Hello Paul Jewell - Welcome to 2012!

What a difference a few weeks makes in football….6 weeks back Jewell was a Dead Man Walking and now he seems to have won round a number of the nay-sayers. However I could re-phrase the first part of that sentence to say 'What a difference a formation makes in football. Paul Jewell has embraced the in vogue formation of 4231 since the Blackpool game and the performances and results have improved drastically - it is clear that this formation was forced on Jewell by the personnel but he has been brave enough to keep it, and leave the high wage earners on the bench, so credit where it is due.

The problem I always felt with Jewell is that he was 'stuck in the past' with regards to football tactics, in the last 10 years, the playing area has grown dramatically in the game of football….not literally of course. With the rule changes with regards to offside, it is no longer possible to play a high line and a compact game, think back to Arrigo Sacchi's Milan where the forwards positioned themselves around 35 yards ahead of defenders at all times (if you're old enough to remember/sad enough to watch tactics on YouTube!). This now means that the distance between defenders and attacks is to vast to line 4 men across it, or to have a diamond where 2 players are effectively in the middle of where play happens and isolated. If you were to try and note down what formation a team is playing, rather than the traditional 442 or 433 - there almost needs to be a 4th 'line of play' - 4231 or 4141. Gone are the days of a midfielder that is good going forward and solid defenisviely…the heart and lungs man, the box to box midfielder, etc. Football positions can now almost be split into the following 4 categories:

• Defenders
• Defensive midfielders (ball winners, holding players, deep lying ball players - think Andrea Pirlo)
• Attacking midfielders (Wingers playing on natural side, wingers who cut in, number 10's - those who play in the hole and create things)
• Strikers

Any players who were traditionally an up and down midfielder need to really reinvent themselves and this is why I believe the inclusion of Bowyer and Leadbitter led to poor performances for the team earlier in the season, they neither get forward enough or back enough so are by-passed. I think Leadbitter can play a role similar to what Drury has been doing for our current team so I wouldn't write him off yet - he is young enough and a good enough footballer to adapt.

I hope Jewell sees this throughout the rest of the season and his recruitment is more structured for next season. Last year there was a scattergun approach and in my view we recruited people who were 'good players' without any thought given to how they will fit into a system - and in reality, what system and style of play we would look to play throughout the season. If Jewell makes the same mistakes this summer with regards to buying players who don't fit into our current system then the sack will be too good for him! Obviously we do need to be flexible but they still need to be 2012 footballers so no central midfielders who can't play in the positions stated above…..

Brighton 3-0 Ipswich

I will try and tactically review every game I go to between now and the end of the season, apologies for being a bit slack but I kind of lost interest in it when we were on a bad run making same mistakes week in, week out - and have been busy at work since the run turned round. Also apologies that we have to start with a defeat since the good run!

First halfWe lined up in the same shape we have since the Blackpool game, the energetic central 3 of Drury, Hyam and Martin where matched by Brighton, who lined up in an effective 4303 - they played an exceptionally high front 3 and this caused us problems from almost the first minute.

The play was spread wide on a number of occassions and Will Buckley on the right wing, gave Cresswell a torrid time. Lee Martin couldn't get on the ball and this was allowing their midfielders to pass from deep to the sideline hugging Buckley and Cresswell's lack of height was exposed, and the third time this happened we were punished and went 1-0 down. If I were in charge I would have slightly changed the formation to counter Brighton's threat, which was all coming from deep with balls for their pacey front 3, by pushing Drury up and dropping Martin slightly so that more pressure was put in the ball in their defensive third to cut the supply chain off at source.

I think Hyam could have coped as a sole holding midfielder as they didn't producr much threat from their attacking midfield positions. We dominated possession for most of the half, but by them having a back 4 with 3 sitting fairly deep in front of them space was limited and we struggled to create anything of note other than a couple of long-ish range shots which the keeper saved. What also didn't help us trying to get on top of Brighton wa that Luke Hyam had been booked so he wasn't able to be his normal combative self, he was also being dragged forward by the deeper lying Brighton 3 and this left us a bit out of shape for parts of the game.

