In short
Ipswich Town’s week ahead is dominated by (1) the EFL decision to replay Ipswich’s abandoned match at Blackburn, with the original result erased but Jacob Greaves’ red card and Todd Cantwell’s goal still “existing” in records; and (2) speculation around Sam Morsy leaving Kuwait FC after three games, plus (3) Ipswich’s upcoming home match vs Portsmouth, with a Derby week looming.
Guests
Rossi (Ipswich fan/host), Stuart Watson (“Stewie”/“Stu”, returning from a Spanish holiday), and AJ is absent.
Key claims
The EFL ruling was discretionary due to unclear rule wording; a replay is expected end of October. Ipswich likely won’t re-sign Morsy because of a “parting of the ways” and because Azor Matiaswa has taken his role. Portsmouth’s Andre Dezel is a standout; key injuries include Nicholas Schmidt (hand), Connor Shaughnessy (hamstring), Jacob Murphy (ankle), and Callum Lang (hamstring). Predictions: Ipswich 2-1 (George Hurst), 2-0 (Akpom), or 3-0 (Dara O’Shea).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOReplay Decision Analysis
1:40 to 3:14
Discussion on the controversial decision to replay the Ipswich vs Blackburn match.
“We'll be supporting Ipswich Town this weekend as a host Portsmouth.”
Blackburn's Reaction and Appeal
3:14 to 4:53
Exploring Blackburn's disappointment and potential appeal regarding the replay decision.
“come close to play at the end of the season, if a point or three for Ipswich, which if indeed it happens in the replay, makes a difference.”
Clarity in EFL Rules
4:53 to 6:07
Debate on the need for clearer rules within the EFL to avoid future controversies.
“But obviously, if the shoe was on the other foot, obviously, I'm sure De 'Auptown would be pushing.”
Upcoming Blackburn Fixture
6:07 to 7:40
Looking ahead to the rescheduled match against Blackburn and discussing its implications.
“I mean, the extra wrinkle here, of course, was that there's three championship board directors on the EFL board.”
Sam Morsi's Situation
7:40 to 9:41
Discussing Sam Morsi's departure from Kuwait FC and potential return to Ipswich.
“going to be an interesting atmosphere on that return to Ewood Park whenever that may be.”
Future Prospects for Morsi
9:41 to 14:00
Speculating on Morsi's next steps and the implications for Ipswich Town.
“I think we all agree the right decision has been reached.”
Sam Morsi and Ipswich Town's Situation
14:00 to 18:00
Discussion on Sam Morsi's potential return to Ipswich and its implications.
“if he rocks up somewhere else and upsets the season in some way.”
Evaluating New Players and Team Dynamics
18:00 to 22:20
Reflections on the challenges new players face and the need for support.
“But other clubs, I need to have a look through who maybe didn't use their full 25-man quota, who needs a midfielder.”
Upcoming Matches and Strategic Insights
22:20 to 23:48
Insight into Ipswich Town's upcoming matches and their tactics against Portsmouth.
“And I know that leaves you exposed to kind of accusations of offence sitting or being too scared to have an opinion.”
Portsmouth's Current Form and Injury Concerns
23:48 to 28:00
Analysis of Portsmouth's performance and the impact of key player injuries.
“Ross, you've been getting some insight onto Pompey.”
Show all 18 chapters
Wounded Animal Analogy and Team Changes
28:00 to 29:10
Discussion on the upcoming match against Portsmouth and potential player changes.
“I guess on the flip side, beware the wounded animal.”
Midfield Decisions for Upcoming Matches
29:10 to 31:30
Exploration of potential midfield rotations and player fitness ahead of critical games.
“No stranger to that sort of left-sided centre-half role, so we'll see how he does.”
Predictions for the Portsmouth Match
31:30 to 33:18
Hosts share their predictions and analysis for the upcoming match against Portsmouth.
“But yeah, it's a headache in a way from McKenna because, yeah, there's players who are botting out the bit to want to start, especially, you know, the games coming up.”
Holiday Stories and Travel Experiences
33:18 to 41:11
Host shares humorous travel experiences, including a race for baggage claim.
“I think, are you still leading the way on predictions Rossi?”
Magazine Launch and Inspirational Interview
41:15 to 42:01
Discussion about the new Ipswich Town magazine and an inspiring interview within it.
The Blue Era Magazine Launch
42:45 to 43:35
Discussion about the new magazine reflecting on Ipswich Town's journey.
“about new blue era one of the pieces in there is uh the interview i did with jason schecterly one One of the most favourite things I've probably done during my time because he's just such an inspirational man.”
Upcoming Matches and Community Engagement
43:35 to 44:18
Preview of upcoming matches and community connection with the women's team.
“so a pompy doubleheader for Mitchell's Town.”
Wrapping Up the Episode
44:18 to 44:48
Closing thoughts on the podcast and upcoming week for Ipswich Town.
“Right then friends, we're going to wrap things up, it's been a shorter than normal pod today, mainly because AJ's not been here, so we've not had someone weighing on for five minutes at a time about XG.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00The World Cup Championship will be crowned this week, and you can trade the tourney through the finals on Calci, America's number one prediction market platform. Right now, Spain is trading at 58 % to beat Argentina, meaning 100 trade pays out 166 if they win. On Calci, you're trading against other people in a live market. No house, no odds makers. For a limited time, download the Calci app and use code DEFEND to get$10 when you trade$10. K-A-L-S-H-I, Kalshi. Trade the beautiful game. 18 plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors.
