612: Kings of Anglia: Town bounce back in style as Portman Road return nears

21:21Stuart Watson:I want to just see him run at people and trust himself with the ball a little bit. I don't know if that's a confidence factor. His decision-making still wasn't quite there at times in the first half. But, you know, hopefully it's baby steps and he gets there because he's certainly capable. So, yeah, great for Sindra to get his goal.

21:43Ross Halls:That's good to be playing again, AJ, as well, because he's been an unused sub in the last few games. I don't know if that's more McKenna just, I don't want to say protecting him, but just sort of like, you know, it's been a busy period. and maybe he just feels like, yeah, he wants to give him a bit of a break and maybe games just haven't suited him. Like the Wrexham game, probably he just felt like, no, I'm not going to put him on because maybe it just didn't suit him. Yeah, there's definitely an element of that. I don't think he's a typical McKenna right winger and I think that the fact that he sees himself and his future is number 10 is probably also what McKenna sees.

22:16There's probably positionally quite a lot of similarities with him and Amari Hutchinson where even though I think a lot of people, and us at times are crying out to see Amari playing on the right at times, say in the Premier League and other opportunities in a McKenna system, the right side is where you want your physical, aggressive running athlete. And that's what you have in Wes, who has obviously done that week in, week out in McKenna teams since the dawn of time, it feels. But also, McAteer is more that profile, isn't he? And maybe that's why we've seen more from McAteer, at least in terms of the opportunities and the minutes that he's had in recent weeks whereas um tindra in the last three league games prior to starting at watford had been an unused sub in two and had come 23 minutes off the bench in the other 25 minutes around that kind of time so it hadn't had any real opportunity to to impact games but when you're 19 and you're adapting to the league you need to have minutes you need to have opportunities to um get the experience to to understand what the level is to understand what your opponents are, to understand what it's like to have to come up against a championship fullback or work in different pockets when you're playing in the number 10.

23:29Obviously, that didn't really work at all in that Wrexham game, but that isn't to say that Finder as a number 10 is out of the window now at all. It's just one difficult game that he had on his first start in that position. So, yeah, plenty more to come from him and more minutes as well for the games that will suit him.

23:48Stuart Watson:there was definitely a little bit of regression over a period wasn't there i think back to i don't know probably he was at the peak of uh his season was back sort of around the norwich game back in the derby where you know you remember there's a moment in that game where he juggled the ball over someone's head and was driving at people and that's that's gone a little bit and uh i'd just like to see him a little bit more decisive when he's when he's dribbling and running at people um his ball striking i remember we were kind of cooing over wow this kid can hit the ball like when he hits it it stays hit and he was a real sweet striker of the ball and um that's tailed off a little bit there's been times where he's had chances on the edge of the box and just not got hold of them or times where sometimes he's trying to force it he's trying to hit shots that just aren't on because you know there's someone right right on top of him and he just smashes it straight into someone in front of him.

24:45Stuart Watson:But it's, you know, as Alex said, it's learning. And hopefully it's all going to, you know, make him a better player in the long run. Amari Hutchinson had to adapt to the championship in the early days as well. It wasn't all smooth sailing for him. And Sindra is playing in a very different context to what Amari Hutchinson was playing in. I think when we make these comparisons, Sindra is playing with a big price tag. Amari was on loan originally. Sindra is now playing in a team that is deemed to be one of the major favorites for promotion. Amari was doing it in an underdogs team. So while there are similarities in terms of their age and potential and position and qualities, there are some subtle differences as well.

25:31So, yeah, I hope he can continue to progress.

25:36Stuart Watson:I think there's still hopefully a lot, lot more to come from him.

25:39Ross Halls:Yeah, he's just 19 lads and ladies. So, yeah, hopefully he can kick on from this goal and have a good sort of return to Porton Road. Now let's talk about another goal scorer that needs a goal, boys, in George Hurst with his chest, which, you know, as a striker, you've got to score any part of your body. And AJ, I don't know how much George knew about this goal, but a good moment for him to finally get his first goal since December, the Coventry game, is it? Yeah. At home. So it's been a while. And yeah, there's been a lot of criticism, a lot of debate about him. But yeah, good moment and it's still the win.

26:19Yeah, I think he actually knew quite a lot about it, the way that he managed to kind of position himself. And it's not like it hits his chest and goes in. It's not like he didn't mean it. He does actually really kind of move his body to direct the ball into the box. the smartest bit of play for me, and maybe I'm overthinking, maybe this just wasn't how it worked, but this is how I saw it from kind of the angles and some of the replays I've seen, is that when that Clark ball gets hit and it bounces over towards him, he's in an offside position, and I think his instinct is to go and chase that and to try and keep it in.

26:51He's the kind of player that, especially around the box, wants to try and hold up the ball, and if he's not going to score, to bring others into play. That's what George Hurst wants to do at his best, and I think that he then, as the ball comes over, he makes the run, then stops himself and realises, hang on, I am in that offside position. Brings himself back onside as Greaves comes in. At that point, Watford probably don't really know what to do because they've been dragged one way trying to follow Hurst and then they see Greaves on the ball. So then they go to close down Greaves and what that then allows to happen is Hurst tracks back into an onside position and finds that little gap to turn the ball in.

27:24Am I overthinking it? Possibly, but that's how it looks to me. I'm sure he'll have harder finishes but give full credit to the way that he's able to turn that ball into the back of the net and ultimately it didn't really matter how it was going to happen, the old cliche it could have come in off his backside and it would have been a really big goal for him because strikers are judged on goals George Hurst probably is judged on goals less than quite a few strikers because of what he can do in a McKenna team, off the ball dropping deep, linking play holding it up, etc, etc. But it's still important and he's missed too many chances this year.

28:03So, yeah, really good to see him turn that one into the back of the net. Hopefully, again, can be the start of kicking on and doing a little bit more. Could have had a hat-trick in this game with the opportunities that he had because I think he had at least one really big one on top of that and I think another one towards the end of the match as well.

