623: Kings of Anglia: Undisputed Kings of Anglia

27:00And that's the first time he's stepped up to the spot since then. And I mean, the confidence was there, wasn't it? Bloody hell. You know what that is? That's a good stat. That adds context around it. He had no right to be that confident and that cool, but he was, and he buried it.

27:14Ross Halls:Which one thing, I've already scored against these lot. I can do it at their place as well. Yeah, first goal away from Portman Road this season, of course, as well. So fair play, Jadon. Right then, George Hurst, in that same post-game chat, went on to say that he, I think he actually might have stood it in there. I can't remember if he did or not, but he said basically he thought he got some karma from that, giving the penalty up. And he duly did. He had some good chances, didn't he, George? He went close with a header and then he, there was another chance later on, wasn't there? I think just before he scored, in fact, where Norwich keeper saved it with his legs.

27:45And then we get the opportunity for George to score. AJ comes to him, long throw, Darnell Furlong, off the back of someone we're going to spend a lot of times talking about Jacob Greaves, who was colossal, immense in this game. Massive. Massive, huge, gigantic, all that kind of stuff. It kind of dribbles off the back of his neck, essentially, as he throws himself at the ball and bounces perfectly to George. And he finishes it absolutely perfectly. And that must be, I mean, obviously it means a lot to him to score, but in a game like this, fantastic. Yeah, absolutely. the hardest one of the chances I think it should be said that Kovacevic the saves to deny Hurst the first two times were really really good the header in particular I thought was really impressive and it felt like is it going to be one of those days for George Hurst big chances it's going to add to his big chances missed kind of tally the column he's hanging really close to 10 goals for the season and the way he takes this is really well it's obviously not pure volley but it takes a bounce.

28:55He hits it, strikes it through the legs of Cordoba. Him and Cordoba had a real battle in this game. This was proper like big boy on big boy kind of stuff, which is really, really good. What you want in a Derby. It was criminal defending from Norwich to leave Ipswich's number nine unmarked around the box, which was really poor, but the finish is so, so good. The way he hits it down kind of deceives Kvatchevich. He's a little bit late getting over to it. 2-0, and what a time to get it as well. It should be said that Philippe Clement is going to have his plan about how he wants to approach that halftime team talk, 1-0 down, come on boys, come back into this, buy into the home crowd, all that kind of stuff.

29:37But 2-0, that's a mountain. That's more than a mountain, and to climb that mountain, at most you'd probably end up with a point. So that really would have hit Norwich hard, the timing of it perfect, the place to celebrate perfect. I loved the celebration again brilliant um and uh one of I think the preferred goal scorers because how's a bit of a point to prove and uh he really did prove it with that that strike and uh deserved more but there's there's the karma for handing off the penalty and Rossi you know without blowing smoke up you you did say when we discussed George Hurst a couple of weeks ago you said you think he's going to have some big moments before the end of the season this was definitely a big moment doesn't get much bigger than this.

30:19Both of the boys, AJ and Stu, referred to as a volley. I know this is a half volley. It was on the bounce. Anyway, what did you make of it?

30:29Ross Halls:Yeah, it's just proven that he can be clinical at moments and he's sort of bouncing back as AJ already mentioned, you know, after being denied. That could, you know, for a striker, that can really knock your confidence. But he was just getting in the right positions. And yeah, could have got a hat trick. could have put himself in hat-trick folklore if he'd got those other chances. But yeah, led the line really well. And it's been so long since Town actually scored at Cowell Road. I think it was 2018 the last time the Town team had scored. I think, unfortunately, it was Luke Chambers. Was it Luke Chambers?

31:01Ross Halls:No. Essentially. But yeah, it's been a long time since we've seen a goal at Cowell Road. And I'm pleased it's George Hurst for the second. And for me, I was saying to a few people next to me, the other photographers and one of the Itchwich Town, cameraman, camera woman, actually, good old Laura, the Australian. And I was saying game over and said, don't say that, don't say that. But I just, I don't know. I just couldn't see Norris getting back into it. But yeah, great to see George Hurst, number nine on his back, getting his first goal in the derby as well to make it 2-0 and pretty much wrap up the win in my eyes.

31:37There was some more quotes from George, which are online if you want to read them, in which I thought he perfectly summed up their approach to the game in terms of this kind of embracing of emotion. It's not just another game. It essentially said that you prepare for it like the same as you would for any other game. You don't want to change anything in your preparation, obviously your fitness, your nutrition, your sleep, all that kind of stuff. But then when you get to the game, you acknowledge it's not just another game. It's a derby game. You have to kind of buy into that emotion and get involved.

