We win! Wahoo! Onto Blackburn. The gap does come down to 7 points, which over a 19 game cycle, I would say DOES open the door and represent a chance. However, we haven't won back to back games all season, and Lambert's last 5 away = L L L L L with a goal scored tally of 0. This MUST improve. What also strikes me with Lambert's tenure, is we seem a 45 minute team. I was waxing lyrical about the first 45 at Reading. Superb. Yesterday sounds like battered second half. Bristol City + Millwall very promising first halfs - infact he's more a first half man! Again, if we're to have a hope in hell's chance of survival, we must play better for more than 45 - even if the second half the opposition shade / or is even, this must improve. Reading the table, I was about to do a pitch and how ' Blackburn may be ideal opposition as midtable perhaps with season going nowhere ' - however, while midtable they find themselves just 6 off the play offs. They can turn that. We have an awful record at Ewood Park - last win - 1996 in the fa cup, and 1991 in the league. At least we have bodies in - appears Judge WILL be joining us this week ( could be a massive signing that ) and the new players all have minutes in the body. Huws was on the bench, sad to see Bishop an unused sub however again he's an option we have ( I'd use but understand been out for ages ) Not sure about a prediction right now, however with increased fire power + Collins, we surely look the best at both ends of the pitch we have all season. I think I expect us to score....... Sidenote - notice Jack Rodwell played CB for them last time out according to Soccerway. Cannot picture that!
Tough game to call, but I’m going to be pessimistic and say the best we can realistically get is a draw. We didn’t play that well against Rotherham, who, if they had been sharper in front of goal and took advantage of the multitude of free kicks they were awarded, would’ve run out comfortable winners. We did defend very well though, so a repeat performance could grab us a low scoring draw. I’m going to go for a narrow 2-1 defeat though, Sheffield Wednesday away from home the week after looks more likely to yield us points.
Think we're going to be better in both boxes but terrible in between (based on the system used against Rotherham) hopefully we can fine tune it and bring bit more balance. Can see us getting a valiant point from this having taken the lead and immediately pegged back only to weather the inevitable barrage late on to claim a decent point 1-1 Quaner to score
Good to see them going the full 120 minutes tonight, and looks like they've picked up a couple of injuries
Can see one of Quaner or Keane being dropped for Judge as we need someone in there who can play in the No 10 role, rather than having a striker (Keane) have a go at it as it left us so open in midfield which Skuse & Chalobah didn't ever have under control. Can see the same line up as Rotherham expect Judge slotting in for Quaner. Keane looks the sharper of the 2 of them so should probably get the nod leading the line, but with Quaner, Huws, Bishop, Harrison on the bench was actually have some genuine options from the bench who can impact on games
It sounds as though Evans has committed ourselves to Lambert for next season so let’s hope the performances and results improve soon, or Evans is going to regret either his promise or his decision.
This is a bit concerning to me, considering we've only won two from twelve. Surprisingly, the announcement on social media and TWTD was met with widespread celebrations and gratitude from Town fans. I'm aware Lambert has made the right noises, sounded out advice from former players, communicated to the supporters, and seems more willing than previous managers to identify some of the underlying issues at the club. But, having said that, managers are ultimately judged on results and Lambert's have not been brilliant despite some of the poor standard of opposition we've played under his tenure. If he somehow keeps us up or we show evident signs of improvement in the second half of the season (despite being relegated), then I'd be open to the idea of keeping him on next season. But giving him the assurance he'll be in charge next season, regardless of our form for the rest of the season, does not set the highest of standards or ambition for this football club. He can hardly be blamed for the state of the squad he inherited, but he should be held accountable all the same for poor results, particularly if they continue in the second half of this season after his mini-overhaul of the playing squad.
I'm very happy at the news Lambert is staying. The reaction from the fans at the weekend shows what he's brought to town even if the results haven't come. Fans seem to be excited to come to Portman Road again, I've not known that in years, I don't even think during the playoff season our fans showed that level of noise. I wasn't sure on Lambert to start with given his connections to Norwich and patchy record since, but he's brought hope, excitement and an identity to the club even if not the results and for me he is currently our biggest asset. I remember when we appointed Keane and the Budgies appointed PL and was so envious of them, he did an outstanding job. I think he's the best manager we've had in a long while. Perhaps I've fallen for the front but at this moment who cares, despite being in the worst position we have been in in years he's rekindled something I've not felt about Ipswich since Magilton was here!!
