594: Kings of Anglia: An early Christmas present as Town close the gap!

22:31Stuart Watson:And they're so important, aren't they? In tight games, when things are a bit nervy like they are at the weekend, it can just settle everybody down. And that's exactly what it did. Kipra just, I wouldn't say, he didn't exactly leap like a salmon, did he? He doesn't have to really get off the ground. He wins a wrestling match, really, with Dominic Iorfer to get his head on the end of that, doesn't he? Yeah, he did.

22:52Ross Halls:yeah and I will admit there was a spell definitely this season where I was getting frustrated with our set pieces especially Leith Davis you know I'm a big fan of him but there's been times where I was like why is that delivery that was didn't even reach the first man and you were getting frustrated but then now Nunes has been the key man with the set pieces as of late and um yeah I do like a corner guard just like a defender just going boom goal and um yeah that is his second goal of the season Cedric Kipra and we're going to talk about him because um he's a lockable character. I just love his interviews.

23:22Ross Halls:And he just says beautiful, so nice in his French accent. So AJ and of course the other media guys spoke to him after the game. Let's hear from him because he did a John Cena celebration. You can't see me. Do you know that, Stu? Do you know that a little bit? Yeah, you can't see me. So Cedric, over to you, bud. How big a win was that this afternoon, Cedric? Massive, massive. You know, we needed to bounce back from last game. We needed a response and we did it well today. How tough is a game like that? Because like it or not, you were expected to win today, weren't you, against Sheffield Wednesday?

23:54Yeah, I know, I know. There's a lot of pressure in games like this because obviously they're not in a good position in the table. But I think those type of games are even more difficult, you know. People expect you to win, but in reality, it's a tougher game than people expect. And important to kick on at 2-1 when they were having a little rally. My fancy getting it to 2-2. You kept going for that third goal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. it was important to score the third goal, you know, because when it's 2-1 near the end, you gain a bit of stress, you know, I think for the fans also. So the third goal was a bit of a relief, you know.

24:28And the first goal of the afternoon, you must have been happy with that. Yeah, yeah, happy, happy, happy. You know, we work a lot on set pieces. So credit to Mark, to Hurds, to Miki also, you know, they do a lot of work beyond the doors, I can say. Yeah, beyond the scenes. Beyond the scenes, so yeah, credit to them. Today worked out and yeah, very happy to score again. I was going to ask you about the amount of work you do at Playford Road. On a daily basis, how does it work and how much work do you do defending and attacking set pieces? Yeah, of course, both are very important in the championship.

25:02So I would say two, even three, four times a week, you know, we work on them. So it's a very important part of the game and yeah, happy with today's goal. So we should be expecting three, four, five, six from you this season. What's the target? For me, there's no... Being a former striker, as you told me the last time we stood here. Yeah, it's true, it's true. I don't set any targets for goals, you know, but if I can get five, I'll be good.

25:25Ross Halls:Can I ask about the celebration after the goal? I think it was a bit of a John Cena celebration in that. It's John Cena because my sister, she's a big fan of him, and now he's retired. And so, yeah, it was John Cena celebration. Did you point out to the crowd, I think it looked like as well? Did you have anyone watching today with that goal? My family is here. My family came, you know, for Christmas. So they came and I scored. So it's beautiful. It's beautiful, Stu. I could just hear, just listen to Cedric all day. But yeah, he's becoming, for me, a big fan's favourite, you know, just because of his character.

26:01Ross Halls:He's so likeable. You know, the Norwich goal was always going to be up there. I know he's spoken about, like, yeah, if he bumps into any town fans, that's the first thing they come up and talk to him about. But yeah, he's on loan, you know, from France. and yeah, he's had a waste moments, hasn't he? You know, it's Zedric Kipre. He is Zedric Kipre. Coming in with Jacob Greaves, sort of the rotation there, but now he's sort of set in stone alongside Daro Shea. How would you sort of rate his spell so far?

26:26Stuart Watson:Yeah, very good. I think he's got better as time has gone on, really. He's only really had that one wobble at middle spread, didn't he, with the own goal where he couldn't quite sort his feet out. There were moments early on where you were kind of watching through your fingers a little bit where you think he's won rash challenge or a misplaced pass sort of away from doing something bad. And that's kind of what West Brom fans had warned us, that when he makes a rick, it tends to be a big one. But I'm feeling more and more assured with him as the game goes by at the moment. He wins his jewels. He's a big physical specimen, him in but he's ice cold on the ball as well, kind of reflected in his personality there, you can hear he's super chilled isn't he, so yeah, him alongside one or two others are really starting to become embedded with the fan base now I think in terms of having the trust and the love of supporters which is what we've been waiting for and he's certainly one that's in that bracket.