28:21Ross Halls:Yeah, I think he got a bit too eager with that shot he had outside the box. I think he had too much. That was it after scoring and he just blasted it over. And I think you knew he was just so frustrated himself. But sometimes when you've scored one, you get a bit too eager when you get a ball in a good position. But yeah, I'm sure, Stu, you know, big weight lifted for George to get that goal after, you know, this run of, you know, form. Yeah.

28:43Stuart Watson:First in 10, but he's actually only started five of those games, which I think is important to note.

28:52Stuart Watson:yeah AJ said earlier that he didn't think he didn't realize maybe give the credit to the first goal at the time I would probably fall into that bracket for this second one I sort of talked about it going in off his stomach and then I watched it back and it's actually probably more his chest and he actually does sort of open up his body and angle the ball in so I'll give him some credit for that one I wasn't the only one Jacob Greaves talked afterwards about I don't think he knew anything about him and it just hit him and went in um yeah hopefully it can be a confidence booster for him again like syndra i'm not i'm not going to sit here and say he's cracked it now he's turned a corner as you boys have pointed out he snatched a couple afterwards um still work to do like you know like syndra i don't think he's when you're naming your strongest 11 if if one such one exists at the moment.

29:45Stuart Watson:I don't think either of them are in it at the moment. But, you know, that striker's currency are goals, and he needed one, didn't he? So, what's that? Seven for the season now. Hopefully, he can kick on again.

30:04Ross Halls:Hopefully, he can get the double figures. One thing, AJ, I want to talk about is, we spoke about it at the start of the pod, about the atmosphere here in the way end. One thing I loved as well, the fans getting behind players, especially Hurst when he came on singing his name on number nine Hurst and stuff like that. That was a nice moment, I'm sure, for George. I know some players, when they run on the pitch, sometimes they try to ignore the sounds, but I'm sure he probably had a moment where he was like, that must have been nice for him. Yeah, two loudest player chants of the night. Let's go three.

30:39One was Walton after the save. And then the others were O'Shea off the back of an absolutely terrible performance at Wrexham and Hurst off the back of a really difficult run of form. And it shows as well, look, social media and things like that, as we've touched upon in previous pods can be a bit of a vacuum, can't it? But when you go to people who are in the away ends, there's a lot of support for these guys, no matter what. And it feels like a game is a game and then you can draw a line under it and it will be the past. and if a player has a tough game, this is a fan base that will get behind them, even though sometimes on the surface and sometimes what you read, it might not be that way.

31:17And this was the perfect example of that, I think, not just for Hurst, but for other players as well. Hurst probably is the headline one in that regard because when he was warming up at the start of the game, he was a substitute and he was getting chance from the away end leading up to the game. Obviously, he gets all the chance as he comes on and when he scores the goal. And then one of my favourite bits as well is that with town fans filtering out of the ground, some stay in, of course, a little bit longer. And he went out to do his cool-down exercises, which all substitutes have to do, whether they're used or not.

31:49And he was the first one out to do his exercises, and the fans who stayed behind there made sure to give him another rendition of that chant as they exited, which I think was massively appreciated by Hurst, someone that I think is a confidence striker as well. I hope, can get a lot of confidence from having that support. Get behind the players, damn it, because this is sometimes what you get the payoff, isn't it? That's a perfect example.

32:17Ross Halls:Yeah, definitely. Well played, though, to the Town fans and at our way end for supporting the boys and doing that chant because you've got to get behind these players. Definitely in this run we're going to be going on. And, yeah, Kieran McKenna and Jake Grease spoke about Hurst after the game as well, so we're going to hear from them. Look, my opinion doesn't swear that much with George in terms of what he gives us. I've spoken about it plenty, but of course, you know, your goal scorers want to score, your strikers want to score the goals and you want them to score the goals. So it was a really important one as well at 1-0 and I thought he adjusted really well to a difficult ball actually and done really well to angle it into the net.

32:52Ross Halls:So I'm sure he'll feel a good boost from that and yeah, it was an important goal. How pleased are the boys for George? Yeah, I said to him, I won't actually say what I said to him. said to him but he couldn't really miss to be honest I don't think he knew too much about it and it just comes straight off his chest into the goal but yeah fair play to him he's probably would say this himself that he's not been on the best run ever in terms of of goal scoring but I think as a striker sometimes you go through them and you've got a backy qualities which he's got and I think that goal will do him the world of good and I think the goal that Ivan got again last week will do him the world of good so hopefully now we've got two strikers that are firing and tuba as well probably one of the best strikers as well that the championship has had so it's good to have have them free um all ready to go that makes a real difference to any side doesn't it any successful side if you've got number nines chipping in yeah 100 percent um obviously ivan scored last week and hersey scored this week so if we can get them firing and and scoring goals but there's there's other parts of of the game that's important as well and not scoring goal obviously they want to score goals but they've got to help in other ways which I thought Ivan did really well tonight, running the channels, probably doing the dogged side of the game, going up for headers with their big centre-halves and kind of giving us a little bit more of a platform to get up the pitch, which I thought he did really well tonight.

34:14Ross Halls:Yeah, and I don't know where you guys want to segue. Should we talk about Christian Walton's penalty save or any other players that stood out? We'll definitely get on to Jake Degrees playing left-back very shortly and we've got some more audio from him on the win as a whole as well. But yes, do. Yeah, 2-0. found out job done but then what forget penalty yeah needless silly challenge from darnell furlong

34:38Stuart Watson:isn't it that's probably the one blot on the copy book from from the night he moves on to nine bookings as a result is is one away from a two-game suspension um but yeah christian walton steps up and delivers with the penalty stave guess is the right way it's um it's not a bad penalty was it was struck pretty well going towards the bottom corner but he full length, keeps the ball out. As I mentioned earlier, he goes on to make a really good reaction point-blank save from Irukunda after he weaved his way into the box deep into stoppage time as well and don't underestimate the value of that clean sheet off the back of Wrexham.

