 | Your
Report | Sunderland v Ipswich Town Your Report added at 15:06:11
I watched the full game back on Sunderland's YouTube channel. Apologies for reporting on here when not at the game.
Just going to mention the things that haven't been highlighted yet. Sam Morsy had to take a yellow card for the team due to a bad pass by Janoi Donacien. If he hadn't taken the other player out, we were in trouble. No way is Sam to blame for this yellow. Someone had commented elsewhere on the site that Sam had started picking up yellow cards. He simply had to take the yellow, and wasn't happy with Janoi at all.
No issues with anything else we did, except to know about and prepare for much longer games than 90 mins through our training regime - it was a superb performance by all players including substitutes. No more cramp in added time, please.
Hutchinson and Ladapo were both justified in going for goal, Ladapo's shot was about a foot over the bar, Hutchinson's was blocked. I don't think they had any sight of players waiting for the ball to be squared, just going for goal. One misplaced pass from Hutchinson straight out of play, that was it.
Just a great team performance and well done to all. We did a job on Sunderland. Great quote about their players' 'floppy hair' by whoever said it. Walk of shame by their player went sent off was great, too.
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| Your
Report | Hull City v Ipswich Town Your Report added at 21:13:19
Well we looked like the top of the league team. The No. 7 for them did a Forestieri on Toto to get him booked. One chance they had when the guy beat Chambers and ran into the space behind. Apart from that, we toto-ally bossed them. Great defending, hard working performance. Even Nors' first touch seems to be improving. Keep it going. In the next game Matheson and Downes should replace Chambers and Bishop, with Doz further forward. This was the performance of the season so far and shows we have the character, drive, steel and quality to get promoted out of this league. More of the same, please. |
| Your
Report | Hull City v Ipswich Town Your Report added at 13:03:07
Trying not to repeat what's already been said on the team's performance, I'll just add a few other points. Away support and vocal encouragement is potentially vital, as we will need to keep picking up points to stay in mid table, but the team and supporters need to be in contact, and mutually supportive. Mick's post match interview aired on Radio 5 Live mentioned that the supporters tell him what they think of his football and his job every week, and I suppose this implies that he has told the team never to go over to the supporters or acknowledge them. Dean Gerken was only practising receiving pass backs to his right foot. Kieffer Moore has fluorescent yellowy green boots. Jordan Spence has snazzy ones too. The players did respond with clapping when they were applauded on to the pitch to do their warm ups and small size game with the mini cones before the match. The best moment of the match by far, when Jordan Spence missed the far post with his cross cum shot after a world class run from the half way line, was greeted with an 'ooh', when it was actually like watching Brazil, really it was the only genuinely exciting moment of the whole game. Perhaps a real Brazilian would have taken it on another stride, committed the keeper, and squared it for Pits or Bru to tap into an empty net. I guess it missed the far post by a fair way, but there was no way of telling from where I was sitting. Andre Dozzell, the game just passed him by, until he got replaced. He only touched the ball a few times, wanting too much time and being quickly closed down. We were so starved of any skilful moments which might lead to creating anything exciting or goal bound. Moore was putting himself about but there was no one making runs to flick it on to, and had his one chance but shot weakly. Our back three were passing it long in the first half, not hoofing. Under no real stress, Luke Chambers had his cigar out, his experience was enough to keep things in order. Diggers played very well in the first half, but in the second did an over his own shoulder left footed clearance for a corner, to jeers from the home crowd - a bit like the Vincent Company own goal which crazily looped up and over his left shoulder - the one that gets shown in 'football's funniest moments' on Sky. We have reasonable strikers and defenders, but without a properly functioning midfield formation and good quality midfield players, they won't have the skill to play together, pass to each other, and create anything - at least not against Hudders. The cheating of some of the Huddersfield players got me down a little bit, you know, trying to buy free kicks. I can't tell you which players were doing it, as you can't read the numbers on the back of their shirts. The situation does not look good for the next game at Preston, I won't be going all that way to see something similar to this. There's no reward for being there. I didn't see any players applauding the supporters at the end of the game, and as mentioned, I think this is Mick's doing. He would rather we got no ticket allocation at all for away games, to save him hearing, 'Mick McCarthy, your football is 5h1t' and 'you're getting sacked in the morning'. But fair play to those who do go to Preston, I hope it is much better than this game. |
| Your
Report | Stoke City v AFC Bournemouth Your Report added at 17:00:36
Wow it was a tough journey down the A14, only when the 'Welcome to Suffolk' sign emerged on the flooded road and overhanging gloom did the weather 'fine up'.
