Getting To Millwall
I like going to see Ipswich play at Millwall.
The New Den is a compact ground, where away supporters get a good view of the action. In fact, as the view is one of the best, the stewards are generally friendly and it is an easy ground to get to by public transport, it is one of the best away experiences in English football, if you support a reputable club.
It is also exceedingly good value, as my senior ticket cost just £17 and of course because of my Freedom Pass, I had no travel costs. So my total expenditure was much the same cost as taking a lady to the cinema. Although in that case, I’d probably have to buy a drink or even a meal!
I went by taking the Overground to Canada Water station, from where I got a P12 bus directly to the ground. Even though, these buses are every 20 minutes on a Bank Holiday, I still did the journey in just over thirty minutes.
Coming back, I walked to South Bermondsey station and took the train to London Bridge, from where I got a 141 bus home.
wikipedia also says that a 21 bus goes close to the New Den, so as it goes past the end of my road, I might try that next year. You get off at Ilderton Road.
It certainly is the easiest ground for me to get to, with the probable exception of Arsenal’s ground at The Emirates. But that would cost a lot more for a match.
The Meerkats Drove Me Out
I was going to Millwall to see Ipswich play today, but as ever, I was on the drag.
Then one of those awful meerkat adverts came on the television.
i was through the door like a rat up a drainpipe.
Leeds Under Warnock Haven’t Changed
Ask any reasonable football fan to give their list of clubs, that they don’t like and Leeds United will generally be in there. Ask about managers to Ipswich fans and Neil Warnock, will certainly be on the list of those they think don’t behave correctly.
So on Saturday Leeds started playing in a way that wouldn’t win many friends amongst neutral fans. Eventually, Jay Tabb was unfairly clattered by Tom Lees and sent off. The picture shows the aftermath.
Leeds Under Warnock Haven’t Changed
The sending off probably led to Ipswich winning three-nil, but you wouldn’t think that Ipswich should have won according to this from Warnock. This excerpt shows he was at a different game.
It’s a crazy day and I can’t believe we haven’t won.
We were dominating. I’ve never been to Ipswich and dominated as much as that in my life. If I was (Ipswich boss) Mick (McCarthy) I’d fill in a lottery ticket tonight.
After all, the skill of good management is to make sure that those working for you, act in a way to maximise your skills and resources.
Warnock didn’t do that, but just seems to get his players to irritate everybody with their tactics.
In the end, Ipswich fans went home, feeling very pleased that the defeat had been inflicted on some of their most disliked rivals.
Although, we weren’t pleased with the snow that was falling. But perhaps it cooled Warnock’s anger!
Manchester United Blow It
You can argue, that the referee was wrong, but people do get sent off.
So last night, Manchester United were at fault in not being able to hold on to their lead or at least only ship one goal. Where was the Plan B for what you did if you lost a player? Surely, they should have done better!
last night, Ipswich had two players sent off at Nottingham Forest and then lost one-nil. Here’s the manager; Mick McCarthy’s quote from the BBC report.
They’re brilliant, they’re a great bunch, they really are fabulous. I was really proud of the way they went about their job.
“We were unlucky not to hold out. It’s a deflection that’s cost us – they didn’t look like they were going to get it any other way.
I know the match wasn’t as important, but it would appear the players did what they had to! And only failed by seven minutes!
In the past, I’ve watched some great games both live and on television, when one side has been reduced to ten men and still won or at least gone down with all guns blazing.
Mick McCarthy’s Communication Skills
Mick McCarthy has a reputation that befits his breeding of a Yorkshireman, with an Irish father, brought up in Barnsley. In fact the quote in my post on the match yesterday is typical McCarthy with quite a few asterisks.
Obviously, he and Roy Keane, would probably not hit it off, if they were the only two in a lifeboat from a sinking ship and they needed to row as a team to safety.
But in Mick McCarthy’s past, he played for Lyon in France.
So which language does he use to speak to Guirane N’Daw. As the player probably learned his English in Birmingham, it could be an interesting conversation.
The Player Who Lost It And The Match
The match at Portman Road looked like it was going to end up as a hard-fought goal-less draw.
It all turns on an incident in the second half, where Wes Morgan, Leicester’s caption got involved in a couple of altercations with Michael Chopra and then Daryl Murphy. He claimed he had been kicked and elbowed, but all the referee did was book him for protesting. he then made a big mistake and Ipswich scored. Here’s Mick McCarthy on the incident from an article in the East Anglian.
Asked about the incidents leading up to the goal, McCarthy said: “I think first and foremost he (Morgan) blocked Chopra by running across the front of him and then there was a tangle of legs. Whether Chops caught him or not I don’t know.
“That upset the apple cart a bit. I think Chops jumped up with his arms a it at a corner kick, but didn’t make any contact (there was also a coming to with Murphy).
“That would be the last of my worries if I was playing against Chops though. I’d be kicking the ***** out of him and be making sure he didn’t put the ball in the net.
“It got a little bit fractious. There were pushes in both boxes, I’m screaming for fouls, he (Nigel Pearson) is screaming for fouls, there are words between us.
“As a centre-half you have to keep your composure – because that’s what people do. As a centre-half I went out with sole intention to upset the two ******* I was up against, or anyone who came anywhere near me.
“I played against Mick Harford and Tony Cunningham. Their intention was smash me across the nose and upset me.
I was close to the incidents and we didn’t notice anything, but then Chopra was being the professional irritant all day, by harrying for everything.