35:21Stuart Watson:11 for the team as a whole this season, 10 of them next to Christian Walton's name who came in after the Charleston 3-0 game, wasn't it, that Palmer got injured in? So he's been in the team since, when was that, October time onwards? Ten clean sheets, I'll need to have a look, but that will put him right up there in terms of the most in the Championship. And as someone who hasn't played the whole season, that's pretty impressive stuff, isn't it?

35:46Ross Halls:Yeah, and he's 50th in a town shirt as well since he signed for the club, which is incredible. I know he went on some very good runs in League One as well. I don't think, was he breaking records during that League One campaign? Like consecutive clean sheets in a row and stuff like that. And I think we need to give some appreciation to Christian Walton-Boys because, yeah, he's done a fantastic job since coming in. He's had to buy his time many times, hasn't he, Stu? You know, Vaz came in, got injured, took his place. Palmer the same. And, yeah, 50 clean sheets as a whole is pretty good going.

36:23Stuart Watson:Yeah, yeah. his journey's been certainly a bit of a rollercoaster one, hasn't it? Coming in, in, in league one hero in that team. I think it was days before the opening championship game where he suffered that foot injury, which opened the door for Vaz. And, and obviously he took his, took his chance. Many a time we've kind of thought that Christian Walton wouldn't want to be sort of warming the bench, given the career that he's, he's had and where he wants to get to, but he's, he stayed loyal. I think he's felt connected to the area. He's enjoyed it here. He's always believed that if he gets his chance, he'll take it.

36:55Stuart Watson:He could have got so disenchanted when Ipswich went out and spent big money on Mürich. And then Mürich loses his place. He finally comes in. He kept that clean sheet against Chelsea, didn't he, in the middle part of the Premier League season. And then got injured again himself, which then meant Ipswich had to go out and sign Palmer. Yeah, I've thought at times that he would leave. I think Luton looked at him. There's been some other clubs, but he stayed. He signed his new contracts. He's got in. I've said it many times. I don't think there's a lot between him and Alex Palmer as goalkeepers. But, yeah, it's Walton's shirt.

37:35Stuart Watson:And that was really good. We're talking about responses from the weekend after conceding five, getting beaten at his near post for a couple of them. This was just what he needed as well, I think.

37:46Ross Halls:Yeah, AJ, your thoughts on Christian Walton? because, yeah, I think sometimes goalkeepers, they probably don't get as much appreciation sometimes. You know, it's always the strikers and other players like that that get more of the love. But it was nice at the end there. He got sort of pushed to do the fist pump and it was just a nice moment for him. Yeah, but he did four. That was supposed to be three. I don't know why he ended up doing four. That was a bit wrong. But, yeah, I think that it helps, of course, naturally, that he has what is largely, I should say, with one or two anomalies. A very solid back line in front of him, which obviously helps.

38:23But I do also think that the back line is solid because there seems to be more comfort playing in front of him. There's nothing really strong against Alex Palmer, but it does feel like there's a difference. It does feel like it's more secure at the back since that change was made. And I can't quite figure it out, because I said, I don't think there's a huge difference between them. Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves, but yeah with Christian Walton there that does feel like there's more security when Ipswich are having to do the defensive side and also when they're playing out from the back spoken about the numbers so far Christian Walton ranks tied second in the entire division for clean sheets so he's on 10 the two players ahead of him are Kyle Rushworth of Coventry and weirdly Thomas Kaminsky of Charlton which I didn't expect they're both on 11 But yeah, Walton on 10 alongside Sol Bryn of Borough and Viguru of Swansea.

39:22So ranked joint second despite the fact that he's played fewer games and quite a few fewer games actually when you look at it. You look at the goals conceded per 90s, the fourth best in the division behind Johansson at Stoke, Iverson at Preston and Bryn at Borough. Again, hasn't had that many opportunities to actually go and play football compared to these guys. These are guys who've played around 30 games in the league this season so far. And you look at Walton, Walton's on 23. So, yeah, really impressed by him so far. It gives you a lot of confidence as well. These are not old goalkeepers either.

40:03They're not guys that are getting towards the twilight years of their career. These are guys that can be involved with Ipswich for another five, six, seven, eight years because goalkeepers can play for so long. and it's good to have them as such valuable assets.

40:17Ross Halls:Definitely. And, well, let's talk then, boys, about the team as a whole. Who else stood out? You know, Dan Neal made his full league debut for Town. He's impressed for me when he's come off the bench in some of the games, even the Wrexham ones, you know, where it's like, oh, you know, weren't great results, but I thought he still looked okay. And yes, doing this one, good partnership with us all. A lot of people are saying now that is the two.

40:40Stuart Watson:Yeah, I think you're absolutely right to highlight Dan Nill's influence in this game. We talk about why Ipswich were able to win this match. And the word control has come up quite a few times. And Dan Nill played a huge part in that. I just think he's a very clever player. Reminds me a bit of kind of Massimo Luongo in someone that has got really good football IQ. I think he knows where to be. what decisions to make. And Massimo came mid-season, didn't he, in League One and made such an impact. And if Dan Neal can have anywhere near that sort of level of impact, then he'll be a great signing. I've said for a little while that I think once he gets in, he can stay in.

41:27Stuart Watson:Faded a little bit in the second half, which is understandable. He's not played a lot of football this season. But, yeah, there were moments in the game where it got a little bit chaotic and the ball was kind of bouncing around a little bit. And he's just someone that can just calm it down, put his foot on the ball, pick the right pass and give Ipswich that element of control. So impressed with him. And I think in answer to your question, him and Mattasiwa, who was his usual combative, danger-reading, excellent self, can become the partnership going forwards. Yeah,

42:09Ross Halls:very solid. And AJ, I want to bring up another player. Marcelino Nunes making his first start since, of course, that injury he sustained against Bristol City. I've got a stat here. His last 10 starts for Town, eight wins, one draw, one defeat. And yeah, a lot of people are talking about he's going to be key to hopefully Town's promotion push for the rest of the season. Yeah, good to see. I'm getting frustrated, though, with his free kicks. I know he scored, you know, two good ones at Kupiar, but since then it's not been that great. Obviously the fortunate one hits the wall into Syndra but yeah, thoughts on him and his first start in a while.

