Ipswich v Bristol City Preview
Posted on | December 9, 2008 | No Comments
Both of these sides held play off aspirations in the summer and after spending millions of pounds, many people thought those expectations were spot on. However, both are in dreadful runs of form and sit in disappointing mid-table positions, with Ipswich occupying 13th while Bristol City are down in 15th.
Ipswich’s season took a turn for the worst on Sunday and supporters have started to turn against manager Jim Magilton. The Tractor Boys suffered a 2-0 defeat to fierce rivals Norwich and now they find themselves six points away from the top six, which is quite a gap at this stage of the season. Magilton has been forced to come out and reject calls for him to be sacked, which shows just how discouraged the Ipswich faithful have become. They’ve collected just four points from their last five games and by the looks of things, it seems as though they could be heading for a similar mid-table finish to last season.
It’s pretty much the same for Bristol City, although Gary Johnson isn’t feeling anything like as much pressure as his Tractor Boys counterpart. While City are underachieving following last season’s heroics, there’s no doubt that Johnson will always have the backing of the Robins faithful following some truly memorable seasons at Ashton Gate. Still, there’s every reason for fans to be a little disgruntled, with City failing to win in any of their last five games. Perhaps the most worrying issue is the fact that out of all of the teams they’ve played in the last few weeks, none are tipped for even a play off push so they really should have picked some more points up. What’s more, despite spending plenty of money on the likes of Nicky Maynard, Stern John and John Akinde, goals have hardly been flying in and Gary Johnson’s men have failed to score in their last two. Some said that last season’s play off heroics were just a blip and if Johnson is to prove that claim wrong, things need to start picking up.
As for team news, Ipswich have a couple of problems in the strikers department with Jon Walters and Pablo Counago both struggling. Late decisions will be made on both, with a late fitness test being penciled in for Counago. Bristol City have a few absentees as well and Gary Johnson will be missing Jamie McAllister, Lee Johnson and Dele Adebola. With full back Bradley Orr refusing to sign a new contract, he is another one that won’t feature after Johnson said he only wants to select players who want to play for the club.
The poor form of these two sides suggests a draw is on the cards. The derby defeat to Norwich will have taken a lot out of Ipswich, whereas Bristol City have struggled on the road this season and will probably be looking for a point – 2-2.
Related posts:
- Ipswich v Bristol City Preview
- Bristol City v Barnsley Preview
- Bristol City v Barnsley Preview
- Charlton v Bristol City Preview
- Bristol City v Sheffield United Preview
Comments
Leave a Reply