Disco Stu

Looking forward to ABK joining the fray. Surely a matter of time.

Funny how predictable that was.

When we break the press we just pass it straight back putting our defenders under pressure. Playing into Bournemouth's hands.

Some high risk low reward football there 🤦‍♂️

Probably TV money and the £65m for Solanke.

Potter would be great but he reportedly turned down Ajax last summer because they couldn't agree terms. I doubt we'll be matching what Ajax were. We'll go cheapo option again. Corberan or Eustace don't exactly inspire confidence but they'll be the most likely. I'd prefer Danny Rohl if we went down that route but apparently he has a £5m sell-out clause which would probably put us off.

Ipswich have goals in them. Much better coached team than ours.

Yeah I think Ipswich will rue their missed chances in the first half. I think 1-3 as well although if it goes late at 1-2 I wouldn't rule out another late Ipswich goal.

I've got a feeling this won't finish 1-2. Next goal will be crucial. Martinez kept Villa in the lead that half. Quality goalkeeper.

Ipswich back on the ascenancy. They're so direct when they attack. Looking very dangerous.

Hopefully Villa can hold on now. Ipswich have looked good but for some defensive naivety.

good goal

Shocking clearance from Ipswich. Took the unnecessary risk of hitting the ball across his box instead of out for a throw. Gifted it straight to a Villa player.

Ipswich with an early goal against Villa. Delap.

It's made football much less entertaining.

Looking like another poor weekend of results.

I don't like the first part of that statement.

I've slept on It and I still feel like punching the wall 😂 It felt like that goal changed the trajectory of our season. All the players looked crushed.

It's just a silly attempt to invalidate the opinion of others. I don't have any sense of superiority for having a season ticket. If anything, I'm the sucker.

Not starting Ugochukwu is a mistake.

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere...

The way I see it, Russell Martin is a "philosophy" manager. Kieran McKenna is a "pragmatism" manager. One is about producing football in ones own image and the other is about trying to get the best out of what's at your disposal even if it means straying from your ideals. That's not to say Russell is incapable of showing any pragmatism or McKenna doesn't have his own ideals. All the best managers are a hybrid of the two as you need an element of identity in order for everyone in the team to know their roles. That being said, I would put Russell at the extreme end of the philosophy spectrum. My issue isn't even about having more or less possession. Too often, we've looked like a team holding possession for possessions sake without showing enough attacking intent or moving the ball at any tempo to stretch play. We dominate possession whilst conceding more shots so it doesn't seem to help our attacking play or our defensive play. Our opponents this season have been noticeably faster and more direct on the ball compared to us. Forest being a great example of having 35% possession but having 23 shots to our 5 showing possession really doesn't matter at least in isolation. In fact, we've often looked better when we have deviated from our possession obsessed style and I wish Russell would do it more often.

That's what they've identified as the the best chance to grind out results against opponents so far this season sure. They have had an especially tough set of opening fixtures. That said, it's not always how they set up last season. They played that way to get results against the likes of us and Leicester, but they averaged 53% possession last season which is more than the likes of Norwich, West Brom and Middlesbrough suggesting they tried to dictate the game when they could but were equally happy to sit in on the counter when necessary. Ipswich games such as Middlesbrough, Norwich and even Leeds are good examples where they had 60% possession and nearly double the shots on goal. That pragmatism from McKenna is a huge factor in how they earned double promotion.

First couple of minutes about Russell Martin for anyone interested. Say what you like about Alex Crook but I think he's right about one thing. Ipswich will change the way they play dependant on the opponent to grind out results. We will play Russell's way regardless of whether it gets results.

Agreed. Likewise, it's equally unhelpful to speculate about ABK's character when we don't know all the facts. The only thing we do know is he's got the talent. Without knowing any more, the desired scenario should be that he is genuinely determined to help us this season and integrate himself back into the team. Let's hope that is the case and he earns an opportunity.