42:46Yeah, I think his direct free kicks could probably do with a bit of work but when he's taking them from deep and when he's crossing them in when he's taking corners I think that, for example, in this game this is a game of, especially a first half of few open play chances he felt like he was going to be the key to unlocking it from a set piece because Town were doing really well to win them. Jack Clark had the absolute beating of James Abanqua for the whole game. Just had him on toast. I think they came up against each other five or six times. I think Abanqua won one of those. He was on a booking and got hooked off at 73 minutes.

43:23You can understand why. And that really helped in terms of getting those opportunities to get the ball into the box. I like the way that he can send it quite deep obviously towards towering centre-backs, but even just to try and work the goalkeeper to go and get corner out of it, to keep the pressure on and maintain that and ensure that Watford aren't able to have a sniff of the ball. Yeah, really impressive. And the way that he was able to navigate things from open play as well, there weren't that many spaces for him to work in, as I said, because when Watford defended, this was a proper back five.

44:00This is not a back three. this was a five and a real five where they just pushed everybody back into the box so it wasn't the opportunities for that but um did well and also um credit him for doing the defensive side as well big tackles uh big interceptions and uh ensured that when when Watford tried to break on the counter they they um didn't have too much joy yes um and Jake agrees so we've heard from him we're

44:24Ross Halls:gonna hear from him in a minute um him playing left back because Leaf um yeah was out for this one, not in the squad. He was limping at Wrexham, so yeah, that's cautionary. We'll find out a bit more of course at Kieran McKenna's press conference. Hopefully he's back for the weekend. But yeah, Jett agrees. Solid performance again at left-back. I know there was one game. What game did he play left-back and he didn't do that great? Was Sheffield United? Sheffield United, yeah. But this time around, solid performance from him.

44:51Stuart Watson:Yeah, should we put the Leif-Davis conspiracy theories to bed first? When the team sheet comes out and Leif-Davis isn't in the squad completely, immediately a lot of people jumped to his post-match comments from Wrexham where he obviously didn't mince his words talked about them playing looking like boys in the first half and not Wrexham looking like they wanted it more which fan base latched upon and said yeah great finally someone saying it how it is give the armband to leap etc and then made the giant leap to he'd obviously been dropped because he'd spoken out of turn. Post-match, Kieran McKenna said that he picked up a heavy knock at Wrexham.

45:38Stuart Watson:I think AJ can corroborate that from having seen him limping quite heavily in the tunnel post-match.

45:47Stuart Watson:He's unavailable. Jacob Greaves steps in. As you say, he's had three starts at left-back in the league. Now, thankfully, this was a lot more Coventry away than it was Sheffield United away. Excellent. Gets the assist for the Hurst goal. Defensively really solid in that first half. I can think of a couple of moments where he showed a turn of pace and shielded the ball and was strong and read danger a couple of times at the near post, cutting out crosses, things like that. He obviously adds a bit of extra height at set pieces when you've got him in at left back at both ends of the pitch.

46:25Stuart Watson:So, yeah, we worried that it was an awful big load on Leif Davis to keep churning out the games. And with Connor Townsend out for the season, it didn't really have a natural backup there. So to see Jacob Greaves being able to fill in as he's done, it's been good to see.

46:44Ross Halls:Yes, and he speaks so well. I really do enjoy listening to Jacob Greaves. And we've got a nice little clip here talking about the win and him playing at left-back. so let's hear from him. Yeah, it was massive to bounce back like we did. I think the Wrexham game was out of character for what we are as a team and that was disappointing but we've got a group in there that want to fight and do the dirty stuff as well as show the quality that we did out there tonight and I thought the boys were excellent and I think the character that we showed coming into this game was a sign of a top group that really didn't want to do well.

47:18Ross Halls:Yeah, he didn't look low on confidence quick out of the traps immediately got at them. Yeah, I think you look at it, it's probably a beautiful place to play. The pitch is perfect, so there was no excuse for us out there tonight. I think we kind of done the stuff miles better that we didn't do against Wrexham tonight, and that gave us more of a platform to go and play. So yeah, we were straight out the traps. Got that goal, and from there I don't think we looked troubled. I think the penalty was probably something that Dano maybe didn't have to do. I think he'd probably said it himself, but Waltz has been fantastic in recent months.

47:54Ross Halls:Mum fully deserved that. I'm so pleased for him, Christian, off the back of the weekend. Yeah. I don't think I've played in a game where Akiva's made a penalty save. And it's such a big moment as well, 84th minute. I think six minutes added on, there's probably about 15 left to play after the penalty. So it's a massive save at such a big moment in the game. And we need things like that to go our way. and fair play to Waltz for stepping up and guessing the right way and making the serve.

48:20Stuart Watson:Nice to get another start at left back as well and that relationship with Jack working well.

48:23Ross Halls:Yeah, really enjoyed it tonight. I think it's obviously a different role for me but one that I've said before that I enjoy and as much as I can help Jack down that side, I know sometimes he likes to go one-on-one but I think he picks the right moments to slide me in which he did tonight. He could have given me a couple more. I've told him, he knows. but no I thought he was really good again tonight and so was Nelly coming in for his league debut I believe and he kind of looked not out of place one bit in the times of when the ball was bouncing up and around I think he got his foot on the ball and made things happen and got the balls out to the wingers and it was a really good performance from them too as well beside me tonight We obviously know you can defend and you're showing a willingness to get forward in the final third confident you can bring assists and stuff to your game, contributes?

