Town boss Paul Jewell again bemoaned his side’s tendency to concede “calamitous goals” after Doncaster left Portman Road with a 3-2 victory. The Blues manager praised his side’s second half character as they pulled two goals back but felt they’d left themselves far too much to do with their first half display.

Jewell said: “With the goals we’re giving away we’re giving ourselves mountains to climb at the moment. We did it at Peterborough, against Southampton, Millwall and again today. We’re giving calamitous goals away and when you do that you’re always going to be up against it.

“When we’re bad, we’re hopeless,” he conceded. “ We just look so vulnerable and every time they went forward they almost scored a goal.

“I think we showed a bit of character in the second half, even though at 3-1 we wanted to be more on the front foot, but I don’t think it was as bad as the [Peterborough and Southampton] games. We showed some character in the second half.

“But the first half performances and the way we concede goals is killing us. We’re making basic errors. There are experienced players out there, as well as one or two young ones.”

The Blues boss outlined the failings on each of Doncaster’s goals: “Every goal you concede is a bad goal but the first one’s from a freekick, which doesn’t get cleared, gets crossed and Diouf gets a free header.

“The second one is a cross from the right under no pressure, another a free header. The third one, the two centre-backs get in one another and the game’s over almost. It’s not the midfield, it’s not the forwards, it’s the team as the whole.

“When we’re not controlling games, we’re getting done. There are plenty of teams that haven’t controlled games that have got a 0-0 or a 1-0. And we, at the minute, because it’s not going our way, we get done at the back.”

Freekicks and corners are also a problem: “It’s not just a defensive point of view, it’s set plays as well. We switch off at set plays. When we got to 3-1 and everyone’s got their man for set plays, they could have scored two goals. That’s just down to basic poor defending. That might not be a defender, that might be a midfield player, it might be a forward player.

“Even if you’re playing not very well, as we were in the first half, we’ve got to be able to get in at half-time at 0-0 or still be in the game.

“At 3-0 you don’t give up but you give yourself a mountain to climb. Our goal difference tells you that we don’t defend very well.”

Jewell wasn’t using the switches of personnel as an explanation for the alarming drop in form: “All those things we were doing three weeks ago have just disappeared for whatever reason, through confidence or whatever.

“Perhaps we made a few changes through injury, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse. Some of the goals we’ve conceded, not just today but this season, are not of the standard of a decent Championship team, or a bad Championship team even.”

Doncaster boss Dean Saunders was delighted with the win but admitted he was worried at the end: “We played really well today, although George Friend’s missed four open goals, so I’m a bit disappointed at what happened right at the end because if there had been another five minutes on the clock, you never know, they could have forced the ball over the line somehow, got a lucky break.

“But I can’t complain. Those were two great crosses from Coppinger, he worked his socks off and played really well and the finishing from Diouf and Billy Sharp was great. It was a good three points for us, we needed it.”

Rovers striker Sharp, whose new-born son Luey died last week, thanked Town fans for their applause after his goal and when he was subbed via Twitter: “Just like to say a big thank you to all the Ipswich fans for the ovation they gave me when I scored and got taken off.

“Will never forget that moment today at Portman Road. Ipswich Town fans unbelievable, never seen anything like it.

“And another thank you to all Blades fans, heard about the minute's applause on 24 minutes, very special, I scored on 24 minutes too,” said the former Sheffield United player and boyhood supporter.

Photo: Action Images

MattinLondon added 19:02 - Nov 5 Bad defending.....heard it all before with PJ and also with Jim and Roy Keane. Would be amazed if we weren't looking at new defenders ready for the January window. To be honest PJ inherited a poor team and had to start from fresh. Not really surprising that we are not the finished article yet. Still not far off the play-offs
0

olepablo added 19:04 - Nov 5 Thought you might hold your hands up PJ, very poor team selection, tactics and formation. Your errors handed Doncaster the initiative and gave us a mountain to climb. Team was poor, management even worse.
0

