IPSWICH TOWN 19/20 SEASON PREDICTIONS

So guys, after weeks of waiting the new season is less than a week away, and I must say I cannot wait for this season to start, for a number of reasons. Of course we did go down last season after 17 years in the second tier, and it is the first time we have been outside the top 2 tiers since 1957 - but nevertheless I cannot wait for the new season as it's a fresh start for us in this new league and most of all we are optimistic and positive of our chances. Of course we know it's gonna be a hard league and its very much a venture into the unknown, but I'm so excited for this new season. So this post is gonna be a collection is predictions from table position, top scorer, players that could have big seasons and so on. So let's begin :)

Table Prediction

Now of course I love to do table predictions before the start of seasons, but considering I have very little knowledge of the league, I feel it would be inappropriate for me to do full on predictions. So instead I am simply going to be predicting where I think Town will finish in the table. Now as I mentioned it is a new league for us and many teams that come down assume that they will walk the league and come straight back up - which does occasionally happen like Rotherham and Blackburn, but we've seen many huge clubs come down to League One and struggle. Nottingham Forest, Charlton Athletic, Sheffield United and most recently Sunderland and so on have all come down and struggled to get out of the League. So for me I'm not gonna expect us to get Top 2, even though a fair few bookies and fans have predicted us to get the automatics, I feel that it would be incredibly naive of me to predict us to go up automatically, or even finish 3rd or 4th. So, my prediction is that we will finish 5th. Yes I think given the squad we have the a manager like Paul Lambert, I think we can get into the playoffs, whether or not we make it through the playoffs is a question for another day, but if someone was to offer me 5th place right now, I would take it 100%. 

Top Scorer

This should go without saying, but our top scorer for me would be James Norwood. Considering he scored 32 goals for Tranmere last season and in preseason has already scored 5 goals, one of which was a hat-trick - I can't see any other player scoring more than him. 

Players who could have a big season this year (aside from Norwood)

1) Kayden Jackson - we brought in this guy last season and he did show some glimpses of quality, but as a whole he didn't have such a great season last year. But this season, I'm really tipping the guy for big things. He was one of our best players this pre-season, bagging 3 goals and is looking to be a fantastic either partner or substitute for James Norwood. Really positive on the ball, making good runs and very pacy down the wing. This guy could have a big year this season, there is no reason in my mind why he couldn't bag 10+ goals. 

2) Jack Lankester - one of many young talents we have coming through the club, this season could be the breakout year for Lankester. As you know he featured a few times last year and man what a talent he is, great going forward and is exactly the kind of young exciting prospect this club needs. Scored a great goal as well. However, this all hinges on whether or not he can stay fit. He missed basically the whole of the second half of last season due to a back problem, and while he played a bit in preseason and seemed to be fully fit again, the same back problem has come back recently and we have no idea when he will be back again. I really do feel for the guy and I just hope for his sake that he doesn't end up as another Teddy Bishop, a hugely talented player ruined by constant injuries. 

3) Idris El Mazoni - quite a recent youngest, this kid featured a fair bit in the tail end of last season and looks like a promising talent. He did fairly well in pre-season as well by all accounts and has surprised people with his play in the midfield. Probably not quite a starter at this point but this season could well be the breakout season for this kid.

4) Danny Rowe - very much a player who has gone under the radar recently, I think Rowe could have a really good season. From reports I've heard that Rowe has performed very well in pre-season training and the past two seasons he's spent time out on loan at Lincoln and has done very well there as well, but this entire time he's gone mostly under the radar. So I think this could really be the season where Rowe comes into his own as a footballer, and I think Lambert will give him a chance.

5) Andre Dozzel - lastly this kid could have a real impact. As you know it was heavily rumored that Norwich might come and swoop in for this kid, but luckily we slapped like a £5 million price tag on him and that scared them lot off, so he is definitely staying. But this kid has shown signs that he could be a real homegrown gem in midfield, and with a midfield that could be full of youngsters this season, that could be the perfect opportunity for him to break into the first team. Bags of talent that need to be unleashed this season

So those are essentially my predictions for the upcoming season, like I said I'm really looking forward to this season and I'm gonna 100% try to go to more games this season, especially since A) the tickets are cheaper and B) I only saw 1 game last season and quite frankly that's pretty pathetic for a fan of my size haha. So hopefully I'll be down at Portman Road, singing my heart out and just overall backing the blues - and hey maybe I'll see if I can get onto Alex Griffin's channel! XD

Thanks for reading and COYB! 

HARRISON DEPARTS, BIALKOWSKI TO STAY?

Hi all, classic me I'm late to some new stories regarding Ipswich but I'm glad I waited as new developments came through regarding the future of Bartosz Bialkowski at our club.



But first off, we have to talk about the departure of Welsh striker Ellis Harrison. Harrison was one of Paul Hursts signings from last summer, arriving from Bristol Rovers for about £750,000. Now he had had an alright season previously for Rovers, scoring 12 goals in 44 appearances which isn't amazing but a decent return. When he signed, most Town fans didn't really know what to expect since he was indeed part of the new transfer strategy of going for lower league players. But clearly he was thought to be a key player since he was handed the no. 10 shirt by Hurst and as you can see from early lineups he was the key man upfront. In the end however, injuries impacted his season with him getting an ankle injury in September and a back problem hit him around February which essentially put him out for a while. He ultimately made only 16 appearances for the blues and scored just one goal - not ultimately being the key player he was thought to be. As such I'll admit I did recon the prospect of him leaving to be fairly likely. My only issue is that he has joined Portsmouth, no doubt one of our main promotion rivals. While I was pretty underwhelmed by the player last year, there is no doubt that he would be a good option in League One since he was a key player and goalscorer for Rovers back in League One. So while he could flop at Pompey like he did for us, I just really hope this decision doesn't come back to haunt us, like letting McGoldrick go did at the start of last season.

I do feel bad for Ellis, he wasn't really given a huge amount of time at the club thanks to his injuries and the one goal he did score for us, was a brilliant goal admittedly - so I wish him all the best for the future, but I do recon that this was a fine decision considering with Norwood now our main striker, he was always gonna get very little opportunities.



Lastly, lets talk about Bart who despite looking set for a move to Millwall, is still an Ipswich Town player. Bart has been our no.1 keeper for a few seasons now, and hes been one of our best players for a long time. Last season was not a great year for him at all in comparison, he made a number of awful mistakes, but he still managed to have at least an alright season once he got over that bad patch. He was always gonna be one of the players that looked the most likely to leave, since he was our highest paid player who was gonna attract interest from other Championship clubs when we went down. And last week it was reported he was close to going to Millwall with terms agreed between both the clubs and the player - but apparently due to a "complication" with his medical, the deal fell through. Apparently he had had a long term issue with one of his knees that hes had for a while, and as such Millwall wanted to reduce their transfer fee but Evans said no and then negotiations broke down just as he was on the verge of leaving.

Now I have mixed feelings on Bart staying. While yes he's still a good keeper and will probably do very well in L1, but on the other hand I do feel it's a missed opportunity to get some good cash in for him and with new keeper Tomas Holy now on the team - I feel it would have made sense to let him go. But of course he could still be sold to another club, an official from the club did confirm that multiple championship clubs have been interested in him (such as Birmingham as rumors suggest), but only time will tell to see whether he stays or leaves, but I recon he will stay for now, but perhaps move in January.

So that's all there really is to say on current Ipswich news, Pre-season will start soon so they'll be off to Germany to play in a friendly tournament - and of course play against our German cousins Fortuna Dusseldorf. Stay tuned over the next week or two as I will have something sightly different to post. See you guys later :)