49:12Ross Halls:Yeah I think so the cross today for Hurstie, obviously it's nice for me to get up there and make something happen and kind of give us that cushion of 2-0 but I think I offer different qualities up there as well and I can definitely help the lads in that area I think it's a position where at left back I'm kind of getting used to it the more that I play it and I kind of have the license to stay so high and wide but there's some things that I've got to work on in terms of when Cedric gets the ball of trying to help him a little bit more as well obviously he's right footed so it's different that he can't come out to me as much on his left foot um so there's things that i'll look at that i can improve on and hopefully can keep improving my game there for when i do play there in the future he's gonna be a coach isn't he jay greaves he's definitely gonna go into coaching just just just him there speaking um also another really taken by jacob greaves aren't you i don't

50:07Stuart Watson:I don't necessarily... Jacob Greasy isn't jumping off the page as future coach for me at the moment. I might be wrong. I think he's a great lad and I think he's, you know, he sounds quite fun and he speaks well. But yeah, I don't know if I'd put him in my top three of kind of players that I can see being future managers at the moment necessarily.

50:29Ross Halls:I don't know, just from what he was saying in that clip there, there's some good sort of takeaways. Although the nickname for Dan Neal is get in the bin. Nelly? I know, AJ, you would turn your face up. I messaged Stu about this this morning. I was like, that was a shocker. What have they done there? Disaster.

50:48Stuart Watson:First we have DOS for Dara O'Shea, and now we've got Nelly for Dan Neal. I immediately sent a GIF of Nelly, the rapper. Was he Noughty's sort of rapper? I don't know. Did that mean anything to you, Alex? It did, yeah. it does but my response was a little bit different i feel is he the guy who wore the

51:13Ross Halls:plaster on his cheek yes yeah yeah he's the one yeah yeah he's got a ride with me i'm just getting up some of these songs hot in here yes that was a great awesome great too get in hot i'm actually playing it i don't know if you heard that or not no copyrights oh true boom um but yeah job done boys any other business from the game or should we move on because yeah we've got three home games to look forward to yes

51:41Stuart Watson:let's look ahead yes

51:44Ross Halls:but let's talk about the state of play though before before we get into looking ahead to Swansea because yeah how you feeling you know down and fourth on the table Millwall got a good result yesterday they keep you know going on a good run and they lost on Saturday just gone but they're now ahead of us by two points but they've played two games more. Barrow dropped points, as you mentioned, Stu. Coventry came from behind to beat whoever they beat. Who did they beat? They beat somebody, no. Sheffield United. Sheffield United, boom. Thank you, AJ. But yeah, how are you feeling, boys? How are you feeling, Stu?

52:17Ross Halls:32 games played. This is now, is it crunch time? Are we saying that? Yeah, I don't know what word we're going to use. It's not the run-in yet because that's normally after Easter or when it gets down. Final 10.

52:29Stuart Watson:I think we can score last 10. We've got 14 left now. Is that right? So we're not quite business end of the season, but we're getting there. And, you know, in eight days' time, 14 games will have been reduced to 11, and the next three are all at home. Swansea tomorrow, which is going to be interesting. That's Friday night. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow. Depends when you're listening to this. It's Saturday. Getting ahead of myself. of Hull, top two contenders on Tuesday night. And then Leicester, relegation fighting Leicester next Saturday, all at Portman Road. For all the talk about the poor away form and the patchy away form, if I'd have offered you six points from Derby, Wrexham, Watford, would you have taken them?

53:22Stuart Watson:I certainly would. I think most would have done. I know the nature of the Wrexham performance, throwing the cup game as well was really disappointing. I think that's a pretty good return now. The question is, can Ipswich continue to make Portman Road the fortress? Just that one defeat there so far, which is that Charlton game. You're going back away to find now, aren't you? A couple of frustrating home draws in there, but generally the home performances and results have been good. I did a predictions piece for this kind of seven games in 22 days which started with Wrexham away and I was quite bullish about it, the headline was why I think Town can go unbeaten I see that's what made its way into some Norwich forums because I suddenly got quite a few quote tweets and replies to that and some Coventry fans and others as well taking the mickey after the Wrexham game which is fine, that's fair game.

54:20Stuart Watson:But the logic behind it remains that I think some of these teams that Ipswich have got playing up, coming up, suit them better. I think Swansea, under a new manager in Vitor Matos, Portuguese manager, has tried to kind of, I think, instill more of the Swansea way from years gone past in terms of possession and pressing. They're a back four. They want to play a bit. That's generally what Ipswich like to face. Hull, you would imagine, will want to go toe-to-toe where they're at. Don't know how pragmatic Leicester are going to be under Gary Rowett. We'll have to see. Stoke, when they came to Portman Road, certainly that was quite an open game of football under Mark Robbins.

55:03Stuart Watson:Bit of an injury crisis there at the moment, so I don't know if that will affect things too much. Sheffield Wednesday on the horizon, which has to be seen as a very, very high percentage chance of winning given where they're at so um didn't get off that predictions didn't get off to the best of starts with with Wrexham who I thought would be an awkward opponents but yeah in answer to your question I am feeling cautiously optimistic about this

55:29Ross Halls:little run of game games ahead for Upswich I like to hear it AJ how you feeling then as well my friends um because yeah we closed the gap um yeah it's gonna be an interesting next three games hopefully positive results. How do you feel in the three games you've got coming up? Three different sides. I kind of look at it in a couple of different ways. I think that the negative side of me is still worried in that they just haven't been able to run a form together. I know that January was a little bit different, had that proper run. I think it was six wins in seven off the top of my head. I wrote it in a piece today.

56:14That was the one time where I felt we were really putting something together. Whereas for so much... Eight internal competitions.

