643: Kings of Anglia: Two games, two grounds, one day - and a seventh signing is on the way

24:05And you never know where Davis might carry the ball out wide. And then you've got those kind of inside channel runs from Dyson Maeda, which we know he can do as well to stay kind of quite close to the number 10 and to the striker. So we started to see some of those patterns. He was involved in a lot of it. The link-up play was nice. he's uh fiery gets stuck in some some big chat some bits can't talk big tackles um big calves big thighs he's kind of one of those he's got quite a low center of gravity but he's well built um yeah this was just a very small taste of to what we can expect from dyes and mida we're going to see more against the harvard against uh bravo iacano and all these other games and i'm excited

24:45Mark Heath:for it yeah that really stood out i mean obviously we were pretty close to the action at wicker and And as you said, I think one of the first things he said about him was look at the size of his calves. When you look at his thighs, he's a powerful, powerfully built individual. Rossi, what did you make of him? Because I think he's going to be a fan favourite pretty quickly.

25:02Ross Halls:Yeah, he sort of shows a bit of aura. He's got a bit of aura around him. I think maybe because we know the big nature of him being a Japanese superstar. But I just remember taking pictures of him in the warm-ups. and I don't know, I just couldn't keep my eye off him. I think it's because we needed photos of him, but I was like, I'm making sure I do my job. But I remember just sitting there a little while and just watching him. And then during the game, annoyingly, it was the other side from me in terms of attacking-wise. But of course, he literally scored, which would be the perfect way to start his talent career.

25:36Ross Halls:And what moment that would have been. But yeah, I think he's going to be a fan's favourite for off the bat. I think a lot of people fell in love with him straight away because of the Japanese connection and just everything about him. but from that first viewing I'm like yeah he's going to be someone I'm going to look forward to take pictures of and he's going to sort of create moves and score some hopefully good goals so yeah they're going to be selling a lot of Mieda shirts I don't know what number he'll have that'll be an interesting one I'm trying to think 38 seems to be the one that he's had before I can't remember if there's a connection to that one I will do some digging onto that but he wore that I think he did wear that didn't he in this game as well so I wouldn't be surprised to see that he sticks with that one.

26:21But yeah, we'll wait and see because there's a few out there, just not number seven because you've got two other players. He won that one as well.

26:26Mark Heath:Yeah. Of course, one of the pitches you took of him, Ross, was of him sitting on the bench in the second half with a big load of ice and strapping on his right leg. Some suggestion that might be caused by a clash of shins in the first half. So hopefully that's not going to be too serious and anything that keeps him out. you know, starting tomorrow night. It will, of course, be interesting, AJ, to see, as you put in the first half, he's quite happy here because this is the sort of level of players used to play in Scotland. So it'll be interesting to see when Towns step up the level of opposition, how he does, because there's some quotes out there from Pat Nevin saying that his pace, I suppose, was kind of top tier in Scotland and that won't be the case when he's in the Premier League.

27:11Mark Heath:So we'll see how it gets on. But certainly from that debut, exciting. I'm excited to see more of him. I think he's going to be a huge fan favourite. And also, I think he's going to get loads of paid views and video views boards, which is all we're really bothered about, let's be honest. Right. If it wasn't for Daze Moeda, the main person we'd start to be talking about from Wickham would, of course, be two-goal hero Cameron Humphries Rossi. We know it was town of very short in midfield. He started in midfield at Wickham alongside Marcelino Nunes. And he outshone his more illustrious partner in the engine room.

27:43Mark Heath:Two goals. Nicely taken first goal. Obviously, Town was 1-0 down at a time. And then they went and won it with a goal, you know, very easy little tap in after Tudor Mandel, who I want to talk about as well. I did the post. But Humphrey's an interesting one, isn't he, Rossi? Because he's one of these guys that we always know he's a big talent. He's been out and had successful loans. You know, obviously he had a very successful loan at Wickham. So happy hunting ground for him. But he's getting to that point in his career now. You think he's got to be somewhere where he's starting. And Town have got a decision.

28:16Mark Heath:because as AJ keeps saying, they've only got a 25-man squad. Can they carry someone like Cameron Humphreys? Could he be a factor in the Premier League, Ross? Or are we thinking it's now time for either another exit on loan or perhaps even sell him? What do you reckon?

28:30Ross Halls:I think I'm writing a piece right now about it. His career is in a bit limbo at the moment, especially at town, because he's got ability. He's got technically ability. He sort of proves that every time he plays. Of course, he's not really had the opportunity to play really in the championship yet. Made a handful of appearances for town under Kieran McKenna. The Premier League, the big thing is physicality. He does lack that a little bit. But what he lacks in physicality, the rest of it is hard work. He's a workhorse. And his stamina, he's like Leif Davis stamina-wise. He's just a body that goes everywhere.

29:08Ross Halls:He doesn't stop working and he can score goals as well. but his career is in limbo like Elkin Baggett will be for the same footsteps as him, leaving permanently because Humphrey's been out on loan, had a very good spout at Huddersfield which was an amazing success unfortunately for me, his career then stalled because Town got to the Premier League and he didn't play he was around it, training with the squad Kieran McKenna of course wanted him to be involved I'm sure he would have learnt a lot from that but he didn't play much football, which was frustrating. End of last season, of course, second half of last season, went to Huddersfield.