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0:56Mark Heath:Hello, friends, and welcome to your Friday edition of the Kings of Anglia, Itfritowns podcast proudly sponsored by Stardust Spirits and Molecular UK. Rossi, say it with me. Molecular UK. Let's do it phonetically. Mole-ec-ula. Start again. Mole-ec-ula. Eula. Eula. Eula. Molecular. Molecular. Come on, do it again. Molecular. Molecular. I don't know. It's just my tongue won't let me. Yeah. Your Suffolk tongue, as it were. Anyway, friends, we're here to talk about football. That is Molecular UK, one of our much appreciated and cherished sponsors. So support them if you can. We'll be supporting Ipswich Town this weekend as a host Portsmouth.
1:44Mark Heath:And we're going to talk about it in due course. But, of course, there's some big talking points before we get to that. And I'm going to do that with Rossi, who you've already heard, and the big dog, Stuart Watson. Stewie, how are you? Very well. Excellent. I'm back from my sunny Spanish holiday and I'll talk about that in due course as well because I'm sure you're all desperate to hear what I made of San Sebastian. But I guess we better start, Stewie, with the big news, which obviously took a little bit longer than we thought it might. It seems to be a fairly straightforward thing to decide upon, but it wasn't as ever in football.
2:15Mark Heath:We finally found out yesterday lunchtime, just after, wasn't it, that there will indeed be a full replay of town at Blackburn. But bizarrely, although the result, the game now doesn't exist, Todd Cantwell's goal doesn't exist. Jacob Greer's red card does still exist. Make it make sense.
2:36Stuart Watson:Been a bit of a mess, really, hasn't it? To be honest. And this probably all stems from a pretty wishy-washy ruling in the EFL rulebook, which is, well, it's kind of at the EFL's discretion. And a 10-man board will sit down and make a decision, which left it really open to debate. I think it's crazy that both clubs had to kind of put forward their arguments. It seems pretty unnecessary to me. It's pretty clear to everyone what the situation was. It was always going to be a tricky decision. And I guess they took their time because needed to get all their ducks in a row. There could be, with the amount of money at stake in the game today and what this could mean, come close to play at the end of the season, if a point or three for Ipswich, which if indeed it happens in the replay, makes a difference.
3:27Stuart Watson:It's not just Blackburn who knows he's going to get put out of joint. It could be potentially several others as well. So it might not be the end of this yet. Blackburn have already put out a statement saying they're looking into it and they're looking at their potential right to put in an appeal. Personally, I'm not sure that will get them anywhere, but we'll have to wait and see. But I think we're all in agreement here. And it's easy for us to say looking through Ipswich lenses that the right decision has been made, I think.
3:54Mark Heath:Yeah, I mean, from a Blackburn point of view, you can kind of understand why they would be frustrated given the game state. And it's probably worth just reflecting on what they've said. Valerian Ismail said earlier this week that awarding Blackburn the win would be the fairest thing to do, which, you know, big shout, couldn't see that happening. And then, as you say, they put out a statement in the wake of the judgment yesterday that said, whilst Blackburn Rovers respects the processes are undertaken by the EFL and acknowledges the complexities involved. The club is extremely disappointed by the outcome, which fails to take into account the significant advantages Rovers held at the time of abandonment.
4:32Mark Heath:Blackburn Rovers is committed to upholding the integrity of the competition. However, we strongly feel that a decision to replay the entire fixture does not accurately reflect the circumstances on the day. The club is now seeking further clarity from the EFL and will consider all options, including the right to appeal the decision and will make no further comment at this stage so it does feel like rossi that we may not have heard the end of this yet yeah well you think football this always happens it takes so long to decide a decision and then when it's decided then there's always one party going we're not happy with that let's appeal it but uh yeah i'm pleased they haven't gone down the route of playing 10 minutes because that would just been a ridiculous option i don't know how they would have done that barely for either side.
5:18But obviously, if the shoe was on the other foot, obviously, I'm sure De 'Auptown would be pushing. Like, yeah, we want the win. But yeah, it's an interesting one. And I've seen that there's been other incidents, like in the National League. Obviously, that's a different football body. But I think it was like Scumthorpe. They played easily and there's like an injury in like the 90 plus minute. So like basically the last kickings of the game. and then obviously they had to abandon the game and then they had to play it all over again. So, yeah, it's an interesting situation, but I'm pleased they've gone down the route of play the replay, although it does mean we've got to go back to Blackburn.
5:56It is what it is.
5:57Mark Heath:Yeah. See, I suppose the real problem this is highlighted is there's not really any kind of clarity around the rules. It needs to be a lot kind of more set in stone, I guess, in this scenario.
6:07Stuart Watson:Yeah, and I think the EFL statement has kind of acknowledged that, that they're now going to work with member clubs to perhaps work on the wording of the rulings and having something a bit more set in stone so that if this pretty rare scenario ever rears its head again, that there's not this kind of period of days of debate and what's fair and what's right and somebody kind of making a decision. I mean, the extra wrinkle here, of course, was that there's three championship board directors on the EFL board. Mark Ashton has obviously been one of those in the past. When he was at Bristol City, they get voted on.
