Ipswich Town

Mid-season report: Ipswich Town

By Pascal Lemesre, Football League Editor | 03 January 2012

It's been an up-and-down start for Paul Jewell in his first full campaign in charge of Ipswich Town. Sports Mole examines the Tractor Boys' unpredictable season to date.

Topsy-turvy. That would the adjective of choice to describe Ipswich Town's season to date.

Paul Jewell's men have experienced highs and lows perhaps like no other team in the Football League and will be looking to add consistency in the New Year.

Here, Sports Mole dissects the Tractor Boys' volatile form in the second half of 2011.

August

The Championship season began strongly with the Blues' fresh lineup of new signings topping the table after the first game following a 3-0 triumph at Bristol City.

This was however followed by an upset in the Carling Cup when Northampton Town visited and came out on top 2-1.

The next three games were losses and after losing by one to Hull the men from Suffolk suffered two hammerings. First Southampton left Portman Road with a 5-2 victory before Town travelled to Peterborough and were taken apart 7-1 in front of the TV cameras.

The month ended on a brighter note with a win at home to Leeds United.

September

Following a 2-0 loss at Blackpool, Ipswich went on their best run of the season. First, they made up for their abysmal TV performance by brushing aside Coventry on the box.

Next they faced two tough trips to lofty Middlesbrough and West Ham but came away with four points following a goalless draw at the Riverside and a late 1-0 win at Upton Park thanks to former Hammer Lee Bowyer.

October

Their form continued in October as Michael Chopra scored his second brace for the club in a win over Brighton before a gutsy draw at Cardiff and win over Portsmouth put the Blues within a point of second.

Then came the slide. In spite of challenging for an automatic promotion spot Ipswich would go on to lose seven in a row, ending October with defeats at the hands of Crystal Palace and Millwall.

November

November was by far the worst month of the season for Jewell, with three consecutive 3-2 failures before a 4-0 drubbing at Burnley to end the penultimate month of the year.

The first 2-3 was routine enough to bottom-of-the-table Doncaster but the next two were the sort of games to make fans seriously disgruntled.

In both games with Nottingham Forest and Reading the Tractor Boys led 2-1 heading into the dying moments but conceded two in the final six minutes at the City Ground and two after the 90-minute mark against Reading.

December

Another defeat at Watford began December, as Ipswich had gone from a point off second to a relegation battle in no time. The losing streak was finally ended next time out in a remarkable game at Barnsley.

The in-form hosts had taken a 2-0 lead into the break before five goals came in just over 20 minutes for the Blues with top scorer Keith Andrews netting two as Ipswich ran out 5-3 winners.

Blackburn loanee Andrews was at it again in the next, heading just over the line to clinch three points over Derby before the year ended with a draw at Leicester and defeat to flying Reading.

The squad available to Jewell is evidently a strong and particularly experienced one with the likes of Chopra, Bowyer, Jimmy Bullard and Grant Leadbitter but they must maintain some uniformity if they are to cement their place in the division.

Holding on to Andrews will be key but amid interest from parent club Blackburn and Premier League clubs this seems somewhat unlikely.

Town have finished mid table for the past six seasons and despite some encouraging performances against some of the better teams in the division they again seemed destined for mediocrity in 2012.