27:36Stuart Watson:Yeah.

27:37Ross Halls:And of course he knows Daro Shea very well, obviously Darnell Furlong because of the West Brom connection. So I'm sure it's easy to sort of slot in the defence alongside a former teammate at a different club. But yeah, I just love the John Cena celebration. You can't see me. And yeah, he's just retired John Cena. So it would be good because remember back in the day where James Nord's, you know, interaction with Dwayne, the rock Johnson, obviously stone cold as well was involved. I don't know if the club are going to try to like tag John Cena in just to see it. because John Cena's very active on social media.

28:06Stuart Watson:I think AJ gave it a go at the weekend. I think like you, he's quite a big wrestling fan maybe. And he said, oh, John Cena's not going to see this. And I said, well, give it a try. I said, we had The Rock interacting with some of the James Norwood stuff a few years ago. You never know. John Cena seems to be the sort of guy that would interact with that sort of thing. But, yeah, nice celebration, I think, for those that like their wrestling.

28:35Ross Halls:Yeah, it's just lovely when players do it for family members because Zedrick did do it for his sister, who's a big wrestling fan. So, yeah, nice celebration to make it 1-0. And then, yeah, sort of half-time verdicts, Stu. Anything else you want to mention from that first half? It was just, yeah, I think it was just settled. Settle the nerves a little bit. Town 1-0 up and we'll just see what could happen from there.

28:58Stuart Watson:Yeah, had to do better in the second half and that was the message from Kieran McKenna at the break, that we need to do better than that. Fortunate that they'd got the goal to settle things down and to their credit, I thought it was much better in the second half. Had a lot more element of control to the game. While there was only a goal in it, you were thinking, hmm, I turned to Mark who'd come to the game, made a rare appearance at Portman Road and I said, you know, it just feels like as much control as they've got, just felt like they needed a second goal and eventually it arrived.

29:39Ross Halls:Yeah, I'm just quickly looking back at your match day live, which if you're not at games, ladies and gentlemen, check that out. Dude does a really good job. AJ obviously does it if you're not at a game or stuff like that. But yeah, I'm just taking a look, just different moments. I want to talk about, yeah, no, actually that's after that. Let's talk about Filagin's goal because it's on the hour mark. And this is a great goal. I've watched it that many times because I think the club put a really good angle of when Yen Huste picks up the ball and he just wrestles off Wednesday players. Barry Bannon has no chance getting the ball off Yen Huste.

30:13Ross Halls:And he obviously gives it to Marcelino Nunes. And Nunes has got a few choices. He's got Azon on the right of him, Filagin on the left of him. Of course, he went Filagin. And Filagin was cool as a cucumber, finished home. He's eight for the season at Portman Road, all goals at Portman Road. A good team goal, this, my friend.

30:31Stuart Watson:Yeah, I think it's Dara O'Shea's cushioned header out from the back. And then really this goal is all about Jens Kjouste, isn't it? Who sort of, it's a combination of strength and footwork that gets him sort of from the edge of his own penalty box. I don't know how far he carries it, but he sort of goes past a couple of players doesn't he with some little feints and drops of the shoulder and drives and gets Ipswich up the pitch and then as you say Nunez with the pass it's like the red arrows they're peeling to his left to his right Ipswich have got men over and then a hammer finish inside the near post and at that stage I thought that's it job done killed it off and that wasn't quite the story from from there

31:21Ross Halls:yeah it wasn't but town did have a big penalty appeal and at the time i didn't know much about this because i was the other end of the pitch so the only thing i could remember seeing was cedric kipre going to the ref and using you know like glasses saying like yeah get some glasses mate because how of that how was that not a penalty but of course it was dar o'shea got

31:39Stuart Watson:rugby tackle to the ground yeah we've just been talking about wrestling and there was there was certainly a bit of wrestling going on here. I mean, how this one isn't a pen, I don't know. I can't remember who the defender was. I think it might have been the guy. It was Brown, was it? Just literally wraps two hands around the waist of Dara O'Shea and sort of ragdolls him to the floor at the back post. So if things had gone south in this game and Ipswich hadn't won, this would have been a major talking point to look back on. Thankfully, it wasn't.