A big factor in the win was McCarthy’s use of substitutes. He took Chopra off after the first incident with Morgan, to avoid further trouble. This substitution got Daryl Murphy on the pitch. I’ve talked to Murphy and he is very much the articulate Irishman, so was he winding up Morgan? At the death, McCarthy put Andy Drury to effectively keep the ball and stop Leicester from equalising.
It was all a bit different to the match at Leicester in November.
It Would Have Been Nice To go To Nottingham On Tuesday
With Ipswich beating Leicester City today, it means that the game at Nottingham on Tuesday might have been worth a trip.
But it is impossible, without an overnight stay in a hotel, as the last train home leaves Nottingham at 21:28. As the football ground is fifteen minutes walk away from the station, you would only get a train home, if you leave at half time.
Now for Ipswich fans, this only happens occasionally, but I wonder how many Nottingham Forest fans live in London and will be cursing the lost day on their season ticket.
A Trip To Huddersfield
Yesterday, I took the train to Huddersfield to see the two Towns share a goal-less draw.
I went via Manchester Piccadilly, as I wanted to have a decent lunch in Carluccio’s at the station, where I know the wi-fi is also excellent, as it incidentally was on Virgin’s trains and in their First Class lounge at Euston. The same can’t be said for their food and drink offering on the trains at the weekend.
It was very cold outside and as I passed through Highbury and Islington station to get to Euston, it was actually trying to snow.
It may seem strange to get to Huddersfield via Manchester, but then there are four trains about every hour on that route. They are new trains, but are only three coaches and often are completely full with standing everywhere. It was a classic case of the Treasury deciding how many coaches should have been bought for the Trans Pennine route and then dividing it by three to fit their budget. It’s a pleasant enough half-hour route though through the Pennines as this picture shows.
Manchester To Huddersfield
Although, the cleaner at Piccadilly was a bit slapdash.
Slapdash Cleaning At Piccadilly
I feel right to blame the cleaner, as he actually came into the carriage whilst I was waiting to sit down.
I should point out that these Trans Pennine trains, illustrate some of what is wrong with the layout of Piccadilly station, which was probably designed by a Scouser with a bizarre sense of humour, to get at their rival city. These trains turn up at all sorts of places in the station and are often the second or even the third train on the platform, counting from the concourse. I think it was the third yesterday. It must be a nightmare for staff to get passengers on the right train. But I’ve changed trains at Piccadlly so many times now, that I know the traps the station sets for you. Hopefully things will get better with the Northern Hub works. But this won’t be fully implemented until 2018.
At present. there are two solutions for passengers to avoid the problems; allow plenty of time and have drink or a meal in the station or take another route. For Huddersfield yesterday, I could have gone via Leeds, but that would have meant a walk up the hill in the cold to get a meal, as Leeds station doesn’t have a restaurant only snack bars.
The journey on to Huddersfield was enlivened with one of those bizarre incidents that seem to happen to me. A screw fell out of the bottom of my camera onto the floor. In crawling around the floor looking for it, I was assisted by a retired lady doctor from Hull, who like me had gone to Liverpool University. We must have looked an odd pair. I’ve now got the problem of finding a screw for the camera. Or should that be an independent camera shop?
Huddersfield station is not your ordinary drab station, as the picture shows.
Huddersfield Railway Station
It is a Grade 1 listed building and actually contains two pubs. Pevsner described it as one of the best early railway stations in England. The statue by the way is Harold Wilson. The football ground is a twenty-minute walk downhill from the station and despite Huddersfield Town not being on television very often, the ground is well-known to viewers because of Rugby League.
John Smith’s Stadium
The John Smith’s Stadium was one of the first modern grounds to be built in recent years. As the picture shows, the view is good and I’d rate it one of the best seats for visiting supporters along with Barnsley, Burnley or Wolverhampton. You would never describe it as pokey or restricted like Charlton or QPR, although the stewards were complaining of the cold. So that must have been bad!
A steward incidentally told me that Ipswich had attracted a thousand fans. This must be quite a lot considering the distance from Suffolk and the weather. But on the other hand Ipswich, Suffolk and the football club must have one of the largest diaspora of any part of the UK.
Watford’s Unfair Loan Tactics
I feel that the number of loan players that are allowed in the Football League is about right, with up to five loan players about to start and only two from one club. But the problem is that international players don’t count.
I know Ipswich lost 2-0 to Watford and didn’t play too badly, but they were playing a team, that was probably good enough to play in the Premier League now. And it’s not just me who thinks it’s unfair, as here‘s Ian Holloway on the subject.
There was a report in the Standard last night, saying that the clubs will be discussing the matter in the summer and possibly changing the rules. Here’s the guts of the article.
The club are third in the Championship after bringing in 11 players temporarily thanks to their owner Gino Pozzo having stakes in Udinese and Granada.
League clubs can only have five loan players in match-day squads but the limit does not apply to players, who have international caps. That means Watford have been to select players such as Joel Ekstrand, Almen Abdi, Matej Vydra and Daniel Pudil without worrying about the rule.
I also thought that UEFA stopped owners controlling more than one club.
Mick McCarthy Was Right
After yesterday’s win by Ipswich Town at home to Blackpool, Mick McCarthy said.
It was a horrible, scrappy, scruffy, ugly, magnificent 1-0 win.
“I’m not bothered how we get them as long as we get the points to keep us in this league.
He was absolutely right. It was an awful game. But then so was the Blackburn game last week and I wouldn’t have given Blackburn a cat in Hell’s chance against Arsenal yesterday.
But at least the goal Michael Chopra scored yesterday, was a very good one.
The Anonymous Widower 