A thoroughly deserved win, although maybe a bit closer and scrappier than we would’ve liked! Much better defensively today - that should be the back four week in, week out unless there are injuries or suspensions. Didn’t quite flow for us attacking wise, but the subs did their thing against a tiring West Brom defence. On current form, Jack Clarke and Azon should be starting ahead of Egeli and Hirst. I also quite liked Nunez’s cameo at the more advanced midfield role - potentially a starting option there?
Agree about Taylor, motm for me tho Nunez dazzles and jinxes he needs to score some goals. Well won 3 pts today, and maybe KM knows his starting eleven due to injuries. Much better spirit too, esp 2nd half.
Decent performance if maybe a little nervy, a few stray passes, Davis looked good today Egali got better as the game wore on, I’d like to see Azon play just behind Hirst for a bit.
Forgot it was an early kick off. Nice surprise to see us win. Hopefully able to restore some confidence and momentum for next game. Unless Keiron concludes that making the 9 changes was the key...
Only one side wanted to win it in the second half and whilst it wasn't a great performance I'll take the win and clean sheet.
Aye the fans were **** and didn’t deserve a round of applause, the players should have lined up and booed them out at the end.
What fans? **** how? What did you hear? Heard nothing negative from where I was sat, except aimed at the diabolical ref.
Some context here -> https://www.twtd.co.uk/forum/617713/mckenna-referenced-a-‘really-really-difficult-atmosphere’/#18 The party atmosphere and vibes of the League One season are long since gone. It’s on the players to give the crowd something to get excited about, has been in very short supply in 2025. Still the fans keep showing up and the support is overwhelmingly with the players. McKenna should have a taste of the Mick McGiven era if he thinks there was anything difficult about that atmosphere.
It’s all the same fans that have been there all the while and received praise for generating a great atmosphere in the past. When watching Ipswich Town is fun again then maybe the atmosphere will return. Only one man has the power to make that happen.
The same fans that like to sing ‘follow the town up OR down’ Seriously though I’m sure fans can drive the players on if they are vocal in their support and also affect players if their vocals are negative so why would fans want to be negative during a game.
Although I wasn’t at the game today, I must admit there does feel to be an element of entitlement from some supporters at Portman Road this season. As somebody who typically sits somewhere between the away fans and the Blue Action singing section in Cobbold Upper, there are many around me who only really make a noise when we score, applaud a good chance, moan when we give the ball away/make a mistake, or shout at the referee. For the rest of the match, they sit more or less in stony silence. This season and the second half of last season have been particularly noticeable for long stretches of near silence from our fans. The North Stand is quieter than the Blue Action section since they moved to that part of the Cobbold. Around the ground, it’s nowhere near as bad the Mick McCarthy years, but there’s been a noticeable change since the double promotion seasons. Specific to Ipswich, we’ve obviously had a lot more to celebrate in recent seasons. Fans are naturally going to louder and more positive when we’re winning or playing above expectations. We have also seen a lot of fan favourites leave over the last year or so - which means several fan favourite chants have had to be retired (or awkwardly repurposed). And while attendances have been consistently high over the last few years, there has been an increase in “fair weather” fans who jumped on a bandwagon and haven’t been used to watching us lose games. And of course across football, rising ticket prices and the “gentrification” of football attendances means that many people (particularly younger fans - who are more likely to sing) are being priced out of watching us live. McKenna made a conscious point of referring to the lack of atmosphere in the Sky post match interview. It’s possible he’s looking to get a reaction out of supporters. That’s not an unfair request, many other managers have done it across the sport. I get that fans aren’t exactly going to be cheering when we’re losing - but, to me, it does feel Portman Road is struggling to fall in love with a much-changed side. Fans can choose how to pass the time at a football match after spending money to attend, but I honestly can’t understand why they’d turn up just to be silent or to boo. You don’t need an excuse to support your team - get behind them. Players play better when they feel valued and get encouraged by supporters. It’s not rocket science.