6:43Stuart Watson:So there's club members from each of the divisions and they decided to abstain because obviously there was a feeling of conflict of interest. One of those, of course, was Zoe Weber at Norwich. One was Peter Rizdale at Preston, just up the road from Blackburn as well. Neil Bowser at Middlesbrough as well, who were at the top end of the table and maybe seeing Ipswich's promotion rivals. So they obviously felt that it was right for them to abstain. So then that takes it down to a seven-person vote there. We don't know the breakdown. All we know is it was a majority, whether that was a split vote.
7:17Stuart Watson:We don't know somebody was going to be upset by this decision. And I think ultimately just when it was also up in the air, nobody was going to be happy. I think just reset and replay for the reasons that we outlined earlier in the week was the correct call. it's stroke of luck for Ipswich and they've now got to kind of make the most of that but it's going to be an interesting atmosphere on that return to Ewood Park whenever that may be.
7:48Mark Heath:Yeah you're looking forward to that Rossi, me and Sue looking at the schedule yesterday, the fixtures sorry I went very American by saying schedule there, the fixtures and it looks like the first earliest opportunity it could be would be I think the week starting October 27th so a nice little trip up to Blackburn which Stu you were saying coincides with your week off which you were sort of not too happy that you're going to miss the game because of the atmosphere and the kind of extra spice that may be generated by that fixture Ross are you looking forward to getting back up there? I want us to make sure the forecast is fine we're not travelling if it's raining pretty much and as you may hear, I've got the sniffles so yeah, I'm hoping it's just better weather and we do have a 90 minutes of football being played, but I don't mind it with Park though, it's not a bad ground, I know it's a bit far but it's not a bad little set up and I've got some good pitches so yeah
8:52Stuart Watson:Ideally Word of advice for us, take a spare set of clothes this time if the forecast is wet, sitting in some wet close for a five-hour journey home it is not great for your health um so i didn't take that on board that bad i didn't think it was gonna be that bad yeah the forecast was a bit 50 50 to be fair yeah i'm just yellow weather warning yeah i'm just pleased to remember the coat ross um
9:17Mark Heath:that that's that's progress i also think you the sniffles you are now suffering is a direct result of uh of that game so surely there should be some leeway some compo coming your way shouldn't there from Blackburn or the EFL. Yeah, Venkis. You're in harm's way at their ground. Anyway, friends. So the game is going to be replayed. We think maybe end of October, perhaps. I think we all agree the right decision has been reached. So you look like you want to have the final round.
9:44Stuart Watson:No, I was just saying on the atmosphere of the day, obviously Blackburn fans are going to be bang up for it. Yeah. Rightly so. And there's already talk, I think, of Ipswich fans maybe bringing goggles and inflatables and brollies and all that sort of rubber rings and stuff like that. I'm all up for that.
10:04Mark Heath:Yeah, it should be good. Let's see what happens when that game is replayed. All right, then the other sort of common main talking point before we get to Pompey this week has been something that you've been chasing, Stu. It's yet to be really confirmed by anyone solidly, but an eye-raising story out of Kuwait, and that's that Sam Morsey has apparently left Kuwait FC by mutual consent after just three games with his most recent and indeed perhaps final game seeing him be sent off. Now clearly, if true, this is a really interesting story given the fact that Town let him go for no fee. This is a life-changing opportunity for him and if reports are to be believed, and as I say, you are chasing the truth of it, it may have already ended.
10:52Stuart Watson:Yeah, first thing to say is we haven't reported on it yet because we've not been able to kind of multi-source this ourselves. So holding fire on that, it's based on a report at the moment from a Q80 TV station that's, you know, a proper media outlet. So no reason to believe it's not the truth, but once we can kind of properly firm it up, we will. Three games in to life in Kuwait, as you say, their red card in the first half at the weekend. We did kind of discuss this, didn't we, when he moved to Kuwait, that we understood that life-changing money for someone who's kind of climbed the pyramid. Obviously, culturally, he felt that was important to him as well with his religion.
11:35Stuart Watson:But it didn't take a genius to work out that it probably wasn't going to scratch the competitive itch in Sam Morsi playing. It's not even Saudi where you're coming up against some big-name players. it's it's q8 so um if indeed he has come to the end of his time there um where does he end up next is is the question he'd become a free agent if his contract has come to a mutually agreed termination i would imagine a return to england um yeah two big questions are ipswich interested in bringing him back and if not could he rock up at a championship rival um do you want me to take
12:17Mark Heath:each of those questions in turn well i do i know clearly we're jumping several steps ahead here with the story yet to be officially confirmed but it's fun to talk about isn't it i mean clearly the conversation as to whether um town would consider bringing him back is is the first chat um you've got some breaking news sg no no excellent cool but i think it can wait okay cool so first of all should we do the should Town be interested would Town be interested in bringing him back
12:50Stuart Watson:personally I don't see it I don't see it happening I think there was a parting of the ways for a reason in the summer Ipswich didn't race to offer Sam a new contract they did eventually took a bit of kind of to-in and fro-in about the length of the contract, obviously with Sam now being 33, I think. I'm going to be 34 coming up next. 34, yeah. And I think ultimately, Ipswich are kind of having to have at least half an eye on the future and they've gone through this reset. And I think when you're trying to build a new culture at a football club, is it particularly healthy to have the man who was front and centre, all of that, still kind of hanging around?