32:17Ross Halls:Yeah, thankfully. But, annoyingly, Sheffield Wednesday do pull a goal back, and I will admit that at that point, I was like, oh, no, please don't. But, yeah, it was just... That was my end as well. At Portman Road, I'm in one spot, so in the second half, I'm getting the opposition attack. So I'm like, I'm urging town not to, you know, not to... Well, anybody's urging town not to concede, But I was like, oh, no, oh, no, don't do this. And then, yeah, they took the lead. And where were you at, Stu, when it went 2-1? Did you feel like, OK, obviously, Sheffield Wednesday, they'll bring on a lot of young players because they're getting injuries.

32:51Ross Halls:A lot of players sort of dropping like flies. Dominic Orfer came off earlier in that second half. There's a few other players that went down and they're bringing on youngsters from the academy.

33:02Stuart Watson:Yeah, goal came from nowhere, didn't it, really? I haven't watched it back. I've seen people say it was a soft free kick against it, which I can't quite remember it. You'll have to forgive me. but it's a free kick, Bannon puts it in, it's not dealt with particularly well at the near post, falls loose, rifled home, and then all of that anxiety from that 20-minute spell that we've already referred to in the first half came flooding back, and Sheffield Wednesday are attacking that end where their away fans are, and let me take a moment here to give praise to Sheffield Wednesday fans. I mean, the weekend before Christmas, reasonably long trip.

33:45Stuart Watson:It seems destined for relegation in absolute crisis. Minus nine points, winless in 14 going into this. They made brilliant noise throughout. And then they really roared their team on. And there was, you asked me how I was feeling for five minutes, really quite worried because every attack, Sheffield Wednesday suddenly had belief and they came at Ipswich once or twice and it was like a boxer reeling after being caught by a punch, wasn't it? They did just about ride it out and probably fortunate really that this was a Sheffield Wednesday side that have had to use a lot of the same players and as you say, maybe looking a bit jaded and they've got a bunch of kids on the bench and they weren't able to fully take advantage of that situation.

34:38Stuart Watson:But that was a worrying little five minutes, that.

34:40Ross Halls:It was. And I was entertained throughout that 90 minutes. And I think a lot of Tamar fans in the Elf Ramsey stand was as well because there's a famous Sheffield Wednesday fan called Tango who is shirtless. He's a big boy, bless him. And yeah, he just entertained us throughout the game. It was just incredible. Obviously, yeah, just shirtless. At this time of year, I think that's just his character and he's obviously got a bit of a belly on him and it did entertain me throughout that game. So I was just looking over and he was just obviously chirping at the Town fans and obviously he was getting told by Chef Wednesday fans, Tango, Tango, give us a song.

35:15Ross Halls:But yeah, that was just a bit of a highlight in that second half, especially. But yeah, Town's depth is a key thing in this one, Stu, because a triple change comes in. Taylor, McAteer and Clark comes on and the latter is the man to clinch the win with his seventh goal of the season to make it 3-1, my friend.

35:39Stuart Watson:Yeah, when did that come? Not till the 87th minute, but at that stage, when were the subs, Ross? Have you got them written down? 77? 76, yeah. So, yeah, Wednesday score on 71. There's this sort of five-minute nervy spell and the subs come on and then that re-establishes Ipswich's control and from then it was Ipswich looking for the killer third that finally came. Another good move. It looked like this one's about Azor Matasiwa, who we'll come on to in a minute, but it's an interception, as is the way with Azor to start with. Then a really well-weighted forward pass. Looks like the chance has gone for Jack Clark.

36:27Stuart Watson:Looks like he's had a bit of a heavy touch. in the box but um the defender stumbles and he just sticks out a toe to to poke it in and um strange quirk for those that hadn't quite picked up on it Brenna Brenna Woolley I think mentioned this down in the tunnel in one of his interviews uh which then uh Alex came and relayed back to me is it was the same three goal scorers in the same order in the same scoreline as the East Anglian Derby. Kipre at a corner. Villagene, left-footed. Good hammer finish. And then Jack Clark as well, with a sort of closest range one to wrap it up. So, odd coincidence there.

37:14Ross Halls:I've got one little point here that sort of ruins that a little bit. Go on. Wednesday didn't equalise. No. So, it doesn't really matter really but just to add that extra like, oh, Jeff Wednesdays equalise and then we had to make it 2-1 with Philogene scoring a Funder bastard and then, yeah, Chad Clark to clinch it but, yeah, still a nice little stat, my friend

37:36Stuart Watson:Yeah, and they don't play in yellow I mean, we can't have everything here, Ross Come on I know, I know Yeah, but, yeah, Clark, what's he on to now? Seven goals for the season so, the battle between him and Philogene continues. Another goal from a sub, which is great.

