I thought we edged the match and had the better of the chances. I thought Connolly and Waghorn (great header) in particular had strong performances. Garner and Webster also played well. We looked vulnerable down the flanks, unfortunately Spence was at fault for the penalty (clear handball) and should have done better. Likewise, Kenlock had an average game and didn't exactly give McCarthy a selection headache for when Knudsen returns. What really frustrated me was our time wasting at the end. I felt we initiated that tactic too early and we sacrificed goalscoring opportunities for the sake of keeping the ball in the corner. We invited pressure and Wednesday, when they got the opportunity, were all to eager to make the most of it.
I also disagree with some of the 'dull / turgid' performance comments on here. I thought we looked lively, created several decent opportunities, and looked the better side until injury time came around. Okay, so it was hardly the free-flowing football played at teams like Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League, but it was a marked improvement on the stuff I usually see at Portman Road over the past couple of seasons and we clearly made an effort to play the ball on the ground. It's a shame that it didn't quite pay off.
I don't get why everyone is praising Connolly or I must have been watching a different game! The amount of times he gave the friggin ball away was criminal! Yes he made a few good tackles and interceptions but his distribution is woeful and needs working on. We deserved to win but the reason we didn't is because we didn't push on for the killer 3rd goal at the end. Fannying around with it in the corner in a bid to run down the clock instead of going for the throat has cost us dearly. This is what a Mick McCarthy team does! Only 3 points off the play-offs though boys so the Dream is still alive!!!! I wonder if Loovens gave back McGoldrick's Bollock$ after the game!
I think if that was seen as a good performance it really shows how poor the performances and entertainment value has been under Mick. We certainly strung together some decent moves and showed what we are capable of producing certainly Waghorns goal was superb and defensively i thought we were pretty good but in total we played well for about 15 minutes of the total 95. For the most part we did not have much of the ball (only 32% at home) and when we did we hoofed it, gave it away cheaply or ran as fast as we could down a blind alley before running it out of play or giving it away. We can expect so much more of this team on the ball. Alot of our fans I'm hearing are saying it's one of if not the best performance we've seen this season, Shef Weds fans are saying it was quite a poor quality match.....how low have our expectations of entertainment become?
The entertainment value under Mick has been notoriously low during the latter half of his tenure here. However, I would argue that there has been a marked improvement in performances this season and, despite the fact we've played a lot of weaker teams so far this season, we are three points off the play offs with a game in hand. Also, I'd point to the victories over Sunderland, Millwall, and Preston as being our best performances of the season, and even our 3-2 defeat against Leeds resulted in a good performance. So for the fans who are saying this was our best performance of the season, clearly doesn't watch a lot of Ipswich games. It was not a perfect performance, and I agree it was not one of our best performances, but this was not a dull performance. It was not a turgid game. I thought it was entertaining and relatively end-to-end, particularly the second half. Despite being dominated in possession, we had 13 shots and 8 were on target and had several very decent goalscoring opportunities. I'm not saying this vindicates McCarthy as our manager or makes me more receptive to him extending his stay with us. I'd be one of the first to state and hope that we get a new manager when his contract expires in the summer. However, credit where credit is due. We have improved this season, we are starting to play a better style of football and last night wasn't a bad game. On reflection, I thought we deserved a narrow win.
Goldy has had to undergo Surgery this morning and I really hope that they manage to stitch them back in! It was a diabolical tackle and I hope that the FA can take retrospective action against Loovens, just what the hell the Assistant Referee was doing when he had a clear sight of it, god only knows! The officials were as usual very poor last night.
Can the FA take retrospective action jonny? I certainly hope so and now we will be without McG for a few matches. As for the match, two teams just outside the playoffs showing plenty of endeavor and energy with little in the way of quality, we did what we do best that is run around a lot and give the ball back to the opposition as quickly as possible, Sheffield Wed do things slightly differently they have plenty of possession but very little goal threat. All things considered it goes to show the gulf between Prem and Championship. A fully fit Huws and Adeyemi will no doubt strengthen our useless midfield so maybe there's the prospect of some progress after Christmas.