29:46Ross Halls:Didn't work out as well as the Wickham spell, but he was playing minutes and contributing and stuff. It's now, he's 22. That is not young really now. We've been calling him the young academy star, but now he's at the point where, yeah, he's going to be now included in the senior squad, in the 25-man squad. I love Cameron I've been watching him since he was 16 I've seen him go through the ranks and all that sort of stuff and do you have that sentiment, he's one of our own it'd be great to see him play in the Premier League but in my mind, in his own development I think he needs to just like Alcon Baggett go to a club, find a new home and have a really good career, which I think he will I think he is championship quality Premier League probably a step too soon for him.

30:38Ross Halls:And that was not his fault, but of course Towne had been on this incredible journey where if Towne were just a mid-table in the Championship, Cameron Humphries probably would be a regular. But unfortunately not, we've been in the Premier League. Well, that's not unfortunately. It's been great to have been in the Premier League, but for Cameron Humphries, he's sort of... He's been sidestepped there a little bit. That's my one gripe, though, with Kieran McKenna. Of course, his background was academy football, but he never really gave academy players a chance. But then I understood the step up town went so quickly.

31:08Ross Halls:It was always hard and the pressure that was on. And Gary Neal is going to be on pressure this year. And is he going to give Cameron Humphries a chance when we need players of experience who have got that physicality? We've already signed players who are big boys. So as I say, Cameron Humphries' career is in limbo at the moment. I think he'll play in the next few friendlies. And then we'll have to find out, does he go out on loan again? and of course we took the option on him for his contract. But then do we sell him? You know, he's an academy graduate. That's, you know, good sort of money for FFP and all that jazz.

31:42Ross Halls:That's not called that now, is it? PSR. So, yeah, I think it potentially could be time for him to move on, which I'll be sad about, but you can't be too sentimental these days.

31:53Mark Heath:Yeah, well said, Rossi. Well argued. Agree with that, AJ? I mean, all centermen aside, clearly, you know, homegrown, very talented. Technically, he's very good, works very hard. not the biggest but you can't see him really realistically playing a part in the Premier League can you for Ipswich Town or can you? No I can't see him making part of the 25-month squad in the Premier League and he's one of those who's been and there are a few of them obviously but a victim of the incredible rise that Ipswich Town have been on if Ipswich had spent more time in the championship hadn't gone back to back maybe had finished just inside or just outside of the playoffs and and the promotion hadn't worked out in the season that they went up then we could be having a different conversation you might have had uh massimo long ago maybe the age that he was at might have been kind of transitioned out of the team and you would have seen a humphries and uh morsey kind of pivot there that could have stayed or at least regardless you would have seen humphries kind of transitioned into the team a little bit more it would have been easier to do that but it was never going to happen in that first premier league season and last year with the ambitions that ipswich had to win the league uh and to be the best team in the league that it was never going to happen either that he was going to be able to play that kind of part in the team and yeah he's a fabulous technical footballer we saw it in this game against his former club i thought he was really good i loved the goals he scored the first one's a really nice finish in the second one uh just the instincts to be in that position i thought it was really good from him um But he's not a Premier League footballer at this point, and he can get to that stage in his career for sure.

33:30I hope, and I can see him playing in the Premier League. But I agree with Ross. I think that, I mean, certainly it will need to be another loan, if nothing else. But I think there's definitely an argument coming into the last year of his contract at Ipswich that do you go and find a solid mid-table championship club who can develop him, who can give him the opportunity to play minutes and kick on and develop physically and as a player with his IQ and things like that as well. That's what I'd like to see from him. I don't want to see his career stall and fade out. So, yeah, I agree. I think this could be the time to part ways, which is really hard to say after that kind of display over the weekend.

34:13Mark Heath:Okay, a few more things I want to talk about from Wickham. Another time we got to first look at another new signing, AJ. Only 10 minutes or so of Isidiot. came on. I suppose the most interesting thing is when he did come on, you were rubbing your hands to the eye and going, hey, going to see it now? I'm going to see back three. Oh no, it's a back four. Yeah, that was disappointing. Gary O 'Neill kind of mentioned after the Osasuna game, it's like, we will play a five at some point. We'll do a little bit of everything. It was a four, it can be a three, we'll see a five. And I thought, this is the moment now.

34:48We're going to see it. And yeah, we didn't. He played left-sided centre-back instead, and it's now pushing more towards the side. I mean, it's going to be very flexible, very fluid, but I'm sure that we will see a fair bit of 4-2-3-1 next year and probably a fair bit of back five as well. I'm sure it'll be very mixed next year in terms of the formations and the setups and the systems. In terms of what we saw from Issa Diop, he liked his little base layer-y bits. That was the first thing. Yeah, he was wearing leggings, wasn't he,

35:16Mark Heath:which I'm not sure I'm a fan of. Yeah, well, probably not in the heat that we were playing in as well. I didn't think that was maybe the best time for it. I just wanted to be involved. He very much every time that the ball came into the box, he was there. He was like, bang on it. He wanted to make sure, again, probably trying to get the strong first impression. Didn't have too much to do because obviously playing against the League 1 opposition at that point, they were, I think at the point he came on, Tamwell 1-0 down still, weren't they? Or at least 1-0 down. I think it was 1-1. Was it 1-1 at the point he came on?

