Delap made way for Conor Chaplin and George Hirst.

Newcastle maintained their dominance but with the game having lost its intensity and on 76 Isak and Barnes were rested for Callum Wilson and Osula.

And four minutes after coming on, Osula made it 3-0 with his first Premier League goal. The Dane rose highest to nod Trippier’s corner from the right into the top corner beyond Palmer’s left hand.

Newcastle replaced Schar with Sven Botman on 83, then Town switched Taylor for Massimo Luongo three minutes later, before Guimaraes shot over on the volley on the turn at the far post from a cross from the left.

As the game moved into its final minute, Palmer saved from Gordon, then in the first of five additional minutes Osula shot just past the Town keeper’s left post.

The Blues support well away in the upper reaches of St James’ Park made themselves heard as the final moments of the game and Town’s stay in the Premier League ticked away, singing ‘Ipswich ’til we die’ and ‘Que Sera’.

And it was the Blues fans singing at the whistle despite the defeat and it now being mathematically impossible for their team to stay up. The players and staff went over and applauded their supporters from the edge of the penalty area.

While the defeat officially confirms that Town will be playing Championship football next season, the writing has been written very clearly on the wall for some weeks now, perhaps as long ago as the home defeat to Southampton with the recent home loss to Wolves, for much of the season the side 17th, cementing that situation.

In truth, such has been Wolves’ form since the start of February - second in the division only to leaders Liverpool - it would have taken a remarkable run for the Blues to have got themselves out of trouble.

This afternoon’s defeat was one of a familiar type with Town having battled gamely to stay in the game before conceding and spending the rest of the match defending their own penalty area to keep the score down, unsurprisingly on this occasion given the first-half red card and an injury and suspension-hit squad.

But it’s not the defeats to Arsenal last week or Newcastle this which have led to the Blues’ relegation but the failure to turn winning positions against some of the division’s more run of the mill sides into three points, particularly at home, although even those run of the mill sides are streets better than the teams Town were competing with at the top of the Championship last season and where they will feel they will be strong contenders in 2025/26.

Four more games remain before Town’s first Premier League campaign in 22 years is brought to a close - the earliest all three promoted s with a last ever visit to Everton’s Goodison Park up next.

Newcastle: Pope, Trippier, Schar (Botman 83), Burn, Livramento, Guimaraes (c), Tonali, Willock (Miley 67), Murphy (Gordon 67), Barnes (Wilson 77(, Isak (Osula 77). Unused: Dubravka, Ruddy, Krafth, Longstaff.

Town: Palmer, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Morsy (c), J Taylor (Luongo 86), Johnson, Enciso (Chaplin 72), Clarke (Godfrey 40), Delap (Hirst 72). Unused: Walton, Boniface, Cajuste, Hutchinson, T Taylor. Referee: Michael Salisbury (Preston). VAR: Jeremy Simpson. Att: 52,171.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

Tedray added 08:56 - Apr 27 Leejames99 I do agree with you regarding the Blue Monday podcast as it seems to have no point - just saccharine Thou shall not critizise the manager under any circumstances even if only one home victory so far this season.Perhaps the programme is in the pay of the club. Have a look god forbid at the Norwich boys - where they do a deep analyses of players and manager which is a far healthier situation.I see little point in following BM - all very nice if one can stand Bens frequent interruptions but it is time for them to ditch their blinkered vision.

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Leejames99 added 09:31 - Apr 27 @tedray 100% I've only watched twice, last week they were heaping praise on Davis saying Saka over reacted. Today will be fine margins and Johnson yellow was not a , yellow, we were down anyway blah blah, yes that guy just answers his own questions. Some fans seem to hang on their every word like it's the inner sanctum. They be going with the bounce straight back narrative

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Marinersnose added 10:52 - Apr 27 We started the game pretty well and caused them a couple of problems going forward. The initial yellow card for simulation in relation to Johnson was farcical but after that he should never have committed the second offence. Unfortunately 2025 has seen Ipswich retreat into a low block and basically try and restrict the opportunities for the opposition however offensively we are not creating many goal scoring chances and the outcome is obvious. Chelsea away was a great result but other than that we have been disappointing the second half of the season. Remember taking the game to Liverpool at home Man City away, losing both but trying to win.

