We’re just so difficult to watch at the moment,any joy I’ve felt in supporting Town seems so distant.
The only positive I can take from today is at least the players kept going for the whole game. We didn’t create much (nothing new there doesn’t matter how many players we have on the pitch) but at least there seemed to be commitment. I think if we had a manager who could set us up correctly, there is a decent side at this level in us
Good luck for the rest of the season. Was a comfortable win in the end but it should be playing so long with ten men
Our forward line is so weak and milk turns faster than our fullbacks! We are so ponderous, there seems a severe lack of desire and it all just seems so limp, something has to change immediately but Im not holding my breath!
It doesn't make any difference if you can't score and we can't, we have hopeless strikers who hardly ever play and a lightweight midfield,
Add to that a very naive CB pairing ,an out of position right back and a journeyman leftback fast approaching his sell-by date and we’re well and truly scuppered.
Positives We competed with ten men and it wasn't the absolute shellacking it could have been. Generally thought we looked well organised and there was an element of speed and pressing to our game - something which we've lacked. McGuinness had a really good game at centre-back. He's a loannee and I'm guessing he's an unlikely permanent transfer, but seems like he's Championship class and could have a good future. Edwards, Thomas, and Dozzell had decent games. Edwards always a threat and looking to get on the ball. Spurned a good chance to play Ward through in the second half. Dozzell set up good opportunities for Thomas, who arguably should've scored, and for Drinan, who turned his back as the ball came in. Negatives Same old Town - struggled to create many clear-cut goalscoring chances. Never really looked like scoring from open play without benefitting by a defensive mistake. Didn't score - idiotic challenge from Jackson. Drinan is not League One class, absolutely useless. Running around aimlessly. No guile, no football intelligence. I really hope he doesn't play again, I don't think he'll score a league goal for us all season. Fullbacks are slow, ponderous, and lacking threat. Chambers had another poor game. Ward also below average, offered nothing. They often got caught out by direct balls down our flanks. Sunderland was able to get behind our back line several times by doing so. We're still far too safe in our passing. Possession for the sake of possession. Difficult to judge how the game would've gone had we still had all 11 men, but we still seem content on passing backwards. Wolfenden was guilty of doing this far too often. Didn't really notice Downes was on the pitch. Jackson stupid sending off. Edwards and Dozzell frequently looking exasperated. I wonder how much these players actually want to be here? Please can we take throw-ins quicker than what we're currently doing? Feels like minutes crawl by when Chambers, Ward et al stand on the touchline, ball in hand, staring gormlessly as the players shuffle around on the pitch. Players - get open and make space! Throw-in taker, you can talk to the players you know?
We sold Waghorn and Garner for a combined £11M and gave Mcgoldrick away to Sheffield Utd, then we got Jackson from Accrington and Norwood from Tranmere to replace them, as the old saying goes " you buy cheap you get shoddy " Christ was that ever true, neither of them want to be here and hardly ever play anyway, Evans out !
The decision to get rid of Waghorn, Garner, McGoldrick, Webster, and fail to adequately replace our loanees - thus ridding ourselves of our top five goalscorers from the season before - is arguably the most destructive dismantling of an Ipswich Town squad in our recent history. They were all good players and most have gone on to bigger and better things, including a couple of promising Premier League careers. The argument could've been made that McGoldrick was too injury prone (he's being managed far more effectively at Sheffield United, where he's been a virtual ever-present for the last few years). We also couldn't keep Waghorn against his will, but I thought we handled that rather poorly. Hurst's replacements - effectively players he was comfortable with from divisions three and four - should have been minimised and approved by a Director of Football. Somebody in that role would've noticed and pushed back against bringing in so much untested lower league players, and would have suggested some proven Championship experience. The full list below, courtesy of Wikipedia. Bear in mind a lot of those undisclosed summer transfers were over a million. Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 1 July 2018 LM please log in to view this image Jordan Roberts please log in to view this image Crawley Town Free transfer [12] 17 July 2018 LW please log in to view this image Gwion Edwards please log in to view this image Peterborough United Undisclosed[a] [13] 23 July 2018 CF please log in to view this image Ellis Harrison please log in to view this image Bristol Rovers Undisclosed [14] 8 August 2018 CM please log in to view this image Jon Nolan please log in to view this image Shrewsbury Town Undisclosed[c] [15] 8 August 2018 CB please log in to view this image Aristote Nsiala please log in to view this image Shrewsbury Town Undisclosed[c] [15] 9 August 2018 CF please log in to view this image Kayden Jackson please log in to view this image Accrington Stanley Undisclosed[d] [16] 3 January 2019 CB please log in to view this image Janoi Donacien please log in to view this image Accrington Stanley Undisclosed[e] [17] 9 January 2019 LW please log in to view this image Simon Dawkins Free agent Free transfer [18] 11 January 2019 CB please log in to view this image James Collins Free Agent Free transfer [19] 14 January 2019 AM please log in to view this image Alan Judge please log in to view this image Brentford Undisclosed [20]
It's not often I disagree with you Nuggets but I don't think we did compete, we survived and didn't get hammered but we didn't seriously threaten their goal and were never going to score, not that we score much when we have 11 on the field, we remarked at throw ins nobody was moving trying to lose their marker so there wasn't anyone to throw to. Our few corners were dreadful with giant defenders routinely heading the ball away, ok it was terrible weather to play in and fortunately Sunderland aren't that good but they didn't need to be to beat a lightweight Town side. The positive for me was Thomas who showed more pace and enthusiasm than the rest put together.