35:49Either way, they were not winning or Wickham weren't losing the game, so they weren't exactly out, so that's put loads of pressure on. So it wasn't one that was an overly testing debut for Issa Diok, but good to see him get a bit of a run out and just to also get used to playing with his teammates. He had Greaves to his left because Leif Davis came off, so Jacob Greaves played at left back. He had Darrow Shea at right-sided centre-back, getting used to that, getting used to communicating with them, with the players around him doing the basics of defending. And, yeah, good for fans to see him as well.

36:23Mark Heath:Yeah, my thoughts on this is, yeah, big boy. Obviously, we knew he was tall. I'd say he's not quite as jacked as Cedric. I think Cedric is a bigger human being altogether. But he's a big boy. And in terms of the land of the giants that we know the Premier League is going to be, he's going to be very useful, isn't he? The inevitable shenanigans at set pieces and corners, especially if he's backed up by a six-foot-nine goalkeeper as well. The other thing I want to talk about Ross is Tudor Mendel, who came on for Abdul Fatou, who, by the way, I was impressed with again. It's the first time seeing him in the flesh for X-Fichertown.

36:57Mark Heath:Different sort of game, I thought he had. He wasn't explosively kind of carrying the ball and taking people on, but he was whipping in dangerous cross after dangerous cross with the left foot. His cross, I think it was flicked on Wemerson, and that's when Maeda hit the post. And he set up another couple of good opportunities as well with crosses. Anyway, he was replaced by Tudor Mendel, Ross, who is the first time we've seen him. Obviously, we know he's been ripping it up in the academy. I know you've seen him play a few times. He did really well, first of all. Quite a small lad, isn't he? Quite diminutive, but really keen to take people and run at people.

37:29Mark Heath:Obviously, he hit the post, which set up the winner for Cameron Humphreys. He's also got an incredible story, Ross, which you've been writing about this morning. Not your average footballer backstory. So do you want to bring up speed on that and then give us your thoughts on him in this game?

37:43Ross Halls:Yeah, first thing really is finally, because he's been a name I think some fans have been heard of, you know, for the last few years. You know, he signed back in 2024 and he's been the star for the 1921s, you know, scoring goals, contributing to so much stuff and just highlight reels. You can watch it. And, you know, I've been covering him now the last two years and he's just been incredible. and there's been always that talk, guys, is he going to get a chance on the first team? Especially when he has some injury problems and stuff like that. But Kieran McEwen never really took that opportunity.

38:13Ross Halls:He was on the bench last season, I think for the Wrexham FA Cup game. But obviously he didn't come on and that was rubbish. But he's someone that has been on the cusp of the first team. He's trained regularly with a senior squad, but never got that chance. So it was good to see him play his first ever senior game. I know it's only pre-season, but yeah, he's got an incredible story because his granddad, actually played internationally for Nigeria, of course, came through the ranks at Chelsea, but off the pitch. He's very known for his outstanding, outstanding, sorry, academic record. He once took part in the Child Genius competition on Channel 4.

38:52Ross Halls:I will admit, I never watched that, which probably doesn't surprise you.

38:55Mark Heath:You do surprise me.

38:56Ross Halls:Yeah. He finished second, which, you know, it's not bad going. It's pretty impressive, yeah. And he was made a King's Scholar at Eton College at the age of 13. which sounds very impressive. And during his time at that school, he passed A-levels in Latin, Greek and history. Of course, he went on to pursue a career in football, which Chelsea, of course, he's one of their standout players for them. He was linked to Barcelona, the Spanish giants. So he turned a new contract down at Stamford Bridge, but then in the end signed for Anderlecht in Belgium, played for their reserve team in the second tier.

39:34Ross Halls:and of course Towns signed him back in September 2024 and he's been incredible for the UN21s but the UN21s football, I know we're stepped up it's now time for him to be playing regularly now in first team football there is reports out there that he potentially could be getting a League 1 move or League 2, stuff like that which is what he needs he does need some senior experience but he's a talent and I think he showed some of that in the game at Wycombe but yeah and all round a great story as you say he's a very intelligent young lad I spoke to him a few times and he he's very well spoken so when he probably speaks to me he's probably thinking who's this who's this bump kid yeah basically but yeah he's a talent and can he be the next future town star hopefully but he'll need a loan just like Sompto Boniface of course on the Leighton Orient which is a fantastic move hopefully Tuna Mandel will get a similar move but yeah great to see him in action and yeah you guys to finally see him as well because as I say he's been someone I've been speaking about

40:36Mark Heath:on a regular yeah he's he's that name isn't he one of those names you always get them in the kind of younger age groups that people hear about scoring hat tricks and ripping things up and people like want to see him in the first team want to see him in the first team I was really impressed with him I thought he was really exciting um really keen to run at people obviously made things happen he's quite small I thought was he 21 um if you compare him to say someone like Abdul Fatou, 22. Fatou, you know, looks like a grown man, whereas Mendel's probably still got a bit more, kind of more going to do.