37:59Stuart Watson:It ends up three. And I think the end of this game, a little insight in the press box is then it suddenly dawned on myself, Mark and Alex that I had 3-1 in the predictions league and that this would probably put me top of the predictions league at Christmas. I don't know if you've got the update there for me, Ross, but the rest of stoppage time was Mark and AJ trying to suck the ball into the net as Ipswich launched wave after wave and getting all excited when nine minutes of stoppage time went up and me being quite happy if it finished that way, to be honest, from a selfish point of view. It probably shouldn't have finished 3-1, should it, really?

38:43Ross Halls:No, but I will update you. You are top of the lead. Yes, come on. Going into Christmas, you're on 24 points, my friend. AJ's on 23. Hefe is on 20. I'm on 19, so I need to sort myself out. But, you know, I don't mind that. Especially with my first goal scorer, I went off in the ninth minute. So it doesn't really help my cause when my first goal scorer pick goes off. But, yeah, looking pretty, Stu. But, yeah, I think that's the main point. Is Town not ruthless enough? because, yeah, it should have been 6-7 because the chance... Oh, no. Not again. Not again. But, yeah, it should have been that.

39:22Stuart Watson:Yeah. Let me just remind myself of the stats in this game. I think it was something like 20 shots Ipswich had in this game. Beat Wednesday 6-0 last time at Portman Road, obviously. They could have got to that sort of number of goals again, no doubt about it. I can't remember the stats that I've got there.

39:40Ross Halls:Was it 20 shots, 17 in the box?

39:43Stuart Watson:17 of those 20 shots inside the box and only eight on target. I think in the game, yes, their goalkeeper, Pierce Charles, pulled off some good saves, notably the one with the trading legs to deny Azon in stoppage time. But there are other occasions. I remember Phil Ajean ball cut back to him near the penalty spot and he leant back and blazed over. Azon has a couple of headed chances, one in the first half, which was a sort of stooping header. lots of good chances in this game. And how many times have we come away from games saying should have scored more, should have been more ruthless? On this occasion, it doesn't matter.

40:25Stuart Watson:But there have been times in games where not killing a game off when on top has proved costly or not being able to get a goal at important times has proved costly. So even though I think there's still second top goal scorers in the league, so it feels a little churlish to kind of talk about needing to do better in front of goal. That is undoubtedly something, you know, if they're going to become the force that we want them to be in this division, it's something they need to improve on.

40:54Ross Halls:Yeah, definitely. And on another day, as we say, there's another better team playing us and yeah, we would have been punished, those missed opportunities. But no, 3-1, three points do. Finally, under Kieran McKenna, we go into Christmas celebrating three points because Because the last few years, well, under McKenna, we've not experienced that. The last time that's happened was in 2020 under Paul Ambert. We won 2-0 against Burton Albion. So, yeah, it's nice that Kieran McKenna can go into Christmas with his family and go, yeah, got to win. Because the last few years, Newcastle, Leeds United 4-0, Ellen Road, has been a bit of a nightmare before Christmas.

41:30Ross Halls:But thankfully this time, three points, third on the table, five points off, second, my friend. It's pretty rosy in the Itchry Town Garden.

41:38Stuart Watson:yeah that pre-Christmas record hadn't dawned on me actually there's been a couple of really bad ones isn't there pre-Christmas what we had before that I think they lost to Wickham did they um leading into Christmas one year as well um that Burton game must have been behind closed doors as well was it or might have been was that one where it had a limited number of fans who allowed

41:57Ross Halls:him I think so I think they trialed on that one but um yeah let's have a look at the so the Sunderland So this is when McKenna was in the stand or in the box watching on. It was a 1-1 draw. So that was when obviously John McGreal, Nathan Broadhead scored for Sunderland. Little fun fact in that one. But yeah, McKenna has not experienced a win. Let me quickly find the next one after that. So the League One season we got promoted. Pretty sure that was Wickham. Let me have a quick look. That was, it was a Wickham 1-0 defeat. Oh yeah, Brandon Hanlon scored. That was probably the coldest I've ever felt at a away game.

42:36Ross Halls:I felt so cold in that game. And that was a frustrating day at Wickham. But yeah, it's just nice to, under McKenna, celebrate a Christmas win before Christmas. That doesn't make sense.