32:05So I thought that was excellent. Now, one of the main narratives around this game for me was Ipswich Town's defence. which was extraordinary. So they go in 2-0 up. We know Norwich have been in good form. You think, you know, surely they're going to hammer down the door in the second half at home in a derby. But I don't think, I can't really think of any half-decent chances Norwich had because every time they pumped balls into the box, it was inevitably Jacob Greaves or Dara O'Shea heading them away. I thought Greaves was huge, as we've already said, in this game. O'Shea just as good, perhaps. made some huge blocks, some huge tackles.

32:47AJ, what did you make of it? Because Norwich, as we said, Norwich had been in really good form. I don't think anyone would have gone into this game expecting them to be shut out at home in the manner they were. But it was a really impressive kind of defensive display all round for town, wasn't it? Yeah, it was. And I think that the approach had to be spot on and was, which was kind of not allowing Norwich dictate play in quite central areas and forcing them out wide and you could see so one of the things they did in the warm-up and they have done this on occasion but something that's too highlighted in this pre-match video was um the set piece defending that they were practicing in the warm-up before the game um and clearing those there's a lot of big focus on that sometimes you see them practicing attacking set pieces this was just defending set pieces um and what they did was they forced Norwich to go really wide and try and cross in there, not allow players like Ahmed to come in narrow or Schwartel when he came in the second half to come in narrow and forcing them wide and force the crossings into the box to be aimed towards 5 '8", Chris Gardner and Toure.

33:55You just don't have the height there. What you then see is a season high of crosses for Norwich. They had 37 crosses in this game. They didn't do anything from any of them. The best opportunity that they had was one where Jacob Greaves headed behind that almost ended up into the back of his own. But from what they created, very, very little. 13 corners, which I also believe is a season high for Norwich in this game. They didn't threaten from any of them. It was such an imperious defensive display, and it all comes down for me. And I'll give credit to Davis and Furlong for playing the part and the cover from Mattsi were basically centre-backs, isn't it?

34:35They were immense. Dar O'Shea as a leader and as a player was fantastic, and Jacob Breeze was an absolute, well, all of the words you've mentioned already. And that really meant that they were just kind of having little sniffs. There was no space to run in behind. I thought O'Shea limited that perfectly. Toure came on. I thought, wow, this could be a bit of a game changer given he got two assists off the bench in the Millwall game. He didn't have any opportunities at all. the height and physicality meant that Norwich couldn't deal with that aspect they were forced to play so deep and at times it would have to be Kenny McLean who then got moved into a deeper area having to try and do things and then they were just passing the ball out of play they made Norwich suffer from open play where they felt so frustrated and angry that they had nothing to work with and that really grew into the fans and was the perfect approach for Ipswich in this game from a defensive perspective.

35:33Yeah, it was perfect. Yeah, I never really felt like Norwich were going to score. I never really felt any kind of peril. Let's hear from Dara O'Shea and then we'll come to you, Ross, with a question about Jacob Greaves. Dara, in terms of this game, you're the first town team to win here since 2006. It's the first time that you've done the double over Norwich since 1992-93. As captain in particular, how much does that mean? Yeah, special. special I think you know for us as a group that's really important you know for us I feel like we're a new group of such that maybe the fans haven't clicked with as of yet you know so to be that group that have done that now I hope that you know that brings us closer to them and you know we can we can both like all push on in the right way and I feel like they've been unbelievable with us this season you know days like this you can feel what it means to the fans my supporters you know you walk around Ipswich and this is the game that everyone speaks about so it's really important today that we get on the right and the result.

36:30It didn't matter how we did. To give the fans something to claim back that long time, what was it, 33 years since the double? Which is a long long time. I don't think there's many players who are over that age in our group. So for us it's amazing to give them that and I'm just really proud. You see how happy they are after the game, you see how happy we are and it's just what football is about. These results that you want as a football club and And, you know, I think for us, you know, I'm just so proud that we've been able to give them that. And, yeah, hopefully we'll have many more, you know, things to celebrate as a club.

37:05All right, and Ross, Jacob Greaves then. Fantastic, as we already said in this game. He was good against Birmingham as well. Before Cedric Kipre got banned, he started 22 games in a row. So is that shirt now, would you say, Jacob Greaves for the rest of the season?