41:06Mark Heath:And the background is fantastic. I mean, I can't imagine there's that many footballers come from Eton College, mainly because it's all rugby there. Rugger, isn't it? I know Will Hughes, obviously formerly of Derby County and Crystal Palace fame, he also went to, I think he went to Harrow, the other place, as they say, at Eton. So he's another footballer with an interesting background. But regardless of the background, and obviously that makes for a great story. He's a very good footballer, AJ, and I enjoyed watching him. Yeah, really lively. I'd say there's probably areas that he will want to develop physically, for sure, in order to get used to men's football.

41:43And I agree with Ross and hopefully those kind of rumours are true that he could head out to League One. I think it would be really beneficial for him just to get a proper taste of that. I mean, come on, Cambridge United, go knocking on the door. Sounds good to me. You fancy that, wouldn't you? Yeah, might have to pull some strings could mark boner if he fancies picking him up uh yeah so a loan like that i think would be really beneficial for him um he's got all of the kind of the raw talents that we know you need to be successful he's a really good dribbler he's got a good cross on him technical ability is really strong there is a reason why those who watch the 21s regularly such as ross and others as well have often been banging the drum for him to be involved it is really difficult to transition players into games into senior matches like this and that is the hardest part is creating a pathway for these players and this is why especially with a club with the demands of ipswich where if you're in the premier league you're in the premier league so you've got to compete with that and if you're not it's about getting back to the premier league it's very difficult to create that pathway for a young player so um we need to see now ipswich haven't been able to do that for a while and we need to see that and when you've got a talent like him and a lot of the young talents that they are adding into the 21s as well because they're spending actual money now to go and strengthen this team in the pl2 and we've seen it with uh with runham and others coming in as well um yeah we now need to see clear pathways of how do you get these young lads these young talents some of the highest rated prospects you can get within english football and how do you develop them to then in three, four, five years' time become regulars within your first team.

43:24And yep, Tudor Mendel is definitely going to be up there in terms of the priorities for doing that.

43:30Mark Heath:Yeah, I liked him. Any other notes from Wickham boys in terms of players or things you like, things you want to make note of before we move to very much the kind of backup squad at Oxford? There's one thing in particular I want to talk about there, but is there anything else you want to mention from Wickham? good to see Emerson in the flesh again I mean he's a unit he's a big boy I feel like I say this in every single bit that I've done so far Ipswich need to do more to get the ball to great chance for him but we saw more from him in this game whereas in the first two against Cartagena and against Osasuna he was just left chasing shadows and just running around a little bit and had the ball at his feet on a couple of occasions it was good to see him more involved in this one almost set up that goal for Dyson Maeda with a really nice flick on in the box.

44:15And even though he's really raw, that's where you need him. That's where you want to get the most out of him in using his size, utilising his physicality. Yeah, that's going to be really important. So he was a good one to see. Interesting to see Mometi playing in this team. What is next season going to look like for Anis Mometi? I have absolutely no clue.

44:36Defensively as well, seeing Jacob Greaves playing at left back for a bit. yeah it's going to be an interesting structure to see with that one how's that going to look with recruitment going into the Premier League things like that yeah we're getting some clearer ideas but we'll have to get a bit more in the next three friendlies or so

44:54Mark Heath:anything more from you Ross before we rewind to the Kassam

44:58Ross Halls:let's talk about the away kit because yes good shout that was of course the first viewing the training kit looked very nice indeed I remember we were rocking up to Wickham and the players started warming up and I was like what are they wearing and oh they're wearing the away kit training kit um and it looked very nice but the away kit as we did the unveiling you know did our reaction to it and um i was very i would say i was 50 50 i was more like i liked it yeah um not maybe as much as aj because he did 9.5 or whatever it was um stand by it what a kit yes and i like it more and more now as well especially seeing in the flesh on players in the sunshine um when you see with the shorts the shorts and the socks it really yes it doesn't the black shorts yeah and marcelino nunez big shout out to him his kit and boot combo i i even put out on a social media post i liked it that much i did it just looked works so beautifully um so i like when players do that when they sort of mixed you know they make sure their boots sort of link up with the kit um so i think that's gonna be a big seller there's so many of those actually in the away end i think when we rocked up to oxford we we saw like i think there's three or four blokes wearing it weren't they like yes they must have had a little group chat before meeting up and god yeah we've got to wear this kit today it was just seeing them so i think it's gonna be a big seller um and yeah these kits this year i think they're gonna be massive big sellers i think the home kit of course what was worn at oxford and also for the cultures to friend again or sooner in the dark under lights it does really stand out with the the design of the diamonds so So, yeah, well done, District Town, because those kits are looking nice.

46:33Ross Halls:But, yeah, that away kit was very nice in the flesh, with players wearing it.

46:37Mark Heath:Yeah, it's going to be interesting, isn't it, tomorrow? Portman Road, Premier League level lights, seeing it for the first time under them tomorrow, the home kit. Very interesting. Obviously, you and Sue will be there. Right, let's rewind, AJ, because we have to. It's an District Town podcast. We have to go back to 12 o 'clock at the Kassam Stadium. Do we have to, though? We do, we do. They lost 2-0 to Oxford United. It wasn't very good. you look really bored for most of it but I want to talk about the side because clearly they had to split the side and you wonder how they're going to do that are they going to have an equally strength side in both games very much not the one at Oxford was you'd look at it and go that's basically a backup side Wes Burns skipping the side but you'd imagine now he's going to have a backup Fatou and everyone else who played probably going to be backups apart from, interestingly and I don't know if you think we can judge anything from this, Jack Clark playing at Oxford, who you would say probably more in that starting conversation, he played as the 10 at Oxford.