Second halfWe started the second half in the ascendancy and once again had a great deal of possession in threatening areas but couldn't break through. We didn't move the ball quickly enough and allowed them to get back into their shape and made it difficult to break down. Some of the movement, especially down the left hand side was a bit laboured and this was fairly easy to defend against and we struggled to create. Luke Hyam was replaced by Grant Leadbitter to add a bit more quality on the ball and before he had a chance to get into the game a dreadful kick by Lee-Barrett was punished by Barnes to effectively kill the game.

After this, with Leadbitter's greater quality on the ball, and a reticence from Brighton to attack, we looked a little bit more threatening - however the ball didn't fall for us at any point in the box and it was really just one of those days. Scotland replaced Murphy and joined Chopra up front for the last 20 minutes but even he struggled to hold the ball up on what must have been a tricky pitch to play on.

The game petered out over the last 7 or 8 minutes and when a 3rd Brighton goal was scored 3 minutes from time, I made a swift exit to get the train.

PositivesWe didn't deserve to lose 3-0, and bossed possession against a good Championship side away from home. I think JE-T looked threatening on the ball and the team worked hard all game and had good energy.

NegativesThere wasn't a huge goal threat and we were caught out the same way 3 times before a goal was conceded down our left. Delaney needs to help Cresswell through the games and I have my doubts about him defensively away at good sides (not a criticism more an action point to improve on). Some of the movement by Murphy and Chopra was a bit sluggish and they may be feeling effect of playing a lot of games recently. Hyam committed a rash challenge, which on another day could have been a red, and this yellow card affected his performance as couldn't harry and harrass as much as usual - again, he's young and will learn and has been a revelation, so not a criticism.

Up Next - Bristol City (h)I went to the return fixture and they were a very poor side, I hope Jewell sticks with the succesful team from the winning run, with the possible exception of Tommy Smith. I rate Tommy and think he should be given a new contract, but after following his arduous journey on Twitter to Auckland (Ipswich-Heathrow-Bangkok-Sydney-Auckland), with a return flight this week he will be mentally and physically drained and will be an important player in the run in so we shouldn't risk injury.

Prediction - a comfortable 3-1 victory.

Diamonds aren't forever?

Sorry for lack of recent blogs, I felt like I didn't know what I was talking about when the diamond was working so well at Boro and West Ham and against an out of form Brighton but it seems to have gone the way I predicted against Coventry - so unfortunately, as it gives me no pleasure to see Town lose, we are seriously struggling and dropping down the table like a lead weight.


The diamond is a dated formation and far too easy to play against. The only width it gives is through full backs, and if the opposition play high wingers, as Portsmouth, Palace, Millwall and now Doncaster have - we will always struggle.


The mistakes that happen in the formation are not generally down to individual mistakes but a complete lack of shape. When one of the 4 central midfielders gives the ball away, it is more likely that it happens because there isn't an easy out ball to play, i.e. a winger in space, and it is too congested and they can't pass the ball as well as Xavi or Iniesta in tight spaces....!


My main criticism of Jewell is that he seems too arrogant to change this shape because we had a few good results previously with it, and when he makes changes in the game it is generally too late. Against Southampton, Millwall and again yesterday, he has waited for us to go 2-0 down before making a change - we are then left with a mountain to climb. It was clear yesterday from the fact that we hadn't been in their half in first 10 minutes that the shape wasn't working, but yet he persisted until 2 goals went in.


Another major criticism of Jewell is that when he realises the formation isn't working and changes it, he still doesn't go through with it fully. Last week at Millwall, Leadbitter was shifted to left midfield, then back across to right midfield - square pegs, round roles. Yesterday Leadbitter was again shifted out to the right hand side and doesn't know how to play this role as it isn't natural to him - so drifts inside and we are still left with no width. If Jewell is changing to 442 he has to have the conviction to do it properly and not half-heartedly, as it does no one any favours.


Jewell needs to take some responsibility and stop blaming individual errors and take a long, hard look in the mirror. The defence are hopelessly exposed, Jimmy Bullard is hardly a Makelele sitting in front of them - and to claim the goals are happening due to their individual errors is grossly unfair - you attack, and more importantly defend as a team - whereas we seem to do it as a group of individuals.


