The Tractor Boys

[CroJack]

The official Ipswich Town nickname is The Blues, although they are commonly called the Town and occasionally the Superblues, inspired by the Robson era when the team were winning major trophies both at home and abroad. There does not appear to be a favourite nickname with the club’s fans with both the Town and the Blues being interchangeable. However a new popular nickname has appeared over recent years; “The Tractor Boys”, a name which has been adopted by many of the fans themselves, possibly as a reaction to the rather banal alternatives of “Town” or “Blues”. "The Tractor Boys" nickname was coined during the club's brief period in the Premiership (2000–01 and 2001–02) when the team regularly competed against more fashionable clubs. The nickname is an example of self-deprecating humour referring to Ipswich's agricultural heritage. The origins of the nickname are not certain, but the first generally accepted use of the nickname was created whilst playing at Leeds United in 2000–2001: Ipswich were winning the game 2–1 and the Leeds fans started chanting, 'We're being beaten by a bunch of tractor drivers.' Barracking by supporters of more established Premiership clubs during Town's spell in the Premiership lent the ironic chant '1–0 to the Tractor Boys' increased potency and publicity, and the nickname is commonly used by the media.

Part I

Ownership

Marcus Evans, age 55,



is an English businessman, owner of the Marcus Evans Group who he founded in 1983. MEG employs over 3000 staff and has around 56 offices globally. The group produces high end and sector focussed business events, summits and conferences in a number of business sectors. In 2004, as a part of Marcus Evans Group, he set up Marcus Evans Television with ex BBC Producer Mark Wilkin. The TV division created a range of "The World of ...." series. The magazine programme The World of Football enjoyed the most success and was broadcast in the UK by Sky and BBC and was licensed across most major global territories. In 2012 World Productions became part of Marcus Evans Entertainment. World Productions have been making television drama for the last 20 years where they have produced critically acclaimed dramas.

When Marcus Evans took over Ipswich Town F.C. in 2007, the club was £32m in debt. Under Evan’s ownership, this figure has more than doubled (and looks set to increase further in the next accounts). Ipswich Town pays Marcus Evans around 5.4% interest on the debt. Club accounts show that £67m debt is owed to Evans and he has not converted any of it to equity.

This is the only interview with him where he discusses the past and future of Ipswich Town F.C. :

Part II

Manager

Paul Hurst, age 44,



arrived at Portman Road having guided Shrewsbury from relegation favourites at the start of the 2017/18 season to
their highest League position in 27 years.

Paul achieved promotion as a manager at Ilkeston Town and Boston in non-League, before guiding Grimsby
back into the Football League after a six year absence in 2016.

It was his exploits at Shrewsbury that really caught the eye though. Having taken over in October 2016 with the club bottom of League One, he kept them up and a year later led them to the Play-Off final before losing out to Rotherham in extra-time at Wembley.

Part III

Transfer activities in summer 2018




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As we can see, they have lost some of their best players from last season: Martyn Waghorn (top scorer, 16 goals and 11 assists), Joe Garner (10 goals, 2 assists), Bersant Celina (7 goals), David McGoldrick (6 goals, 4 assists) and Cameron Carter-Vickers (sixth-best rated player). Martyn Waghorn (1,5 key-passes per game) and Bersant Celina (1,3 key-passes per game were their most creative players. They have lost goals and they have lost creativity.

Replacements they have signed are definitely not of the same quality, and their league position reflects their transfer activities in summer 2018.

 

[CroJack]

Part IV

Style of play

Paul Hurst has experimented with many different formations this season, but the one he used most is 4-2-3-1 and we can expect they use the same formation against us.







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Ipswich are the only club in the Championship that hasn't won a single game yet. They have 6 draws and 5 losses. Out of 6 games played at home turf, they drew 5 of them and lost only one against Middlesbrough.

Whilst they have a relatively high average % of possession (49,6 %), they are terrible passers. Their average passing accuracy is only 64,8 %. Low % of passing accuracy is probably the result of many long balls they play, but still, this low passing accuracy is pretty bad.

They tackle as much as we do, though they foul much more than we do.

They average 10,5 shots per game (a little bit better than Swansea), 2,7 shots on target per game (Swansea average 3,5), they have scored 8 goals and conceded double as many. Half of their goals are scored from open play and another half from set-pieces. They play 82 long balls per game which is pretty high compared to Swansea's 61. We can expect a lot of hoofing. They are actually second in The Championship for most long balls per game.

