Well i didn't expect that, good solid performance, far from perfect, but in the end just about deserved. Firstly, i hope after today people will get off skuse and hyam back, you could tell in the last 10mins how much we missed them, i was surprised that mick didn't move tabb in the middle when hyam went off because we looked losted at the end. Also hyam looked a lot more creative today which was was encouraging. Defensive wise, we looked strong and i can't see us conceding many, even gerks done well with the high balls, and recovered well from his fumble. Upfront, same as last year we looked good, i never thought we would see murphs score a goal like that and well didsy is just didsy and just makes us look a completely different team even when nowhere near fit. So all in all a fantastic start and something to build on. Well done boys.
Nice post Guru and helpful summary. Loved to have seen that encouraging start to another wonderful Ipswich season....my 55th for the records! A few Qs for those who were at PR yesterday: How did new boy Badger play? Pity he got injured. How serious...list is growing worryingly! What do we do to replace Cressie's superb overlaps and feed-ins? What the hell do we do about present (absurd?) ticket pricing policy and so many empty seats for first great match of a new season?! Do I feel a new campaign coming on? Cant wait to meet up at Rileys soon...shame Hoppers will have his clothes on...just! Mine's a pint Adnams Warky! Hope to see more new faces & youth for Tuesday's game. Need to carefully pace ourselves and get something next match at Reading.
I thought badger did ok, he obviously needs time but will be better than noubs. Didn't think he was too bad injury wise, just the game took its toll and was shock to the system. I thought mings did ok, obviously not as good as cressy but he got forward well and defended well, i do believe he will have to play second fiddle to parr. I thought tabb was excellent, my main problem was that he kept coming inside too much and meant we looked unbalanced. The prices, same old story, i reckon if it wasn't on tv the crowd would have been 21k ish.
Which is a bit worrying after only 44 minutes,I thought he looked a bit too similar to Murphs and as a result we reverted to the long ball too much.We looked far more balanced and had better options once Didds came on.
He's not had much of a pre season so he is bound to be behind in his fitness and will need more game time. He looked preset useful and he held the ball up well. Didz made all the difference to us though when he came on. Tabb had a great game and got through an enormous amount of work. Berra was just sheer quality as usual and Hyam was a revelation! Arguably his best ever game in a Town shirt! We are lacking numbers and that is my concern for this season. A positive start but as Mick says we still have another 45 games to play!
Badger was absolutely garbage but I couldn't care less, we won and he'll get better Like said not much of a pre-season but there is a player in there. No way he will even come on off the bench next league game from what I saw so start him Tuesday in the cup, get him settled into the new country, training etc and see how he comes on over time 45 more wins please
Sorry Warky but i cant agree that Tabb had a great game, he did ok for me but that was about it!! Murphy, Hyam, Berra and Smith, for me, were the stand out players. Bajner looked out of his depth but i still think, given time, he will be good for us, whereas Bru......... cant see him playing much!! I thought we looked weak down the left, would much rather Parr and Hensh there when Parr is fit!!
I agree about Tabb, a lot of people seem impressed with him but he just didn't do it for me (first half especially). I thought Mings was much better second half, Mick must have told him to stop hoofing it up the pitch each time he got the ball. He definitely had his ups and downs but that is what you would expect of a young player, with time I think Mick will turn him into a solid championship player but I think Mick will put Parr in as soon as he is fit again. I was really impressed with Hyam, put in a lot of crunching tackles and seemed to play much more positively than last season. He was a bit reckless in some tackles but overall I think he will really shine this season. Hewitt surprised me, his loan spell has done him wonders. Very promising start from him which I wasn't expecting to be honest. Murph/McG outstanding, when they are both fully fit all other strikers really need to do something special if they want a place in the team.