42:49Stuart Watson:Christmas win before Christmas, yeah. Yeah, we'll go with that. Yeah, and it circles back to the opening thoughts at this in terms of the nature of it. I don't think is convinced people that that's it, we're on our way. We're hunting down the top two. But the gap has been closed. Results elsewhere were all pretty good over the weekend. Millwall lost, so they go above them. Middlesbrough lost, so the gap has been closed to five. Coventry have now dropped points in three of their last four. They drew with Southampton. So the gap to them is down to 11 now. So still sizable, but not as daunting as it was.

43:32Stuart Watson:But can anyone hand on heart say they've seen enough from Ipswich over a prolonged period to predict that this long winning run that's going to be required is on its way? Probably not.

43:48Stuart Watson:Yeah, and now a couple of massive games away from home over the Christmas period.

43:54Ross Halls:Yeah, once again, just looking back, this is when we don't do well under McKenna. I think there's only been that one season where we've had a good period over this Christmas period.

44:06Stuart Watson:Both promotion seasons, they've had some winter wobbles, haven't they? I think in the Championship, it was one win in nine. They had the Hurst injury in there. And obviously, it was only then at the back end of January that they managed to get Alhamadi and Kiefer Moore in. And that kind of helped turn things around. And then in the League One season as well, I think there was quite a few injuries in midfield from memory. I think Lee Evans and Cameron Humphreys ended up starting quite a few games during that period. Again, January comes along. It took a little while to get Massimo Luongo kind of fit because he hadn't been playing very much.

44:45And so, yeah, hopefully that trend can change.

44:53Stuart Watson:and obviously last year in the Premier League was when it all started to unravel and go wrong, didn't it? That's where the season caught up on them around the wintertime. So hopefully that will not be the same this time around.

45:07Ross Halls:Yes, and we've got two big games. But before that, I want to talk about Azor Matasiwa because Leste looked very tired. But this one, I know it's only Sheffield Wednesday, but throughout the piece this year, he got man of match from the sponsors for this game. but you can just sort of see stats with interceptions and everything. My big question for you, Stu, is he Premier League quality? It's all that matters. He's still early days in his journey in England, but he's just showing, you know, just class, isn't he?

45:39Stuart Watson:I really like him. He's long been my favourite of the summer signings. You're right. I think he was starting to look jaded in the last few games. I thought, you know, the tale of his time here is that he comes in baptism of fire at Birmingham where by his own admittance, if you go back and have a look at an interview I did with him, he felt lost in that game, was completely caught out by the intensity of it. Having played in France in Ligue 1 where it's a lot more technical and tactical. But he got to grips with things pretty quickly. I thought as soon as that Southampton game, you could see some learning, a different type of game, of course, but you could see some learning.

46:25Stuart Watson:And he's got grown and grown. He reads danger so, so well, top by a decent margin in terms of number of interceptions in the league. My main fear was he's not someone that's got 40-plus games under his belt too often in his career, if ever, I don't think. And how would he cope with sort of the rigours of this league long-term? But, yeah, he looked refreshed and back at his best in this game. He's here, there, everywhere. He covers a great amount of ground and he can play a forward pass as well. Great assist for the third. In answer to your question, yes, he can be a Premier League player. That's why Ipswich took the decision they did to, you know, they didn't want to.

47:13Stuart Watson:They wanted both. But, you know, the reason Morsi and Matasiwa, but the reason they went for Matasira is because they wanted someone with the attributes that can become a Premier League player that can grow with the team, hopefully, when they go up to the Prem. A big learning curve from the Prem was having that physicality, that athleticism that is a modern-day Premier League player, and Azor certainly seems to tick a lot of boxes.

47:37Ross Halls:Yeah, it's just funny that him and Sam Wolsey have got a similar trait, yellow cards, and obviously Azor Matasira is still on that tightrope. thankfully he won't miss the Millwall game because he didn't get yellow card against Shuffle Wednesday but then he could get that tightrope is until March so we'll see

47:55Stuart Watson:I'll be amazed if he can get all the way along that tightrope in a Sam Morsi-esque fashion just get through Boxing Day at Millwall and make sure you're available for Coventry would be the first step but yeah he's got past one game which is good

48:15Ross Halls:yes so um but yeah big fan of as also uh continue my friend uh but yeah so that's it from the shuffle wednesday game um that's done and dusted um but yeah two big games now uh boxing day at the den and their trip to coventry to end 2025 how you feeling for these two ones because yeah probably when we put this on the you know when the fixtures came out we're looking at calendars you know obviously boxing day is always the big one we look for millwall i don't know i don't know if that was a game we're thinking oh could they be a promotion rival probably not actually i think they'll you know they've been flirting with that you know the last few years and obviously the alex jones derby but um they've had not a bad season they're sick from the table um the den always a tough place to go although last time we went there we won four nil on valentine's night which was a lovely day a lovely night um at the den um but yeah mil alex nil their manager got a few decent players there's no masamo masamo long ago reunion because he's injured unfortunately done his ACL early in the season.

