Thanks Scotty - I am keeping the faith.

I agree with RoyleBlue we were awful in the 2nd half at Coventry

However, we were fantastic in the second half against a very good WBA yesterday. 2-0 and it could've been more.

Next up - Pompey in the cup - I know they are good away, but we are even better at home. I think we're going to win.

ATB Rotf

100% record for 2008 so far and yet to concede a goal - I hope this is the shape of things to come.

It seems that the better the opponents are, the better we play.

It's deja vu all over again - well David James was man of match and if he'd played for England against Croatia then we would have been on our way to Switzerland.

We were the better side - no question - but you can't play with 10 against 12 and win. Portsmouth are a good enough side with 11 players, but when I saw they had 12, one of whom had a whistle and some cards, then I knew it was not going to be our day.

What a dreadful referee - arrogant as he was incompetent - don't the FA know fans pay good money to see a game between two talented and totally committed teams, not to see some clown who doesn't know the rules - he did his best to ruin the came.

The referee original told Liam Trotter that he was getting booked. Joe Jordan [Portsmouth's revoltingly ugly coach and, as far as I remember, a complete donkey in his playing daze] was in the fourth official's ear telling him it was a sending off, a straight red, which did not really help the situation. However if Joe Jordan has influenced an experience referee, then football really is in trouble. Ipswich will not appeal against referee, Mark Halsey, because as the referee himself put it - he is a professional and is 100 percent right.

As Jim put it: Maybe he will go to Lourdes and repent, he may have a look at it. I doubt it. We will see. Maybe we will have a sit down and think about it, but I am not going to beg for mercy.

Liam was a little bit late, but from an experienced referee, it was a caution. Liam is 19 years of age, but he has not got a malicious bone in his body. An experienced referee deals with it. I have asked the referee at half-time and he has told me he is a professional and he is 100% right. That is what we are dealing with

So we'll be concentrating on the league again without the distraction of a cup run.

Portsmouth are a good side - Nugent is always a pain and took his goal well, but James won them the match with three outstanding saves: twice from Danny Haynes and once from Alan Lee. The fact that a 10-man Ipswich were the better side against lofty premiership opposition bodes well for the future.

Oh well - good luck to Portsmouth.

I rest my case the man should not referee - please click here for the evidence.

rotf,
you woz robbed as far as i could see (which was only motd highlights)
we have the best league in the world with the worst refs ! incompetent to put it mildly.
look on the bright side son you held your own against top premiership opposition so bodes well for next year when you play them again in the top flight.
all the best, scotty

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
...The fact that a 10-man Ipswich were the better side against lofty premiership opposition bodes well for the future.

Ah well another year of the 'get knocked out of the FA Cup to concentrate on promotion fight' strategy (though this time not self-inflicted)...

Ho hum.

..The frightening thing ROTF is that I used to think Halsey was one of the better Premiership referees ....it could have been worse though you could have had (gasp) Steve Bennett - arrogant prick that he is (Keano loves him as well!)

all the refs are tossers in the premier league.
IMHO.

It was a decent enough match - we were probably the better side, but Stoke are an aggressive team and play some good stuff and didn't capitulate when we had them on the ropes in the first half.

Great goal by Danny Haynes - hope no premiership scouts were watching - start the bidding at £25m if you're interested; he's got to be worth more than Shevchenko.

I think we should have had penalty when Pablo was manhandled in the box.

Still next up on the agenda - an away win - please.

ATB Rotf

A point away from home

Good fight back with 10-men and excellent header from Jon Walters from a corner by the outstanding Gary Roberts.

Sito-Castro's silly lunge earned him a red-card (when will they ever learn) - it wasn't malicious, but neither was it excusable.

10-days rest now

Managers often tell you that such-and-such a place is difficult to go - well I can concur that from where I live Blackpool is a very difficult place to go.

rotf,
i know im stating the bleeding obvious mate but the tractor boys really do need to start to win away from home NOW! if you want to play us next season.

Ho hum

Yes - you're right - I don't think we are going to go up this year - we just can't get enough points away from Portman Road.

Our reserves did OK today

IPSWICH TOWN 12 MK DONS 1

Jordan Rhodes scored six.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Yes - you're right - I don't think we are going to go up this year...

From where we finished last season, wearing our sensible hat perhaps it is not a bad thing, all things considered, if we don't go up this time, as we'd only come straight back down again!

We want to go up and stay up. This season's very welcome cash injection to remove the financial spectre is very welcome, and with some thoughtful investment (rather than 'trolley dash') in new players to strengthen the squad, hopefully this season will in fact be one of consolidation, getting us nearer promotion territory and stabilising performances to bring a better consistency (away as well as home) and thus laying the foundations for a more realistic promotion bid next time.

My heart says wouldn't it be great to get promotion at the end of this one. My head says that with all that has happened in the last 18 months it would be better to have the quality to be serious contenders. (But then I'm one who would rather the garage take a little longer over servicing the car and get it right than dash through it just to get it done quickly, and make mistakes.)

James

My team, Burnley, are apparently interested in Alan Lee (having sold Andy Gray).

Is he any good?

quote:

We want to go up and stay up

Better still - go up and win it, just like 61/62.

James, I think we'd stay up - as we would win 10 or so home games - probably not get much away. In one way it is a shame the Squarkers wouldn't be up with us because it is always useful to have 6 points in the bag

Still another season in the Championship is no bad thing - better than this time last year and we have the best manager around.

ATB Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by 7V:
My team, Burnley, are apparently interested in Alan Lee (having sold Andy Gray).

Is he any good?

Yes - but you can't have him because we still need him as cover for Danny Haynes and Pablo Counago; however, we have just got Alan Quinn and, young Jordan Rhodes is prolific in the reservers, so Alan Lee may find it hard to get in the team. Last I heard Jim said no bid has been accepted for Alan from Burnley.

I take it Andy Gray is not ambitious as he joined Ipswich rejects a.k.a Charlton

Didn't Alan play for Burnley back in 1999-2000 season before moving to Rotherham and then Cardiff (£850,000) before we picked him up for a snip (£100,000) - he is a good determined runner and Jim has got him scoring goals which is always useful. I'm not sure if he'd want to go, but I think if Burnley are offering £1.5m then we might accept.

ATB Rotf

No chance that we'd pay that sort of money for him. I think we're more keen to try and get Dundee United midfielder Barry Robson, although we've apparently got some competition there.

Lee did join Burnley in 1999 and left the next year. Judging by the forums, Burnley fans are less than enchanted with the prospect of paying even £900,000 for Lee, although money from the Andy Gray sale is burning a hole in the club's pockets. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if Gray's goalscoring dries up completely once he leaves the hallowed Turf.

We'll take Jordan Rhodes.

I didn't make it to last night's clash with Plymouth, but by all accounts we play ed well enough - the comments of the manager's seem to bare this out. Neil Alexander save a penalty as must be one of the best goalkeepers around.

Jim: We showed a real desire to get a result and, if they keep playing like that, they'll win more matches than they lose. On another day we could have scored three or four and we certainly had enough clear-cut chances. Our general play was very good and we started the second half brightly, but our goalkeeper made a fantastic save to keep us in the game.

Plymouth manager Paul Sturrock: It felt like we had four deaf mutes in our back four and communication problems among our foreigners reared its ugly head again. In the first half there were waves of attacks coming at us and that continued after the break. Football is a very strange game and we got a result which we didn't merit.

ATB Rotf

yes rotf BUT its points that really count at this stage and the reality is that the tractor boys dropped 2 more precious points and at home this time.
i fear you may have to wait another year to gain automatic promotion.
good luck, scotty