37:20Ross Halls:yeah i think so um because he was unbelievable dara shah of course got man of match from sky but i think aj gave jake grue's man of match and his player ratings and um he's definitely up there for me because he was incredible he was calm as he is on the ball um but in the air i think the amount of photos i've got of him just heading balls away is yeah i noticed actually looking back this morning there's so many there's so many photos of him just heading the ball clear which is great and of course he's got a lovely hair isn't he so you just got him in the hair heading and he sort of played his part in both the goals as well I know but yeah fantastic performance and for me yeah he's got to be that partner with Darashe for the rest of the season and it was just a good old fashioned Derby day battle where Town sort of threw away their normal possessions obsession it was very much just win the battles like dara shay went into an absolute cracking tackle i think in the second half where you think oh if he timed that wrong could be a penalty um jack taylor i think had a great challenge yeah it was incredible just incredible like town just battled um and you know there was loads of other cars it's first probably the first dive in a war where there was a bit of proper...

38:46Ross Halls:I've got loads of pictures of there's potential fighting going on where in previous derbies it's been a bit flat and nothing's really happened. But this was a proper defensive display, a masterclass from Kieran Kenner's side. I think credit to how the referee handled this. I know that this might not go down well north of the East Anglian border. But I think that... As I say, I've shared my thoughts on the penalty. there is probably a separate debate to be had around a certain Chilean and whether he should have been on the pitch that I probably would say was fortunate let's say but in terms of the the rest of the game as a whole and how he managed it and let it flow I know that there were five yellow cards apiece in this game but it felt like the referee let the players embrace the derby atmosphere and the spirit and letting it be quite scrappy and understanding that it probably is going to kickoff it did on a few occasions um not being too harsh with it not being too lenient and letting it spiral out of control um town have had some really poor referees i still think this season um and i know that there is debate around this referee today what was his name ross do you remember anthony backhouse no you got it anthony backhouse and i think that that does there should be some credit for at least how he let this game play out as a derby uh because that wasn't an easy thing to do just before we move on to Nunez which obviously is another one of the main narratives and uh perhaps my favorite Jacob Greaves absolutely imperious that's the word for him isn't it AJ imperious but Dara O'Shea he deserves some serious credit because he was not good in that defeat at Wrexham you know had a had a horrible game um it's fair to say I don't think he's been universally taken to people's hearts as the skipper as yet but the way he's turned things around since that game and then pulling out performance after performance and this one capped them all.

40:34He's got some real character, hasn't he? Massive, huge, huge character. And this is the game where people are buying into him, not just as a player, because I think we've seen enough from him in the Premier League and this season to have that. But as a captain and a leader, we had flashes of it in the last derby with the this is us and our people speech. and probably at times it has been questioned and the question I put to him at Sheffield United, I know he got quite strongly panned for talking about the lack of physicality and struggling to match Sheffield United in that game. And I don't know if something's changed, I don't know if it's just our perspectives have changed or what's necessarily happened, but the whole viewpoint on him has changed massively.

41:20There's no doubt about that. I think he was the perfect figure in a game like this because it was fiery and Ipswich players were fired up and they were into this and that's what you want. That's what Ipswich lacked in the last derby. And you had Mehmeti who lost his head at times and Nunez who will come on to and others who really got stuck into it. And O'Shea never did. He was occasionally the peacemaker, but he was the calm, cool head in the chaos. And both in terms of his performance, which was excellent, and his leadership. Yeah, I thought he was excellent in this game and was exactly what Ipswich needed at the back.

41:55Right then, Senor Nunes, clearly one of the main talking points about it. I think we all thought he was going to start. As you say, Ross got dogsy boots every time he appeared. Various hand signals and not very nice words chucked his way. All part of the theatre, if you say, of football. Clearly he would have been expecting that. And I thought the game as a whole, you've already touched it, Ross. It wasn't a great game, but as a spectacle, it was massively compelling. It was hugely absorbing. There was real edge to it. And of course, when he comes on, he adds edge to the edge. 23 minutes, I think he played, gets subbed off.

42:29And I'm interested to get your take on this, Ross, because on the TV, when he was being subbed off and after the match, the pundits were all saying, it's a bit embarrassing that, you know, he's come on, he's lost his head and he's had to be subbed off. And I thought at first, that was my kind of initial kind of thinking was I kind of let himself down there. But the more I think about it, the more I think I love it because it was almost like the perfect role for him to play. This Tanto villain, once he came on, it seemed like all Norwich were worried about were trying to wind him up. And they kind of lost their heads as well.