56:22Stuart Watson:Sorry, AJ. I'm just looking at it there. That's perfect. But other than that, it's been a season of one step forward, two steps back. And I don't know if that's a mentality thing or what, but that is still that one thing that sits in the back of my mind. Will they go and beat Swansea over the weekend and then lose 2-1 to Hull next week? Will they put it all together in the next two and then have their traditional 1-1 draw against Leicester and that's frustration? Or they lose to Leicester, God forbid, or something like that. That still sits in the back of my mind that there is an unpredictability element of this team.

56:59but I think coming into three home games has to give quite a lot of confidence because as Stu says, not only is it back to Portman Road where Town have the second best home record in the entire division behind Coventry but also it's teams that are going to suit them a lot more. The next four feels quite favourable and if Town can say get, let's say from the next three, Be they get seven or, God, imagine nine points, 10, 12 points for the next four. There's going to be huge, huge pressure on Coventry, but in particular, I think on Borough as well, who go to Birmingham City, St. Andrews, as we all know, tough place to go.

57:44So, yeah, it's all about keeping that pressure on because automatic promotion is in Ipswich Town's hands as things stand.

57:51Stuart Watson:Just on the consistency front, and I know I've spoken about it we've all spoken about it all season about this this feeling i did have a little took a little step back from that after the game on tuesday and you know we're now talking about actually ipswich are quite good at nipping bad moments in the bud over the course of the season the response to the obviously what have been the moments really sort of the slow start which i think we can kind of explain away to a degree about the sort of the late business which is you know ultimately if they do fall short, that is something that needs to be under the spotlight.

58:29Stuart Watson:Did they give themselves the best chance to hit the ground running when they knew for quite a long time that they were coming into this division? Easier said than done, but park that little bit of the season for a start. Then you've got the Borough, Charlton back-to-back defeats, and then went on a decent little run off the back of that. Oxford Blackburn was another little sort of blip moment, then went and beat Coventry. And then, yeah, Sheffield United, Preston recently go to Derby and win. Wrexham, and we talked about the comeback from that. So for all the talk about character as this team, when the pressure is, when the noise around them has kind of intensified the most, they have responded, which is good.

59:11Stuart Watson:And then on the consistency point, I looked at it, Borough have now dropped points in their last three games. Ipswich have not gone longer than two matches without winning since August, since the summer window shut. No other team in the division has done that. So by that logic, Ipswich are actually one of the most consistent teams in the division. And we keep talking about runs and they need to go on a run. Sometimes it's just about consistency and keep ticking along at that two points a game, you know, magic marker, which they've just done in the last three, which they've done pretty consistently, as I say, since August time onwards.

59:50Stuart Watson:Six points from the next three games would tick that. I'd hope for more from those, but six points would be okay. I think that might get them over the line if they can continue doing that between now and the end of the season. I think it's so easy to compare sometimes, isn't it? where I look at maybe floors and ceilings a little bit more. When you look at the teams in the top, put them, let's say, all at their absolute best as we've seen them this season. I think that we've seen Coventry reach a higher ceiling. I think we've seen Borough in particular with some of their really good performances hit a higher ceiling than Ipswich have with their best performances.

1:00:33But then on the flip side, I feel like the floor is lower. I've seen Coventry be terrible at times this season. And I've seen Borough have games where they have 17 % possession, 30 shots, and they lose it 2-0, or they draw 0-0 or whatever. Whereas, yes, there have been one or two exceptions for Ipswich. Take Wrexham, take Blades, take Leicester. It feels like the floor for them is lower, and maybe it's just a point of if you're more in the middle, where, okay, maybe your best isn't as scintillatingly red hot as a borough when they're in that position. But then when you have your bad moments, they're not as bad as what Coventry had at the turn of the year, where they were really struggling to put any form together and it was all about them tailing off or borough at the moment, where if they don't win against Birmingham, it's four without a win.

1:01:26Maybe that's what they need. Maybe that kind of middle ground is what can take you more towards the top two in a league that can be very volatile, I found, in swinging one way to another, more so than the last time that Ipswich were at this level where every team just won every week and any single slip felt like it was going to be the end of the world. And I think we're kind of almost in a mindset again now of that where sometimes you slip up and it's, oh, well, that's it, it's over now, which it probably would have been two years ago when it was up against Leeds and Leicester and Southampton.

1:01:59But with respect to Borough and with respect to Coventry, they are not that. and also Ipswich aren't the same team as they were two years ago. And maybe it's important to kind of separate the two things out a little bit more.

1:02:12Stuart Watson:It's also important, I think, we're all falling into the trap of talking Coventry, Borough, Ipswich, for the fact that Millwall are above Ipswich in the table as it stands by two points. Hull are on equal points as well, and they've only played one extra game than Ipswich. I think we can probably draw the line there, can't we, in terms of top two contenders? but it's not just a three-horse race at the moment. But Alex is right. It feels very different to last time.

1:02:43I don't know.

1:02:44Stuart Watson:Pressure does funny things to people, doesn't it? Is it in Ipswich's favour that they've done it fairly recently? I know maybe that doesn't count for anything because it's pretty much a new group of players, but McKenna and his staff have been through it before and a handful of the players have as well. Does that help? how are Coventry and Middlesbrough going to feel when that prize gets within touching distance and neither of them have been in the Prem for quite some time. Maybe a Millwall, who everyone's been writing off all season, they'll fade away, they won't last the pace. In much the same way, you know, Ipswich felt those conversations.

1:03:25Stuart Watson:You remember Mark Ashton talking about, we heard the chatter in the boardrooms everywhere we went, we heard them saying, Ipswich will fade away but the underdogs, they stuck together and they got it done. You never know. It's a great league, isn't it? It's brilliant that we've got so much. Every week there's shocks and surprises and twists and turns.

1:03:50Stuart Watson:Yeah, it is still the most competitive league, I would imagine, in world football.