I thought we were in the game - although I agree our goal threat in the final third was not particularly potent. A few decent-ish opportunities, but nothing clear cut, other than Thomas' chance. I think it's a bit harsh to say that we just survived, implying we were holding on throughout. Despite the numerical disadvantage, I thought we got on the ball quite a bit and did make a game of it. Sunderland looked average throughout and reminded me of a latter-day Mick McCarthy Town outfit. Take away Sunderland's goal just before half-time or say Thomas' shot crept in, and I don't think anyone would argue against a draw being a fair result. Agreed on set piecies, FieldMarshall. Put simply, we haven't got a good approach to them. We seem to do the fashionable thing of trying to get the ball just beyond the first man and in that area at the near post from close range. Premier League players can often manage this. Our lot will always hit the first man. Waghorn tried this a lot. It's a purely arbitary number, but it felt that for every ten corners Waghorn would take, eight would hit the first man and two would go in that dangerous area for a clear cut chance.
I think what we are all saying is that we are totally pissed off with the current utterly predictable situation at ITFC, no investment for years has led us here and the enthusiasm has drained away to scepticism and discontent, just think of how many regular posters we had on this board compared to now, this is because no one can see a better future while Evans is here and the manager is largely irrelevant with no funding to improve the squad and move on useless deadwood, I don't think anyone could turn our squad into promotion material and even if they did we would not survive in the Championship.
Sunderland fan in peace. Good luck for the rest of the season, always had a lot of time for your club and fans. Well apart from the one who tried to pick a fight with me watching a match in Bury St Edmunds. Hope he’s miserable
I'm chiming in a bit late on this one as I've only just watched the full replay, I was unable to see it live yesterday. Jackson completely stupid for the red card and it left us with a challenge but with 80 minutes to go I think Lambert failed at that challenge. I can understand his reasoning for keeping it the same during the first half. We stifled Sunderland for the most part, sure we sacrificed any attacking threat in order to do so but we were in the game. Poor goal to give away so close to the whistle after hard work from the lads. Half time and the decisions that followed are what I disagree with. First off, now being a goal behind, I would have sent the team out in 3-4-1-1 with Sears on for Ward up front, Edwards/Thomas wide and Nolan behind Freddie. I chose Ward over Chambers obviously because Luke is a CB but more because he can actually be dangerous at free kicks and corners. Giving up a defender for a striker would have given us more options to put Sunderland on the back foot at times instead of allowing them the ball comfortably by their goal. Playing a 3-4-1-1 would also mean that we could compete for the ball in all areas of the pitch instead of just the middle and our thirds.The CBs would have instruction to stay back (except for corners etc) and not get too far forward, Chambers included. The next change would have been Bishop on for Nolan, who just before he was subbed I'd seen with his hand to his groin so not sure if he got a twinge and you see how the game goes from there. I didn't agree with Lambert's decisions, he was negative in his reaction to how the game was going. We were losing already so why try to continue to keep Sunderland at bay and give them nothing to worry about up their end, you're just throwing the game away? I thought Thomas should have stayed on the pitch and I thought we should've gone to three at the back at some point. We had no outlets up front and that resulted in us playing defence against attack for the majority of the second half. There was no need for it to be that way just because we had 10 men!
I got the impression that if we only lost 1 - 0 it was some kind of moral victory in some quarters, I find that kind of thinking total bollocks as they got the 3 points and we didnt, we are not good enough to even consider promotion.