Roy Keane is certainly a big character in the game and has had mixed fortunes as a manager so far. He started at Sunderland where he arrived in a blaze of publicity and took a side which had lost the opening four games of the season to rise up the table and win the title in his first year. A huge achievement and much of it down to Keane's no nonsense approach where he installed real discipline into the players and signed some very good Championship players. His first year in the premiership was reasonably successful. Sunderland stayed up which was a huge improvement on previous years and in his third season he even beat rivals Newcastle which should have made him a hero. Things were not right off the pitch though and players began to complain about the tough style that had served them so well and Keane left the club in December 2008. He returned to the game at Ipswich in 2009
and guided his new club to mid table, a position he would have hoped
to have bettered but he remains an interesting manager who could
explode at any moment but has the ability to go a long way in the
game.
Last season was a strange one for Ipswich, tipped by many to do well under Roy Keane they were happy to just stay up by the end of the season. They started poorly failing to win a single game until October with Keane's side drawing too many games. After a going fifteen games without a win they began to improve but the big money spend on Tamas Priskin and Lee Martin began to look foolish as they struggled to pull away from relegation. Jon Stead got back among the goals for Ipswich as
they slowly moved away from trouble, they didn't lose many but continued
to be the draw specialists. In the end they comfortably avoided
relegation finishing in mid table but it was a pretty dull and miserable
campaign from one of the favorites for promotion
Connor Wickham At just seventeen years of age Connor
is already being tipped for big things in the English game. He made
his debut for Ipswich aged 16 years and 11 days, coming on as a
substitute in a 3-1 home defeat against Doncaster Rovers. He is
the youngest player to have made an appearance for Ipswich Town. Wickham scored his first two senior
goals in only his fourth appearance against Shrewsbury Town. He
also scored in the penalty shootout, which saw Ipswich prevail 4-2.
He scored his first league goal in a 1-0 home victory over Scunthorpe
United in March 2010, his winning effort coming deep into injury
time. Wickham is a very skilful attacking
midfield player who can also play up front. Ipswich have turned
down big money bids from Spurs and Arsenal for the teenager who
shone in the European Under 17s championships which England won
back in May. He should be a regular at Portman Road
this season and could well be the player to watch in the Championship.
An air of realism has hit the Ipswich fans and talk of promotion has certainly calmed down among the supporters after a disappointing season last time out. Roy Keane has not added too much this summer but the arrival of Mark Kennedy will add some experience to the team. Ipswich certainly underachieved last season with the players they have and should comfortably finish higher than last seasons fifteenth place. Conner Wickham looks an exciting prospect and if he can get a run of games in the side and produce on a consistent basis they could be a team to watch out for. The likely sale of Jon Stead will leave them
slightly weaker up front and in a tight division they are going
to need that extra bit of quality in the final third to turn draws
into wins. I expect them to have a decent season and build a side
capable of a top six finish but I think they may fall a little shot
of the playoffs this time around.
A recent nickname for Town is "The Tractor Boys", which was coined during the club's brief successful period in the Premiership (2000-01) when the team regularly competed against more fashionable clubs. The nickname is an example of self-deprecating humour referring to Ipswich's agricultural heritage. The origins of the nickname are not certain, but the first generally-accepted use of the nickname appeared at a losing away game at Birmingham City late in the 1998-99 season, with the home fans chanting "no noise from the Tractor Boys", a name which stuck. Barracking by supporters of more established Premiership clubs during Town's spell in the Premiership lent the ironic chant: '1-0 to the Tractor Boys' increased potency and publicity, and the nickname is commonly used by the media. Former Town manager Jim Magilton commented in the local press that he disliked the nickname, saying that it conjured up, "images of carrot-crunching yokels"; while players such as Matt Holland accepted the chant with good humour
He scored one goal for QPR before retiring from football with a back injury blaming the Loftus Road pitch rather than all the pies he had been eating. Chris Kiwomya is another famous striker to have played for both sides. He helped Ipswich to promotion to the Premiership in 1992 and was a top goalscorer for them before joining Arsenal in 1995. He came to QPR in 1998 and got his chance towards the end of the season scoring some crucial goals including a hat trick on the final day of the season to keep us in the division. He was top scorer in 1999/00 season with Stuart Wardley and was just behind Peter Crouch for top scorer the following year before being given a free transfer after not showing the best of attitude to our relegation battle. Georges Santos has also played for both sides along with Simon Walton.
When this site first
started this was a regular fixture. In the 1998/99 season Kevin
Gallen looked like he would give us a 1-0 win just days after Gerry
Francis won the manager of the month award. Gallen's goal was cancelled
out in the last minute by Matt Holland to send them home with a
point. The return fixture
was always going to be tough as Ipswich sat in the playoffs and
we looked doomed to relegation. Chris Kiwomya gave us an early lead
but it didn't last and the home side ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.
After defeat in
the playoffs that year Ipswich were one of the favourites to go
up the following season. Rangers stunned them though with two brilliant
wins in the 1999/00 season. Ipswich took an early lead and threatened
to run riot against us at Portman Road. Gavin Peacock got
us level just before half time before we took control after the
break. Two goals from Rob Steiner and one from Stuart Wardley gave
us our biggest away win of the season and sent us all home very
happy. The return game saw Rangers run riot again. Even Sammy Koejoe looked a different class as he got on the scoresheet along with Peacock and Kiwomya in a 3-1 win. Rangers fans joyfully sung "Your gonna lose in the playoffs" to the dejected Ipswich fans but they had the last laugh by winning the playoffs and then finishing in the top five in the Premiership a year later. In 2004/05 the two sides produced a couple of entertaining games. Ipswich dominated the first half at Loftus Road taking a deserved lead as their former trainee Adam Miller made his home debut for QPR. Paul Furlong scored two sensational goals to put Rangers ahead at the break but Ipswich finally turned their possession into goals in the second half and ran out 4-2 winners. The Ipswich players mocked QPR with the soccer am Easy chant when the third went in but they weren't laughing quite so hard a few months later when the two sides met again. Highly rated goalkeeper Kelvin Davies fell on his
arse after 2 minutes and allowed Paul Furlong to give us the lead
before Dan Shittu wrapped up a welcome the points in the second
half. In the 2005/06 season Rangers produced their best
home performance of the season against them as goals from Gallen
and Rowlands helped us to a 2-1 win which could easily have been
a much bigger win. The away game was an enjoyable one as Stefan
Moore got on the scoresheet along with Paul Furlong to give us a
2-1 lead. Typical Rangers though we threw it away in injury time
to leave with just a point. In 2006/07 Ipswich did a rare double over us. At
Loftus Road Simon Walton was among the scorers for Ipswich as they
thrashed us in front of the Sky cameras. The return game wasn't
much better for us as Furlong scored for us but we still managed
to lose 2-1. In 2007/08 season we drew both games with Ipswich.
The home game saw Sylvan Legwinski score a screamer to open the
scoring before substitute Marc Nygaard came on to grab us a point. The game at Portman Road was a good one with both
sides going all out for a win but were unable to break the deadlock
on a 0-0 draw. Last season was another good one for Ipswich against us. Jon Stead got his usual goal against us in a 3-0 win at Portman Road. Back at Loftus Road Rangers were woeful producing the worst half of football I think I have ever seen. Ipswich stormed into a two goal lead by half time before Jay Simpson got one back in the second half to make the score look a little more respectable. Click on the match for a report of the game from this web site.
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One
of Ipswich Town's best ever players Alan Brazil had a short spell at QPR in 1987
but the Scottish forward had put a bit of weight on and looked like the Michelin
man in hoops.