43:02And there was that great moment, wasn't there, after one of the fouls where they're all kind of swarming around him and he's got his hands up like this, the picture of innocence. And that's when O'Shea comes in and kind of manhandles some Norwich players away. I thought in terms of the fact that Norwich were chasing the game, they were 2-0 down, they kind of forgot about that and just focused everything was focused on Nunes and this villain um so what did you make of it

43:24Ross Halls:I loved it all I loved it all um and yeah he got massive views you know I'm sure that could be here I could probably be heard in itch which because Norwich fans were straight away on it when they knew he was coming on and um yeah the game was just stop start from there on um so it was once again now a master class for a sounds point of view and Nunes was just lapping it all up um there was going to be an amazing moment if, cause he of course came on, we had a free kick and a very good. Yeah, that would have been perfect, wouldn't it? And I will admit though, I did turn to someone who was next to me and said, this is going right into the wall.

43:58Ross Halls:And I was right, unfortunately. And then Norwich went and counted and I thought, Oh my God, that would have been horrible. If they went on to score and then they're back in the game and then they go on to, they would have been talking about that forever and ever. That Nunes was the reason why the game turned around. but he was the reason that Norwich couldn't get into the game though because from that it was stop start. He did make some clumsy tackles where he'd think, okay, I know it's a derby but be careful Nunes because if he does get sent off and then Norwich get back in the game you're like, oh no, but thankfully not.

44:31Ross Halls:I think it was the wide decision to take him off. I think McKenna and the coaching staff were probably like, yeah, he's had enough time. But in that 23 minutes, whatever it was, it was incredible because he was involved in everything everything that happened in those minutes he was involved and I loved that picture I got of him just going well I'm not doing anything and you've got Harry Darling behind really getting angry but yeah Marci de Nunez he knows what he's doing I know he can only speak a little bit of English but he loves to shit out especially when it comes to Norwich Remind me a little bit of that Mario Balotelli picture remember from back in the day where he's sort of getting mad but his face is just a picture of serene innocence.

45:12That was Nunes. He was just like a sponge for attention, wasn't he? As soon as he came on, like this vacuum for focus from Norwich. I'm going to ask you about him in a minute, AJ. Let's hear from Kieran McKenna first of all, though.

45:23Ross Halls:Can I ask about Marcelino then, the decision not to start him? What then played out throughout the game?

45:29Kieran McKenna:Yeah, it was, look, partly just a physical, from a physical point of view, he's coming back from injury, played a little bit longer than we would have liked the other day with the Zor going off. so we need to protect him with a game schedule that we have over the seven games because he's so important to us and we've got some other really good players there and of course then we knew part of the challenge today that that was going to add extra to the environment and to the atmosphere and that might not necessarily be something that would help the team so that was the decision we made coming in but yeah, he's such an important player for us he was always going to come on the pitch and have a part in trying to get us to victory.

46:10Kieran McKenna:It obviously got a little bit heated out there and emotions were running high, so we had to protect the team and protect Marcelino in that situation. The same as we did, to be fair, with Leif and Hurstie and Anis. The boys were on yellow. It was really important to stay with 11 today, so of course that was the case with Marcelino as well, which is why we made that change in the end. But yeah, he's through that one now and he's tackled it head-on, probably, you could say. and hopefully they'll have a big part to play now in the running. OK, AJ, I think, if anything, this has made him more of a hero, to Hitchcock Town fans.

46:43It's kind of the ultimate panto villain, cult hero sort of thing. But do you think he was lucky to stay on the pitch? Yeah, gods, yeah. Oh, my God, yeah, 100%. I think there's no one who could argue that one. There were, what, 3 ,000, 4 ,000, that one. And I thought he was going to go with the last one where he takes out Córdoba just needless. and I mean all of them were a little bit needless. There's one where he goes and basically clocks Pelham Upton that causes a fight. There were others which were just late and this one I thought was going to be it and I think he had a last warning before and this was like a last, last warning I think just because the ref, to his credit I suppose at least from an Ipswich perspective just wanted to keep the game as intact as possible and not spoil it.

47:31But he was going to get sent off if he stayed on the pitch you could see there was a break-in player where Davis got treatment and Nunez was called over by McKenna. The cameras panned to them and it was abundantly clear that Kieran McKenna was explaining to Marcelino Nunez why he was about to be subbed off. And I did turn to Stu about two minutes prior and say, they're going to have to bring him off. Look, if you gave me the choice between what happened and him coming onto the pitch, running rings around Norwich, scoring a goal, getting an assist, putting in a brilliant performance and keeping his head, I would choose the latter.