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blueboy1981 added 13:55 - Apr 27 Wooly74 - Di you, or have you, EVER been to School ? Just asking !!
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blueboy1981 added 14:02 - Apr 27 …… to the likes of Wooly74 and a few others !! - I was there in 78 and 81 - and previous to both - so I know what Success and Failure is, first hand. I therefore take NO judgement from those who possibly weren’t even BORN then. I wasn’t brought up on Playstations, and went to School !!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 14:42 - Apr 27 Match of the Day seemed convinced the Newcastle penalty was correct. Admittedly, I've only seen it once (or maybe twice with the replay), but it looked like just as much a dive as Johnson's incident - more so in fact. I'm sure the player deliberately flung himself to the ground. Or have I missed something?
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blueboy1981 added 16:15 - Apr 27 ….. steve itfc sweden - he made a meal of it with the dive, but after the definite FOUL - therefore the Correct Decision was made with the outcome.
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armchaircritic59 added 16:19 - Apr 27 You haven't missed a thing Steve ITFC. Exactly what I saw too, more than once I might add. Don't worry about MOTD pundits, their opinions (and it's what they are) are no more or less valid than anyone elses. I worry about the direction the game we love is heading. Soon payers will be taking the field wearing carpet slipers, for fear of making a hard but fair challenge, and we'll do away with onfield referees so that games can be policed by VAR. Another crazy VAR intervention in the Bournemouth/Man Utd match this afternoon, referee got it right first time, yellow card, move on. If VAR officials couldn't see the slip by Evanilson, they need to make an appointment with their optician. I was a fan of VAR at the beginning, policed properly it's a good tool, unfortunately it's being used by people who look for something evil in nearly every challenge or incident, so my enthusiasm has waned somewhat.

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blueboy1981 added 17:39 - Apr 27 A Sad Sunday of Reflection today, I personally feel for the Owners whom after two promotions put everything the Manager could ask for this season at his disposal, and a 17th position should have been achievable, and safety - thus enabling a totally different situation facing the Owners than is now. Assume nothing folks, in terms now of the future - Relegation is a real potential stick in the front wheel of the Owners and Club plans. Make no mistake - we are back in the Mud Mix - let’s all hope that if / when we return, we make a better fist of the Huge Opportunity we had - but now gone ! Let’s hope lessons have been learned. And as a final season entry - Idiots who are voicing pleasure at potentially lower gates next season - that is in no way welcome news for Club Revenue - but I guess that wouldn’t even cross such people’s minds. HOPING we’re not ‘away’ as long this time - two decades doesn’t bare thinking about. Good and Enjoyable Close Season ALL.

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Carberry added 20:28 - Apr 27 Blueboy, those are the same people on here who said we knew we were going to get relegated so recruited to win the Championship next season. Hilarious. If you get to the promised land you do everything to stay in it - I'm certain that's what the owners were promised. The Americans will be spitting feathers that their investment has gone down the tubes or did someone not explain relegation to them?