49:12Ross Halls:But yeah, two big games coming up, my friend.

49:16Stuart Watson:They are indeed, yeah. Millwall sixth, but they've come into this one off the back of form, which reads draw, defeat, defeat. Drew 1-1 at Derby, lost 3-1 at home to Hull and then lost 2-0 at Blackburn on Saturday. Haven't seen them, obviously, up close yet ourselves, but from what I gather they've been quite a functional side, a bit like Preston. Both of those teams may be memories of Mick McCarthy's Ipswich that are kind of just a good team that know what they're good at and are able to kind of dig out results. But you always wonder over the long term whether that kind of can catch up on teams.

50:03Stuart Watson:It does seem... I saw Danny Baker famous Millwall fan tweeting the other day that now is a great time to face Millwall because they look a tired team and they've got a few issues I mean their top goal scorer Femi Aziz is I believe suspended for this one as well so it might not be a bad time to go to the den great memories of course from the last time we went there was it 4-0 on Valentine's night Ali Alhamadi scored did he get 2 in that game? He scored the penalty, didn't he? Yeah.

50:40Stuart Watson:So, yeah, it's going to be interesting, this one, the Dem.

50:43Ross Halls:Yes, and I'm always at debate with people. Boxing Day, if you prefer a home or an away game, I do want a home game Boxing Day, really, but at least London's not too bad. And, yeah, New Year's Day, I've got Oxford. South London, Ross. Sorry. What did I say?

51:01Stuart Watson:East. Did I say East London? I don't know. Maybe you didn't. Now I'm doubting myself. I don't think I did. Okay. I apologise unreservedly.

51:13Ross Halls:Maybe I did though. Some people will be shouting me. We'll actually say that, Stu. Roll it back. What I'll do is I'm going to listen back and then see if I did. And I'll message you and go, you're wrong. I didn't say it.

51:25Stuart Watson:We'll listen back afterwards. And then after the KOA outro, I'm giving you extra work here. There will be an apology from one of us. Yeah. Okay.

51:35Ross Halls:Yeah, little Easter egg. So, yeah, stay tuned after the outro to see if I was wrong or she was wrong. So there we go. Merry Christmas to you all. But, yeah, Stu, that's pretty much it, I think. Any other business you want to mention? Yeah.

51:54Stuart Watson:No, I mean, we'll say Millwall, and then Coventry comes hot on its heels on the 29th. That's a six o 'clock kickoff, isn't it? Yeah. Coventry beat them 3-0 recently. That's right. They've dropped points, as I mentioned earlier, in three of their last four. Is it a good time to face them? Are they starting to get that sort of winter wobble that we've mentioned? That would really feel like if Ipswich could get... What would you take? This is my question to you to finish on. What would you take from these two games, both away from home sixth and first in the table respectively

52:35Ross Halls:I think well this is probably a negative prediction but yeah two points just get a draw at both games that'll be happy didn't lose them just get a point but no deep down I think maybe beat Millwall beat Millwall I think you know if you can score early and turn the crowd because yeah Millwall you can turn them very quickly and they can you know Millwall fans get on top of their players very quickly if they're not performing. So maybe get a nice win there, three points, and then a draw at Coventry would be nice. But I don't know. I'm sort of weirdly confident for these two ones. I think we could get six points over this period.

53:10Ross Halls:We've got a little time momentum. I know the Leicester game, I'm just getting rid of that one. But we've beaten Coventry already this year.

53:18Stuart Watson:Three wins from four now.

53:19Ross Halls:Yeah. So I think, yeah, if we can get four points, that would be massive. realistically you know maybe two, just get a draw in both games I don't think would be a disaster but what do you reckon?

53:36Stuart Watson:Yeah I'm so conflicted on Ipswich at the moment because there's aspects within games where I'm really wholly unconvinced and then there are moments where you see the goals they scored in the second half and the subs and everything that you go So they can just be too good for anyone just for individual quality on any given day. I'm hoping that, you know, we talked about the winter reversal of fortunes, that the squad is built in such a way that they'll be able to come into their own while others start to look tired and jaded now. If I'm being greedy, I'd say four points. and I keep looking for this two points on average return per game.