48:02I would want him to have a brilliant display. He not only was lucky to stay on the pitch, but everything he did on the pitch I thought was really poor, to be honest. It was not a good performance in the slightest from Marcelino Nunez. But everything you said is true in that it distracted the Norwich players and it slowed down the game. It turned it into a broken game. It gave them no real opportunity to find momentum and all the focus was on Nunez. And also, I thought the Norwich fans let down their team here massively. and that's because they weren't there, it felt, to cheer on their team. They were there just to hound Marcelino Nunez.

48:39And the whole event, the whole day wasn't about let's get behind Norwich. It was let's have a go at Marcelino. They sung on the ball city for 20 seconds, how long that song is. That was really loud, really, really loud. And everything after that was about Nunez. Their players are playing on the pitch. He comes out to warm up and instead of going and chanting and getting behind Norwich, crowds of fans kind of gathered around the bottom corner to shout at Nunez and to throw little bits of cardboard at him while the game's going on. He comes onto the pitch and all of the focus is on booing him. There was no support for the team.

49:14And I think when you're trying to rally to come back from two goals down, the fact that your fans are so focused on getting behind and kind of getting at a former player, a current Ipswich player, instead of getting behind the team, that actually did end up playing a huge part in proving to be detrimental in Norwich's attempts to come back here. So yeah, I think that their fans let them down a little bit. I thought that the players then bought into that as well and Ipswich capitalised massively. So I would have rather had it the other way and Nunez to be the star on the pitch. But ultimately, he's contributed in a weird way to a really big win.

49:59AJ making a late bid for running the match there. Great point, AJ. Just noted that Dan Rossi, 48 minutes in, that will definitely be getting clipped up for social media. Oh, no. Yes, it will. Oh, yes, it will. Because it was an excellent point. Rossi, the final talking point, it has to come to you on because the final talking point, of course, is what it means. Hipschristown have done something they haven't done for 33 years in terms of beating Norwich back-to-back in the same season. um the october win as welcome as it was and you know the end of the 16-year dominance i don't i don't think in terms of the the kind of way they did it the spectacle of the game the fact it was at norwich the fact that norwich were in really good form a lot of norwich fans really thought they were going to turn town over here and stick a big old spanner in the works um but i i thought that was it was tremendous in terms of the manner of doing it but if you as an Ipswich Town fan, you look back, you weren't even alive the last time they did this.

51:00What does it mean to you?

51:02Ross Halls:I said it was special. Fair play to Bloomers who put in our group chat saying, Ross, you're so professional. I was trying to still be professional, trying to take photos, trying to get, because I didn't want to go and jump in the away end and go, and you guys, where's the pictures, Ross? Went, oh, sorry, got a bit cut away, went into the away end. But very special, and as you say, that just every single member of the town squad and even staff went over to that away end, which was just singing loud and proud. And it's no doubting that East Anglia is blue and white once again. We've always been the pride of Anglia because of our history and the trophies are won.

51:40Ross Halls:But it's been 33 years since we've done the double, 20 years since we won at Carrow Road. There's been a lot of heartbreak, a lot of really bad days against those up the road. I was sadly there for many bad away games, you know, the Paul Lambert stuff, the Mick McCarthy, you know, you know what, some home games. I was sadly there for the 5-1, the 4-1s, playoff, you know, defeat. You know, I was there for the Paul Anderson goal and that was unbelievable scenes, but we haven't beaten them, you know, in 16 years. Haven't done a double since, you know, the amount of years, 20 years at Carroll Road.

52:21Ross Halls:it was very special and just obviously going and speaking to the Kaui army outside for game day and just seeing the scenes you know I haven't watched the um the town in five yet or town in 18 I think it is but I can imagine that is just goosebumps stuff because there's so much great content I'm just I remember just seeing the town fans just loving it and you know people kissing me and kissing everyone, there's grown men crying. It was very special. And as we said, this team, it's been a long time for us to sort of fall in love with this team. As you mentioned, back in October, that felt massive.

52:58Ross Halls:Like, yes, we finally beat them. But we were still very much like, I'm an R on this team. It was still very up and down. You know, we're still getting bad results and not playing that well. But this must be a key moment for this supporter base with this team because that celebration at the end there was just so long and just all the players were just showing their light. For me, they felt like they were fans as well, really going for it. Yeah, just a massive moment. And for me, I think they're going to do it, surely, from now. They've got to go on to get promoted now because to do that in that sort of fashion, it's got to give them so much confidence for the final six games.

