Town manager Jim Magilton has been sacked from his post as manager of Ipwsich Town FC.
He leaves the club after almost 3 years in charge, with John Gorman also relieved of his duties.
The season has been a difficult one, with home results ultimately being Jim's downfall, the exact opposite of last season. As the year progressed a wave of opposition built against Jim, both on the terraces and in the press, and with nothing left to play for with several games remaining the season was destined to be a disappointment. This despite an excellent performance against Norwich, which turned out to be Jim's final game.
TractorBoys.com would thank Jim for all he has done for Ipswich both as manager and as a player, and to wish him all the best in his future ventures.
The mighty Tractor Boys saw off local rivals Norwich City in a thrilling derby match, that leaves the Canaries in the drop zone and perilously close to relegation.
The visitors had taken the lead early on when Mooney was allowed a free header after a free kick from distance, but Town were soon back on terms through an excellent move resulting in Alan Quinn slotting home across the keeper and inside the far post.
Ipswich had most of the chances throughout the game and scored their second after the break from the spot after Kevin Lisbie was felled by keeper Marshall. They then went in search of a third to put the result beyond doubt, but despite numerous good chances this didn't come until the final minute. John Stead raced through on his own as the Norwich defence got the offside trap wrong, and he calmly fired his shot past Marshall and into the net to send the home fans wild.
Easy is never the Town way though, and soon after we gifted the budgies a penalty which Clingan scored with Wrighty diving the right way. This was deep into injury time though, and Ipswich soaked up what little pressure Norwich could apply before the final whistle was met with delirium.
This was undoubtably a much needed highlight in a very dull late-season for the home fans, and a very worrying blow for Norwich supporters who now have to rely on other teams slipping up with just 2 games to play.
A very late equaliser for Town as Giovanni Dos Santos slams one in from the spot in injury time. Neither team showed any real class which was perhaps expected as neither team had anything to play for.
Town had their chances although the draw was fair, and maybe the late goal will give them a lift before Sunday's big derby game against N****ch.
Town came away with a point after a scoreless game which, although hardly a classic, was not without chances and some quality performances by individuals.
Defender and Captain Gareth McAuley returned to the side after missing the previous game with a knock, and Tommy Miller made way in the midfield for Veliche Shumulikoski.
The first half was dominated by Ipswich in terms of possession, but Wednesday had the better chances, falling to them after lapses of concentration at the back by Town, but thankfully they wasted them. The home side came into the game are were the better side as the half time whistle approached.
There was little improvement in the game as a spectacle after the restart, and it wasn’t until way past the hour mark that Town had any decent chances. Jon Walters and Alan Quinn, returning to his old city, both had good chances from distance, but failed to really worry the keeper.
Kevin Lisbie was introduced for Stead with a quarter hour to go, and the game seemed to pick up for Ipswich with some late pressure building. It seemed we might pull off a late winner, and the best opportunity was perhaps as David Norris cheekily chipped the ball over a defender before rounding him to shoot from close range. Although he struck the ball well, the keeper just got finger tips to it and it cannoned off the bar. The move deserved a goal.
It wasn’t to be, and Wednesday breathed a sigh of relief upon the final whistle, and on reflection a second point away from home in the space of a week is not at all bad. But it was frustrating all the same as both those games were there for the taking.
It was good to see Norris put in a great performance which would probably been a man-of-the-match game had he managed that goal, but that accolade probably falls to McAuley who was very sturdy and hard to beat at the back. Great to see him stepping up a gear.
We have a brief diversion with the visit of Wigan midweek for the league cup, before we host Palace in front of the TV cameras next weekend.
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Town's woeful start to the campaign continued on Saturday with a less then average performance against an uninteresting Watford side who were there for the taking. A very early goal from Pablo Counago gave the Tractor Boys hope, but after the break Watford equalised and then snatched all 3 points at the death.
Pablo started up front with Kevin Lisbie, with Alan Lee having moved to Crystal Palace the day before. On this showing, we have left ourselves short of power up front and I cannot hope enough that Jim has something up his sleeve at this end of the pitch. Liam Trotter got a deserved return to the starting eleven, alongside Tommy Miller and Jon Walters, and new face Ivan Campo. The back four were Ben Thatcher, Gareth McAuley and Richard Naylor, plus another new face in Moritz Volz at right-back.
The start could not have been better, with Mart Poom wallying an easy clearance under no pressure at all straight to Pablo who simply controlled before picking his spot to place it beyond the flailing keeper. This obviously did wonders for confidence and rocked the home side, and Town continued in positive fashion, carving out numerous chances. Lisbie was just inches away from making contact with a good Walters ball, but should have done better when put clean through on goal by Trotter after 20 minutes or so. Instead of squaring to Pablo who was far more central, he decided to shoot but didn't make proper contact and it went wide. Pablo seemed to go blue in the face bellowing at him.
It took Watford at least half an hour to get into the game, and their first attempt was a gold medal standard dive in the box that the ref thankfully saw through. Soon after they came uncomfortably close to scoring with a header beyond Richard Wright which hit the inside of the far post before the Town keeper scrambled to collect the rebound.