It is better to be away from home in the F A Cup because the atmosphere is so woeful at home - unless the crowd gets riled by an early injustice.
The Blades took all 6,000 tickets for their away tie at Villa Park - what a game that must have been!
Back to reality, a home F A Cup tie for us against 'lower level oppostion' is nowadays like a practise match. Yesterday our team was poor, but Mick McCarthy had always said he would make changes. Perhaps to say the team was flat would be a fairer description. Our support is worse than the team. The pink ball seemed to be too heavy to kick.
SEB still has his Wolves fluorescent orange boots, and came over to the touchline for a drink after 20 minutes. When he came off 10 to 15 minutes afterwards, he received sympathetic applause. Haven't seen any other articles/blogs/news, but isn't his career over? I did not see a challenge on him, he had just sat down and waited for the trainer. Maybe he fell awkwardly. His replacement was David McGoldrick who injected some urgency.
The atmosphere was still dead until late in the game when it was clear both teams were trying to win it in the last 10 minutes after multiple substitutions. The supporters have to take responsibility and be the twelfth man for the whole match, as at least they did when shouting handball for our penalty - however blatant, the referee may not have 'seen' it without some 'help' from most of Portman Road.
In a way, it shows how well the manager has done, on limited resources, to get this group of players to sixth in the league, when he has to give top players a rest and bring in the second string. Preston's goal was a farce, a real sickener to concede such a soft goal. Mings was unfortunate to get a knock but where he was lying on the pitch gave their experienced striker Kevin Davies the chance, ungentlemanly conduct though it arguably was, to request the ball in a position in advance of the defensive line, knowing he would not be flagged offside. An experienced defender would have got himself off the pitch to beyond the goal line so that he couldn't affect the game. As it was, I'm afraid Mings cost us the win.
The 300 or so Preston fans had two songs: 'Yellow' (a one-word song, if you don't know it, think Norwich), and something about we'd gone quiet after their equalizer.
Let's hope for better in the replay, with a promise of filling the whole away end at the City Ground as a reward for scraping through at Deepdale. If we do get through, let's take our whole ticket allocation for Forest, and create a proper atmosphere. Subsidise it and bus the people to Nottingham who want to come for £5 each just to get a proper away following. Those who saw us win 1-0 at Forest in the John Lyall era with Jason Dozzell getting the winner will remember the kind of atmosphere I'm talking about. |
| Your
Report | Ipswich Town v Portsmouth Your Report added at 13:57:14
I really enjoyed the match, and the effort of the Town players was immense. Michael Chopra gave a good striker's performance - created the goal on his own, and I would be disappointed to see Aaron McLean given his place, on the evidence what I saw - and to be honest living in Peterborough I know what McLean is like when he sulks. Top marks to Patrick Kisnorbo, the last to applaud the Town fans and walk slowly off the pitch, all alone, savouring a fine performance from himself and appreciating the supporters. It was only the fresh legs of especially Agbonlahor which started to run us ragged towards the end. I wasn't sure Edwards was the right third substitute as right back, pushing Hewitt into right midfield, as we needed proper defending at that stage to get to the end with a replay. The referee had a good game, always playing the advantage and helping the flow - his current rating of 5.4 should be surprising. Also he pleased me by not doing a 'Mark Halsey' with the Luke Hyam 'tackle' on Stephen Ireland and produce a second yellow. Ireland was touched, I think, so another ref might have sent Hyam off. I was sitting with Villa fans quite near where NRC spent most of the game, around the half way line, and they and I both thought NRC played well throughout, even one older guy said they'd like him back at the Villa. NRC just played simple balls, yes he got a couple of lucky ricochets to keep the ball when he might have lost it, but I think he played well. Luke Hyam was working very hard and although I do not think he will ever 'make it' as a top player, I think he needs to get fitter (looked out on his feet even before taking a knock down by the Town fans in the corner near the end). By then all three substitutions had been made, although I can see why the manager left him on for the ninety minutes. He needs to get games and get super fit, which is very difficult with no serious reserve team football, and should probably go out on loan for a month or two to get some serious match fitness, then if he does well he should go straight into our team. I cannot really work out whether JET had a good game, didn't see him on the ball that often. Agree with what others have said about Hewitt, Murphy, and the superb move down the left wing, think it was Smith to Cresswell overlapping excellent first time cross to Chopra which could so easily have led to us taking a two goal lead. |
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