We concede far too many goals, and from next match I would like to see us work from the back forwards. A back 4 with 2 midfielders sitting in front of them, Keith Andrews does this job for Ireland and I think Leadbitter should be able to act as the second player. This should give us a solid base and make us difficult to break down, conceding goals is our main problem at the moment and needs to be solved before we can even think of anything else.


I would then personally start with a front 3 of Chopra as the central prong, and 2 of either Martin, Carson or JE-T - most probably the former 2 as they are more willing to work hard and track their full backs and drop in as wide midfielders when we don't have the ball.


This leaves one further player, at home I would be tempted to play JE-T as a second striker/trequartista, trying to pick out balls to the front 3 - but away from home I would play Jimmy Bullard. He has been poor in recent weeks and the fact him being caught in possession seems to have become a habit means that he should be played in a position where when he is getting caught it doesn't lead to a direct line to our goal.


The diamond is a dated formation, and formations evolve over time - 15 years ago 352 was the in vogue formation, but teams then started playing only 1 genuine striker so that there were 2 spare defenders and the team with 1 up had an extra man in a more important area of the pitch. There is a reason why no-one plays the diamond any more - and the last 3 (arguably 4) games have shown how better players in a worse system will lose to worse individuals in a good system.


Paul Jewell, in the minute chance that you read this here is my message to you.......'You have assembled a good squad, are a good man manager and seem a good bloke and want to be in it for the long term - but I implore you to try and work on a shape that is from 2011 and not 1996 in the international break!'


COYB!

Ipswich 3-0 Coventry

Better going forward, same problems at the back. Don't let the scoreline flatter you on this game, had Coventry taken a couple of their chances this could have been a very different game. There were a number of positives in this game, mainly the amount of chances we were able to create and the fact that we took a few of them, but I didn't leave the game thinking this was a vintage performance. Apologies for negativeity of this blog, I just am concerned about how bad Coventry were!


First half
We again lined up with 4 central midfielders, this time the diamond was more evident than in previous weeks, with Bullard at the base, Bowyer on the left, Andrews on the right and Leadbitter at the top. We played 2 out and out strikers for the first time since Southampton with Scotland deservedly starting alongside Chopra.


Danny Collins and Ibrahima Sonko where the centre backs with Cresswell and Edwards at full back.

We relied totally on our full backs for width, and this led to 2 early goals, with Cresswell crossing for an own goal from Cranie in the 4th minute and a cross from Edwards eventually finding it's way to Andrews who exchanged passes with Chopra before slamming home in the 13th minute.

Our two full backs remained valuable outlets all through the half and were basically playing as wing backs. Some intricate passing between the midfield 4, who lest we forget are all quality players at this level, led to frequent chances being created and Coventry really were on the back foot. I think the main reason for this is just that we played similar systems but we just had better players.

The few times that they did get the ball out wide, they easily got crosses in the box as Cresswell and Edwards were left with a 1v2 situation. Against a team with full backs with more crossing ability, or a good player in the air I think we would have struggled.

In the first half, Sonko got injured - this left us again in the situation where we ended up with 2 left footed/sided centre halves, I'm not sure if this led to the horrendous marking at corners that happened twice in succession but Cranie and McDonald both had free headers before half time and we should have been punished for this.

Second half

At the start of the second half McDonald again should have punished us with a free header tha he outrageously headed into the ground and over. This again looked like poor marking.

We carried on playing the way we had in the first half, with Leadbitter having a large amount of influence on the game and relishing receiving the ball between the lines and playing telling passes that led to chances being created. Our formation with the ball looked something like the below:

 

This formation shows a lot of players in attacking positions, which is good at home - to an extent. It allows us to bombard Coventry and showing the desire we did allowed us to create chances when going forward. My only concern is how open we are at the back. A better side than Coventry would have put at lest one winger in place which would either have pinned back a full back or acted as a dangerous out ball for them and dragged a centre back over leaving space to exploit through the middle.

Fortunately Coventry were poor and Scotland showed pace and ability to score a third afer swapping passes with Chopra, however as the game wore on we still had to clear a chance of the line and it must be a huge concern that a side as poor as Coventry (lowest scorers in division) managed to create 4 or 5 clear cut chances.

