Summer 2010 – From Newmarket to the Netherlands

Whilst it has so far been a relatively quiet summer off the pitch for Ipswich, the return to pre-season action has given us a chance to see what the current squad is capable of on the pitch. Here’s a roundup of Town’s pre-season friendly campaign so far:

The first warm up game of the summer saw the Blues travel to Newmarket Town of the Eastern Counties League. Though a comfortable Ipswich victory would have been no less than expected against such inferior opposition, Newmarket Town 1-9 Ipswich was a refreshingly impressive scoreline that might have surprised many fans, not least because it proved that the team were actually capable of scoring plenty of goals! Perhaps the most remarkable aspect about the result however was the list of goalscorers; 8 of the 9 Ipswich goals were scored by players who had recently been placed on the transfer list by Roy Keane, with Pablo Counago netting a hat-trick inside 10 minutes, Owen Garvan weighing in with a brace and Colin Healy, Lee Martin and Alan Quinn finding the net to add to a strike from Grant Leadbitter. Some of Keane’s critics would no doubt have used the opportunity to raise further scepticism over the manager’s judgement, although these were probably the same people who had been calling for him to clear out such ‘deadwood’…

Town’s next match should have involved a trip down the road to Roots Hall, but with Southend United undergoing significant changes under new boss Paul Sturrock and finding themselves unable to field a team (unless we were willing to play 9-a-side!), the Town bus headed to Cambridgeshire to face Blue Square Premier side Histon instead. The match at the Glassworld Stadium was a similar goalfest, finishing Histon 0-6 Ipswich. Facing a potential career-making season ahead of him, Connor Wickham picked up his first two goals of the summer, while another surprisingly good performance from Martin saw the ex-Manchester United man add to his tally along with Gareth McAuley, David Norris and Jon Stead (who was also placed on the transfer list!)

Wins for the reserves (including Kevin Lisbie) followed – Hadleigh United 1-3 Ipswich and Great Yarmouth 1-4 Ipswich – before the regular first team players travelled to Holland for a special tribute to Sir Bobby Robson against another of his adoring clubs, PSV Eindhoven. Town’s pre-season record overseas has rarely been much to shout about in recent years and with the hosts having finished 3rd in the Dutch top flight last season, this was always likely to prove a stern challenge after the warm-up games against non-league opposition. Sure enough, we were fortunate that the scoreline was only PSV Eindhoven 1-0 Ipswich having been outclassed throughout the first half, but a close-range strike from Danny Koevermans was enough to consign Town to their first loss of the campaign. Nonetheless, Roy Keane will have considered it good practice against a team that is more accustomed to playing Champions League opposition than clubs from England’s second tier.

Despite the disappointment of defeat in Holland, Ipswich’s pre-season performances have seemed reasonably positive up to this point. Town will take sides to Leiston and Bury Town over the next week, followed by West Ham United at Portman Road on the final Saturday of the close season. The preparation programme concludes with another home tie against a Spurs XI which takes place on the Tuesday evening four days before the start of the Championship season. Though there will still be question marks at this stage over whether Roy Keane’s side have what it takes against quality teams given the loss to the only professional team faced thus far, there is still plenty of time for the players to build their confidence as well as time for any new signings to bed in – including Conor Hourihane, who has yet to make his first appearance in blue and white. If Town are able to pick up some more confidence-boosting victories in that time – or at the very least some encouraging displays – then we can only hope that the good form continues once points are at stake in two weeks’ time.

Have your say on Ipswich’s pre-season campaign so far by signing up to Vital Football and posting your comments, or by visiting the club forums. You can also follow the rest of the build-up to the new season with reviews of every upcoming friendly match and all the latest news here at Vital Ipswich.