I don’t think that an electric atmosphere is something that can just be manufactured from the stand. It comes when the fans feel emotional and excited. Nunez showed a bit of spirit when he came on and the crowd lifted. It has to come from both sides. In 2025 it’s mostly only come from one side and the energy and belief in the stands is depleted. New bonds and belief needs to be created and choosing not to show appreciation for a full stadium (or my 700 mile round trip today) only reinforces that the good times are a thing of the past.
Lots of interesting points about fans, and impressive round trip of 700 miles Hampy! Will KM change his system having seen what we have all seen. Clearly Nunez and his creative talents should be a 10 and Azon up front. He also brought Sindre into play and he hit some special crosses. Clarke or Philo on left, both have their strengths. Taylor is a revelation this season wen he has played. Deserves to start. Szmodics, who at moment doesnt convince me, wen fit can come on and be a bully boy. Defense much better, tho still the odd giveaway which allowed them in. We now have 7 days to rest, regroup, and go on a run with confidence much higher.
Much needed win however lots of room for improvement in the performances and lots to consider in a really unbalanced performance. Very typical of us this season, lots of possession but until the goals went in not a great deal of chances except pot shots. The whole balance of the team is very different. And I think is part of the reason Hirst is struggling, he's never been a 20 goal a season striker nor technically the best but he was vital to our team because his work off the ball, both in terms in the press and with his runs creating space for others. We used to have Chaplin and Broadhead dropping into pockets of space in the middle of the park which made it easier to play quickly through the pitch, with Hirst leading the line or making runs in behind. This season we don't really have that, Szmodics only seems any good when hes trying to get in behind, Egli sticks to the wing but always checks inside, same as Philogene which means Hirst is having to drop into those pockets of space trying to control the ball (which has never been his biggest strength) plus it means we try to play tippy tappy football out from the back and then there's a huge space in the middle of the park which one of our defenders or midfielders then tries to play a long ball up the pitch to Hirst which often gets intercepted. Then the other issue we have is Egili, Philogene and Clarke all like to check inside rather than running into the space or find a player overlapping this constantly allows the opposition to get back into shape and most of the time they end up running into the defenders and we lose the ball. Our set pieces are awful at the moment too and even when we do find Davis in good positions (which is less than it used to be) his final ball is either a hopefully cross into the box in which we have no players getting on the end of (always an area I've felt Hirst could improve on) or no one is finding those pockets of space for him to cut back into. I have to say Azon looks like he attacks the ball in the box but he isn't the biggest. Another thing ive observed is when defending both in terms of midfielders and defenders we used to have players who marked the space to intercept the ball we now have a load of front foot players who try to nick the ball off players meaning they often dive in, whilst this can sometimes be a good thing as they're more aggressive it also means when they dont get the ball the opposition are suddenly in tonnes of space and for me it always looks like an accident waiting to happen. Yesterday WBA just did not pose enough of an attacking threat to punish us like Charlton did for those lapses. The positives we won and that game was often similar to many games we played last season when we'd be in it for the majority of the game but then the opposition would just bring on quality off the bench and grind us down. I thought Walton was assured without being overly tested but he's a great sweeper keeper and whilst technically not the best in terms of distribution he's great at knowing when to clear his lines, when to release the ball quickly and when to pass it out. He's great at throwing the ball out quickly to start an attack. It's clear Matusiwa is one of our most important players but I thought yesterday he had one of his poorer games losing the ball and getting caught out a few times. Taylor had a game we needed someone with a bit of tenacity and energy in the middle. Szmodics wasn't on the pitch for long but I dont think he offers enough on the ball for a 10 how we like it to be played, so we either need to play in a way to suit him or get someone else in. For me Egeli looks like a 10 in the making. The final thing is I think we need to get Nunez on the pitch somewhere (probably next to Matusiwa) as he has the ability to create. He unlocked the defence more than anyone whilst he was on the pitch, although to be fair there was generally more space at that point.