47:39Mark Heath:Do you think we can deduce anything from that, him being there? No, I don't think so. I think, well, the first thing I'll say is I didn't expect it to be like this. I thought this was very much a minutes in the legs exercise, but I think that it's a stronger indication of Gary O 'Neill, not Dara O'Shea as I wrote on Saturday Gary O 'Neill getting to grips with his strongest team and what the strongest line-up is going to look like. I was expecting it to very much be that kind of a training exercise minutes into the legs, mix the squads up and have it very much kind of a 50-50 split but it wasn't that at all and as you mentioned Jack Clark is probably the only one from that Oxford team who I would expect to see a possibility as a starter against Sunderland on opening day I think that the reason for him being in the Oxford team is purely because of the left-wing options available at the moment.

48:33There obviously isn't a great deal between Maida and Clark. I don't think you're going to have one who's going to look miles better than the other in the Premier League next year. But it's difficult. I suppose you could have put Clark in the turn and put Mimeti down in the Oxford game. There is that. but I think they wanted to give Mimeti a run in the 10 as well to see what his best position is going to be. Dyson Maeda, I think, was always going to be in the stronger team because the last thing you really want for him is for his debut to be in a game with a second-string team playing against Oxford United.

49:11It was always going to be with the stronger side. And that probably meant that Jack Clark was the odd man out. So it looked a little bit square pegs, round holes. It did throw up the whole team in Oxford, to be honest. It probably made more sense as well when you look at the Wickham team to then go with someone who is a more natural number 10, as we know Anastasia Mometi is, compared to Jack Clark. So you've got players who are in the right positions across the whole team and it's your strongest team as well. So all of those things kind of considered probably meant that Jack Clark was the most logical one to put with the Oxford team.

49:44But as you've alluded to, he's the only one I think would stand any real chance of being in the starting line-up come Sunderland on the 22nd.

49:53Mark Heath:I also want to give a shout out, Ross, when we talk about Oxford. The standout player for me, another youngster, Charlie Compton, playing in midfield alongside Cinder, although Cinder wasn't really alongside him very often. He was mostly drifting around, not really doing a lot. But Charlie Compton, obviously he's got a long way to go before he's in the first team conversation. but he's a proper scrapper, Ross, like constant motion, hurling himself into tackles, covering a lot of ground. He looks like he's got a chance to do something in the game.

50:23Ross Halls:Yeah, he's only 18 and he's just come back from an injury as well. A bit of a frustrating spell actually last year, especially after breaking into the under-18s, under-21s. He was one of the sort of... He's still obviously a talented player, but he was one that they were really looking at and he signed the pro deal and he was winning awards he won the actually the first town premier league scholar award when we're last in the premier league and um he just had that frustrating stress down with injury but um yeah for him to be playing as a sort of lone midfielder uh even in the colchester game against osu no he sort of had to do that when he came off the bench and um he's not that's not really his position really as a scrappy midfielder.

51:07Ross Halls:When he's played for the academy side, he's been more of a sort of attacking player who picks the ball up and creates things and can score goals. So it's something a bit new for him. But it's great to see. I think that's what pre-season is all about as well, seeing these young players get an opportunity. I know we're lacking players in that position, so that's probably why he's playing. But it's a really good opportunity for him to play with the first team, but also play against these sort of teams as well. And just good sort of experience for them going forward. So, yeah, big shout-out to Charlie Compton because he's shown what he can do and he's going to be a big player for the Under-21s this year.

51:45Ross Halls:It's another discussion to be made, like, do you let these players play Under-21s football or do you want to get them out on loan as soon as possible? Sometimes you do. Maybe someone who's a bit young like Charlie, maybe keep him with the Under-21s around the season and then maybe get them out on loan. But, yeah, it's good that Gary O 'Neill has had the opportunity to use some of the young players and I'm sure they'll be around the first team, even if they are just playing for the O21s.

52:09Mark Heath:Yeah, I liked him. I think in terms of, if you were given out an award for highest energy performance this weekend, it would either be him or Maeda who would get it. So, interesting. The other thing, just quickly touch on AJ, we saw two keepers at Oxford. David Button, won't want to remember that at all. Obviously, made a right hornet of things, said to the youth's second goal. Kane van Ooverland, no. A bit of a tale of two performances, really, or two sides of his game. So he looked a bit dodgy, didn't he? With the ball at his feet, got himself into a bit of a mess, just like Button did, although he didn't get punished.

52:40Mark Heath:But he did make a couple of decent saves, particularly from Harris, I think it was the second half of his one-on-one. He saved with his leg off the top of my head. We're talking about Van Oevelen and obviously the goalkeeper situation. Do you think he maybe would benefit from going out on a loan? Yes. Yep, I do think so. I mean, we've only had small little tastes of Kane Van Oevelen so far. and they've been in very weird games, I would say, and kind of not being able to give him a proper run over the course of 90 minutes. And I've seen bits that I've liked. He's made some good saves. He's looked largely okay with the ball.