54:24That would obviously deliver that.

54:31Stuart Watson:But yeah, cautiously optimistic. I think it's not a bad time to go to these. Millwall's an interesting one because I don't know stylistically how they'll be against Millwall. Coventry, as we know, as we've seen. How are Coventry going to approach that game? Having gone toe-to-toe with Ipswich and lost 3-0 at Portman Road less than three weeks ago, how are they going to approach this one at home in front of their own crowd? I can't see they're going to veer wildly away from what they usually do. Is that an opportunity for Ipswich to do the double over a team that sits top? That would be then a moment that sends out a real message to everyone else in the division, wouldn't it?

55:14Stuart Watson:So two games to look forward to, Ross.

55:18Ross Halls:Big games. And yeah, I've seen that Luke Wolfen at his start again for Coventry. So a nice little reunion with him. And yeah, Jay De Silva got sent off in their 1-1 drill of Southampton. He got straight red. So I can imagine he won't be suspended. They play Swansea City at home, Coventry. So they've got a trip to Wales, which is annoying. That would have added that extra bit of travelling. But they've got home games, Coventry. Obviously, on Boxing Day, they play Swansea. So, yeah, two big games to look forward to. And, yeah, next time we record podcasts, we'll be after that one. But I want to sort of tease a Christmas Day special, Stu, because I caught up with an Irishman who scored 27 goals one season.

55:59Ross Halls:And, yes, that was Daryl Murphy. I caught up with him earlier this month, and that will be dropping Christmas Day. Good chat about his career at town and his time in general playing football. quite a journey, playing in the Premier League under Roy Keane at Sunderland had three loan spells at town, eventually then found home joined him permanently under Mick McCarthy and then that unbelievable season and then just spoke about his journey in general and it was a really good chat with him he's now back in Ireland with his family, coaching, his son is now, just like him because Darrell, a little fun fact about him he started football very late I think it was only like 11 where he really got starting playing football.

56:40Ross Halls:And it was the same with his son, who's now playing at Waterford in the academy. So sort of like father-like son, sort of starting football a bit later than other people. But really good chat with Daryl. Check that out on Christmas Day. So before you get stuck into your Christmas dinner or whatever, tune into that, because that'll be a good chat to listen to. But yeah, Stu, you've got memories of Daryl Murphy. You know, that was when you were covering town. You know, well, you still are covering town, but that was still maybe early days of you recovering.

57:09Stuart Watson:yeah um well i think i've said this a couple of times on the pod my abiding memory of daryl murphy is going away on that pre-season trip to uh dublin where mick always used to take the team i can't remember the name of the place uh in the summer of 2014 and watching daryl murphy i went to a training session um and thinking what on earth have they fed him this summer he just looked physically a different animal. And then I watched him in a couple of the pre-season games and I just thought, something's happening here. I mean, he played on the left, didn't he, for quite a while during his loan spells.

57:50Stuart Watson:And then that season, sometimes you just get a feeling that something's coming from a player. And him and David McGoldrick did the up top. We're fantastic, weren't they? So I look forward to listening to that, Ross. I might stick it on while I'm peeling the spuds.

58:08Ross Halls:Love that, my friend. But, yeah, tune in, ladies and gentlemen. If you want to watch on video, if you fancy putting it out on your TV screen, then that will be available to subscribers. So sign up if you haven't already. But, yeah, Stu, any other business? Merry Christmas to you. I'm sure I'll speak before that anyway. But, yeah, Christmas plans. Are you in charge of any certain things? You're a spud man, are you?

58:33Stuart Watson:yeah I'll probably do some of the the veg prep the night before I'm quite well prepared this year normally it's a bit of a mad scramble late on but I think I'm pretty much there with presents and stuff bit of wrapping to do but yeah I think I'm we're hosting this year so I'm going to try and take the lead with with Christmas dinner might be a disaster I'll have to report back to you on that one but i've done the big shop as well i got up early and did that yesterday so that's that's done which is good what about you um i'm i'm better than some years i will admit i