13:35Stuart Watson:but kind of, for me, Sam Morsi is an all-or-nothing character. He's either the captain, heartbeat at the side, leading everything. I'm not sure it would particularly work for him coming in to be kind of back up to Azul Matasiwa, who Ipswich now have to really kind of invest in to be the man that leads things forward. So for those reasons, I'm not sure, yeah, unless Sam Morsi unless suddenly Azor Matasiwa suffered a really bad injury then that could suddenly change things but I can't see Ipswich or Sam Morsi kind of falling over themselves for an instant reunion I might be wrong and then the next question is the one of you know if he doesn't go to Ipswich there'll be a lot of championship football clubs interested in taking him and this isn't being again smart with hindsight I said this in the summer it's all very well Ipswich having a gentleman's agreement to say, look, it's a big opportunity for you.
14:35Stuart Watson:We won't take a transfer fee. But I think it, I really hope they were smart enough to put some sort of clause in there to say that, you know, if it doesn't work out in QA and there was always a very strong chance it wouldn't, that there is a period of time, six months a year where you can't sign for another championship club because that could leave Ipswich with a bit of egg on their face, couldn't it? if he rocks up somewhere else and upsets the season in some way.
15:07Mark Heath:It really would stick in the crawl, wouldn't it? Because you imagine there'd be top-end championship sides looking at bringing him in if possible. Well, see, if and when Morsley is available to sign as a free agent, there would obviously be some emotional connection to the idea of bringing him back. But as Stu says there, there is literally the guy that was signed to replace him is now playing his role in the side, wearing his shirt as well, his shirt number um but is there any argument because one of the things we talked about post transfer window is that there is no obvious backup for matthew see we're in the side now he appears to be bulletproof at the moment but should he go down or get banned or whatever there is no obvious person to step in and take that place and that in that scenario who better to step in than the guy who made that role his own in the first place yeah very much so um yeah it's interesting one i know there's a lot of talent fans out there like they're saying straight away bring him back um matter by talent fans i've bumped into the last few days um hopefully i haven't given you my cold if you're fine let me know if you are fine um my voice cracked there um yeah it is a very interesting one i mean i think yeah as steve mentioned i do hope there was a clause in that contract or that discussion because yeah what if he rocks up a yeah a promotion rival and goes and scores a goal or was crucial to their promotion push.
16:31That would be, yeah, as Stu said, egg on our face. Or, yeah, he could become the saviour, come back, does like the Massimo Luongo sort of role, signs in the January, and then, yeah, boom, get us promoted. So, yeah, it's a weird situation. I know there's a lot of fans who have got that story of Sam Warzy and a captain, back-to-back promotion, but now we've got this new heroes, I think Stu's done a great piece this morning about time for new heroes and stuff obviously some players struggled at first but as all I'm asked to see was the new number 5 and I think we've got to back the current crop and yeah we'll see what happens with Morsi
17:15Stuart Watson:Sorry, he'll be a free agent so if you think back to when Ipswich signed Axel Twenzebi that was after the window shut, he was a free agent they were able to sign him and register him. So I'm assuming on that basis, he would be able to sign and play as a free agent straight away. Obviously, you have to have space in your squad, which have filled their 25-man squad. So when they signed Axel, from memory, they left a slot free for him. So I don't know if you could then deregister a player in order to make room for a free agent. I'd be surprised if that was the case. So even if Ipswich did want him, I don't think they'd be able to sign him and register him before the January transfer window.
18:00Stuart Watson:Again, I need to check on that. But other clubs, I need to have a look through who maybe didn't use their full 25-man quota, who needs a midfielder. You could probably start to narrow it down to his options. And then maybe, you know, does Sam just take a few months? I mean, it won't be long before January comes. Maybe he keeps his options open. Depends how gagging he is to sort of play football immediately. and get straight back into the fold. I don't know.
18:27Mark Heath:I don't want it to happen. I don't want to see Sam Morsey sign for a rival and then play against Town. But part of me kind of does want to see it happen, if you know what I mean. I'd like to see Sam versus Azor in midfield. I think that would be a particularly pay-per-view matchup, given we know that Sam plays with an edge and obviously Azor is a physical player. I think that could be quite good TV. Hopefully it doesn't happen, but we'll see. Friends, shall we move on? It is worth reflecting, actually, Ross. You make a good point there. Stu's written a nice piece this morning around something.
18:57Mark Heath:I think you first touched on the pod earlier this week about the kind of need to get behind the new blood at town. And it's probably worth you just talking about that a little bit, Stu, because it is an interesting point. It's kind of sparked by what you said on the pod around Jacob Brees and Cameron Burgess. And I guess inevitably a little bit of rose-tinted or blue-tinted glasses in this case about how those players who became part of the club folklore initially, quite a few of them struggled. And it took time for them to get going and roll in becoming this winning machine that we got used to.
19:32Yeah.
19:33Stuart Watson:Full disclosure, we were struggling to come up with some ideas for the news cycle, the quiet part of the week for this morning. And you picked up on some of the comments around a little bit of the criticism that Jacob Grease is receiving after his red card and a couple of other incidents this season, the penalty at Preston, et cetera. and immediately it's not just Jacob Greaves made a mistake, it's Cameron Burgess wouldn't have done that and I don't want to say this too flippantly but people like Cameron Burgess have now suddenly been elevated to like Maldini status in people's minds and again Sam Morsi, we're talking as if he's just taken him to...