53:17I thought he was nervy in the... Not nervy, maybe even the opposite, actually, when I think about it. Almost possibly a little bit too relaxed when the ball came to him and he got put under real pressure by Harris. And he did well, actually, to stay calm in that moment and forced the ball out for a goal kick. But as soon as that happened, something clicked with Oxford and they were like, right, let's put this guy under pressure. And constantly, whenever they got the ball back to him, it was, right, Van Uvelen's got the ball, put pressure on. Because we had Harris who was thinking, he looks a little bit uncomfortable here.

53:49Let's try and make something happen. And there were a couple of occasions that they came close with that. Nothing he could have done about the goal that he conceded. I think that was very unfortunate. and just pretty dreadful defending from Ipswich down the left. I think it was Tyler Goodrum. He was on the right flank just into half the pitch, basically, for an easy cross and a tap-in. And he was okay. Definitely isn't... I would have liked to have seen a little bit more from him on the ball. The difference is this is a pre-season friendly against Oxford. And if, for example, you ended up doing the Sunderland game and he was on the bench or even Manchester United and Liverpool, If Kjell Sherpen, who we expect to be first choice, if he picked up an injury, would you be comfortable with Van Nuvalen stepping in?

54:36I'm not too sure. Based on what I've seen early doors, it's very early to make that assumption. I'd like to see more of him in the next few games, especially with Christian Walton out. But I think that it is all trending towards him making a championship alone towards the end of the summer.

54:52Mark Heath:Okay. We'll come back to Oxford when we reflect on Tales from the Road later on. But let's look ahead now, Rossi. Those are in the rear view window. Le Havre comes to Portman Road tomorrow. League, oh, so a step up in opposition from the weekend. First game at Portman Road of the pre-season. Nice to get back to Portman Road. Nice to see the kits, as you say, under the bright lights of Portman Road. But what do you want to see on the pitch, Ross? Is now the time for Gary O 'Neill to say, right, I'm going to try and start what I reckon would be the starting 11, all things being equal on opening day?

55:27Ross Halls:yeah potentially um i think the thing is we've still got so many players and you want to make sure they get as many minutes as possible but maybe if if he can if there is an opportunity to do it maybe yeah put out your strongest starting 11 and then i'm sure there'll be a lot of rotation in the second half i don't think he'll well he could potentially do this but put a starting 11 out at first it's now it's not it's just one game it's not two games so he can't split a squad up so that could be that point where first 45 minutes that's starting 11 and he changes it for the full 45 minutes in the second half, which I don't really want to see now.

55:59Ross Halls:I think they've had enough time now in pre-season. They've had games. Because once again, they've had games behind closed doors. So they've, you know, games that we don't think we've had, they have had. So I think in total, what's it now? So two, three, four, five games they've had now, isn't it? I think in terms of they've had six, if you count obviously the doubleheader, but you know what I mean. So it would be good to see now a strong starting XI and then maybe do changes on the hour mark and then maybe a few more in the 80th minute and stuff. Maybe we'll not see the youngsters as much now, potentially like Mendel and Compton, as we mentioned, although we are lucky midfielders, so Compton may have to be involved.

56:38Ross Halls:But yeah, I'd like to see a potential stronger starting XI and then bringing in different players on the hour mark or so. But I don't want to see two XI's first half, second half because I think we're now deep into pre-season and we've got Rayo Valacana on Saturday and we've got Una Berlin and a big kick-off. So that is what I want to see.

56:58Mark Heath:Yeah, these last three pre-season games, surely AJ, good level of opposition. For me, I don't want to see widespread changes at half-time. I want to see him kind of picking a team that plays at least 60 minutes and tries to get some consistency. You know, it's all about building that understanding and getting those patterns of play now as we start to build towards a big kick-off, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. I think that you want to start seeing these next three look closer to league matches. I don't want as you say 45, even 60 minutes to see wholesale changes. I think if it was me I would try and get maybe do 60 minutes with the majority of your squad then make changes that you would in a league game again.

57:40So for example let's say Jack Clark doesn't start tomorrow night that you bring him on around the hour mark and you give him half an hour off the bench and say try and impact the game like I'm going to ask you to do off the bench against Sunderland if Maeda starts that one. And you can say that to other players who want to try and get a look in. Then maybe with 10 minutes to go, you can start making some more changes, bring on Charlie Compton, others who might be looking to get a bit more of a look in. So, yeah, that's how I do it. I want it to look more like how we're going to see Sunderland on opening day.

58:11With it being back at Portman Road, that's going to be important. Being back at Portman Road. I know I'm not going to be there, but I think that's going to be exciting for everyone involved.

58:20Mark Heath:absolutely right then boys um as i said earlier stew and rossi will be there tomorrow uh obviously all the coverage on your new koa app which is going tremendously well i know a lot of you have said very nice things about it um still sign up two pounds for two months or why not sign up for a whole year 29 pounds that's hardly anything is it 29 pounds get you but gets you a whole year of rich rich town coverage everything we do all in one place uh and the app is a lovely user experience all our videos all our podcasts all our written stuff all on there clearly I know a lot of you have been struggling if you're our EADT subscribers to move across you get it as part of your EADT subscription package I think what most people are not doing which to be fair the instructions do tell you to do so do read the instructions you have to register first on KOA register an account with the same email address as you used to sign up to EADT once you've done that you should just be able to sign in using your EADT login onto KOA very important to do that um and as i say we're going to be really going all guns blazing uh this season in terms of really stepping up every part of our coverage and obviously that includes the pre-season and will include the boys going out to berlin i'm very jealous about that just for the record but what i did get to do rossi because stewart watson was in france i got to take you boys to oxford uh on a friday night had a little jolly boys out and didn't we and i enjoyed it i'll be honest um i don't get to go out that much anymore you know obviously i'm a a man of a certain age, married for many years.