53:43Going back to one of the points Ross mentioned there about falling in love with the players, we've spoken about that a lot and said, oh, it doesn't feel like the fans have fallen for this new group and we're still harking back to Chaplin and Morsi and Broadhead and Wolfie and Burgess and Harry Clark or whoever. And I didn't really realise and think it kind of rubbed off on the players in the same way until Dara O'Shea mentioned that, sorry, I should call him Dara, as he said before the interview, Dara O'Shea, mentioned I didn't really think it was kind of seen in that way and I think that it's clear now that the players feel it in the same way they've also maybe not felt the connection with the fan base in the same way and they've kind of gone on the same journey of being at Blackburn and the terrible, terrible performance there with Sheffield United Leicester the Charlton home game and not having those kind of that bond and that connection with fans and they probably felt it a bit during the last Norwich game and the way that O'Shea referenced that this felt different, this felt like they feel like they're really with us, I think feels really important now because it's all good for the fans to have that feeling as we have done at different times and we have said at times in the season it now feels like the fans love this group of players and then two weeks later they go and lose 2-0 and we're all like oh well you know we're still harking back to Sam Morsi and things like that and now it feels that the players feel it that way it's it feels very very much on both sides and that especially at this point in the season as Ross has kind of alluded to with where they are with the position that they're in there is no better time in my eyes for that kind of bond to really be kind of set in stone, I think.

55:35Yeah, I mean, we've talked all season, haven't we, about comparisons to the last promotion side and how the romance around that and the feeling around those players. But this is something that finally this side has over them. You know, they've done the double over Norwich and it does feel like, like Ross says, a significant moment, something that fans can really kind of get behind and cherish and have that kind of special memory of this side. Something that wasn't special, Ross, we've got to talk about before we leave. We know that Stu's been suspended, I'm afraid, for a game for predicting a defeat scandalous ridiculous behavior um i hope he comes back with a new view on himself having done that um but norwich they they tried to to um publicly shame you ross over the weekend and this is why this is what you were given to wear uh simply trying to go about doing your job at carrow road and this is what they gave you to wear if you're not watching on video i'm sure you've seen the pictures hopefully on social media ross was given a bib with a giant a giant Norwich badge on the front of it.

56:36Ross, I assume there were angry words had when you were given this. I'd hope you almost refused to wear it before being told you had to. What was this all about, Ross?

56:47Ross Halls:Yeah, obviously, at pitch side you've got to wear bibs. And I can't remember when we went to Coward Road two years ago if I had to wear this bib before because I'm sure that would have been a talking point for that game as well. um so this these must be new um but yeah i will admit when i was given it i was like what surely not um because it's bloody huge the badge like if it was like i don't mind wearing green or yellow like i don't mind that it's fine i can get but when it's got a massive norwich city badge short like and also when i got i will admit i was very sheepish when i went to the away end to sort of sat a load of a few people and they'd go ross what are you doing i was like i've got to wear this all right i've got to wear it like to be pitch side if i want to take snappy snaps i've got to wear this unfortunately um i know there's a few other photographers who are town fans as well that had to wear that the club media didn't have to uh which i think you know i think they were probably pleased but there was a few other town fans i know were photographers at the game and they were wearing and they weren't happy either but because of what i do um koa i was oh no, I'm like, let me let this live this down.

57:57Ross Halls:And yeah, it was not nice. But thankfully I was wearing many layers. So it wasn't like on my skin. The badge didn't penetrate my skin. So, but yeah, Norwich City. I hate it because I can't believe you allow that. There's some grounds you do like, I think there's funny enough, I actually took home a Leicester City bib once. And I think we sometimes use it for five aside. and I don't like if it's that it's fine but because it's our rivals and it's just so massive the badge like if the badge was like hidden I don't know somewhere down you're like I won't really care about it but because it's like on the front I think it's also on the back I think it's gigantic as well it's just huge and even if it just said like in words like Norris City you know whatever pits are where I'll go it's not that bad um but I will admit when I was in the media room i was like just like i was like i gotta go past the away end um i did sort of something that colin bennett from bbc lukis was filming me and i said it's not that deep but i was crying inside because i was like oh no but thankfully town won so whatever up exactly the karma the karma came back on them uh i had people sending me pictures calling for you to be disciplined um so there you go friends that's that's the story of it felt a little bit like the old Cersei Walk of Shame in Game of Thrones just probably means nothing to you but you didn't have anyone walking behind you did you saying shame Ross while you were you were wearing that with a bell and there was a few people I said the away when I went in there they did go Ross what are you doing and I went I've got to wear it so um but I will admit I think I must have been spotted by a few Norwich fans definitely at full time because when I was taking pictures of you know the celebrations I was sort of on the side and I did get a few uh scum sort of chance stretched out I looked around and it was like so this guy I was like oh mate well we just won mate so go on I should have done the Hurst 2-0 yeah basically I don't know why they stayed for so long I think there was some town fans laughing why are you still here there's a few that stayed for a while and I'm like why are you staying I would have gone I would have shut off if you know my arch rival was just one in my stadium but yeah as I said we got the last laugh because we done the double right then 10 points 6 games we go again Portsmouth away tomorrow Stu won't be there because he's suspended Ross won't be there because he's got something else he needs to do so you will be there AJ old faithful winding your way down to Portsmouth for the third time for the third time hopefully there will be a game this time how do we feel about this one then old friend in terms of the context of the season as I say just 10 points now they need a certain Connor Chaplin did town a huge favour as well at the weekend scoring the winner against Middlesbrough so I referred to them on Friday as being overwhelming favourites to go up I think you'd have to say they're more than that now if you look at the situation oh he's not sure I put them at overwhelming favourites yeah I wouldn't I questioned when you said overwhelming favourites on on Friday and I would now put them into that category off the back of this at the end of the day games and hands are not points on the board and they are two points clear of third place Millwall.