The game petered out into a 3-0 win, and while 3 points was deserved I think the game could easily have gone another way had Coventry taken one of their chances at 2-0 as it could have panicked us.

Positives

Goals, chances and a bit of excitement, that I have been crying out for. Over the pitch there were a few impressive performances - Cresswell looks a great signing, Collins is a class act at this level, Andrews has drive that brings the team on with him, Bullard looks fitter, Leadbitter had his best game for a long time in a town shirt and Chopra and Scotland looked very sharp - although the former could do with a goal.

Negatives

We still look shaky at the back, this will be worsened if one of Sonko or Ingimarsson doesn't make it back for Saturday's game. If Jewell is going to persist with this formation then one of the midfielders needs to take more defensive responsibilities. Barcelona rely on their full backs for width, but Sergio busquets drops in as a 3rd CB when they attack so they basically go from a back 4 without the ball to a back 3 with it. On a more similar level, last year our friends from up the road used Crofts as a very deep lying midfielder when their full backs marauded forward. Against a good side we can't afford to give up as many chances as we did, and allow as much room for a counter attack - our defending of set pieces needs to improve also.

Up next

Middlesborough (a) - top of the table away from home and a game that will be very difficult. Boro's home form hasn't been as good as their away form but we know what to expect from a Mowbray side - passing, passing, passing and attacking play. I think if we play the same way we did v Coventry there is a risk our full backs will be pinned back and this could lead to a Southampton style game. No out ball for our midfielders, strikers isolated and no width.

It will be interesting to see if Lee Martin comes back into the team after his suspension but my hunch is that Jewell will stick to nearly the same team. The slight change in formation i would make is that Keith Andrews would sit, in the same way he does for Ireland and can act as a 3rd CB when we look to go forward and other support to our back 4. It will be a shame to lose his attacking abilit, but he can rekindle the role Matty Holland first played when joining from Bournemouth, i.e. 3CB's with wing backs when we don't have the ball, but a 4-Diamond-2 when we do have the ball.

Prediction - can't make this until I see the team and they system, if same as Coventry then unfortunately I predict a loss.

Blackpool 2 - 0 Ipswich Town

After taking advantage of the free coach to Blackpool I was looking forward to a tough game against a side with recent Premiership experience. We had also added Danny Collins to our squad to shore up our leaking back line. Blackpool play a fluent brand of football and Paul Jewell had stated in his pre match press conferences that he wished for us to 'quieten' the crowd in the first half and slowly get on top.

First half
Again when I saw the team I was disappointed with the line up picked by Paul Jewell, he had started 4 central midfielders with Bullard, Bowyer, Leadbitter and Andrews playing, this had proven unsuccessful against both Southampton and Leeds and led to changes in formation during the first half which resulted in us looking more fluid.

This formation was even stranger, Edwards, was almost playing as a wing back of a back 4, Leadbitter was a nominal right midfielder, Murphy was playing pinned to the left hand touchline and Andrews was in an advanced role. Overall the formation was nearly a very good 433 which worked so well vs Bristol City, but was let down by the personnel, square pegs in round holes sums it up.

Leadbitter was the right winger, but as he is a natural central midfield player tended to drift inside very often. This meant Edwards overlapped and we actually had a bit of success down this right hand side with Edwards in support. However, with Edwards bombing forward at every opportunity, there was a big space that Brett Ormerod lingered in and almost made us pay with a good chance in the first half.

Murphy played very wide and this left Chopra isolated and there were still too many long balls sent in Chopra's direction which Evatt and Cathcart dealt with easily. Andrews did his best to support but isn't creative enough to make things happen in the hole, he also committed a few needless fouls which broke the game down.

However, that all said it was a very even first half with few clear cut chances for either team and 0-0 was a fair score at half time.

Second half

As has been the habit in recent weeks, sloppy defending allowed Blackpool to go in front. They ran the ball through Town's left hand side after a couple of half hearted tackles from Murphy and then the ball fell to Billy Clarke in the box who scuffed his shot, fortunately straight to Taylor-Fletcher who couldn't miss.