20:13Stuart Watson:You're always a better player out of the team, you're always a better player with hindsight, aren't you? And look, I don't want to take anything away at all from that crop of players because they are bona fide club legends now, modern club legends. I know it's all relative, but they're in club folklore. What they did will hopefully leave a legacy. But football moves on and there's an argument that Ipswich had their tried and trusted formula. and they had a team that had done it before and had gone through all of these experiences, you know, they could have gone again. But it didn't work out that way.
20:54Stuart Watson:And I don't think it's particularly healthy that every time Greaves does something, we immediately, Burgess's name follows in the next breath. And likewise with other players throughout the team. That's kind of my feeling around it. And, you know, I mentioned it, Burgess had a difficult sort of first 12 to 18 months. There's various examples that we can throw up, but Sam Morsi's the same. Sam Morsi admits that it took him months to get his head around dropping down from Middlesbrough in the Championship to Ipswich in League One. And, you know, it was fairly deep into his career where he was arguing with fans at Bristol Rovers on Valentine's Day night, 0-0, midway through the League One promotion season.
21:34Stuart Watson:Leif Davis had a poor debut, gave a penalty away against Bolton, fairly jet-lagged that day, I remember. we talk about it all the time, don't we? There's so many examples of players that just took a little bit of time to find their feet. So for me, it's far, far too early to be making any kind of judgments on these players individually or collectively at the moment.
21:58Mark Heath:Yeah, and I think the point you made in the piece is worth reflecting on, not just in this particular debate, Stewie, but in society as a whole, that it's okay to kind of be in the middle somewhere. It doesn't have to be so polarised and at odds all the time. You know, you can actually just sit in the middle and take some time to decide, you know, the sensible route as opposed to extremes. Yeah.
22:20Stuart Watson:Yeah. And I know that leaves you exposed to kind of accusations of offence sitting or being too scared to have an opinion. But I actually think sometimes it's braver to just take a beat and assess things a little bit. in this day and age we're too quick everyone's too quick whether it's politics whatever part of society you have to have a really strong opinion and now you call us to the mast even if if you're honest you probably don't have enough of a enough information at your disposal to really kind of make that decision you feel pressured to sort of to say that so for me we're in a little period now where it's fine to be slightly anxious about about change understandably so trying to keep your glass half full mentality because if not what's what's the point in being in a football fan we obviously have a role sort of to be a little bit more independent and take a step back and assess things and if if things don't work out if things go really horribly wrong we'll be there to to certainly voice that opinion at the correct juncture um it's certainly not that now it's way way too early which brings us perfectly
23:33Mark Heath:to the juncture of this weekend and the start of another huge week for Itchwich Town. Three games in a week, culminating with the Derby and what a potential opportunity that would be for lift-off the week ahead. It starts with Portsmouth. Ross, you've been getting some insight onto Pompey. They've had an up-and-down start, down in terms of last game, because they lost at home to Sheffield Wednesday, who we know are in all sorts of bother. So what kind of insight can you give us, first of all on Portsmouth before we start talking about the Blues? I'm being on the road though this year in the league.
Read the full transcript
24:10So the games they've played, I know they drew last time out against Southampton in the derby for them. Obviously, Connor Chaplin won't be. He'll be ineligible to play this game. A familiar name in their squad, Andre Dezel, who is getting a lot of rave reviews. There was a bit of like question marks when he first signed as a free agent last summer. And he's been incredible from what, you know, the Pompey fans have been saying. So he's definitely a player to watch out for at Portman Road. I'm sure the reception will be fine. I think he has returned to Portman Road since he obviously got sold back in 2021.
24:49But yeah, they're a team that they're not going to be afraid to turn up and play football. They're not going to be, no, it depends on the game, how it goes. but from the inside I've got, they are going to come and play. They're not going to put 10 men behind the ball and try to defend for their lives. They're really going to go for it. You know, John Massigno is a manager that is now a bit of a, I wouldn't say an icon at Portsmouth, but he's like their sort of saviour, you know, from getting them back to the Championship after so many years away. They are a good footballing side, but they do have injuries and they've got a weird goalkeeping situation at the moment.
25:24I think that will be a big discussion point for Portsmouth's point of view. But yeah, good to see Andre doing well.
25:30Mark Heath:Yeah, John Moussino is one that I have a blind spot on. I'm always writing John Mourinho. It's like, what was yours, Stu? The Mark Warburton, Sam Warburton. Yeah. Certain players or managers that I get little blind spots with and I can't write John Moussino. It's always John Mourinho for some reason.
25:49Stuart Watson:It's the pro-evolution soccer version of Jose, isn't it?
25:53Mark Heath:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Siri, Rossi pointed to injuries there. That's certainly a conversation for Pompey going into this game. Yeah. I see that they've got quite a few people, including their first-choice goalkeeper, potentially missing or definitely missing.
26:06Stuart Watson:Yeah, good time to face them, I think. I think their starting XI, when everyone's fit, will be fine to achieve their goal of just consolidating, staying in the division again. Finished 16th last year. Really good home form, really poor away form. last year, interestingly, as Ross touched upon it. They've had some okay results on the road this time around, so I don't know if they've managed to kind of shake that tag off. But injury-wise, they've got some key players out. The goalkeeper you've mentioned, Nicholas Schmidt, fractured his hand in that derby against Southampton recently. The backup to him, Killip, came in last weekend against Sheffield Wednesday and, by all accounts, looked a little bit shaky.
