Don't Look Back In Anger

Wolves 0-2 ITFC 29th December 2012

The last game of the year was especially anticipated by me, "Another must go to" when the fixtures came out. It became more nailed on when Mick McCarthy took over as manager, returning to the club that sacked him ten months earlier.

As it turned out Sharon wanted to stay home with Rudie and Max had to work.Luckily I managed to get a lift with Andy who introduced me to some of the best takeaway food I have ever had at a football ground, chicken tikka in a freshly baked Nan bread.

Nice!

The biggest crowd of the season at Molineux, 28,595 turned out for McCarthy's return and they gave him a very warm reception. I spoke to one of the stewards about Ståle Solbakken, he told me that the new manager was not very popular with the fans and agreed that Wolves had made a huge mistake sacking Big Mick, I'm pleased that they did!

The Ipswich players were really up for it and it was obvious that they wanted to get a result for the boss and TC. They certainly looked the part from my vantage point high up in the newly built Jack Cullis Stand. We got a lucky break after just two minutes when the referee waved away what I thought was a stone wall penalty, Kevin Doyle looked like he was brought down by Luke Chambers but the man with the whistle was having none of it. 

Town took the lead after thirty-three minutes with a coolly taken finish on his weaker right foot from Aaron Cresswell after he was setup by DJ Campbell. The home fans were voicing their frustration at their sides performance and booed them off at halftime, they obviously felt that they were heading for their second home defeat on the trot over the festive period.

"Hey Mick"

Home and away

Add caption

Guirane N’Daw almost got the second half off to a perfect start when he forced wolves keeper Carl Ikeme to tip his twenty five yard shot over the bar. Campbell however doubled the lead when he beat the wolves offside trap, running onto Chambers' headed clearance he ran with the ball and coolly slid it past the oncoming Ikeme after sixty four minutes. Solbakken responded by making three changes which didn't go too down well "You don't know what you're doing" rang out around the ground. 

With time running out and the game seemingly lost we were treated to some Black Country humour when they sang "Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, we're going to Shrewsbury" (their opponents in next weeks FA Cup) which drew warm applause from the Blue Army supporters.

By the time the final whistle blew Molineux was sparsely populated but the home fans that remained again applauded the jubilant pair of McCarthy and TC and they lapped it all up generously shaking the players hands of both teams before coming over to salute the traveling fans. The day certainly lived up to my expectations, soap opera at its best and on days like these I just love football.

A happy return

Joe Le Taxi

Charlton 1-2 ITFC December 26th 2012

One of the highlights of Christmas for me is football on Boxing Day and it's one tradition that I like to uphold. It was actually sunny when me and Paul set out for the one o'clock kick-off at the valley, all we seem to have had in the last few weeks is rain (we’d have plenty more of it later on). 

We had a good run and parked quite easily. There had been concerns about increased traffic following the London Underground staff's decision to go on strike, it forced Arsenal into postponing their game v West Ham at the Emirates Stadium. Walking towards the ground we saw Bilel Mohsni coming towards us (you couldn't miss him in his bright royal blue Ipswich track suit!) We stopped him for a word, Paul asked for directions to the ground before getting him to have a photo with us, what a star!

The game marked the start of the second half of the season with Charlton being the first reverse fixture, they won the corresponding match at Portman Road back in September.

The match itself was a tale of two halves, we were really up for it and looked hungrier than the previous two games. It was fairly even early on but Town had the chance to take the lead when we were awarded a penalty (our fifth in seven games) following a trip by Emmanuel Frimpong on Lee Martin after seventeen minutes. DJ Campbell blasted the spot kick miles wide of Ben Hamers right hand goalpost, what a let off for the hosts. If anything that miss made us more determined to make amends and sure enough it was Campbell who gave us the lead after thirty-three minutes after being set up by strike partner Daryl Murphy. Martin who was having a lively game had a shot parried by Hamers on the stroke of half time, fortunately the Murph was quick to react and netted the loose ball into the net.