1:01:16Millwall who have, let's be honest, a really kind run-in. QPR, Stoke, Leicester and Oxford are their final four. And if they find a bit of form, you could see them winning every single one of those games. So town have to keep this up, no doubt about that. And I still, even though Stu argued this on Saturday, I still wouldn't rule out with the way Southampton are playing, them making a late charge towards the top two. So Town have to hold up their own side of the bargain here. And this is one of those games in hand, so the importance is clear. And although it comes against a team who are 21st, who've only won one of their last five, I think it would be.

1:01:57It was more than that, actually. They've won once, which was the Borough game, since February 21st when they went to Millwall, funnily enough. So their last two wins have come against Millwall and against Middles. So there's your warning for starters. Both of those away from home, however. And they've really got something to fight for here because this is a huge, huge game from their perspective. They are one point clear of the relegation zone. This is their game in hand as well. So if they can win this, they would then move ahead of West Brom, who face a points deduction with the news this morning.

1:02:32We've put Leicester City on the brink of relegation. They play Leicester this weekend as well. So it's a massive week for them. and you'd expect that they're going to be scrapping for their lives. At the same time, it's a Pompey team that have injuries, don't have loads of depth, have just been up to Middlesbrough. Maybe this is a good time to play them like it was the last couple of times. So I'm sure that Town will shuffle the pack a little bit. I'm sure we'll see a bit of rotation there, but the confidence has to be the same going into this game off the back of two really important wins and knowing that if they can win, they will go five points clear of third with a game in hand, going into a game against Middlesbrough on Sunday.

1:03:15But it's not as straightforward as that because Pratham Park is a trademark tough place to go. Yeah. You boys are going to do a boot room, so I don't want to go too in-depth on who plays and all that kind of stuff. But let's do predictions just to keep it going. Rossi, you both predicted a win. Either of you got the score right, did you, at the weekend? but still you've got the win. So things really are tight in our league as well. Who wants to start? Do you want me to go first or do you boys want to go with your predictions? I'm chasing you and you could technically, if I went first, you could just copy me and it would be all sunshines and roses for you.

1:03:55So I would personally say I'd like you to go first. Okay. Ross, are you happy with that? Yeah, I'm good. Okay. Mark Heath, off you go. Not that you take it, not that you take it seriously AJ I am going to say there is definitely an element of after the Lord Mayer's show I think with this they've got the win over Norwich like they did earlier in the season and they lost the next game didn't they? I know that was a tougher game the Portsmouth away, tough game is it going to be a draw? is it going to be a draw? I think I'm going to go 1-1 I'm going to go 1-1 again, I think I'm going to go

1:04:35I'll go Hurst actually again I think having said that he probably won't he probably won't start now will he as well I'll start I'll go 1-1 I'm throwing it away here I'm doing Arsenal what am I doing 1-1 I've got to say it I've got to do it now 1-1 Hurst in terms of head gone by the way Radio 5 Live last night heard an Arsenal fan say that Arteta should be sacked that's the that is the ultimate heads gone but anyway I'm saying 1-1 Hurst what are you saying then boys Ross do you want to take it should I I'll let you go I'm bottom