26:52Stuart Watson:so I don't know if that's something Ipswich can pray on. Centre half Connor Shaughnessy, an important player for them, pulled up lane with a hamstring for one of Sheffield Wednesday's goals, just turned and pushed off and just pulled up. So he'll be out. He's a massive blow. And then the three sort of first-choice players in behind the striker are potentially all out. Jacob Murphy on the left wing, former Norwich, was their player of the year last year, missed out against Sheffield Wednesday with an ankle injury. I don't think there's been any kind of update on him yet, but the feeling looking at reports was without him in the side, their attack is very much blunted.
27:31Stuart Watson:They lose a major creative spark there. So we'll see if he plays. Chaplin, as Ross mentioned in the number 10 role, ineligible to face his parent club, of course. And then Callum Lang on the right wing. He suffered a hamstring injury, I think, in the Norwich game earlier in the season. and that was described as a major blow by the manager. So that's some key players there that are unavailable, potentially unavailable for this game. So decent time to face them. I guess on the flip side, beware the wounded animal. They were going along quite nicely, grinded out that 0-0 draw against Southampton and then they lost 2-0 to Sheffield Wednesday and Massinho pulled no punches, talked about them being awful for 90 minutes, pretty much accused his players of being complacent after getting themselves up for the derby and then sinking to that defeat.
28:25Stuart Watson:So he'll certainly be looking for a reaction from his players in this one.
28:30Mark Heath:Let's talk about Town then, Stu. Who might play, who might not play? Now, we know Jacob Greaves isn't going to play, so one assumes that Big Cedric is going to come in for his league debut. Also, having read your predicted 11, which goes out online at 12 o 'clock today, So if you want to have a look at who Stu thinks might play, there's one kind of big call in there, which may raise a few eyebrows. Shall we talk about who you think or who you would play for this game?
28:57Stuart Watson:Yeah, obviously one enforced change with Kipre in for Greaves at centre-halves. I think there'll be at least one kind of wince, peek through your fingers challenge from Cedric Kipre, from everything I've read about him and what I've seen on the pitch so far. But, you know, that'll be interesting. The door's ajar for him now, isn't it? He can play a bit as well. No stranger to that sort of left-sided centre-half role, so we'll see how he does. But midfield, it was an unchanged team up at Blackburn. Will it be unchanged again beyond that centre-half situation? there's a three game week coming up now with a trip to Bristol City away followed by the derby against Norwich.
29:43Stuart Watson:McKenna's going to rotate at some stage. Will it be this weekend with Bristol Rovers in mind? The one area that I think that rotation will come inevitably at some point is in midfield and it will be with Jenske Euster because Jenske Euster's knee management is well publicised. no point taking any unnecessary risks with him so McKenna needs to think about which players are best suited to the game stylistically a home game against Portsmouth where Ipswich are going to be the favourites be expected to have lots of the ball maybe at times be facing a low block and having to break things down is the technical talents of Marcelino Nunez Is this the right time to unleash him?
30:36Stuart Watson:Possibly. It's a really hard call. I've stuck him in my predicted XI just for a matter of fun and debate, really, I think, more than anything.
30:45Mark Heath:It would be interesting to see him from the start, wouldn't it? I mean, obviously Jens has been class and is class and will continue to be class, but it would be nice to see Nunes start, perhaps, and maybe a good game for him. Ross, have you got any other thoughts on the starting XI? I guess there's a debate on the right as always around McIntyre and when we're going to see a Gelli from the start and then Akpom and Smoddix in the 10. Any thoughts on that? No, I think everything else is pretty set in stone at the moment. Yeah, Nunes is an interesting one because you want to start him against Norwich, don't you?
31:21So you want to get him up to speed. So maybe he plays Saturday, rest him for Tuesday night at Bristol and then start him for the derby. That would be very tasty indeed. But yeah, it's a headache in a way from McKenna because, yeah, there's players who are botting out the bit to want to start, especially, you know, the games coming up. We've got a three-game week. You know, players will know they've got an opportunity to play. But yeah, it'd be good to see Nunes from the start because, yeah, he's obviously made one-some appearance, looked lively when he came on against Sheffield United. so yeah it'd be good to see him from the start see what he does but yeah in my mind I know I'm going too ahead of myself now but in the derby I think you've got to start him for that one because
32:04Stuart Watson:that's how McKenna has to think doesn't he, he needs to start when you come into these three games week three game weeks you need to start thinking about a little bit of the next game or two ahead and that's why they've got the squad, built the squad that they have with two players for every position virtually, hopefully it's an easier sell because they've got different qualities in each of these positions. Nunez and Cuyusta are two completely different players in the way they play the position. Nunez is an out-and-out playmaker. He's a technician. He can pick a pass. He's full of energy. Cuyusta is a bit more kind of vertical in his play.
32:45Stuart Watson:He's a ball carrier. And so when you sit down with a player and you explain that you've not been dropped. You've just been, I've got you in mind. I've got you in mind for Tuesday night. You're going to be perfect for that game. And you almost make them feel good about being dropped. And the same can be said of kind of McAteer, straight line runner, pace versus Igelli, tricky dribbler, powerful shot, likes to cut inside. And there's different options for each position. And it's just kind of figuring the right blend for each game.