The signs of a home side revival were there but we were still one goal to the good at the break. It wasn't long after the restart however, that they were evens again. Ivan Campo had looked like a wise head at the centre of the Town line-up, and so it was surprising to see him lose concentration at a corner and allow John Eustace to grab a couple of yards for a free header. The momentum was definitely with the Hornets now.
They had a couple of good chances which had Wrighty troubled, but we seemed to be hanging on. Danny Haynes was introduced for Lisbie, who had fluffed his early chances before fading out of the game completely. Haynes did little although to be fair Town were not having their best spell now. We were lucky to stay at evens as Tamas Priskin missed a sitter from just a few yards, managing to lift it over the bar spectacularly. It was just delaying the inevitable though, and although Jim tried to shake it up by bringing on Jordan Rhodes for Pablo, and Veliche Sumulikoski for Trotter in the closing stages, we conceded in the final 3 minutes to lose the game.
Richard Wright saved but could not hold a shot from distance, and O'Toole was quickest to the ball to score an easy winner. The Town defence were notable by their absence, and it had not been the first time. All three points were lost.
Moritz Volz had looked sharp and broke forward on occasion with pace, he looks like a good signing who should fit in nicely. Campo, despite his lack of match fitness was assured, although at fault for the first Watford goal. He does look like a class act at times, although it's all relative. It was disappointing to see how toothless we were up front, and I can't believe that we can let Alan Lee go without being sure of a replacement. Time will tell. Probably more disappointing was the weakness at the other end, we need to be first to react to the second ball and perhaps Wrighty needs to be changing his gloves. Only Reading next, an easy game to get us back on track.
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This game saw two teams hoping to be pushing for promotion come the closing stages of the season brought together for an early test of their credentials, and Wolves walked away easy winners, leaving a disappointed Town faithful once again at Portman Road. Ipswich soaked up some early pressure but eventually gave way, and after a sending off in the second half ended a decent spell by the home side, they conceded again and faded.
Town lined up with Richard Wright in goal, and he had a decent game putting in some excellent saves to keep the score respectable. Some argue he could have done better than to parry a shot for the second goal but I personally didn't see it that way at the time. In front of him were Richard Naylor and Gareth McAuley, flanked by Alex Bruce and Ben Thatcher making his home debut and notably getting a good reception when his name was read out. He turned out to be reasonably solid in the challenge, although bordering on over-physical one or two time as you'd expect, but unexciting when out of his territory at the back. Naylor was excellent alongside McAuley, they both did pretty well against a tough and quick team. Bruce, we'll come back to.
The midfield consisted of Jon Walters one side, Danny Haynes the other, mainly Haynes on the left although these two seemed to switch. It didn't seem to confuse Wolves too much though. Veliche Shumulikoski and Tommy Miller took up the middle, Shumi running around like a mad thing and getting stuck in with some hard challenges. The Yellow card was inevitable and as he didn't seem to calm down after it, so was his substitution. Haynes had spells of pace but was largely contained by George Elokobi, and although eventually getting the better of his marker in the second half when the defender crocked himself and was stretchered off, he was withdrawn himself after going down with what appeared to be cramp. As he lay getting treatment on the opposite side of the pitch to the bench, his name was read out as being subbed and the sight of his head popping up in a "Did he say me?" way was priceless. Liam Trotter took his place and most, Jim included, would have agreed that it should've been him starting the match in Haynes place.
Up front were Alan Lee and Kevin Lisbie who never really looked at all like a partnership. The Wolves defence did a good job in taming these two and it wasn't until Pablo Counago replaced Lee at half time that we looked like posing any sort of threat. Lisbie had a great chance after a good ball through from Haynes which saw him rushing in towards goal with Elokobi on his shoulder. Unfortunately Lisbie was cleared hauled off-balance and his shot was wayward, the ref gave no penalty despite appeals from the pitch and in the stands. Walters had not really fired as well as he can, although was lively during our brief good spell.
As for the goals, we were only just looked to be settling as Wanderers scored their first in the 21st minute. The Midlanders had started the game with pace, and broke forward with ease leaving little action in their own box for them to worry about, although they didn't get many shots away themselves early on. They scored from a decent cross which was met by the head of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and the ball sailed past Wright leaving him little chance. Just five minutes later, Town looked to equalise from the Lisbie non-penalty incident but remained behind.
The rest of the half was much of the same, and the half time whistle was met with boos. Pablo came on for Lee directly after, and Town thankfully looked a different prospect, and it was the Spaniard making the difference immediately, running across the edge of the area with the ball tied to his foot and inevitably drawing a foul. It did look more positive, and we carved out more chances in the opening five minutes than we had the entire first half.
Time dragged on, and although we still looked like an equaliser was very possible, all that hope was erased with a mad challenge from Alex Bruce. His two-footed lunge saw straight red, technically a correct decision maybe, but given the old-gold directioned leniency that had gone before perhaps it was fair to say that it was a little harsh. This, coupled with a couple of injury related interruptions snuffed out our resolve and very soon after Wolves wrapped up the game with a goal from David Edwards after Wright parried the initial shot.
It was a shame we could not get the equaliser, as it may have tipped the game in our favour for the remaining period, but in fairness Wolves looked the better outfit and deserved the points. Whilst they looked cohesive and well practiced we appeared like a team of strangers at times, kicking in hope towards anyone in a blue shirt. Come on, we're used to better than this.
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