59:15Ross Halls:am a bit well probably not surprised to listeners but yeah i'm a bit of a last minute dog and as my wi-fi goes gone like i'm back i'm back but yeah um obviously the issue of my kitchen last week that is now sort and resolved luckily we're not hosting christmas this year because if we were and that happened that would have been a disaster but thankfully not but i'm fine i've actually got a christmas present right here in front of me um so yeah it's in the christmas bag i'll put one more christmas present in that's actually for sasha um but yeah i've got one more thing to get her um hopefully she hasn't heard that because she's like what you haven't finished yet i've thought of an idea sometimes when you just you think of something oh that would be nice to get someone and i'm like okay i need extra but um anyone else has bought four so um yeah now i'm just looking forward to eating all the dinners um because that's what i look forward to with christmas it's just uh yeah forget about the presents and whatever it's all about the food for me so um yeah i can't wait to get stuck in on that on christmas day and then yeah trip to to south london um for for meal on boxing day um but no stew thanks for joining me as ever we're now get into the lovely hour mark so we're going to wrap up um but i want to say merry christmas everyone to you all uh we will record a podcast before the end of the year i can imagine so uh we'll bring you happy new year to you for that one but yeah have a good christmas big shout out to our sponsors uh molecular and stardust spirits to look a company supporting us um you know all about them already don't you so i won't need to worry about chatting about them but uh we've got some Stardust spirits, didn't we?

1:00:52Ross Halls:Heafy just went, boom, here you go, in the press room giving us some festive liqueurs and stuff for us to use over our Christmas period. But check them out, good sponsors, and of course, follow us on all our socials, Kings of Anglia. But thanks again for listening. Merry Christmas to you all. Bye-bye for now.

1:01:23Thank you.

1:01:54Thank you.

1:02:39Ross Halls:okay then as the outro music fades out we've got to make a big big apology to stuart watson because as we were discussing the Millwall game, I did say East London. And of course, during the podcast, I said, no, I didn't. No, I didn't. And we said, we're going to listen back to it. And I've rolled the tape. And yes, I did say East London. So, so sorry, Stu. I will never doubt you again. To be fair, I think if there's a poll put on this, I think a lot of people would have said, yes, Stu was right and Roscoe was wrong. so so sorry Stuart Watson I was wrong and I did say East London it's South London on Boxing Day but yeah hope you enjoyed this little easter egg if you are still listening to this point I thought we'll do this as I was in the wrong so and Stu does know about it because that's what we did straight away when we finished recording I played it to him and I did say East London so there we go.

1:03:44Ross Halls:But thanks again for listening though, everybody. Merry Christmas to you all and to your family. I hope you have a good day and thanks just for listening in 2025. It's been an incredible year. Ups and downs, obviously. A lot of downs because of Town's experience in the Premier League and this season, which has been very strange. But thanks again though for tuning in to all the Kings of Anglia podcasts throughout the year and we've got many more things planned for 2026. So thanks again for listening. We should have one more main flagship show before the end is out. So stay tuned for that. But thanks again.

1:04:23Ross Halls:Bye-bye for now, everybody.

1:04:51Ross Halls:Okay, then, as the outro music fades out, I've got to make a big, big apology to Stuart Watson because, as we were discussing the Millwall game, I did say East London. And, of course, during the podcast, I said, no, I didn't, no, I didn't. and we said we're going to listen back to it. And I've rolled the tape. And yes, I did say East London. So, so sorry, Stu. I will never doubt you again. To be fair, I think if there's a poll put on this, I think a lot of people would have said, yes, Stu was right and Roscoe was wrong. So, so sorry, Stuart Watson. I was wrong. And I did say East London. It's South London on Boxing Day.

1:05:37Ross Halls:but yeah hope you enjoyed this little easter egg if you are still listening to this point I thought we'll do this as I was in the wrong so and Stu does know about it because that's what we did straight away when we finished recording I played it to him and I did say East London so there we go but thanks again for listening though everybody Merry Christmas to you all and to your family I hope you have a good day and thanks just for listening in 2025 it's been an incredible year. Ups and downs obviously. A lot of downs because of Town's experience in the Premier League and this season which has been very strange.

1:06:17Ross Halls:But thanks again though for tuning in to all the Kings of Anglia podcasts throughout the year and we've got many more things planned for 2026. Thanks again for listening. We should have one more main flagship show before the end is out. So stay tuned for that. But thanks again. Bye bye for now everybody. If modern life feels a little loud, you're not alone. At Miraval Resorts, mindfulness has never been about perfection or performance. For more than 30 years, it's been about presence and about slowing down enough to listen. At Miraval Berkshires in Lenox, Massachusetts, each season brings its own rhythm.

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