33:16Mark Heath:Right then, let's do predictions, shall we? I think, are you still leading the way on predictions Rossi? Because obviously last weekend's game was null and void I think all of us would have got it wrong anyway So yeah, so let's start with you then What do you think is going to happen? Yeah, I just want to quickly put a point of order Stu was interested to sort of let me know about He wanted a score review, which I did do Has it gone to VAR? It's gone to VAR and it was correct So yeah, I'm currently on five points Hefe, second place with four points. AJ and Stu, joint bottom, the sports writers and all that, who should know their stuff.
33:56Currently bottom. So, although that can easily change this weekend if they get a correct result, but we shall see. But, yeah, still early days, but top of the lead.
34:07Mark Heath:Let's not mention to Alex that he's bottom because, you know, he doesn't take these things very seriously. So it's probably not worth mentioning it. prediction wise then Ross give us a prediction I'm going to go with my scoreline of choice I think I've gone this pretty much so far which you can sort of say boring but I'm going to go 2-1 I wasn't going to go 2-0 but I've boring one who's your score first first goal scorer do I play it safe because I want to obviously keep my top of the lead who will score goals goal scorer. I can't think of a goal scorer. Why can't I think of somebody who plays for Itchwich Town?
34:47I'm going to go for George Hurst. There we go. Boring.
34:54Mark Heath:Okay, so you go 2-1 George Hurst. Stewie, I already know what you're going to say because I've read your preview and I like it. So I'm going to get in first and say 2-0 in Itchwich Town. I'm going to say Chubarak Bomb, which probably means he won't start. who are you saying? What are you saying?
35:13Stuart Watson:I'll take your 2-0 and I'll raise it I'll say 3-0 which is quite bold because Portsmouth haven't conceded many goals at all this season 5 in their 6 games but it's that injury situation that I've outlined that gives me a bit of hope plus the fact that Ipswich are back at Portman Road where they won 5-0 last time out of course, let's not forget so 3-0 is my scoreline I wanted to say Akpom as well. He's the one I had in mind. But I think it's more fun if we go with different players. Your call, mate.
35:52Stuart Watson:On that basis alone, I will say first goal scorer is going to be Nunez delivering a free kick slash corner, which is headed into the back of the net by Dara O'Shea.
36:07Mark Heath:Oh, lovely stuff. he's gold as well okay so 2-1 hurst rossi me 2-0 akpom stewie 3-0 dara o'shea which if that comes to pass that'd be tremendous you deservedly get all the points for that um right and friends uh as we come to the end of this podcast who wants to hear about my uh my holiday in san sebastian me hey well it was tremendous friends and i can highly recommend san sebastian uh it's a beautiful city incredible food uh great culture uh as always when one goes to europe you get home you think get back to the village and someone's painted a bloody cross of saint george on the mini round about in the village and you think oh god why are we what am i doing this place uh but spain is tremendous uh pinch off culture brilliant basically just go bar to bar they've all got their own specialities um and you just kind of stand at the bar there's no sitting down really stand at the bar get your elbows out uh everyone's having a good time all uh all in good fun and also friends i want to highlight that i achieved an airport pb stew and ross i don't know um you can tell me if if this makes me odd uh my wife definitely thinks it does but um you know when you land and everyone immediately gets up and it's like a competition so you can get up first even there's no point that's nonsense i don't get involved in that but soon as the doors are open and you're allowed off the plane that then is my signal for the race to the carousel i again travel rules always book extra leg room never use the escalator always go up the stairs and never get on those ridiculous slidey walkways just speed walk past those losers and for the first time in history i got to the baggage carousel first out of everyone on the plane which makes me the best human being alive unfortunately i then had to wait about 25 minutes while i opened the baggage carousel my wife eventually caught up to me and called me all sorts of names for leaving her behind just knocking people out the way get the kids out of the way they should even be in the airport losers um so yeah does that make me odd
38:10Stuart Watson:i think it's important to have these little kind of mini games in your life isn't it sometimes when you you find yourself in a kind of a race that's not a race with a stranger like a walking race in the streets or everything everything's a competition yeah it look if it added a little bit of uh fun to your day then i'm all for it i'm not sure what you were quite achieving by getting there first but um is this always okay is this always been a thing how many years in
38:39Mark Heath:the making has this been well this is something i've never achieved before i've never managed this um but always tried it always because normally obviously i'm at the back of the plane this time because we're on a smaller airliner for whaling first time i've flown with them we were towards the front because we reserved extra leg room as you always have to do the rules of travel from heath um which meant we got off slightly earlier than other the other losers at the back of the plane um and as i say like i don't know why people use escalators just go up go upstairs two at a time why do people get on that slidey thing where you can just walk fast lazy people i'm split on
39:13Stuart Watson:that um stairs over the cramped kind of escalators when you've been sat on a plane for however many hours agreed um slidey walkway things i'm in they're fun you don't get to use them every day
39:26Mark Heath:they make me feel they make me feel a bit seasick as well because from as soon as you get off them you think you're still on them and i find that my body struggles to then compensate for it so i'd much rather speed walk past them making eye contact with every single one of them on there so they know that I'm better than them.
39:41Stuart Watson:I don't think you can speedball past them.
39:43Mark Heath:I can. I think they're too fast. I've done it, mate. No, I've done it. I did it this weekend. Absolutely smashed them. And I looked at every single one of them in the eye so they knew that I was better than each and every single one of them. Jokers. Anyway, it feels like a good place to end with me being the king of the world. I just want to shout out before we leave, which does relate to travel, one of our regular listeners, and indeed, I think, attendee at KOA Live 2, who sent me a message all the way from Australia Joe Doggett who sent me a picture of him in Australia wearing the KOA Kings of Anglia best-selling trucker hat and a beautiful vista behind him he's out there for a little bit in Australia so have a great time out there Joe thanks for your support of the show it also made me wonder what's the furthest afield we can see some KOA merch, there we go I believe that is the that's the snapback that's also a good seller the the multicolored snapback obviously go online get yourself some koa merch good value clobber as joe best model well i think you think there's a certain appeal to you friend um yeah so uh joe have a great time thanks for your message and thanks for taking cloy global it made me think though what's the furthest afield we can see some koa merch if you've got koa merch further afield or as far afield as australia uh send me some pictures uh let us know and we'll give you a shower on the pod obviously you can go and get all that merch for our various links there should be a link in this very pod description indeed it's going to get yourself some koa merch and also a reminder obviously support our sponsors use the code koa to get 20 off at stardustspirits.co.uk all their excellent alcoholic beverages on there and our new sponsor another suffix sponsor please support them molecular uk uh rossi what who are they they do great cleaning products that's all they do what are they called ross
41:36i hope they don't listen to it although they will because obviously i'm sure they support the podcast but when they hear this and they go why are we sponsoring this podcast when one of them can't even say their names yeah it's become a game now absolutely when will rossi finally be
41:52Mark Heath:able to pronounce molecular to add to them will rossi finally pass his driving test which one's going to happen first who knows it's going to be exciting to find out but anyway you can visit their website which is www.molecular-uk.com user code KOA10 for 10 % off all their products as Rossi says they do some tremendous cleaning products for your car and other things I'm still waiting to get my hands on some of their products so I can then do my alloys and clean the inside of my car that kind of stuff but if you can support them that'd be great also friends a reminder that our blue era our new town magazine which reflects on the rebirth of Ipswich Town the first time we've had all that kind of stuff in the same place how we covered the rise uh from the market end of the market sevens era all the way through the takeover demolition man summer and all the way through promotion everything um it's happened since that is now in the shops you can get your hands on that for nine pound 99 sit that next to mission impossible on your ipswich town bookshelf uh friends anything else to mention rossi oh stewie go on i was just going to say you mentioning
42:49Stuart Watson:about new blue era one of the pieces in there is uh the interview i did with jason schecterly one One of the most favourite things I've probably done during my time because he's just such an inspirational man. And it was a real honour watching one of his speeches. He's been over in town again. He makes these regular flying visits over. Obviously, a lot of new players to hear the running towards adversity speech and who better to deliver it than Jason. So it's great to see some pictures of Ashley Young and others meeting Jason and listening to Jason, the women's team as well, all the staff behind the scenes.
43:30Stuart Watson:So hopefully that's given everyone an extra bit of a boost going into a big old week for Ipswich Town. Absolutely.
43:38Mark Heath:Ross, anything from you? Just linking up with the women's team, actually, they've got a double header this weekend, or well, it's a double header for the club because it's Portsmouth coming to, it's obviously Portman Road for the men and then the women's team play Portsmouth at the Colchester Stadium. so a pompy doubleheader for Mitchell's Town. Absolutely a great weekend in store hopefully two wins. Friends also it'd be nice if you could leave us a five story view on iTunes just because they're good for our fragile egos, mainly mine, and also helps us lift us visibility wise in the charts we've not had one of those for a while so if you could, if you do enjoy the show and want to leave us a review and help us be seen by more people attract more people to the K-A army, that'd be great if you could leave us a review.
44:19Mark Heath:Right then friends, we're going to wrap things up, it's been a shorter than normal pod today, mainly because AJ's not been here, so we've not had someone weighing on for five minutes at a time about XG. But we're building up, obviously, to Pompey. Stu's off to the pressers this afternoon, so follow those with us. Follow the game all with us if you're not going to be there tomorrow. And then join us back here on Monday, friends, for the start of a massive week, Derby week, building up to the Derby via, annoyingly, Bristol City. But it's still Derby week, so there's a lot to talk about. Hopefully we're talking about a win for town against Pompey as well.
44:48Mark Heath:Have a great weekend, and we'll speak to you next time.
44:54Thank you.
45:28Thank you.
45:53Thank you.
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From the publisher
The boys kick off with Town’s EFL-ordered Rovers return, and reports that Sam Morsy’s left his new club in Kuwait after just three games.
Then it’s on to Saturday’s clash with Pompey, Stu’s surprise inclusion in the starting XI and our predictions.
Plus, Mark returns from Spain with news of an airport PB.
Kings of Anglia is sponsored by Stardust Spirits. Get 20% OFF with promo code KOA at https://www.stardustspirits.co.uk/
Introducing our new sponsors at Molecular! Get 10% OFF with promo code KOA10 at https://www.molecular-uk.com/
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