StochesStotasBlewe added 19:05 - Nov 5 If the problems are so obvious to all & sundry, then why the hell don,t the management team & the players sort it out on the training ground.
0

sonian_blue added 19:07 - Nov 5 When I heard the team today I could see this coming. Shocking selection, tactics and performance. Priskin and Healy not even in the squad this season then out of the blue make the starting line up??? Why not Carson and Martin from the start?? Why no Scotland?? Why drop Edwards?? Changes too little too late. I dont recall ever calling for a managers head but this is not the answer. Todays selection smacks of desperation. They are bottom for a reason but we made them look very good Taxi for PJ

0

Skippy93 added 19:08 - Nov 5 I'm surprised we didn't get the usual "they've been doing it in training and I dunno what happened today".
0

bluearmy4life added 19:13 - Nov 5 Agree with OLEPABLO PJs management was poor. Too often we are conceeding sloppy goals. We won't go anywhere if this is not cut out. We are now in November and are we really any further forward? We do have a good squad on paper, but all players need to buck there ideas up including PJ and move this club forward. The bottom line is it's been 6 years of rubbish, and six years is a long time. SORT IT OUT.

0

omuircheartaigh added 19:15 - Nov 5 The players are better on paper than on the park. Time for Nice but Dim to start looking at his own performance.
0

omuircheartaigh added 19:17 - Nov 5 PS - wasn't it Nice but Dim who brought the 4 defenders and keeper to the club?
0

ozzydog added 19:19 - Nov 5 Way past the inherited a poor team angle,this is another poor team paid for by ME and selected by PJ ITFC has been a shambles of a club for many years now, ME has made no difference,in fact it has just got worse. No progress has been made and crowds continue to get smaller.
0

brittaniaman added 19:19 - Nov 5 It makes you wonder what Marcus Evans thinks ?? when watching Dross like that, only saw him for a brief moment, he was probably embarrassed like we all were after that first half. Still not sure if Jewell is the man for the job, one see other teams working on a shoe string budget with hungry players playing fast thrusting football. I am feeling low at the moment, after 4 poor games and a total of 3pts from them, with our goal average taking a hammering !!!!!!

0

PSGBlue added 19:20 - Nov 5 At least playing 4-4-2 with Carson on the right we looked much more dangerous going forward in the second half. Although apart from Chopra and the occasional appearance from Scotland we still lack a decent striking force. More worrying is the defence. We have been looking resonably sound when Sonko was fit, but will never be able to keep going for 2 games or more before injury hits. This is where Jewell/Clegg have failed mostly this season, our centre backs were useless at the start of the season (Delany/Smith) with any talented additions never fit or too old. Collins seems to be a good addition, but what happens if is loan isn't extended in January? Going back to April we have lost 5-1 to Norwich, 4-1 to Swansea, 4-2 to Leicester, 5-2 to Southampton, 7-1 to Peterbrough, 4-1 to Millwall and 3-2 today. This season 27 conceded in 15 league games (almost 2 a game). This tells us where the problems lie, you don't get into the top six with that!

0

evansblue added 19:26 - Nov 5 I am fed up. Roll on next season.
0

Keaneish added 19:27 - Nov 5 Can someone please explain to me why, after the Millwall shower last week, we're starting with the diamond formation? It's a joke that it takes us to lose 2 goals before it gets changed. Can someone also explain to me how to 5'9" strikers have converted 2 headers from crosses from their most dangerous wide man!? It's also a joke that we're allowing balls like that in the box let alone giving strikers free headers. Centre Halves should be smashing strikers up in the air. Again Embarrassing. What was most embarrassing though were the performances from Bullard - woeful. Ingimarsson and Collins were terrible, Wabara isn't anywhere near good enough. Best players were Cresswell, Carson and Chopra. Martin showed some fight. What have we been doing since last Saturday and why aren't the starting 11 fired up to take the game to teams right from the off? Serious questions now need to be asked because if we're tactically naive, lack passion and can't defend...we're going nowhere.