59:45Mark Heath:I don't get to do these sort of things that often, little road trips with the lads. And I very much enjoyed it. Kassam Stadium's weird, isn't it? Very strange place. No stand, just a car park. We had some interesting experiences in Oxford. You found an excellent pub where we went and had an excellent burger because I was getting a bit snobby about going to Beef Eater for food, which I think the record will show was the right decision in the end. AJ saw a man urinating in a pub garden instead of going to avail himself of the actual facilities what did you make of it Ross, we had a good time didn't we

1:00:19Ross Halls:yeah very good time thanks dad, he got us there nice and safe

1:00:23Mark Heath:yeah I did didn't I took a few long turns but there we go

1:00:26Ross Halls:I'll maybe let AJ sort of talk about that because that was interesting although I can't drive so I can't actually you know comment but no I'm pleased I made the decision because we went to the Kassam Stadium to do a preview video and just sort of look around the surroundings for ready for the the day after and um and i know there was that discussion like okay we want to like we need we need food we need to have a nice point and beefy of course was just outside our hotel sort of like that it's the perfect location but i was like as you say don't fancy eating food there no offense to beef eaters if anybody watching this listen to this go to beef eater when you have to do it you have to do it but if you've got a choice go somewhere else which we had when we're driving um i was able to find us a jolly post boys pub which is a family-run pub in oxford which had um outside dining but also inside dining um the taps maybe though probably weren't as good as they could have been yeah that

1:01:23Mark Heath:was a let down the taps yeah it was all kind of frosty bog water wasn't it and gentleman's ale

1:01:29Ross Halls:that kind of thing not why i want to see that into a pub yeah um but we got a point which i I think it was hell something. I forgot what it's called now, but that, which was solid. It was a smash burger. We all got a smash burger, didn't we? And that was, that was lovely. So, um, yeah, that, that, that sorted us out for the rest of the evening. Uh, of course we'd go back to the beefy, I haven't had a drink. And that's when I said to you boys, I think we should do a promo video, um, which, uh, we did, which has not obviously been aired because, AJ butchered it. Right. Okay. I was going to say, it wasn't just me.

1:02:01I did say, yes, uh, for the new championship season. I will admit that. We also had many takes which involved us messing it up as we were angrily glared at by the people sat around us who did not enjoy us for the eight time in the evening trying to... Someone ruined it, didn't they? The guy...

1:02:20Ross Halls:We had a great take and then this guy... It must have gone for, you know... I think it would have been good if we had him in it. Yeah, to be fair. Have you signed up yet, mate? And I think we just decided to cut it. But then he was on the table that you were saying that was glaring at you. Yeah. He was, and I was a little bit worried as well. Once we'd tried eight takes of this and I'd managed to butcher Premier League and Championship, that we did sound like three blokes just pissed up in the pub trying to ramble at the phone about this promo video. So all things considered, probably good that we didn't do that, but I thoroughly enjoyed annoying all the locals in Oxford, yeah.

1:02:54Mark Heath:Other observations, when we were filming outside the Kassam, there was a group of ute, wasn't there, that were kind of wandering past us. and I thought, uh-oh, they've clocked the AJs from Cambridge. We're going to get a street Quidditch confrontation here. They're going to press you. What are you doing over here? Go back to Cambridge, that kind of thing, obviously, big rivalry. And the other thing is I had my first ever Premier Inn breakfast. I have stayed at Premier Inn's before, but I've never tried their breakfast because I assumed that it would be dreadful. But it was better than I expected.

1:03:26Mark Heath:You know, there was a decent range of things. is you can have several types of coffee for example i could have a flat white i could have a pastry i could eat a sausage of questionable origin i'm not sure about the provenance but i'm not seeing it again um so that that's that's a good sign you know i felt i felt like we we grew together boys is what i'm saying i lowered myself to eat premierly premier in breakfast you showed me new experiences um and we uh we hit the road and had quite a lot of banter in the car we should have live streamed quite a lot of our conversations in the car i think that would have got that would We've got quite a lot of views and listens, although we may have not.

1:04:00As you make the wrong turns of every single...

1:04:03Mark Heath:Well, you could have driven, mate. You could have driven, couldn't you? Yeah, I could have done. You know what? You were a fantastic driver, but I will admit that this was Mark's first time using a telemobile, a telephone, for his navigation. Instead, usually, before he sets off, Mark gets up one of these fold-out maps and plots a little route with a compass. we didn't have that this time and he had to use the phone you're getting very bold old friend for someone who almost has a heart attack driving down the shops well yeah there's that at least I can do it with me sat nav but yes that was good fun making the odd wrong turn and Mark going oh crap because we had to just do a u-turn and like a 180 in the middle of the road but yes the driving was all very good very safe and my favourite part Mark Heath's car air conditioning brilliant and playlist, by the way.