How short lived is all this going to be when we’re relegated though? That’s my concern. I think the noise in the stadium has more to do with the fans taking action than Lambert doing anything.
I'm also fully in Lambert's corner. I watch all the interviews and pressers on both TWTD and itfc.co.uk and I am impressed by what he is doing behind the scenes to drag the club up. Example - In this weeks official pre match interview with Steve Pearce the location was some office or training room. Pretty standard affair, the normal questions from Steve as usual. Paul responded to one question related to the Bielsa incident about how much PL studies other teams by saying that he would rather focus on his team and what they can do, a far cry from Mick telling us constantly how we needed to stop other teams playing etc. He said he didn't want us to sit back, be passive or boring, sounds good right? Example - Steve then went on to ask Paul a question about changes at the training ground, it seems there is a lot more blue paint around the place now and he's given it a freshen up. His answer was that there are standards to be kept, people should enjoy coming in to work, that the place looked tired. Now he may have done that simply because he didn't want to come in to a scruffy old office because he's bigger than that, vain if you like. I'd like to think that he's looking at every aspect of getting the club back on track. An ongoing joke with us is about Clegg painting the turnstyles, from most reports it sounds like the grounds need some of that TLC right now. I'm sure most people would enjoy going to work to a freshly painted and clean looking environment. It might not be much but it has a great effect on everyone who has been feeling the pinch from Marcus backstage. Needless to say I'm buying into it because I'm looking way further than just the results to see his effect on our club. You don't need to be an iFollow subscriber to watch the interviews, go to the official website, click on the iFollow dropdown and go to the videos and watch it! I also had to laugh during the twtd presser when he was asked about the high wages of the incoming players. Paul quickly turned this around by asking the journo for his source. It seems some of the figures he eventually teased out of him were close to the mark. Paul didn't really let it drop for the rest of the session, coming back to it a couple of times. His last words when he stood up to leave were "I'll get your mole" He seemed a bit narked so I'm wondering if he thinks someone leaked info. I think he's done pretty good although risky business with who he's brought in. I've no doubt we are an improved team now and we'll be more than competitive in League One with him at the helm. Sorry to make you read all the above, I just had some spare time to write about how I think Paul is having a positive influence on our club and clearly wants to awaken a fallen and forsaken butterfly and have us spread our beautiful wings to fly again.
https://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswich-town/lambert-to-pay-for-town-fans-travel-to-blackburn-1-5858328 Another example of Lambert not doing anything He seems to be the first manager since ME has been here to stand up to him
The only thing I ever hear about Lambert is that the ground is buzzing, the fans are united and he says the right thing. Fans are all over social media praising this. I have not seen one example of anyone praising what goes on on the pitch. The positives that I see are: we’ve upped the tempo, we’ve signed Collins. That’s about it.
COYB. Match day! This week - no one at the bottom is playing each other so if we win we probably close the gap. Next week - Reading and Bolton play each other so at least one will pick up points but both cannot get 3. Let’s get those 3 points on the board and next week we could be off the bottom!
Completely agree Nuggets - first and foremost Lambert is here to win football matches. He's got every single thing correct so far bar the results! Yet is being met with absolute euphoria that I - well I cannot right now. He's on 9/36 plus a shocking cup exit, 0.75 points per game it's absolutely dire his ' results ' to date. Interestingly today Judge plays, lineup looks a lot better without a lot of Hurst's rubbish in the squad. That said, no Jackson OR Harrison today - no striker on the bench.............. brave or naive..........
Squad is bloody huge and I'm not a fan of big squads - we need players out A S A P . No Knudsen!! No Jackson No Harrison No Nolan No Dozzell No Edwards No Emmanuel ( perhaps not going to play ) No Nydam ( perhaps the same ) How in gods name not one of the four excluding Nolan arguably as not as attacking cannot get ahead of Dawkins is quite beyond me. If we can get big money for Dozzell, take it and run.