Here is what we can expect from Ipswich:

Long balls, hoofing, crosses, tackling and fouling, bad defending, individual errors and low passing accuracy. They will be dangerous from set-pieces.

​

 

[CroJack]

Part V

Goals

 

[CroJack]

Goals II

 

[Jackflash]

We need all the points to keep us in touch, and a very good feeling to take them all 3-1

 

[Behindthegoal]

It might still come down to the refs attitude to fouls.

 

[ivoralljack]

Just hope we're done with the sequence of good, bad, good etc. If we replicate the form we showed against Wigan we should win this easing up.

 

[The Blobster]

I'm not so cocksure , the draws they've had have been against the better teams in the division. Their losses have been to weaker teams , a bit like the swans form over the past few seasons !

 

[CroJack]

I'm not so cocksure , the draws they've had have been against the better teams in the division. Their losses have been to weaker teams , a bit like the swans form over the past few seasons !

Draws at home, losses away .

 

[ivoralljack]

I'm not so cocksure , the draws they've had have been against the better teams in the division. Their losses have been to weaker teams , a bit like the swans form over the past few seasons !

That's what I mean. So long as they don't think it's time to give a bad performance after two good displays against QPR and Wigan, we should win this.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Gwion Edwards is the winger that almost made is debut under Laudrup ... I think. He was then considered quite a prospect.

 

[CroJack]

It might still come down to the refs attitude to fouls.

I am sure the crowd at the Liberty is going to put some pressure on the refs. 13 yellow and 3 red cards in 11 games shows that the refs punish them.

 

[CroJack]

He is

Gwion Edwards is the winger that almost made is debut under Laudrup ... I think. He was then considered quite a prospect.

He is their third-best rated player.

Their centre-backs Nsiala and Chambers are ok, midfielder Trevor Chalobah (on loan from Chelsea) is good, left-back Jonas Knudsen is a good player, and Edwards who plays on the right flank is good. The rest are average Championship players.

 

[ivoralljack]

Gwion Edwards is the winger that almost made is debut under Laudrup ... I think. He was then considered quite a prospect.

I read that was under Rodgers. He was about to be subbed on late against Liverpool but when the ball went out of play, Pool took the throw quickly which stopped him coming on and he never got another chance. Glad to see that the lad is making a career for himself and hope that he does well..... after today. Maybe one day he'll come back to us.

 

[CroJack]

Maybe one day he'll come back to us.

 

[ivoralljack]

Seems to be a contradiction there. His dribbling is VERY STRONG which suggests that he does it successfully by keeping the ball. Yet his holding on to the ball is rated as VERY WEAK, which suggests that he loses it a lot. If he can't hold the ball, can't pass it (VERY WEAK) or cross it (WEAK), he doesn't seem to have much going for him up front.

In contrast, his defensive contribution is rated as VERY STRONG, he likes to play long balls, likes to tackle and commits fouls often, perhaps he's better suited as a defensive player. Who knows?

 

[Borini]

Is he any good at heading?


Gets coat and leaves!

 

[ivoralljack]

According to CJ's post he's rated as VERY WEAK!! Too good for us even so it seems,

 

[CroJack]

Their centre-backs Nsiala and Chambers are ok, midfielder Trevor Chalobah (on loan from Chelsea) is good, left-back Jonas Knudsen is a good player, and Edwards who plays on the right flank is good

According to my post, which you guys obviously haven't read, Gwion Edwards is a good player.

Whoscored collects data from Opta and what Edwards has shown this season is what they use to describe his characteristics as a player. And he IS a weak passer. Only 42% pass success today.

He was MoM today because we were really poor defensively, not because he is an extraordinary player. He had 42% passing accuracy, 1 shot (a header which he scored from), 2 successful dribbles, 1 aerial won and 4 successful tackles today.

Actually, James performance was better: 82% pass success, 1 shot, 4 successful dribbles, 2 aerials won and 3 successful tackles. Had James scored and Edwards not, we wouldn't be talking about Edwards and how stupid Whoscored data are.

We totally outplayed The Tractor Boys today, and only a lack of concentration at the back and poor finishing up front was the reason we didn't beat them 5 or 6 : 0.