This goal really seemed to knock the stuffing out of Ipswich and all energy levels seemed zapped. This may be because of lack of match fitness of a number of players but Bullard and Murphy especially seemed to suffer. Bullard was not the same player as last year where he demanded the ball every time we were in possession and tried to make things happen; he looked disinterested and like he wanted one too many touches at all times. A tell tale sign he wasn't his usual self is that he was even let other players take free kicks and corners which surprised me.

A second Blackpool goal wasn't too long in coming, another scrappy goal following a run down our left resulted in Barry Ferguson/Grant Leadbitter beating Stockdale, and effectively winning the match.

Not long after this Jewell made 2 changes, JE-T and Scotland replacing Leadbitter and Bowyer. We then moved to an attacking 424 formation, with JET and Murphy as the widemen.

The game opened up at this point and there were a few chances at each end, with Ipswich creating 3 good chances. 2 of these were completely fluffed by Murphy. Twice he shanked the ball wide when he really should have tested the keeper, this was not good enough. Bullard also should have done better after Scotland set him away and we had men over and he opted to shoot and dragged his shot wide.

The final whistle came not long afterwards to end a disappointing second half, we allowed 2 sloppy goals and couldn't capitalise on any chances we created.

Positives

Collins made an assured debut and looks to be an astute signing. Scotland again looked sharp when he came on. Andrews looks to be the teams driving force and a good player.

Negatives
Bullard and Murphy don't look fit, perhaps not unsurprising but disappointing after an international break. We struggled to create chances until going to a 424 formation. Edwards was caught out of position a few times and needs to be playing behind an out and out winger so he isn't forced forward too often.

Overall
Paul Jewell needs to make some difficult decisions, he currently seems to be picking his 11 best players and trying to make a team out of them. We have no defined shape and by playing people out of position, especially Leadbitter, it is creating weaknesses across the pitch, i.e Edwards getting exploited. He needs to decide on a shape and get the team playing that way, if he opts to use Leadbitter as a right winger, he needs to shout and bawl at him to ensure he stays in that position.

While tactically analysing the last few games I am really disappointed in Jewell, nobody could argue that he hasn't improved the squad with some quality additions, but until he settles on a formation and drops some of the players that appear undroppable we are going nowhere fast. We need to have 2 genuine widemen and either play 424 or 451/433, until we start doing this we will not start picking up points consistently.

Up next
Our next game is at home on Monday against Coventry, we can't be any worse than when we were last on Sky and hopefully Jewell makes the tough decisions that face him next week. I hope we start with the same back 5, with Bullard (if fit) and Andrews (captain) anchoring the midfield. 2 from Murphy, JE-T and Carson on the flanks and Scotland has done enough in his last 2 cameo's to earn himself a start alongside Michael Chopra up front.

Ipswich 2-1 Leeds

I decided to give last weeks game vs Peterborough a miss, it wouldn't have helped my mental anguish to try and put down in words exactly went wrong last week, sorry if anybody was expecting anything...!

First half

On to yesterday's game v Leeds, we again lined up with a formation that I didn't think suited the personnel playing. We started again with a 4132 formation, where I felt we would be loading the central midfield with Kennedy, Leadbitter and Andrews, while allowing JET and Murphy to act as 2 widemen support strikers. However, Murphy started up front with Chopra and JET seemed to be playing on the right of a midfield 3.



In the first half we again struggled to get the ball down and play and create chances, with no genuine width we struggled to keep hold of the ball. The 2 widemen from Leeds were allowed too much freedom, and Snodgrass twice was shown inside and allowed to pick out Ross McCormack with far too much ease. Leadbitter didn't get close enough to him, and was left exposed by Jewell sticking him out in a wider position than he's used to, and the second time, after Stockdale had saved his blushes first time, we were punished and went 1-0 down.

As per the Southampton game, when we went behind, Jewell shifted the formation to a more orthodox 442, with JET on the right side and Kennedy on the left side:

This seemed to stop the threat from Leeds 2 widemen. Gradel still caused Edwards problems, but that is to be expected from one of the best wingers in the division, against Edwards who is still liable to positioning errors and gets caught out too often. However Kennedy and Cresswell seemed to stop the threat coming from Snodgrass.