A minutes applause for Charlton historian Colin Cameron

Very festive strips

Frimpong - not so #dench

Latic's manager Chris Powell made two changes at half time with Johnnie Jackson and Bradley Pritchard coming on for Frimpong (who had had a far from #dench first half) and Danny Green. The changes had a big impact and for large periods of the second half we were having to do lots of defending. Charlton were given a lifeline after penalty recipient Martin himself gave away a spot kick following a trip on Chris Solly after seventy-two minutes. Former Town striker Danny Haynes made no mistake with his attempt, blasting the ball into the right hand corner of Stephen Henderson's net. It was all very frantic after that but Town held on to gain a valuable away win.

After the game me and Paul got some chips near to the ground and as we stood there sheltering from the rain eating them we noticed Mohsni again! He was wandering around outside talking on his mobile phone, soon after a French taxi appeared and pulled up next to him, after talking to the driver for a bit he got in it and disappeared.

The playlist

Joe Le Taxi by Vanessa Paradis - I really enjoyed the day out and it was made even better by the amusing Mohsni moments, wandering around before and after the match. It's easy to see how he became a fans favourite. 

It's A Long, Long Road

ITFC 1-1 Bristol City December 22nd 2012

What a miserable day Saturday was with heavy rain falling throughout the day. Although the match was never in doubt thanks to the ground staff and a pitch that drains well, there was very little Christmas cheer around the place. The Salvation Army did their best, playing carols underneath The SBR stand and the Uptown girls were wandering around the ground before the game and at halftime suitably donned in their Santa gear but the grey skies took all the fun out of the occasion.

The football too was pretty unforgettable, with another below performance from ITFC. We went behind after just eleven minutes when Neil Danns slotted a loose ball into the net, following some sloppy defending. I predicted a 3-1 victory with Tommy Smith to score first for us, he duly obliged with an equaliser from a corner but that was that for the afternoon goal wise. Both teams had chances to increase the lead but in the end a draw was probably about right. It's a shame we didn't pick up all three points as we could have been looking upwards instead of still over our shoulders. 

So thats it for Portman Road this year although we still have two more matches to play in 2012 and they're both tricky, away at Charlton and then Wolves. Merry Christmas.

The playlist

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother by The Justice Collective - The Hillsborough disaster tribute single is the Christmas number one beating X Factor winner James Arthur, thank Christ!   

Living For The Weekend

Leeds 2-0 ITFC December 15th 2012

What better place to celebrate a wedding anniversary than in Leeds? We planned to have Friday off and make a long weekend break after the fixtures came out. The drive up to Yorkshire was horrible, rain all the way. Max came up with us and we dropped him at Josh's (he had his own lads weekend planned). We also gave Paul a lift so it was a bit cramped in the Merc.

A visit to the German market and a couple of beers was first on the agenda before meeting up with Gail, Carol and Des in the evening for more beers and an Indian at Miahs Kitchen. That turned out to be a semi disaster, over booked, slow service and over salted food put a slight damper on things.

Star fan!

The Salvation Army - must mean it's christmas

Don Revie

Saturday was our 27th anniversary, after a bit of shopping we met up for a drink with Paul before heading to Elland Road for our pre match fish n' chips from Graveleys.

The match itself was a bit of a non event, there was very little atmosphere from the 19,185 fans and match itself was very lack lustre. Leeds went ahead after Jerome Thomas tapped in a loose ball following a corner needlessly given away after eighteen minutes. Paul Green scored the decisive second goal finishing off a neat counter attack midway through the second half after Bradley Orr sloppily lost possession. That was about it, Leeds had a couple of chances and the nearest we came to scoring all afternoon was after Carlos Edwards had a good low shot saved by Paddy Kenny's outstretched hand just before half time and Lee Martin wasting a good opportunity with only Kenny to beat in the second half.

Anniversary photo with Billy

That old chestnut!

Pre match meal!

 

After the match we got the bus back into the city centre and met up with Max and his mates in Becketts Bank for a postmortem and a few drinks before going our separate ways for the evening.

Me and Sharon went back to our hotel for Strictly and champagne before going to Bibis Italianissimo for dinner. Who knows where the boys went!

A very successful if not tiring weekend was rounded up on Sunday with a little more shopping including buying a lead from Leeds for Rudie before heading back to Ipswich.

Bibis

The playlist
Living For The Weekend by Hard-Fi - fortunately it's not all about the football.