0

bontcho9 added 19:37 - Nov 5 That was the worst 45 minutes of football (allegedly) I have seen at PR for some time, honestly what on earth is going on there, fed up with the excuses - we are tired - try working for a living, he looks good in training - what about during a match when it maters, excuse after excuse - the fact is we are very poor and Doncaster made us look amatuerish and that just about sums it up - SORT IT OUT AND SOON

0

Jesney_Havoc added 19:44 - Nov 5 Another season canned. Don't tell me it's a two year project.......... yada yada ! Whatever next ? Following town gets harder work each year.
0

Garv added 19:54 - Nov 5 1 Why didn't Carson and Martin start? We ALL saw it, we all wanted it. Why is PJ so stubborn? 2 Why was Edwards dropped? Wabara was out of his depth, and could'nt cross. Not his fault he's 19 but unless Carlos is going to play wing, then he should stay at rb. 3 Ingimarsson had a shocker, too small for Sharp goal, and he just let diouf go for his. Third as well was a shambles from both centre halfs. 4 Healy got a raw deal, not surprised he was hacked off. Should've been Bullard. 5 Carson and Martin seemed the only players with a bit of bite. 6 What is Andrews doing? 7 I liked the sound of Priskin before the game but watching him reminded me why he has been left out for so long. 8 Where was Scotland? 9 Why when we put balls into the box aren't there players to tap it in, and when they are, they miss them? Chopra had a chance he just missed 4 yards out, another one when the ball came in but the only player there was Carson who wasn't going to score, Chopra should've been there for a simple tap in not involved in the build up on the wing. 10 I fear Forest in two weeks time. Ten random things that I can think of at this moment in time.

0

irishtim added 19:55 - Nov 5 time for pj to go . same story every week. no heart no spirit fed up with it. wrong players being brought in & youth given no chance. get rid bring back george burley please & get us going have a 2 year plan build a team get our youth system up 2 scratch again . have had enough. burley & mattie holland please
0

Garv added 19:57 - Nov 5 This is not being depressing and negative for the sake of it but it will be midtable again this year and we all know it.
0

StowTractorBoy added 19:58 - Nov 5 Sadly PJ did not help his cause today with his awful team selection. One of Carson or Martin should have been in the side but what annoys me most is that he played Priskin who openly stated he wants to leave Ipswich Town earlier in the season. After todays clueless performance he does not deserve any more chances as he was pathetic in the extreme. Edwards did not play well at Millwall last week his first poor game for a long time and he gets dropped. Felt sorry for Healy being sacrificed when others around him were no better notably Bullard and Leadbitter. The defence is once again causing great concern as Ingimarsson of whom I am a great fan was off the pace today and got badly exposed with his positioning on more than one occasion. Before the game I saw this as a tricky game and the fact that Doncaster put out their strongest team of the season so far is no consolation. Once again at this stage of the season we are now looking down instead of up and this has been an all too familiar story with Ipswich Town over the past few seasons. You begin to wonder if it will ever change. As with many fans very down tonight and what I cannot forgive is the shocking lack of passsion for the cause in the first half, as if we are not good enough at least show some passion for 90 minutes and not 45 when its too late. On todays and last weeks showings cannot see where the next point is coming from.

0

TimmyH added 20:02 - Nov 5 No point asking all these questions, we've been inept for years - incredible to think we had that 'little run' which put us briefly in the play-offs but it was only a false dawn, now we won't win for 6 games as I said last weekend (starting from the Palace loss). If these sort of results keep coming then crowds next season will be down to 15000. Money CAN buy you success but you need good management, I don't think we've seen either yet!

0

beetlebum added 20:11 - Nov 5 Sack him, and sack him quick.
0

sirburley added 20:28 - Nov 5 no youth coming through at this club anymore,where are the dyers,ambroses,scowcrofts,bents etc bit scary really as we need these to a)add some pace and hunger or b)sell for a huge amount of money to help us balance the books, we are currently a team of old boys playing a young mans game.Mid-table at best.Might cause mixed opinions with my next comment but here goes....should of hired burley again instead of jewell

0

Keaneish added 20:28 - Nov 5 I don't think we can label much criticism at Priskin. the service to him was abysmal.
0

yorksblue added 20:30 - Nov 5 Yorksblue bemoans calamitous managerial appointments
0

AlpineBlue added 20:31 - Nov 5 Any one who says we should sack PJ is an idiot. A stupid idiot. 3 games and 3 defeats, following 6 games without defeat. We will finish top 10 for certain this season, and I am satisfied we will make the top 6. Who would do a better job than PJ? 3 defeats on the bounce and you'd have them sacked too. Get a life!
0

Blogs 296 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls