575: Kings of Anglia: Our BIG live derby day preview show

24:12His number's apparently very good, again, leaning into the data metric side of it. And then forward areas behind Sargent, you've got those three. Matama, he's an interesting one. He's one of the domestic sign-ins they got him. He's a young lad, massive, powerful physique, but they got him from Lincoln, so he's stepping up in a big way from League Two levels. But he's actually looked to have grasped the net or taken his opportunity and scored in two of the last three games. And what he is, he's an impact player. I mean, Sam, my colleague, I think has given you that line. If I'm obviously surprised to see him maybe start on the bench and he comes into the game, particularly if it's in the balance, sort of second part, second half at Portman Road, because he will have an impact.

24:49You know, he's a big, physical, robust, almost throwback type of striker. And then the big disappointment in that list in terms of forward areas is the boy Sernac, Anthony Sernac. One of the signings from last summer, they paid eight and a half million for him. They've got him from holist football. He's a Croatian under-21 international. His numbers actually last season weren't too bad. I think he had about 12 goal contributions in about 38 championship games. And we spoke to Ben Napa. We was out with the team in Holland. They were in pre-season. We got some great access to the group. We had a lunch with Ben Napa, the sporting director.

25:24And he was saying that for players of his age, 21 and under, in the championship last season, he was second or third on the list of goal contributions. so the expectation was well he's had his first season in England he's understood now what it's all about in terms of a new country, new league, new culture on and off the pitch, he's adjusted he'll kick on, he could go skyrocketing he could be a from back in the day, he could be a ball from last season simply hasn't happened, much like the team he's had a shocker at the start of the season I don't think he's registered a goal or an assist he's actually been pulled out of the side he came back in midweek and he just looks he just looks like a player who's lost his way.

26:04You know, whether the change of coach from the guy who brought him in to Manning, he's dealing with that, he's trying to navigate that. But he's probably symptomatic of why there's so much expectation around Norwich before a ball was picked. And it's yet to have been realised because he certainly hasn't picked on. If anything, he's gone backwards and he's regressed. So for him, you can kind of read that for the whole Norwich team. So, yeah, if that is the XI, I think they're going to be reasonably strong defensively with Darling. But the question is, is there enough creativity in and around Saison, really?

26:38And if there isn't, then it's going to be a long afternoon, I think, for those Norwich players.

26:42Mark Heath:Which brings us on perfectly, Paddy, to my final question. And then we're going to let you get on and sink your pint. Because you've done some sterling work. The obvious question is the prediction, Paddy. Now, we know there's a lot of history. If you haven't won this game for 16 years, we may have mentioned that a few times. Do you think that's going to change on Sunday in Suffolk? Well, I'm going to stick with what I said earlier on on our show, and I think it will. I think it's a 2-1 home win. I don't think it'll be a great game because these games never are really, are they? You get passages of football breaking out amongst the arm wrestles.

27:19I can see it being that again. there's so much on the line for both clubs, both sets of fans, both sets of players and both head coaches. So I just look at it. I look at it and in the rounds, Norwich have lost five games already this season out of eight or nine. Ipswich have lost one. Ipswich are the team who feel to me moving further forward. They're on an awkward curve. Norwich are just in this, at the moment, folding pattern. Now, the only caveat I would say is if I'm Liam Manning, I'm using that because what the view I've expressed there is the view of a lot of the Norwich fans. They don't really see a passage to Norwich maintaining that 16-year dominance this weekend.

27:59So if I'm there, Manning, I'm using that. I'm going, see your mentality, pull the wagons around. Even our own fan base don't think we can go there and get a result. Let's go and prove a few people wrong, and who knows? And of course, the flip side of that is, I know you boys were down with McKenna earlier today and reading his quotes. He's trying to play down if there's any pressure on them. but there must be an expectation now. There must be a way to, this is your time now, there are no players. You've got to step up, you've got to grasp it. They failed two years ago when, as Stuart rightly said, that was probably their time.

28:30They'll never get a better opportunity, I think, the way Norwich are at the moment. So go and grasp it. And if that pressure weighs a little heavily on some of the shoulders of those different players, then maybe there's a path to Norwich getting a result. But we're straw clutching from a Norwich angle. So for me, it's a 2-1 home win.

28:46Mark Heath:Excellent. Well, thanks very much for joining us, Paddy. appreciate that and fighting against the noise in the pub go and go and enjoy your your well-earned pint now maybe uh tell your wife that you've been delayed a little bit longer you might need a second one oh don't let's talk exactly exactly we're notorious for talking about football so uh really appreciate you joining us paddy uh enjoy the game on on sunday uh and obviously we'll say hello when we see you cheers mate take care there we go then boys and just as if we planned it just as Paddy goes off to sink the rest of his pint, we have a late joiner who has been delayed by travel chaos.

29:25Mark Heath:Do you want to bring yourself in now, AJ, and explain yourself? Yeah, go on. Hello, everyone. Good to be here, finally. 29 minutes and five seconds after you guys started. Traffic in Ipswich is fun, isn't it? As Stu and I found out this afternoon, trying to get from Ipswich through to Needham Market, missed the train. Spent About 45 minutes in a pub on my own in Needham Market, having a nice pint. Finally got on the train, realised, oh, I'm cutting a bit of fine here. Getting back. I made the rookie error, right? The big rookie error, which was I went to the toilet on the train, come back out, lost my seat.

30:03Really, really bad move. But yes, did make it back just about in time to actually make it on here at all. So good to be here.

30:11Mark Heath:Excellent. and just as you arrive we're just having a few nice comments for the person who is in your seat as it were, Peter McLeod, our old friend Peter Polish correspondent says cheers Paddy great contribution we've got a few more here, might as well bring these up Shane Griffin Aidy Croucher did Paddy ever come up for breath, certainly a man of knowledge he certainly knows his football does Paddy, a few more along those lines right then, should we take a few of these thoughts before we get on to the town in-depth kind of chat. There was one here that I really wanted to see. Let me see if I can find it, because it was one for Ross.

30:50Mark Heath:Where were we? It was to do with Kovacic. We've got a lot of comments. There we go. Can you do this? This is from Peter Rossi. Can you inform the viewers who Kovacic used to play for? Can you pronounce that, Rossi? When I saw this, I was hoping it was going to just be hidden. Hopefully there was going to be more comments. but um but yeah peter i love you mate but you always do this to me um rakau maybe start with and then the rest jesus have we got stockwa i don't know i mean to be fair i wouldn't actually be 100 confident no uh what no i'm i'm in charge mate i don't do that uh uh friends shall we start talking about I guess it's town.

31:35Mark Heath:And you can, we can move in that direction via the pressers from today. Cause obviously you boys were down there speaking to Kieran McKenna and Dara O'Shea. Stu, do you want to give us a kind of feeling of the mood in the room? Because we, we kind of joked earlier, well, I joked that Kieran would be kind of playing it with a very straight bat and would be the usual kind of, you know, they're a very good team and we need to be at our best and we need to put on a performance and we'll try, you know, we'll do our very best to do that, all that kind of stuff. but having looked at his comments and spoken to you afterwards, he did kind of a couple of little comments in there, mind games-esque wise.

32:13Stuart Watson:Yes. I think that might be the most relaxed I've ever seen Kieran McKenna in his time as manager. He was in a bit of a playful mood today. He was smiling, a few little jokes. Didn't feel contrived to me. he's got the air of a man that I think knows that it's or feels that it's coming together a little bit that there's granted still a long way to go but I think he's pretty pleased with this squad that he's put together and he's felt post-transfer window that they're taking steps forward they're coming together and I know we joke sometimes that Kieran McKenna's press conferences You know, we talked about Paddy being a man of many words.

32:59Stuart Watson:I guess we'll probably all fall into that bracket as well. But Kieran McKenna certainly is as well. And a lot of pre-match press conferences are cliche-ridden, routine, same things, aren't they? But he's not adverse to jumping in with the mind games from time to time. Do you remember him having a pop at Danny Cowley? Yes. The Portsmouth game about tricks and traps and stuff like that. And, you know, he's picked up on the fact that a few managers are talking about Ipswich's budget. He's picked up on the fact that Liam Manning's talked about all the pressure being on Ipswich. And he tried to sort of flip the tables this afternoon and how it's all about Norwich's record to lose.

33:43Stuart Watson:So I think he had a little bit of fun today. It was always a bit tongue in cheek, bit of a wry smile. Very relaxed, I thought.

33:50Mark Heath:A few people in the comments saying we spent too long getting the Norwich side of things, which, you know, we try and cover all bases. And clearly we have a good contact with the boys down the road at Norwich. So I thought it'd be interesting and useful to get a bit of insight into how things are going on down there. Because really all we're doing is kind of looking from the outside in and to get insight into how they actually are feeling going to this game. I thought was interesting. Anyway, friends, apologies if that did wind you up. We are now fully engaged in the Switch Town chat, though. AJ, how was Dara O'Shea today?

34:19Mark Heath:He's going to be, well, it's his first Derby game and it's his first Derby game as Skipper. So a big game for him. How is he feeling? Yeah, I've got the important question out of the way in this one. What did he make of the chant that was sung at Bromley? Very happy that I finally managed to ask him that one after so long, being stuck in my head more than anything. I think in the same kind of vein as Kieran McKenna, to be honest, and you notice this with a lot of players, I guess last season, with that kind of senior leadership group that if you talk to them at the same press conference you talked to McKenna, you'd see a lot of similarities in terms of what they say and also how they say it.

34:57So speaking to someone who came across as relaxed but also didn't underplay what he was getting into, essentially, and spoke very openly about topics such as what it would be like to come up against Norwich as a team and not underestimating them and talking about coming up against Josh Sargent, I thought was quite interesting. and wanting to come up against the best strikers in the division. The coach welcome's always been a big one as well. I know Kieran was asked about this, and I asked Dara O'Shea, what do you think about it? Because it's been something that splits opinion and splits what supporters think about it.

35:34Dara O'Shea is all for it. Really wants that, wants to have that say. Yeah, exactly, Ross, that's kind of the thing. Wants to embrace it, and I know Kieran McKenna was the same way. So, yeah, two people, and in O'Shea's case, a player who's fully aware of what Sunday's going to be, but also you can sense that kind of cool, calm collectedness that you need to go and be successful in a game like this.

36:00Mark Heath:I like this, Rossi, from Shane Griffin. He says, I feel Roscoe's pain, but at least I can drive. Anything you want to say about that? No comment, not on a live show. interesting comment here from from lee and this this um touched on something we've been talking about rossi says i'm really not into the coach welcome we've seen quite a few of them now uh and that you know exeter and um huddersfield and norwich uh they are tremendously atmospheric um but is it is it something you're looking forward to do you get excited for it do you think it lifts the players do you think it adds any extra pressure to them uh do you know what so i made a good point i have to shout out to one of my drivers who joe who took me to bristol city he he mentioned because we spoke about it in there on the drive down to bristol and he said it's different for these these players because a lot of them have not experienced it before um so i get that point of view because there's only been leif davis george hurst christian Walton, Jack Taylor, I think, was in the squad as well.

37:04So, yeah, it's a new crop of players who are going to experience this for the first time. But, yeah, I think it's been done now a few times. It's still going to be a great atmosphere. I'm sure they're going to, you know, I'm sure Blue Action and Co are going to make it look even more better. I don't know how they're going to be able to top what they've done so far. But, yeah, for me, I don't know. I don't think it adds. If we lose, I don't think we'll use that. That's the reason why we lost. The reason why we lost, if we do lose, we're not going to lose, by the way, it's on the pitch. But yeah, I get people who don't like it.

37:38I get people who do like it. So do what you want, guys.

37:41Mark Heath:Fair enough.

37:42Stuart Watson:Can I just jump in there? Yeah. I'm told that Kieran McKenna, I know that Kieran McKenna was very keen to take some questions on the coach. Welcome ahead of this press conference. I was kind of primed to ask him because I think he was a bit disappointed that there is even a debate around whether this is the right thing to do. He is 100 % behind this. And as he rightly points out, and as you've said, Mark, they've done it three times so far. They thrashed Exeter 6-0 when promotion was on the line in League One. They got the job done against Huddersfield when the pressure was really on. to get to the Premier League.

38:25Stuart Watson:And then even in that game against Norwich, that was a really good performance that day. That was a team that played with adrenaline and had a hatful of chances. Still not sure how they didn't win that game. Nathan Broadhead had a ton of chances, didn't he, in that game. So as he rightly points out, it's lifted the players before. As Ross says, this is a new group of players that haven't experienced it. And for me, this weekend, this Sunday, is a chance now for this team and the supporter base to really sort of bond. This is a bonding moment. I get the sense from a fan base that they're still a little bit uncertain about a new group of players and all their former favourites have gone and they're still trying to sort of get their head around that, understandably so.

39:15Stuart Watson:And these new group of players are still in that period of realising and learning how good this fan base is. they're starting you know every time they'll go to Bristol City on a midweek and see a packed away end and the noise that they make and so they're coming together and I think this this coach welcome can only help kind of strengthen those bonds and hopefully it translates on the

39:36Mark Heath:pitch as it has done before yeah um you missed it uh AJ because you were you were mid travel hell but um there was a lot of chat with Paddy around it being a pivotal feeling game for Norwich in that if it goes badly, I mean, he's even suggesting that if Norwich get a thumping, what a shame that would be, that Liam Manning might be out the door. And conversely, if they manage to get a result, even if it's a draw, that can really stable the ship and give them something to cling on to. Do you feel like it can also go, for its town, if they win this game, a game they've not won for 16 years, with this new group of players kind of trying to gel together, do you think, I mean, we keep using this term lift-off.

40:17Mark Heath:but it really does feel like it it might actually be if they if they put a performance and get this win on sunday it could be tremendous couldn't it yeah um first thing so i did get to watch the bit with paddy i was sat in the back of a taxi with youtube on my headphones on tuning in thought i'd comment maybe but decided not to i thought i'd wait and bring myself in um i would agree with that obviously the extremes are not as extreme when it comes to uh comparing it switch with Norwich in this case, where if they win, I guess, from Norwich's perspective, does it change that much? Probably not.

40:53If they lose, well, Paddy's explained what the situation is there. From an Ipswich perspective, I think a defeat or not winning the match would be the worst possible time, going into an international break, going into a really daunting trip up to Middlesbrough, who've been one of the best teams in the division so far, a busy run with Charlton and West Brom and QPR on the horizon, whereas winning this match, putting in a strong performance, taking three points, then means that you've got two weeks to think, wow, I'm so excited to go back and watch this team again and get behind these people. As Stu rightly says, they're players that probably fans haven't fully bought into yet as a whole, and that's totally understandable and is something that we should respect.

41:41but if you have a game like this where some of these new signings can stand up and make themselves heroes then all of a sudden yes you've got everything that stands in isolation with the game and what it means but also then when you go up to Middlesbrough on a Friday night when you have West Brom coming on a Saturday 12 30 or the Charlton game or you're coming into the winter months even and you've got to go to Hull on a Tuesday followed by Oxford on a Friday then you're thinking you know what I want to go see these guys again I want to cheer them on I want and be supportive of them. And it makes it easier, doesn't it?

42:12And that's the kind of thing that can kick you on, that will kick the supporters on, but also it will give those players such a big boost to know that they've been able to play a part in history and also been able to do something that has really got the whole fan base behind them. So lifts you on the pitch, lifts you off the pitch. It's what you really need for a run like Ipswich have got coming up.

42:32Mark Heath:Yeah, it really does feel like it could be huge, this. Peter Mitchell on Facebook says, Will Nunes play a part in the East Anglian Diver, which brings us on nicely, Pete, to the next chat I want to have, which is who will play starting XI. Now, we saw a lot of changes in midweek, more than I was expecting. I think more than the new boys were expecting as well. So how do you see the starting XI shaping up, Stu? I know you've written something which is going online. That's actually online already. A lot of it, I think, is probably quite set in stone, but definitely question marks around certain areas.

43:05Mark Heath:Do you want to talk us through what you think might happen?

43:10Stuart Watson:Yeah, I think the defence and midfield is pretty set in stone, to be honest. I know I've seen a few comments in there saying people would welcome Cedric Kipre back in the side. But for me, it's Kieran McKenna is going to want to really build this partnership between Dara O'Shea and Jacob Greaves. So it will be furlong right back, Davis left back, Palmer in goal. Matt Asiwa, who is probably out of all the new signings, the furthest down the line in terms of getting people fully behind him. And I think we're all enjoying seeing him improve. Then we get on to the Marcelino Nunez debate. Made his full debut in midweek against Bristol City.

43:52Stuart Watson:Thought you could see what he is as a player. He wants the ball. He wants to play forward. He's got technical qualities, but he was a bit rusty at times. I think that was six weeks on from when he picked up an ankle injury playing for Norwich earlier in the season. I don't think there's any question that Jenska Jousta comes back into this team. We've talked about him on the pod multiple times this season as probably being Ipswich's best player at the moment. He looks a cut above in the Championship. The only reason he dipped out in midweek was probably just to protect him from a fitness point of view.

44:24Stuart Watson:So, yeah, Nunez off the bench, though, is more than likely going to happen at some point. And whatever the game state is, You can imagine the crackle of anticipation when he comes on and when Ipswich get a free kick in the final third thereafter. And then I think that the bigger question marks over the top end of the pitch, the whole front four changed in midweek. Has Kieran McKenna found a combination out of his power-packed attack that has fully clicked thus far? No.

44:58Stuart Watson:Yeah, there's debate there, isn't there? I mean, the one player I think we could really, well, there's probably two that I'd hang my hat on is Philogene on the left, someone who scored four goals in his last two games at Portman Road. I'm almost certain George Hurst will come back in up front, even though Azan sort of put himself about quite nicely in midweek. I think he'll be one that steps off the bench. He looks like he could be quite suited to a derby day, doesn't he, actually? But Hurst up front, and then probably the question marks over the 10 and the right winger. Is it Schmodix or Akpom in the middle?

45:31Stuart Watson:And is it Ageli or McAteer on the right? Go on. What do you boys think?

45:37Mark Heath:I'm going to ask Ross this because he hates talking about the line-up. Who do you reckon, Rossi? So there's definite questions around that kind of front area, the right wing particularly in the 10. We've seen people there saying maybe Akpom, maybe even play Nunes in the 10. Have you got any thoughts on that? well spoiler alert for my first goal scorer um sammy smoddicks by the way um so he's got a start he's my first town goal scorer i know that he's scoring the second half and it could be nil nil at half time but um i don't know i just have a feeling sammy will be really up for this he's that sort of character that sort of player um so yeah i know he's not had the best start to life this season um but i'll start him um akpom could be a good bench option if needed Nunes in the number 10 role.

46:23I could see it, maybe. Something maybe we can look at in the future. But for me, Smoddix. Go for it.

46:31Mark Heath:I like Sammy in this game, I think. AJ?

46:35Stuart Watson:What a time for him to score his first Portman Road goal. Still hasn't scored.

46:39Mark Heath:Yeah, first goal of the season. He hasn't scored yet, has he?

46:42Stuart Watson:That'd be nice, wouldn't it? I agree with you. I think he's got that little bit of edge and grit to him. He's the sort of player that he's got some of those character traits that I think would be suited to this game.

46:54Mark Heath:AJ, I'm going to ask you the same question. Have you got any thoughts particularly strong on the starting XI? It's going to be... Cuyo's going to come in for Nunes, isn't he? We can get on to it in a minute, but I see quite a big advantage for Towne in midfield in this game with Matasiba and Cuyo. Cuyo, as we say, is probably too good for the level and Matasiba's an absolute destroyer. Yeah, we spoke about this a bit yesterday, didn't we? And kind of highlighted the midfield difference. I think that every single game I've seen so far, I guess outside of the Birmingham one, I've felt that Ipswich's midfield has been such a key advantage for them in games.

47:34And especially now we've got to see this midfield partnership grow between Kijusta and Matasiva, which has happened since the Derby game, I think, when they both played together, wasn't it? released from the start. Being able to see that has been really exciting. And it was one of those where when Cajusta came in towards the end of the transfer window, you kind of piece things together and thought, hang on, this is a midfield that played together in the French top flight before. Like a good Ligue 1 team there as well, and we can have them in the championship. And they've delivered so far, and I think that going into pretty much any game at this level, they'd have the advantage.

48:11So defence stays the same for me. midfielder touched upon, striker I think is quite obvious. I'm in the same boat where you have Philogene on the left. I think Spoddix for me is the number 10. And then the other big debate is going to be the right side, isn't it? Where you've got, in my mind, two realistic options. You've probably got the wild card option if you could go with Jack Clark. But I don't think that, yeah, exactly. It's one that we saw at the start of the season. I'm more just thinking on the fact that his form has picked up and he's been delivering with goals. Is there a way to get him back into the team?

48:42it's difficult with Jadon Philogene. I don't think that it suits the balance. So you're looking at Sindra Valar-Egele or you're looking at Casey McIntyre. I think this is probably one where I think Casey McIntyre will start this match. Personally, I think he'll be the one that McKenna picks. If it was me, I'd probably lean towards putting Egele in. But I just feel that there is a bit of risk with kind of... What I saw a little bit from his first... from his full debut was a little bit of overeagerness at times, drew some sloppy fouls. so much good play within that, but just some things that need adapting to.

49:17And I worry that coming into a very intense derby, if he's playing from the start, that that is the kind of thing that could lead to set pieces, that could lead to bookings or red cards, for example. McAteer, I think, is probably the safer bet and I think will be the one that starts. I mean, we're talking about people becoming heroes. He's someone that I think is not won over many fans at all within the fan within the Ipswich fan base if he was to score against Norwich that would totally

49:44Mark Heath:change his career here yeah um have you got any thoughts on that I know in your starting event you put a galley in there um just looking at the comments there I'm flashing a few of these up quite a few people saying they would favor a galley over over McAteer you got a strong feeling on that

49:58Stuart Watson:I've got a strong feeling this was the what this was the position I probably agonized over the most just to address a couple of points in there people talking about getting Nunez in as a 10 or putting Jack Clark on the right. I'm not sure about that. I know they've both done it before, Nunez in particular. They tried the Clark-on-the-right experiment in pre-season, the early stages of the season. It didn't really work. Kieran McKenna, I think, explicitly talked about the balance of his attack not being right, and I think that really was kind of pointed towards the Clark-on-the-right experiment.

50:30Stuart Watson:So I can't see that. Just to reiterate what Alex said, really, I think McAteer will be seen as the safer option. He's bigger than I realised, Casey McAteer, seeing him up close. And I think he's decent in the air. And Norwich have got some big boys in their team. And so there'll be that element that comes into consideration. Again, he's a big lad himself, but I don't know if he's necessarily as good in the air as McAteer. I hadn't really considered what Alex just said about him giving away quite a few free kicks on his debut. that is definitely worth something for consideration McAteer didn't have the best of games in midweek and I don't know where his confidence is at at the moment as a manager then is it a case of showing a bit of faith and sticking with someone and not trashing their confidence or they've got the championship record signing here in Sindri Violet Aghelli fearlessness of youth that's one way of looking at it isn't it just chuck him in you know he's probably not got loads of background knowledge on really what an East Anglian derby is about just go in there and have fun lad and see what you can do make yourself a hero um hardest hardest decision for me I think in this lineup it probably will be for Kieran McKenna as

51:45Mark Heath:well a few comments just coming in interesting about the ref Ross and you can speak to this because you've done a little bit on him um quite inexperienced fair to say that this is going to be the biggest game of his career so far and walking into a game like this uh it's gonna be a lot of pressure on him because obviously derby days are different sort of games very intense yeah yeah thomas kirk is the name yorkshireman um the funny thing is though on the efl appointments page apparently he's also refereeing the swansea leicester city game on saturday so i don't know who's got that uh balls up on the website so i don't think he's doing back-to-back games because I don't think that would be allowed.

52:24But yeah, he's not reffed many championship games. I think he's only been promoted to the championship this season properly. I think he's had a few championship games prior, but he's mainly been League One, League Two. I think he got into the Football League in 2022. So yeah, it's an interesting one because the ref can sometimes be a big talking point in terms of a decision. My hot take, by the way. Oh, another one. That hot take. Like, maybe there'll be a red card in this game. I think the derbies, I don't know, they haven't been as foisty as they have been in years gone by. I felt like the last two games, there wasn't that much of an edge to it, really.

53:01I know we had Sam Morsi and stuff, but I don't know. I like a bit more passion in this derby. So, yeah, obviously, town don't get too carried away, but maybe a red card could be, with Norwich struggling and frustrated, potentially, they could have a play sent off.

53:16Mark Heath:Yeah. So, I think so far, now we've got a red card. I think you said that Gelly's going to have a moment. Who else have you said is going to have a moment? I think he said McAteer as well. McAteer as well. Who else was it? Was it Zon? I think you said it was Zon. It was Zon to come off the bench. It was Zon to do something. You've got quite a few people just getting, literally naming everyone in the squad. And we're going to read Carl out as well. Just while we do this, boys, I'm just going to, I've saved this. This is the, what is this? Raspberry and white chocolate vodka liqueur from Stardust Spirits.

53:44Mark Heath:I'm just going to open this. Down it, down it. Maybe not down it, actually. I should have opened it before. because it's pretty tight. So while I struggle with this, I might put myself on mute. I want to ask you boys, where are town going to win this and where potentially could they lose it? Now, AJ, I look at two areas for me where I think town have got a definite advantage. I've already mentioned midfield. And I think generally you would say that player for player, town is superior in every department, maybe apart from Josh Sargent. But then when you look at the bench and what town can bring on, I mean, that could be tremendous.

54:15Mark Heath:So for me, the bench and the midfield are two huge advantages. Where do you think they're going to win this? Yeah, those are basically the two. The midfield's the one that stands out to me because they've got such a strong balance with Kiyusta and Matasiwa as the two. Matasiwa, the destroyer, nothing seems to get past him. God, everyone's struggling with their stardust spirits today. And Kiyusta, for me, I think coming up against Pella Mattson in this case is not the most experienced within English football, still quite a young midfielder. I think that if Kuyusta can have the beating of him and the way that he works things into space, the dribbles, the way that he spins past people, that then links up to allow Jadon Filagene into space.

55:03So that's the combination for me. It's going to be Kuyusta linking up the left side with Davis running down, with Filagene running down. That's going to be crucial. The bench, as you say, I think that the bench options are going to look so different. When the teams are announced at turn 45, isn't it, on Sunday morning, I mean, if it's the team that I think it will be, you've got Aghele coming on, you've got Atpom coming on, you've got Azon coming on, you've got Jack Clark coming on. There's so much talent there. So those are the two things I would agree. Can I throw in an area to combat this and go to the other side?

55:39Then what I think will be an issue? Set pieces. That is my concern within this. We've had a couple of games now where set pieces have been problematic and they've conceded set piece goals. I can't look at the comments because they're going to make me laugh. They've conceded set piece goals and Norwich have that threat. I think they're going to be direct. They're going to go up to a forward line of the players that are well over six foot. Sargent, Makama, I think Shvartal is quite a tall player as well. You've got Harry Darling who's a constant threat from set pieces. I think he had two or three pretty good opportunities in the game.

56:14I've watched them play against West Brom. That is the area where a big improvement is going to need to be made. And I think probably what Liam Manning will target based off Talon's last couple of performances. Rossi, have you managed to get yours open? Yeah, I found the Blood Orange Gin Liqueur.

56:32Mark Heath:Have a little sip on that. Give us a review. Down here. Absolutely, yeah.

56:41Mark Heath:Yeah, that's nice. Excellent. There we go. Well, use KOA, sideoffspirits.co.uk, for getting 20 cent off. I've made a mistake. I tried to use my teeth to open this bottle, and in doing so, I've actually made the top tighter. I've paid a lot of money for them, mate.

56:57Stuart Watson:Don't ruin it. Exactly.

56:58Mark Heath:Someone did just point out, you've got to be careful with those Nashers, so I will be. Anyway, Stewie, where are you going to win and lose this game? And also, could you hit us with a potential Derby Day hero? There are players in this team, you've already mentioned Ivan Azan, has that feel of potential derby day? He might like a derby. Anyone else you can give us? I'll probably end up going all Ross and make a case for anyone.

57:32Stuart Watson:Everyone will say, I hope he's the derby hero. I hope he's the one that writes himself into folklore. You could probably say that about quite a few in there, to be honest, couldn't you? Where will it be? You've mentioned some key areas. I'll also throw in the left side as well because Jadon Philogene's on fire at Portman Road at the moment and Leif Davis is looking back in business. You know, a man who was very open about his confidence taking a bit of a kicking in the Premier League facing world-class wingers every week. But he says it was starting to come back to him towards the back end of last season.

58:04Stuart Watson:And I think he's right bang at it. I think AJ made him man of the match. I'd agree with that in midweek. And you're unfortunate not to add to his assist tally. He did set up George Hurst last weekend against Portsmouth. He's back to being his non-stop running up and down that left-hand side. He's now sort of playing that slightly inverted role at times, adding some different strings to his bow. So the left side, I think, is an area that Ipswich can get some joy from. In terms of weaknesses, obviously the last two goals against have come from corners. but prior to that, Ipswich have been struggling with that long straight ball over the top, haven't they?

58:42Stuart Watson:They've got themselves into a bit of a muddle. They defend really well for the most part, concede very few chances and then have these little lapses in concentration that have led to red cards or penalties or goals against. And Paddy warned us earlier that Sargent is someone who runs off the last shoulder that can cause some issues. So that's something Ipswich need to really be watertight on going into this game.

59:08Mark Heath:boys is there anything else you want to highlight and I want us all to pick a potential Derby Day hero I'll come to you Rossi you've already named about 14 players but if you could pick one who you think this player in particular is going to write themselves into Derby Day you've done a bit today looking back at the Canary Crusher and Alex Matthew and obviously John Walk that even scored at all time in this fixture if I gave you some money and said right, I want you to tell me who's going to be a Derby Day hero who would you put it on? Maybe someone who doesn't score in the game but has an unbelievable match and I think that could be Azor Matasiwa I know that's another player that I'm now naming I could have gone Sammy Smoddocks and gone yeah he's going to score the opening goal and then yeah, someone else then scored but I think midfield is going to be the key battle in this one and I think Azor he's going to fight every Norwich player.

1:00:07He may not get sent off or anything like that. That's my hot take earlier, as I mentioned. But yeah, Azor's going to be incredible. And yeah, I think he's going to back up every ball and he'll be key.

1:00:18Mark Heath:You give me, AJ, from your massage parlour, a Derby Day hero. So Rossi's gone Azor.

1:00:29Stuart Watson:Sorry, I just laughed to myself because I was already thinking about will it be a happy ending for Ipswich Town? That's where my brain went. I've not even cracked open the spirits yet either. It's Friday night.

1:00:42Mark Heath:We want a drink. Come on. We're better than that, boys. AJ, give us a Derby Day hero. God, it's true. It's not post-Watershed. Derby Day hero, you know mine, Mark, because you asked us for predictions. You've seen all of our predictions as well. I have seen, yeah. The one that I predicted is Ivan Azon. I think that in a game of fine margins, having him off the bench, he seems like an annoying player to play against. Where you have the physical battle that you're going to come up against with George Hurst, he just seems like a real pain to defend against. The way he wants to kind of wriggle and move and run at you.

1:01:21Yeah, I think that against some tired defensive legs of Norwich, I think that coming on late on, he could be the hero.

1:01:29Mark Heath:just looking at these comments lazer lazer for life stewie very much enjoyed that that's a cheeky comment um ad i've given up mate i can't i bit it and uh and now it won't now it won't open at all so i've made a huge error uh yeah i regret my choice um someone here lazer for life saying smoddx hat trick wow that would be tremendous wouldn't it um i think that i think the time has come boys for us to do predictions um but before we do roll to predictions uh i think it's important that we see rossi um just how the how the latest league table stands because i've always said that the people are good at predictions um are the best people uh and clearly know their stuff when it comes to football um so what's just out of interest what is the uh what's the what's the standing in the moment in the in the prediction league tables what's you got it to flash up.

1:02:21Yeah. You did get the result bang on and also Stu did as well. So yeah, let's bring it up. Here it is.

1:02:29Mark Heath:Oh, look at that. Who's top? Joint top. Well, top. Top on goal difference. Or on name. Alphabetically. Yeah. I'm pleased with that. I'm very pleased with that. AJ, obviously you don't take these things very seriously. How do you feel about being hot? What have you got to say for yourself? Can we just highlight the fact that Ipswich are 13th in the championship table? These things mean nothing, Mark. Oh, here we go. We're in early October. Let's wait and see where we are in May.

1:03:04Stuart Watson:Alex doesn't even look. He doesn't even know where he is in the table. The table doesn't even take shape till 10 games. And it's a marathon, not a sprint. And yeah, you just don't even, we don't know where we are in the table because we just take it a game at a time.

1:03:18Mark Heath:Exactly, exactly. good news friends I have managed to open this I think I have just lacerated my hand as well but I'm going to um I'm going to whack this in the old snifter glass I've got the proper the proper proper job boys I'll sniff the glass oh that smells potent give us a little drink before we get to get to predictions some big predictions coming in by the way

1:03:44Mark Heath:wow that is a punchy mouthful of alcohol um raspberry and white chocolate vodka that's that is nice i've never ever had anything quite like that before it's sweet it's rich coats the mouth lovely stuff get yourself some of that with the code koa right then predictions um i've seen some cup flying in some big numbers boys some big numbers and i i was kind of toying here we go We've got Norman here saying, repeat of the demolition derby, 5-0. What was the other one here? Eric Clacton, 4-0 to town. I've seen some other ones as well. Again, sort of big scores. And we've got 3-1 here as well from Adrian Garrett.

1:04:29Mark Heath:There is a danger, though, isn't there, boys? And I fell into this trap last time when I predicted a 5-1. And it could have been 5-1. It really could have been had Nathan Broadhead stuck them away. That we go into this game a little bit overconfident. So I'm going to ask you your predictions in sequence. I'm going to start with you, Rossi, because you're second in the table behind me. How do you see this going? Oh, head goes. Oh, they're not going to do it. But heart goes. Itchwich Town win 2-0 Sammy Smoddix to make open the scoring be a Derby Day hero just like Azul Matatiwa and then Jaden Villagene to seal the win on the hour mark and then Town is a party at Porton Road and finally we we break that record and yeah someone made a good point in the comments and McKenna said it as well that it's Norwich's record to lose not us to break it's theirs to lose so yeah hopefully 2-0 is the scoreline, but I'll be happy with any scoreline, just a town win, please.

1:05:37Mark Heath:I'm just going to bring in some more scores before I ask AJ. Stu's got his as well. See if you can get that open, Stu. Of course he can, because he's down the gym all the time, isn't he? Absolutely no problem with his grip strength. Look at that, straight in. 2-1 from Lee. Colin says 3-0.

1:05:56Mark Heath:Let's take a few more before we get to AJ's prediction. whoever scores the first in the match whoever scores first wins the match let's hope it's Ipswich 1 town nil Warren says town 3-0 up at half time 4-1 final score that would be lovely wouldn't it uh a draw 1-1 from Shabby McNally that to be fair I was kind of ruminating on that as well uh in Wallbank prediction we smashed them I don't end up going to work on Monday So, yeah, I mean, if it is like a 5-0, there might be quite a lot of soreheads in Suffolk on Monday. It should actually be you next year, shouldn't it? Because we'll leave AJ to last because he's bottom.

1:06:36Mark Heath:Stu, what do you think might happen or is going to happen?

1:06:40Stuart Watson:We do our pre-season predictions around all manner of things, don't we? Top two, top six, where Ipswich will finish, top goal scorer. And one of those in there was, will Ipswich win a Derby finally? And I went quite ballsy with that. I said yes and not only will they win it they'll win it emphatically on October the 5th and that was what I threw out there back in August and I'm going to double down on that and I know there's all this nerviness around the fear of you can end up with egg on your face and it's a derby and form goes out the window and yeah they may well come to Portman Road and try and be spoilers and make it a horrible type of game But honestly, I sat down and I wrote that piece earlier in the week, reasons why Ipswich can win this game.

1:07:31Stuart Watson:And they're plentiful. And they're odds-on favourites for a reason. And the biggest one of all is that they've got better players. If you put together a combined starting 11 of the two teams, trying to put all kind of uh blue tinted specs aside how many norwich players would you pick at the moment for a starting 11 josh sergeant maybe one yeah maybe yeah and then you get into the bench as well again probably very few um stop being cocky that is just objectively where the two clubs are at at the moment and the only thing that would have given me pause for concern is whether you think hips which you know they weren't they weren't fully joined up it wasn't sparkling football on tuesday night they're not there yet in terms of what they can be as a team and but if and if norwich were coming here as this kind of stable settled side that could maybe have preyed on that i'd have had some concerns but we've heard from paddy at length earlier what the mood is over the border at the moment.

1:08:41Stuart Watson:I don't think they're in a position to prey on that. Might be famous last words, but I have to go with the Nipswich win. 3-1 is the scoreline I've put on it. I can't quite bring myself to say clean sheets with some of the goals that have been let in. But yeah, that's what I'll go with.

1:09:00Mark Heath:Who's going to score first?

1:09:04Stuart Watson:This is based purely on hearing the man speak himself at Playford Road this afternoon. Dara O'Shea, the skipper. I'm playing law of averages here because we can't quite, you know, the front four, we're not exactly sure who's going to start. Dara O'Shea will certainly start in this game. And he feels he's due a goal. He feels he's got himself on the end of a few set pieces this season. Was it Derby where he had one come off the post? So, yeah, we talk about set piece vulnerability for Ipswich. Maybe they might grab one themselves in a typically tight Derby affair. and that can hopefully sort of relieve the tension a little bit and Ipswich can maybe enjoy themselves from there.

1:09:44Mark Heath:Excellent, Stu. What are you drinking? What have you got on the go?

1:09:46Stuart Watson:I have an Amaretto vodka liqueur here. I've just had one little swig. 25 %? Wow, probably shouldn't see this off tonight. We have got a day off tomorrow, so it's all right. Exactly.

1:09:57Mark Heath:Give us your review.

1:10:03Stuart Watson:Oh, I like that. That is the best of the ones I've had so far. If you like your Amaretto, Amaretto Vodka Liqueur. Very nice.

1:10:14Mark Heath:Excellent. So you're saying 3-1, Dara O'Shea. Ross, just remind me what you said. 2-0, wasn't it? 2-0, semi-smonics. Let me ask you before I ask you for your prediction, AJ. One thing that does concern me, we've already seen it become an issue for town this season, is the weather on Sunday. We're in the middle of a storm.

1:10:38Mark Heath:It's not an innuendo to say that currently my back gate is flapping in the wind and my back gate is also flapping about this game. If the weather is an issue, it's windy, it's rainy, do you think that could be a factor in the game that kind of brings Zip Switch down maybe a little bit in terms of the way they like to play football? Can I bring up a comment? You're talking about your back gate flapping. and I've just seen this one here, which I think is just about summed it up. Colin Blunt, very professional lads tonight. Yeah, not too sure. Yeah, could it be a factor? I mean, the first thing to say is, I think Ipswich have better pitch drainage than Blackburn, considering that they were just playing on like a waterbed for most of that second half.

1:11:24Yeah, of course it could be a factor if it ends up chucking it down. You're in a situation where the ball becomes harder to move and it suits Norwich more because they're probably going to want to slow it down and frustrate and sit deep and be direct. And that kind of ties in with a little bit of a dilemma that I had in my head and going on to the prediction. One of the scorelines I had initially kind of tied in with a lot of the Derby games that we've seen recently. It goes back to, I was kind of giving it away, it was the Southampton-Portsmouth one where lunchtime kickoff on a Sunday, it can be a little bit flat sometimes, didn't really work out and it was a pretty dour nil-nil.

1:12:04And that was one of those I had in my head where sometimes there's all this build-up and it just doesn't quite work. But I can't do that. That's boring and stupid. And I'm not going to predict a nil-nil. So I'm going to predict Ipswich to win the match. For all the reasons that Stewart said, I feel like Stewart should have gone last because he had a very rousing speech about why he thinks that Ipswich will win. I can't quite match that. I just think they do because they're better than Norwich. I've got Jaden Filogene to score first because he's on fire, and I like the idea of him running at Jack Stacey and the overlays we can have with Davis down that flank and the link-up with Cajusta that I mentioned.

1:12:40I think that Norwich will be able to peg this one back. I can see it being one of those stupid John Rose-style goals, like one of the, oh, he's gone in off his arse kind of thing. And then Ipswich go and win it, and it'll be the boy, I said, Ivan Azan off the bench to win it for Ipswich Town. cheers

1:13:01Mark Heath:I would love Eisen at Don to score it'd be amazing we're getting some weather forecasts coming in 40 mile per hour gusts no rain currently forecast wind doesn't play such a fact it used to with the tall north and south sands let's hope not Ian Warbank comes in another hot take Roscoe's going to get soaked on Sunday yeah that's probably just remember your set of clothes Rossi so we're all going win I am going to go as the leader currently in the league prediction table and therefore the best man in this particular virtual chat room. I'm going to say, now I've been back and forth. I started the week very, very confident.

1:13:38Mark Heath:I thought I was even going to go 5-1 again because I felt like, although in the end that didn't happen, it could well have happened that day. And I get a similar vibe. Then I thought, hold on, it's a derby. Don't get carried away. They've not won for 16 years and I got obsessed with 1-1. And then I looked objectively at the teams. I spoke to the boys down the road on the pinken. And removing all emotion and kind of subjectivity from it, when you look at the teams, you look at the stats, you look at where the Bain's going to be played, the only thing you can deduce, conclude, is that Ipswich Town are going to win this game.

1:14:22Mark Heath:I love the fact that there isn't a lot of players in the team that have the scars from previous Derby defeats. This is going to be a new experience. It's a real chance for this team to write themselves into folklore. So I think it's going to be 3-0 to It's Rich Town. And the way I see it happening is it's going to be a really tense, nervy, blood and thunder kind of opening. I see Jens Kuyusta opening the scoring. I think he, when we talk about Derby Day heroes, and the best player I think probably going to be on the pitch is Jens Kuyusta. So I see him opening the scoring. and then I see it being again a bit nervy at 1-0 and I see the bench being the key to kind of finishing the game.

1:15:03Mark Heath:The players coming off the bench and getting a couple of late goals and it's 3-0 and it's one of those games, it's 3-0, it doesn't feel as comfortable as a 3-0 might look on paper because it's been a derby and there have been chances back and forth. I'm going to say 3-0 Jens Kijusta. So we're all predicting wins, which feels significant. although to be fair we all predicted wins last time and that wasn't significant but in this case hopefully that will be significant so i'm saying 3-0 against kuster aj is saying 2-1 jayden philagine rossi is saying 2-0 sammy smoddix and stewie is saying 3-1 just remind me daro shay wasn't it you were saying superb boys we've done an hour and 15 minutes we've come to the end of this show anything else to mention anything else you want to throw into the mixer ahead of sunday speak now or forever hold your peace because i want you now to leave your receipts in this chat um i don't want you to be coming back saying well i thought that would happen

1:16:02Stuart Watson:on monday i want you to say it now uh enjoy yourselves here we go enjoy yourselves by being disciplined let's not throw things at people's cars this time okay let's be fired up put all your passion into supporting the home team um don't do anything silly all right you will love your football club but um there needs to be some lines drawn in the sand um yeah that's what that's what i would say all right dad yeah trying to make up for my comment earlier yeah uh rossi give us something to think on give us another hot take uh it's more for the players if they're watching um it's my niece's 13th birthday on sunday uh so she's never seen it's just town win so if you don't win then you're you're letting down a 13 year old girl so uh and obviously the whole it's just down families but um yeah win it for my niece alana happy birthday to her and uh Yeah, bring on.

1:17:08AJ?

1:17:09Mark Heath:What are you saying? I like that Rod said she's never seen an Ipswich Town win, and I was thinking, God, I thought they won last weekend. Blimey. I'll throw in a hot take then. You know my Ivan is on goal. It's going to come from a Darnell Furlong long throw. That's what I'm going to say. I'm going to go with that. Also, I had quite a lot of this left, and it's almost gone, which is a bit worrying. it's potent isn't it happy Friday this is the Biscoff Biscuit Vodka Liqueur the award winning yes it should be said should I just finish it live on air go for it this is where we insert a sort of drink responsibly

1:17:54Stuart Watson:message it's good stuff

1:17:55Mark Heath:it's really good stuff that's my favourite it's the best one excellent just leave me then to remind you friends as we prepare to take our leave. You've seen us all drinking one of our sponsors this evening, Stardust Spirits. Use the code KOA at stardustspirits.co.uk for 20 % off all the excellent concoctions. I can highly recommend this, actually. Raspberry and white chocolate vodka liqueur. It's very warming on a kind of early winter's evening. And also, Rossi, just remind us who the other sponsor is because you've absolutely nailed this now, mate. I want you to say this confidently. Yeah, someone actually said in the chat earlier that can I say peculiar, which I can.

1:18:38Mark Heath:You can, yeah. But yeah. Sorry, you can also...

1:18:42Stuart Watson:Oh, stop it. Sorry, I trashed it. Carry on. Molech, you laugh. No, faster. Molech, no. No, bollocks. Yeah. Good company. Laced and laced and cleaning products for your car. Boom. KOA10.

1:19:00Mark Heath:Absolutely, yeah. Use the code KOA10 at checkout for 10 % off all the excellent products that is and i'm not going to read out the first bit now stew since you age shamed me for doing it uh molecular-uk.com that's the website no one uses wwg i wouldn't do that because i'm cool young and relevant so uh that's what that's the website koa 10 at checkout um boys shall we raise our glasses say thanks to everyone for joining us thank you very much everyone for joining us um enjoy the game on saturday if you are going if you're not follow it all with us we stand once again on the brink friends once more into the fray 16 years we've been waiting for this and let's hope that come sunday we finally get the day another day another bit of history that we've been waiting for um boys do it for yourselves do it for the fans i don't really care how you do it but just fucking do it friends thanks for joining us and we'll see you after the game when we're hopefully talking about a win for its rich town have a great night have a great weekend see you next time

1:20:36Thank you.

1:21:07Thank you.

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