Second half

At the start of the second half, before the game had had a chance to settle down (i.e. before I'd worked out how we were playing!) a long ball went over the top to JET, who outmuscled White before being dragged down. White was sent off and JET was (eventually) taken off injured. Leadbitter was also replaced at this time as a double change saw Carson and Bullard on.

By this point, Kennedy was holding in front of the back 4, Bullard was buzzing around and getting on the ball and trying to make things happen. Andrews was playing in a slightly more advanced role and Murphy was helping Cresswell on the left hand side while also supporting Chopra. Carson was being used as an out and out wide man, hugging the touchline in order to keep the game spread and utilise our extra man advantage.

From here on in the game was relatively even, McCormack had been replaced by O'Brien and Leeds lined up in a 441 formation, Gradel was still a relatively advanced winger and became their only outlet to attack through. However we still were not really creating any chances.

Jason Scotland then came on for Kennedy and went up front with Chopra, this led to us playing a very attacking 442/424 formation. When you look at the starting positions being taken up by the wingers at the end of the game as opposed to the 442 employed when we were 1-0 down, it is clear that Murphy and Carson where given far more attacking licence by Jewell than JET and Kennedy were in the first half.

For the last 20 minutes we were chasing the game, and Leeds naturally began to drop deeper and deeper but we finished the game for the first time with 4 out and out attacking players on the pitch and this showed towards the end as we managed to create more chances. And eventually the chances and then goals came.

Overall

I think Jewell again started with the wrong formation here with regards to the personnel selected, we again lined up with only 3 genuine attacking players in starting line up and one of these (JET) was not played in an attacking position. I think in order to get the crowds back to Portman Road and bring back the excitement we need at least 4 attacking players to play, including 2 genuine wide players so that we have spare men and out balls when we receive it, this will lead to us looking less solid but it should allow us to, or at least try to anyway, outscore the opposition.

Individual players

The good - Jason Scotland will take the plaudits with his goal and assist, and the return and impact of Bullard can not be underestimated but to me Keith Andrews was the MoM, he played in a few different roles and had to adapt his game, destroyed well, used the ball well and came up with the goal.

The bad - Grant Leadbitter seems like he is being shoehorned into the side at the moment, he was struggling in his role on the left hand side and twice showed Snodgrass inside to line up a cross. He may have the captains armband but his place in the team must be severely under threat from the arrival of Bullard.

Up next

Blackpool (a) - this will be a very tough game against a side that aren't afraid of attacking. We will need to ensure we remain solid in this game and I would be tempted to play a 4141 formation, the wide players would be Murphy and JET but with extensive defensive repsonibilities and a midfield 3 of Andrews, Bowyer and Bullard which should allow us to suitably destroy and break up their attacks. We will be playing negatively and trying to hit them on the break for the game, or using some of Bullard's quality set pieces to try and nick a goal. Prediction 1-1.



Ipswich 2 - 5 Southampton

Well.....where to start on this one - there had been a number of articles throughout the day from a number of sources that stated Paul Jewell was going to be looking to play 442 for this game tonight after the weekend's defeat at Hull. For what it's worth I thought that a '442' would only work if JET was the second striker - as it becomes an effective 4231.....with JET sitting behind Chopra with 2 wingers.

However, when I saw the team that Jewell had put out I was absolutely amazed - and not in a good way. Yes, he had picked 2 strikers (Chopra and Scotland) but they were backed up by a midfield 4 with no pace, width or attacking intent. This meant that while we had moved from a 451 against Hull to a 442 - in my mind we were now set up in a more defensive formation.

This is where you will notice that my 'hobby horse' is not what formation we use but the split between defensive minded and attacking minded players. The team selected last night left us with a team of 8 defensive minded players (Back 4 and Midfield 4) vs 2 attack minded players (strikers). We were 8D/2A

When the game started, it gave me no pleasure to see that what I thought would happen, happened almost immediately from kick off. Our midfield 4 looked as though a beach towel could have been thrown over them, they were in each others way, no-one had an out-ball or an easy pass so we just invited pressure onto ourselves - and with no-one knowing their role and therefore tracking runners from the midfield they walked through us twice in 12 minutes. Southampton passed the ball quickly and well, and played like what they are - a side full of confidence with players who know what their roles are.