1:03:56Ross Halls:Yeah, it's exciting. And the games at hand, do you think that's a bit of pressure on us a little bit, though, having those two games. Sometimes, I don't know, having equal games, then we would be, if we did say we had played the same amount of games in Middlesbrough, yeah, we would be six points away from them. But thankfully, we're six points away from them with two games in hand.

1:04:15Stuart Watson:What do you reckon? A certain former Ipswich manager once said it's better to be the hunter than the hunted. I don't know if that comes into play. Personally, I think I'd always rather have points on the board. Yeah. I don't know, but then it's not the pressure of being up there and chased down. What do you think?

1:04:40It's tricky with also what those games are. So the two in hand are Hull and Pompey. Are they not? That's right. So they're also probably not the games in the hand that you'd want, probably, where Hull is going to be a humongous game because of where the two teams are. and that Pompey game, given Pompey's form, and the fact that, again, trademark Fratton Park fortress and how tricky that will be, again, maybe isn't the one. And they could still be fighting to stay in the division as well. So, yeah, a little bit torn. I think it's one that we'll need to see a little bit closer to the time. I think it's good that one of those games in hand, I mean, it's always different when you have two.

1:05:27That feels quite significant. and get that whole game out of the way. And hopefully we'll be in a slightly different position. But there's almost a psychological element of saying, hang on, Towner, they're chasing top two and they're fourth at the moment. That feels like a bit of a psychological element to that, down to one game in hand, albeit that Portsmouth game is going to have to be played very late in the season. And maybe the psychological element gets taken out a little bit more.

1:05:57Ross Halls:yeah but it's gonna be exciting boys cannot wait for it um i've got a nip out soon so we've got to wrap this podcast up very shortly um but should we just quickly just get our snap thoughts on swansea snoop dogs swamp swansea he uh enjoyed a last minute equalizer in the week um yeah scoring a 95th minute uh goal um as he celebrated that um yeah it's it's mad to think though that These championship clubs now are getting some famous people front and centre of their clubs. Snoop Dogg, I can imagine he probably didn't hear Herder Swansea ever before, before he got involved in them. And yeah, they're a weird team, I have to admit.

1:06:40Ross Halls:Obviously, Cameron Burgess, ex-blue there, scored the two own goals last time we went there. But yeah, they're coming to Portman Road, Stu. How are you feeling for this one? we won't go too in depth with the teams, we'll record a boot room so check that out when that drops but yeah, we'll find out a bit more as I said with Kieran McKenna's press conference with Leif Davis and any other injury updates but yeah, you probably don't really want to change much of the team

1:07:07Stuart Watson:We're going to park predicted 11 are we? We're going to let people listen to the boot room and check out the standalone predicted 11 piece I think there's a few conversations to be had around certain players in that. But if we're tight for time and we want to direct people to other content, we'll park that one for the moment. Swansea sat their manager off the back of that 4-1 win for town back in November, mid-November. Alan Sheehan gone. I've already mentioned it. Vitor Manos comes in, Portuguese manager, trying to get them playing a different way. Their form's been up and down since then, and they currently sit, as he checks the table, I think 15th in a fairly congested middle of the pack table.

1:07:55Stuart Watson:It's clearly one danger man for them. They possess the division's 16-goal top goal scorer in Zan Vipotnik. He can strike a ball. If you have a look back at some of his goals, he's a very sweet striker of the ball, really good movement in the box. So he's one to look out for. But as I mentioned to you earlier on, just hope that this is the sort of opposition that suits Ipswich Town, a team that maybe will try and take them on a little bit at Portman Road. And that normally leads to a pretty good outcome for Ipswich. Famous last words, I know.

1:08:33Ross Halls:Yeah. And to be fair, every time we play Swansea, there's always excitement. There's always good games, I think, against them. They've scored 40 goals, conceded 40 as well. So they're on zero goal difference. AJ, your thoughts on Swansea and segue us into predictions for this one as well. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned the ownership stuff. It's mental, isn't it? Because they had an American takeover. Then Luka Modric came on board. Yeah. Then Snoop Dogg. And now most recently, Martha Stewart, the US celebrity chef, has taken up a minority share, I believe, with them. So, yeah, mental stuff off the pitch.

1:09:13I'm sure they'll have some money flooding in over the next couple of years. At the moment, it feels like a solid team. They've kind of built on good foundations. Burgess and Kabango at the back filled in quite well. Galbraith and Tymon, the full-backs, one who inverts, one who bombs on. Franco Fulton, they've also had Stamanec in midfield there, who's handled himself well. Maybe the wide players are an area that they could improve on a little bit, but it's all kind of centred around creating chances for Vipotnik because he's almost like an anti-Hurst, I find, where he doesn't do the hard yards as much.

1:09:48He's not a runner or a presser. He wants the ball served to him, and if you serve him the ball on the plate, or even if you get him anywhere in the box, he will shoot and he will probably score. So it's essentially just the polar opposite of what George Hurst is, and everything has to kind of be centred around him, but that makes him the danger man, and that's going to be the big task for whoever plays at centre-back in this game. I think their season will probably fizzle out into mid-table, but definitely some people to keep an eye on, and obviously Vipotnik is the main one.

1:10:22Stuart Watson:Apparently they weren't very good in the first half on Tuesday night. I don't know if Paul Heckenbottom spoke afterwards about the smell of weed in the tunnel, thanks to Mr Snoop Dogg being around pre-match. They were waving tea towels around their heads and all of that. Whether that led to a bit of a soporific performance from Swansea in the first half, I don't know. But by all accounts, they were pretty poor in the first half. Manager wasn't happy and he made a triple sub at half time to put a bit of energy and mobility into his side. And they improved after the break and finally got their reward late on.

1:11:00Stuart Watson:So, yeah, I would imagine their starting 11 from that game will have a fair few changes because they weren't happy with how they started in the first half. And if you want a little stat that gives you some positivity going into this game, I've looked at Swansea's away record. They've played 10 of the current 12 top half sides this season. Obviously, Ipswich is one they haven't played, and Wrexham is the other, but they've played the other 10, and they've lost eight of those games. So away from home against the better sides in the division, they seem to have struggled. So hopefully that's a good omen going into this one.