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budgieplucker added 20:47 - Apr 27 Without doubt Town supporters are up there with the best in the country and a massive credit to those who made the many many long away journeys. They richly enhanced our reputation as a brilliant football club. The owners and the club approached the season with a lot of pride and honesty. Kieron has still a lot of credit in the bank and operates with great integrity creating a tight bond and there will be very few supporters who will question the ability of Kieron to take us back up again. Having said all that though, there does need to be some serious reflection. Mark Ashton has led the club with great passion , dignity and respect for the supporters and the local community. However, “trust the process” does need to come into question. Our task was to finish 17th and whilst it may have been sickening to have just lost out to fine margins by perhaps a point or two, we still look to be many points a drift of being close to that 17th position. We can be excused for thinking that we let naivety get the better of us on many occasions and too often shot ourselves in the foot. Being a victim of fine margins seemed to start to wear thin, yes maybe the rub of the green didn’t even itself out but we contributed to our own downfall too often. Generally, we lacked physicality, athleticism, power, speed of thought and some quality. Quality was always going to be a difficult one to find at an affordable price. Phillips and Cajuste looked a good bet to help bridge this and you can understand why town went for the obvious loan option to help bridge this gap. However, both players struggled for fitness and a very few full 90 minutes were achieved by either. Had we conceded far fewer goals, then the double pivot could be attributed to having provided a valuable shield for a platform to succeed. However, their ability to get forward and influence in the final third seemed to me to leave the team lacking. The diddy men of Clarke, Hutchinson and Szmodics all posses talent to make some impact at this level but did often look like ants running into brick walls. Reinforcements in Enciso and Philogene only continued this trend. Philogene apart (jury still out) all of these players individually could go on to better things and probably slot into a more accomplished team and not necessarily look out of place without perhaps looking spectacularly outstanding. When you recruit so many new players there will be a number that do not work out. However, some of the existing players who you might not expect to hold on to their places will surprise you. Surprises: Townsend, Burgess, Woolfenden and also the newly acquired Delap (the later to make such a great impact). Disappointments: Muric, Godfrey, Greaves, Phillips, Davis Predictables: Tuanzebe, Successes: Alex Palmer, Dara O’Shea, Liam Delap, Conor Townsend and to an extent Jens Cajuste Those just along for the ride: Walton, Chaplin, Burns, Taylor, Loungo - all honest players but unlikely to make the adaption to the top flight. Going forward we have to consider those players unlikely to be able to make the step up next time and some may need to be replaced to avoid us finding ourselves back in the same position we did this season. Of course some of them will be useful in our Championship campaign but we have to improve the squad in the missing attributes already mentioned above. We also have to seriously think about our regular “sick notes” I.e. Harry Clarke, Axel, Nathan Broadhead, George Hirst and to a lesser extent , Christian Walton. Ironically these all look to be very suitable players to give us an excellent chance of achieving a top two spot Championship spot but as the past has proved can the squad adequately cover the loss of players like these on a regular basis.? I don’t like to contemplate Kieron in any negative light, however, I would suggest we have been tactically naive at times, yes at least we didn’t try to play every match in the Russel Martin, Vincent Kompany kamakazi total football way. Nor did we convert to the Sean Dyche methodology, however we struggled to find something in between, both Palace and Forest both seem to be very economical and have shown that points can be ground out. Of course Brentford, Fulham and Bournemouth have developed more culture to their play over a period the later two “yo-yo-ing”. Ramsey and Robson were both brilliant at exploiting the talents of the individuals they had playing tweaking accordingly, Kieron seems to be wedded to a double pivot and I can’t help thinking that our football has become somewhat more predictable. If this weekends reports that Spurs are interested in Kieron has any legs, let’s pray that we don’t have disruption that pushes our pre-season business and preparations back.

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Leejames99 added 21:54 - Apr 27 @budgieplucker Excellent post, the only thing I'd disagree with is Palmer I'm not sure he is the answer, all the fans hate Muric, I do think he should be given a chance in pre season his stats deserve that and the fee. I'd like to see Slicker get some games, he could be amazing. I do think Greaves will be great in Championship, still young, he was brilliant yesterday. Aside of that everything else I agree with, of course the 1 big thing we disagree with sort of is Kmk, he has to be open to change in tactics if he can he has everything he needs in place to be a frightening team next season. Who do you think may add to the squad or would you like to sign, I really think Cresswell as back up for Townsend and Flynne Downes would be good knowing the club and being experienced. I heard today that Eric Dier is a name being mentioned and Taj Wright is main target to replace Delap if he goes. (I still think he might stay , I genuinely think he likes it here with his mates) They might all want to be part of the future, I think we might just get another season, it will be up to him, I think his Dad might keep him grounded but if not Taj Wright would be great. As you say getting ins and outs done quick would be ideal.

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armchaircritic59 added 01:11 - Apr 28 Agree with most of that budgieplucker, I had us no better than 50/50 on staying up just before the season started. The road that was chosen in terms of recruitment was to buy players that were deemed to be top level, still young or fairly young Championship players ( with one or two exceptions ) and obviously hope they'd improve enough, quickly enough to keep us up. Sadly it's not been possible for most. It's a policy I agreed with, others may have course hold other opinions, it's a game of opinions. I believe it does leave us in a very strong position to start with next season. I totally agree with any comments relating to business being done, including all the ins and outs, really quickly. There is just a turnaround of 75 days between the final whistle being blown this season and the first one next season. We can't afford to be scrabbling around at the last minute. I also hope our new data programe is in place and proper scouting now exists outsides the confines of these shores. If what I've heard only today is true, it sounds like it may well be. We will all see. Bring on the Championship, it's going to be the usual dog fight, no doubt!

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