The View From Churchmans

Given that Southampton ought to be one of the best sides in the division,
coupled with our current state of injury- and suspension-induced disarray,
we’d have probably settled for a draw prior to kick-off. And if the umpires
had offered us the light (and a 0-0 draw) when the stadium was plunged into
darkness after five minutes, we might have taken that. So let’s at least be
grateful for the improvement over the previous home game.

We lined up more 4-3-3 than 4-4-2, with a lot of responsibility handed to
Horlock and Garvan in the centre, and Peters permanently well forward. It
was probably the best approach in the circumstances. Southampton are a big
team, and a hard (if not dirty) one, and they pressed forward on us like no
other team we’ve seen this season. This resulted in far too many panicky
passes, and our performance was characterised by giving the ball away again
and again all evening. Fortunately the supporters didn’t start having a go
at some of the players like the Preston game.

Imagine being a Southampton supporter though. Poor sods: they get relegated
for the first time for years, and then discover that their team has brought
out of retirement the most irritating, obnoxious little sod to have played
in English football in the past twenty years. Imagine having to chant Dennis
Wise’s name and sound like you’re happy about it. For them still to have
brought a decent following up to Ipswich on a Tuesday night is pretty
commendable.

Overall, there’s no doubt Southampton were the better team on the night, but
they didn’t take their chances, and we had a few lucky escapes. I don’t
think it’ll do us any harm on Sunday to have a match where the form book
will be out of the window.

Match Ratings:
Excitement – 4/5
Town Performance – 3/5

Player Ratings (1-5 for commitment, 1-5 for impact):

PRICE 4 (2/2):
Another disappointing display; Lewis looked short of confidence, flapped at
several crosses, and couldn’t hold on to most shots. His distribution was
ordinary too. One good point-blank save at the end.

WILNIS 5 (3/2), DE VOS 7 (4/3), NAYLOR 7 (4/3), McEVELEY 5 (2/3):
A bit backs-against-the-wall at times, and both Jason and Bam-Bam having to
make several crunching last-minute tackles. Both provided as much threat up
front as any of the strikers too. Fab had a relatively anonymous first half
back in his old position, then limped off alarmingly at half-time – hope
it’s not too serious. New boy Jay McEveley may be another decent find at
full-back; he stuck to his man really well (or perhaps it just seemed like
it, in comparison to what we normally endure from Fab and Matt). His
distribution was awful though.

GARVAN 6 (3/3), HORLOCK 6 (3/3), CURRIE 5 (3/2):
“Trev” and Owen got through a lot of work between them, but were rather
outnumbered; Horlock was probably the pick of the bunch for being steady,
but Garvan’s Milleresque goal was the highlight of the night. Darren was
completely anonymous for most of the evening, on both sides, but when called
into the centre later on was excellent, and controlled the game for the last
few minutes.

PETERS 5 (3/2), PARKIN 5 (3/2), BOWDITCH 5 (3/2):
Disappointing all round really, although Sam wasn’t as bad as against
Preston, and actually won a few balls. Deano looked off the pace and was far
too lightweight, and Jaime completed the set of boring marks from me by
scurrying around to little effect.

Subs – RICHARDS 6 (3/3) didn’t do much wrong, although using him to replace
Fab meant poor Jay McEveley had to play on the wrong side. JUAN added
another body to the midfield, but little more, and McDONALD didn’t see
enough of the ball to contribute much.

The REF was OK, although when you know W*se is going to pick on the youngest
players on the pitch and try to get them cautioned, why fall for it?