1:11:41Ross Halls:Hopefully it doesn't stop when they beat us. You know, you chuck those stats out and you're like, oh no, we're going to give them a win. But no, I'm not going to give them a win. My prediction is a positive one. But still, you're leading the way. Are you in charge to go first or how are we going to do this? I think we're going to try now because we're getting to the big part of the season where I need bloody points, I do. Maybe I should go first all the time. because I've got 23 points. I am currently 12 points away from you, Stu. I'm currently nine points away from AJ and Hefe. So I need some positive results coming up.

1:12:19Ross Halls:But you're leading the way. I'll let you take – you're in charge for this game. And then we'll maybe move on from that. But are you going to go first or are you going to give me the prediction? I can do.

1:12:28Stuart Watson:I don't mind. However you want to do this. We need to have some sort of order, rotation or blind submissions. I don't want any accusations of, you know, poor gamesmanship going on here. You know what?

1:12:40Ross Halls:I think how we do it is whoever's got the closest to the correct prediction from the previous game goes first. But then I think AJ and Hefe, they predicted a win for Towns. So AJ, you can go first then and Hefe's not here. so you can go first AJ. I was going to say you two have been battling out about which one of you should go first and I've just been sat in the corner watching on so I think that's fair. Why not? We'll go with that. I'm going to back Ipswich Town to win this game. I don't think they're going to win it by a huge number because I think Swansea look fairly solid, fairly good but this is Town at Portman Road so I'm going to back them.

1:13:25Really tricky on the first goal scorer do I go with the obvious one or do I twist and try something a little bit different? Let's twist and do something a little bit different, not massively. He scored in the reverse fixture. I believe it was his first Ipswich Town goal. El Tiburon. Even Azon to score first and Towns beat Swansea City 2-1. 2-1 Azon to score.

1:13:48Ross Halls:Love it my friend. I don't have to change it on the I just need to change the goal scorer. The graphic is fine. Stu, I'll let you go next. as you're leading the way.

1:14:01Stuart Watson:Okay. I'll stick with the prediction that I've put for this block of games, which was Ipswich Town 3, Swansea City 1. Oh, no.

1:14:12Stuart Watson:You wanted that, did you? Yeah, but it's fine. It's fine. You can stop having it.

1:14:19Ross Halls:Yeah, but then if we get it right, then it's great. I'll get points, but then Stu goes further ahead than for me. But are you chasing down Stu or are you chasing down me and Mark? Well, I'm chasing down you and Mark, but then I'm still chasing Stu to try to win it.

1:14:33Stuart Watson:Still got his eyes on the title. If you're going to come back, do it properly. But anyway, apologies, friends. I was thinking about Azon, to be honest, but I'll mix it up to be a little bit different. I'll tell you what, I've got in first with the scoreline.

1:14:56no do you want Jack Clark yes

1:15:00Stuart Watson:I'll trade you Jack Clark for the scoreline then I'll let you have Jack Clark I'll stick with 3-1 and I'm going to go with Wes Burns as first goal I thought about that yeah will he do the celebration the Cardiff celebration oh yeah I forgot about that yeah what is it again that isn't it he did it at Swansea when he scored did he score no but it was after that He did that celebration. So I'm sure in fairness, he'd be bang up for it, wouldn't it? So yeah, I can certainly understand the logic behind that pick.

1:15:32Ross Halls:I like it. 3-1 Wes Burns from Stu. I want to go 2-0. Clean shoot now. Going to continue that run there. And yeah, Jack Clark, my first goal scorer, hopefully. We'll find out Heathies shortly as well. But there we go then, boys. Any other business as we wrap up the podcast? because I must have got a nip out. So, yeah. Be sharp. No, go and nip out. OK. But any other business, though?

1:16:02Stuart Watson:Stu, anything else

1:16:02Ross Halls:you want to mention?

1:16:05Stuart Watson:In answer, I've got a couple of questions on the live pre-match the other night. Did Ross bring carrot cake to Wrexham, as he promised, on the pod? No, he didn't. He said they ran out of carrot cake and then has proceeded to put pictures of carrot cake in the group chat in the days ahead. So maybe you'll turn up with some cake one day.

1:16:29Ross Halls:Yes, honestly, mate, I've been told by them as well that it runs out very quickly before lunch. So yesterday I got there before lunch, got some. Actually, Sash did, not me. But yeah, I will promise you, live right now at half two on Thursday the 26th of February, that I will bring you some carrot cake. Let me know which game you want me to do. Spoke away. stoke away oh yeah what's happened there what i just put myself i think i pressed the touch screen by accident you've got to go mate let's wrap up yes it's fine it's fine um aj um plug the sponsor molecular uk am i saying that now is it you've got it you plug it mate you've nailed it molecular you're close enough molecular uk local company ross you can't use them but tell us what we can expect from molecular uk to wrap up well i can't use them but i can gift them to people so if they've got a car the many drivers that i have you use the code koa 10 for all your cleaning products for your car so check them out really good local company based in layston i think so yeah big up the layston boys molecular uk there also follow us on our socials kings of anglia on on all the things everything you can find us on uh also merch store and also get your tickets for KOA Live after the Borough game which is going to be huge hopefully the game doesn't get changed because of bloody TV selections but it will be a great night why not celebrate the Watford win with some tickets so go and it'll be great to see you there some great stuff to come for that show and yeah if you're going to the game this weekend enjoy it if not quality courage with us as always me AJ and Stu will be there as standard so check that out but thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time bye bye for now Thank you.

1:18:48Thank you.

1:19:22Thank you.

1:20:15Ross Halls:We'll be right back. B21 Plus. Moto Casino. America's social casino.