Hope him and his missus aren't planning on having more kids. But back to the football, I hate to say this but I think this could well be a bit of a blessing in disguise. I rate McG as much as the next Town fan but he's very frustrating and we tend to allow him more freedom at the detriment to other players and the teams' overall shape and balance. A front 3 of Garner, Waghorn and Celina would allow us to play someone like Huws, Ward (or even Bish) next to 2 solid midfielders and give us much greater balance across the whole team. At times last night our midfield was being turned inside out (albeit slowly) and they were isolated between our back four and our front four.
Stick by what I said straight after the game,in my opinion it was turgid, as an advert for Championship football it was poor and if I was paying good money to watch it I'd have been disappointed (Oh I was). Still it's all about opinions and we each have our own
I see both sides of the argument. Certainly it was by no means the worst I've seen under Mick in terms of entertainment and we created some good chances and put some half decent moves together but if we would have watched a game like this in the Burley era we would have come away saying what a terrible match it was. It's just frustrating that given the players we have on the pitch now we can't seem to retain possession for more than 5 seconds. We have good players who aren't being used to the best of their ability. 2/3 years ago under Mick we saw more direct football with worse players but we had an identity. We've got the makings of a good young footballing team now, we just haven't got the manager to get the best out of them. I agree with you Scowie on McGoldrick. I think he's a bit like the striker version of Skuse, clearly a good player (technically probably one of our best) but positionally I think he unbalances us and I've often thought we look better as an attacking unit when he's not on the pitch. Technically McGoldrick is streets ahead of Sears for example but Sears positioning and movement creates space for others, McGoldrick doesn't do that.
Now that Huws is back I think that we can afford to do without Goldy for a few weeks. Huws is a class player as he showed last night.
I definitely agree that this squad has the potential to play better football and, with the right coaching, we can emulate teams like Huddersfield and Brighton, who played an attractive style of football in this division and achieved success. I would argue that while we cleared out a lot of deadwood in the summer, we still have players who, come June, should be moved on. The defence clearly needs a reshuffle and I don't think any of our right-backs (Spence, Iorfa, and Emmanuel) are first-team material for a side pushing for promotion. Kenlock needs to improve to make the team but thankfully Knudsen has been impressive this season. Webster clearly needs more match fitness and should return to form, however, I think we need to move on one of Smith and Chambers, bringing in an experienced centre-back and another promising youngster. We have quality in central midfield but could do with some pacy wingers comfortable with the ball at their feet (Ward would fit the bill, for me, Celina won't stay, and we can presume Rowe is lacking the required mentality and quality to make the first team.
Without a doubt McG is the best footballer we have as far as skills are concerned, but I have to say his refusal to pass to team mates who are in a scoring position is worrying, is it just appalling decision making? Or nothing more complicated than greed? Whatever it is it must be addressed because we are not winning matches because of it. As for our defensive problems dare I say we are missing Berra? Although not as good as a couple of years ago he didn't miss much in the air and now we are the team who has conceded more goals from set plays than any other team in the division! Maybe its time for some quality defenders to be brought in and some of the stalwarts to be moved on? Over to you Evans.
The one thing that you are constantly taught as a youngster learning the game is to keep your head up to be aware of others running into space and in a better position. Sears was guilty of not doing this when all he had to do was square it across to Celina for an easy tap in! Goldy is greedy most of the time and it is frustrating but to be fair he does also create chances for others. At least we showed that we can play some decent attacking football at times without aimlessly hoofing it up the pitch. The long diags in the first half were exceptional and caused Wednesday no end of problems when we managed to isolate their left back many times. The thing that amazed me the most though was the fact that we tried to keep hold of the ball in the corner when we aren't a possession based team!! We were inviting the counter attack and sucker punch.
Spot on Johnny, we asked for it and we got it with a few seconds to go, I was shouting at the TV when we were in the corners trying to run out the game. Wednesday had shown nothing up front so carry on doing what we know works.
With regards to the squad I think you're right. Chambers hasn't been great at CB this season, seems like years of playing him out of position have affected him much like many other players have under Mick. When Mick first came here though Smith and Chambers were really a good defensive pairing together. (I think Skuse would make a decent CB) Fullbacks I agree although I'm still not 100% convinced on Knudsen. Would like to see Kenlock and Emmanuel given more opportunities to see how they develop. Again agree with the midfield, we've got an abundance of talent in CM with lots of good young players but need strengthening on the wing. I find it strange however than CM is probs our strongest area but when watching us it's certainly out weakest this is where Mick and his tactics are at fault!! Our midfield is pretty much non existent on the ball