After 12 minutes, when we were 2-0 down Jewell, gave up on the 4 central midfielders experiment. Kennedy dropped to left back, Cresswell pushed onto left midfield. Leadbitter moved across to right midfield as a more orthodox winger.

My question to Jewell here would be....'you know you have got this team wrong, we are 2-0 down - why not make personnel changes'? It wouldn't have been a popular decision for the players who would go off, but if we are looking to operate an orthodox 442, then we need to have at least one but preferably 2 wingers on the pitch.

JET and Lee Martin were on the bench and at this stage I would have swapped Martin for one of Leadbitter, Andrews or Bowyer, and left the other 2 to play centrally with Martin wide on the right - and - swapped JET for either Cresswell or Kennedy, with the other dropping back to left back. This would have set us up as a 442 with wingers, but more importantly shifted the balance from 8D/2A to 6D/4A.

With Leadbitter and Cresswell as the wingers in an orthodox 442 we just became a slightly more solid unit but lacked any real goal threat, other than the odd hopeful ball that fell at someone's feet - this drifted through until half time and with Southampton looking more likely to score, and score they did on the stroke of half time to kill the game off - Jewell had left any changes of personnel too late.

2nd half

At half time, Jewell made two changes. Lee Martin replaced Mark Kennedy, which resulted in Cresswell dropping back to left back and Martin acting as a more advanced winger; JET replaced Jason Scotland and joined Chopra up front.

As the second half started it was clear that Bowyer and Andrews had dropped to a slightly deeper position than they occupied in the first half, and that Leadbitter and Martin had been given explicit instructions to stay high up the pitch and play as out and out wingers with limited defensive responsibilities. While this isn't a role that Leadbitter has ever played (for ITFC anyway) he battled manfully and looked a different player to the passenger in the first half who played as neither a central midfielder or a wide player.

JET played off Michael Chopra and added a touch of class to proceedings, playing in the role he say's is his best position, he didn't let anybody down. He played 'in the hole' and acted as a middle man between the midfield 2 (Bowyer and Andrews) and what was now in places, effectively a front 3 (Leadbitter, Chopra and Martin). He was everywhere in the attacking sense and at the heart of it any time we looked threatening.

Our first goal came after he took down a high ball and fed Chopra who hit the bar, with the ball eventually finding it's way to Andrews to lash in. The second was scored by JET after an almighty and prolonged scramble which started with him picking the ball up on the left hand side. With this we were back in the game and knocking on the door.

Unfortunately a couple of Saints substitutions took away any momentum we had gathered and when Adam Lallana ghosted through a static ITFC defence to add a 4th the game was sealed……the 3 goal deficit had proved to be too much for ITFC. Ipswich had lost their way and a 5th goal in stoppage time was the icing on the cake for the visiting fans.

Overview
Tactics

Paul Jewell got this badly wrong, his starting team baffled everyone, including it seems the players. A 2 goal head start was given to a good Southampton side, and bar a couple of shaky minutes after the goal they didn't look like letting it slide. As a team we defended poorly with no-one following runners until the formation had changed to 442, but until personnel changes were made we were never going to get back into the game - Jewell should have reacted quicker.

Individual players - the BAD

The centre backs were very poor and replacing at least one of them must be a pressing concern before the next match. While Smith was poorer, Delaney is more experienced and playing on his favoured side, and was lucky that the 3rd time he tried to go through the back of a player in the first half was pulled out of at the last second or he would have been having an early bath.

Individual players - the GOOD

JET changed the game when he came on and should have done enough to convince Jewell that he should be playing in his favoured role behind the striker going forwards for home games

What's next?

Peterborough away (Saturday). I think we will revert back to the formation we played on the opening day away from home. The only changes from the Bristol City game should be Andrews in for Kennedy and by default Smith in for Ingimarrson - although there must be a temptation to take Tommy out of the firing line and give Jack Ainsley a game after his impressive performance at Northampton.

I expect us to be too strong for Peterborough and that their attacking play will allow us to use the pace of JET and Martin on the counter attack to create chances for Chopra against a notoriously leaky defence.