1:04:59Yeah, that was... You know what? I liked all the... I mean, this is Hype Man Heat at his core. The proper hype rap songs that were just exactly what I wanted heading to a pre-season game against Oxford. Had to get hyped, didn't we, boys?

1:05:12Mark Heath:Had to get excited. I was excited. We all needed to get excited. Anyway, friends, I enjoyed it with you. I'm pleased we got to share that time together. I felt we brought us closer and obviously it gave us the opportunity to pump out lots of really good content for KOA. Anything else to mention, boys, before we take our leave? AJ, you're about to head off on holiday. You're going back to the Netherlands. For the 80th time. For the 80th time. But you're going back, and then you're coming back for a day, and then you're going to Berlin, which I find, you know, jet-setting lifestyle that you lead.

1:05:39I know. It's busy. Well, we say jet-setting. We're on the Eurostars. My first Eurostar trip, of course, since Ross and I went to Paris 12 months ago, which was really enjoyable. I like that trip a lot. So, yeah, I'm off from – it's my mum's birthday tomorrow. It's my gran's birthday on Wednesday. Thursday, I'm off to Amsterdam in the Netherlands through till Tuesday. I'm going to see Ajax play because, of course, the one thing that I do to get away from my career in football is to go and watch more football. And then I come back on the Tuesday, the Wednesday, I'm off to see the Odyssey in IMAX as well.

1:06:17So you'll be – did you see it in IMAX or did you see it in the – there's not very many IMAXs two in Cambridgeshire

1:06:23Mark Heath:oh you've got two in Cambridge in Cambridgeshire one of them's in Peterborough we don't talk about that yeah there's one my local cinema does have a couple of IMAX screens so I'm going to go see it in IMAX next Wednesday and then Thursday with Ross and Stu at Stansted to jet off to Berlin yeah I am jealous about that I'd love to go to Berlin and now I just want more of the tour stuff give me something to look forward to in my otherwise rather dull life. Rossi, you've got a bit of time off coming up as well, but obviously you're off to Portman Road tomorrow. How does it feel being back at games, taking pictures, snappy snaps, recording game days?

1:07:00Mark Heath:By the way, if you haven't watched it yet, the game day from the weekend, an excellent watch. Some really interesting characters on there, Ross. I thought you gave some really good insight as well. Plus there's a behind the scenes bit as well from our little jolly boys trip to Oxford and Wickham. but yeah have you got anything you want to mention before we take our leave Rossi

1:07:19Ross Halls:just a shout out to the fans who did both games because I'm sure that was good fun I do feel sorry for the fans who just went to Oxford yeah that's very much the short straw wasn't it yeah I know Dazza who's on game day and of course Coway Posse member he just went to Oxford and yeah he did say though he did go out in Oxford just to explore that that city so at least he got a little bit of his day back. But yeah, this is just an appeal to it's just town. Do not do that again, please. Because even though it wasn't as bad as it could have been and not as bad as last time out, it's such a stupid idea to play one game.

1:07:57Ross Halls:If it was... Someone mentioned this, actually. If it was a doubleheader where it's like Saturday, Sunday, maybe, or a doubleheader at Portman Road where it's just two games at Portman Road with two teams, then happy days. but yes hopefully this last time i have to do it but if we have to do it again i'm sure we'll be there to cover it all as always caraway and all that jazz yeah i i feel like that won't happen

1:08:17Mark Heath:again i think that was a kieran mckenna thing wasn't it so um hopefully we won't have won't have that kind of same replication again although i'd be quite happy to to go on another road trip with you boys just putting out there for the record um i enjoyed it right then friends uh we've done almost 70 minutes uh so hopefully you've enjoyed this podcast today just a reminder of course about koa as i said two pound for two months opening off for 29 pound for a whole year can't say further than that there's links all over our social media or you can just go onto the kings of anglia website and sign up there uh and also just remind obviously to support our sponsors use the code koa10 at molecular-uk.com for 10 % off all the excellent car cleaning products i'd like to say boys i'm not putting you on the spot here i think you're both impressed with just how clean my car was as well as the aircon weren't you boys you both remarked on it It smelled fresh, looked clean.

1:09:02Mark Heath:It did. It was very good. I was very concerned that that was all going to go horribly wrong when you parked in the car park just by the blank stand at the Casa and that maybe one wrong header from a striker would have led to a cracked windshield. But yes, it was okay, thankfully. And yes, your car is in lovely condition, thanks to Molecular. Absolutely. Friends, also obviously just a reminder to leave the fire story on iTunes, if you could, just help to lift us visibility-wise in the charts and follow us across all social media's Kings of Anger on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and me, Alex and Ross are all on Blue Sky individually because we're young and cool.

1:09:41Mark Heath:Right then, friends. Ipswich Town played two games of the weekend. They were enjoyable. There was lots to talk about. They're about to make the seventh signing of the summer, which is exciting as well. And they're also about to play League Un opposition at Portman Road tomorrow night, which again is all very exciting. Obviously, follow it all with us. the boys will be there there'll be a live vlog again tomorrow night I'm live vlogging tomorrow night again so join me for that on the KOA website and app and we'll be back later on this week to talk to you all over again and break it down so have a splendid rest of your Monday and we'll talk to you next time

1:10:33Thank you.

1:11:04Thank you.

1:11:34Thank you.