1:05:07Ross Halls:thank you very much fair enough relegation battling Ross I think that Ipswich will get the job done here I think that Pompey can be a little bit leaky even though they are good at home they did lose 6-1 to QPR a couple of weeks ago they did concede 2 at home to Oxford they were defensively solid over the weekend but at home they're going to have to show a bit of initiative and I think that Town might be able to carve them open while keeping that defensive solidity so i'm going to go with a 2-0 ipswich win back to back 2-0 wins first goal scorer um

1:05:48darosha oh nice uh so you've gone 2-0 can i change my first goal scorer yes not locked in by the rules no but we'll say well i think actually i can change it it's not locked in, as Ross says. You just don't want me to because you're desperate to come back. I'm going to say Jack Clark. 1-1 Jack Clark. Rossi, what are you going to say?

1:06:14Ross Halls:I think Town are going to win all their games for the rest of the season. Do you? He's bold, but I believe in his team. They'll go to Southampton and win. Yeah, why not? It's going to be another Coventry night, that one. I like it. So, hopefully there's no bad injuries and stuff. It can't be another Coventry. And if they win all their games, they'll be promoted before they get to St. Mary's. Do you know what he means? Stop being so good. Yeah, yeah. He always does that to me. I think you'll find, Ross. Excuse me, I've got some stats. Don't just ignore him, Ross. You've been good today. What do you reckon is going to happen?

1:06:56Ross Halls:Been all right. 1-0 Town. it will be one of those where just get the job done, Portsmouth will give us a game and yeah, it'll be my first game I'm missing all season so yeah, I don't want it to be a classic because that means I miss that and good pitches so 1-0, first goal scorer, I was going to go Jack Clark but I'm going with someone a bit different I was going to potentially go with Mimetti but he was not great against Norwich maybe he can come back and get a good result and he needs a goal I think so do I go with Metty no I don't want to go with Metty I'm going to go sorry you know what this is a bit random you could think it could be random I want to go Leif Davis he has a goal in him sometime so I want to go Leif Davis we've got there in the end we've got we've got two wins we've got two nil who did you say AJ to school?

1:07:57I've forgotten. It seems like an hour ago now. Dara, are you okay? Dara? Dara O'Shea. Yeah, I should point this out. TalkSport, we did this little huddle. Dara was quite tired and he asked to go sit in the stand so we all went up around him. Everyone stood for this and I decided, no, screw that. I'm going to sit on the steps next to him. There's a nice photo that Callum got and he sat next to Dara there. I don't know why my face looks like that.

1:08:24Kieran McKenna:Football friends.

1:08:28and Talkspot asked him before is it Dara or Dara? And he said, oh, it's Dara, to which I don't know to apologise for having called him Dara. It doesn't sound like that, doesn't it? No, it doesn't. It also ruins that incredible chant that got sung once at Bromley and never again, which was the Dara. Have you heard it other than that? I've never heard it other than Bromley. Fair enough. I love it. It's one of my favourite chants. Anyway, you said 2-0 Dara O'Shea. Ross said 1-0 who did you say Leake Davis yeah and I said 1-1 originally George Hurst but when that went back with Jack Clark that's my pick of record we'll find out what Stu thinks if he's still talking to us after this ban boys anything else to mention we've gone a little bit over there because that predictions thing took a lot longer than I expected it to have you got anything else to mention before we take our leave

1:09:20no the sound of silence excellent alright then friends Well, just to remind you to support our sponsors, obviously use the code KOA10 at molecular-uk.com for 10 % off all our excellent stuff they've got there, all their car cleaning products. Worth reminding you also of the offer we have at the moment on our website, digital subscriptions. Perfect time to jump on board. £4 gets you four months of all our town coverage. That takes you through the end of the season, obviously, into the transfer window, into fixtures release day, which looking now, it might be Premier League, of course, fixtures for the second time in three years.

1:09:51And then well into the pre-season tours, pre-season friendlies and building up towards the next season. So£4, four months links all over our social media and on the website as well. And also if you'd leave us a five story on iTunes, just helps lift us visibility wise in the charts. Easy for me to say friends. If you town have done something, they've made history. They've done something they haven't done in 33 years. They've done something they haven't. Two of our three illustrious members on this podcast weren't even alive for. And that's special. That's to be enjoyed. Let's embrace it. Whilst also looking onto the next game, Portsmouth away.

1:10:26We'll be there tomorrow. If you're going, enjoy it. We'll be back later on this week to break it all down. And just a reminder, friends, as we finish this podcast, there can be no doubt East Anglia is blue and white. Have a great week. See you later.

1:10:53Thank you.

1:11:25Thank you.

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