Say My Name

ITFC 0-2 Watford February 19th 2013

There were only three players in the starting eleven for Watford that played in the reverse fixture and what a transformation from that ramshackle side we beat at Vicarage Road back in August. That night they were truly awful and in truth we should have scored a hat-full of goals, the one-nil score line flattered them and they looked like a team about to have a long season at the bottom of the league. 

Fast forward six months and the team that Gianfranco Zola has moulded looks really classy, easily the best team to visit Portman Road this season and I’m going to give them the kiss of death by predicting automatic promotion!

In truth Watford who were brought out by the Pozzo family in the summer (also owners of Italian Serie A club Udinese and Spanish La Liga side Granada) have become a bit of a feeder club and have a squad of players largely unheard of in England before this season. There are moves to close the loopholes that allow them to exploit the rules, whereby they can fill their squad with loan players from the owners other teams, something that Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway recently had a rant over after the two sides had met. Perhaps we shouldn’t criticise too much when considering the amount of loanees we have used this season!

Under Mick McCarthy Ipswich become more resolute and hard working as a team, especially defensively and that showed on Tuesday night, although we lost we were always in with a chance of nicking something until they scored their second goal In the not too distant past we would have folded and been on the end of yet another hiding.

The Playlist

Say My Name by Destiny's Child - Ikechi Anya, Nathaniel Chalobah, Fernando Forestieri, Daniel Pudil, Christian Battocchio, Matej Vydra, Nyron Nosworthy, Manuel Almunia, Prince Buaben, Marco Cassetti and Almen Abdi. Who are ya?!!

A foggy night at Portman Road

You Can Do Magic

ITFC 1-0 Blackpool 16th February 2013

Paul Gascoigne has been in the news of late, he seems to be a lost cause as he continues his life style of binge drinking and drugs. His friends have rallied round and sponsored a trip for him to a rehab clinic in America but unfortunately I fear the worse for this once lovable, cheeky and exceptionally talented footballer.

Closer to home we have our own Geordie with an illness fueled by addiction, enough has already be said and written about Michael Chopra. I stand by my opinions about him and shall be pleased when he leaves the club that he has disgraced.

Yesterday he came on as substitute replacing Antony Wordsworth in the first half to a mixture of applause and boos, I for one hoped that he had played his last game for us and would have preferred to see Aaron McClean or Frank Nouble on the pitch. I just stood with my hands at my side unmoved by his introduction. I have never booed a player wearing an Ipswich shirt and I hope that I never will, once they leave Portman Road they're fair game! It can't be easy coming onto the pitch and having your own supporters on your back before you even touch a ball, hardly motivational.

There's not too much to say about the game itself, the first half was pretty boring we created more chances but Blackpool came closer to a scoring after hitting the post. The second half was a lot livelier and the pivotal moment came in the 49th minute when Guirane N’Daw played a pass over the top of the Tangerines defence to Chopra who ran with the ball up the left hand side of the pitch shrugged off Alex Baptiste and slid the ball across keeper Matt Gilks with his left foot and into the far corner of the net.

The celebrations in front of The Sir Bobby told their own story, the sheer look of relief and euphoria on Chopra's face was matched by his team mates enthusiasm and camaraderie for him, you'd have thought he'd just scored the winner at Wembley. This wasn't just a team celebrating what could be a massive goal in their fight to stay in the championship there was a story underneath about a man tormented by more problems than most of us could cope with finally showing his unquestioned talent. Watching from behind the goal I got a glimpse of the human being inside the footballer and guess what? I celebrated a goal that not many championship footballers have the ability to score. Hopefully this will kick fire his season and enable him to get a move to pastures new in the summer because I really don't see a future at ITFC for him given everything that has happened off the pitch in the last two seasons.

Back to the match, Tom Ince possibly the best player in the Championship came on and looked a real threat, we had to do some serious defending throughout the rest of the second half as Blackpool pushed for an equaliser, they nearly got it but for Noubles goal line clearance. We kept a clean sheet for the second consecutive game running and took all three points whilst Ince senior Paul, aka 'The Guvnor' watched from the directors box, he is soon to be named as the new Blackpool manager.

The playlist 

You Can Do Magic by America - Chopra gave us a glimpse of what he might have been and like Gascoigne it's quite sad to think how things may have been different for both of them.

Night Nurse

ITFC 4-0 Middlesborough February 2nd 2013
I haven't missed too much action or excitement during my football sabbatical which totaled four weeks. A goalless draw against leaders Cardiff in Wales (an excellent point that one) was followed up with another draw, this time 1-1 at home to strugglers Barnsley, then came a disappointing 2-1 loss at Bristol City last Saturday where we took an early lead and should have won the game. Listening to the commentary on Radio Suffolk we should have been out of sight by halftime but we conceded a goal just after the restart and then again in the final minute top complete a poor January.
I wasn't overly fussed about going to the match which surprised me, I was thinking that it would be a dull game against a Middlesborough side that are chasing for promotion, how wrong was I? To sum the afternoon up we scored four good goals. The two Macs both opened their ITFC accounts. Tommy Smith got two headed goals both from corners. Kieron Dyer made his Boro debut and didn't look worth the rumoured £10,000 per game he's on. Returning ex captain Grant Leadbitter wasn't overly impressive and got booed quite a bit, he also took a lot of stick (Leadboots, Leadboots what's the score?) To cap it all Big Mick had to watch a live feed of the game from his sick bed as he was unable to attend the game having been laid low with a virus for most of the week.
So another vital three points were gained as we try to pull away from the relegation zone which keeps threatening to suck us back.

There's a bookie back in town

Aaron Mclean celebrating his first goal for ITFC

The playlist 
Night Nurse by Gregory Isaacs - Did Mick McCarthy get a remedy from one during his recent illness?