That Was Fawking Awful. ITFC 2-3 Doncaster 05 11 2011

Remember, remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason, why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot…. 

So goes the nursery rhyme, but the Town performance on the pitch at Portman Road was truly unforgettable, no sparkle or fireworks, just a damp squib. There are so many puns to use but I guess the most important one is that the players all need a rocket up their arse’s.

I was looking forward to, even expecting a home win over bottom placed Rovers. They have signed up with agent Willie Mckay who loans them players on short term contracts to put them in the shop window ready for the January transfer market to open, costing the club no more than £2,000 per week. Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadji Diouf are two of his early dealings, to be honest I didn’t think that Diouf would be that interested but he scored twice, first heading in James Coppinger’s cross and then a shot from the edge of the box, which David Stockdale should have dealt with. Billy Sharp added a goal with an unmarked header from another Coppinger cross in between Diouf’s brace. As expected Diouf got plenty of boos throughout the match - he’s one of those players who is never far away from controversy but on the pitch he looked a different class, he even gave his shirt to a fan in the Britannia Stand as he made his way to the tunnel after being substituted near the end of the match! I can’t think that he’ll hang around the Championship for too long.

Trailing 3-0 at halftime the game was pretty much over, we did manage to get a couple back in the second half through Josh Carson and Michael Chopra, but it only papered over a poor, poor performance. Perhaps this two week break has come at a good time as there is much work to be done.

Off the pitch Billy Sharp is going through a personal tragedy having lost his son a week ago at the age of just two days old. He played and scored midweek against Middlesborough, dedicating the goal to his son. 

At Portman Road on Saturday I witnessed something for the first time at a football match. Now bearing in mind that we were playing badly against the bottom club and already a goal down and that on previous visits Billy Sharp has wound the home fans up and received “you fat bastard” taunts in return (which he has taken in good humour with a smile) after he scored his goal in the 24th minute supporters in all four stands of a very frustrated stadium broke out into spontaneous applause. Say what you like about football fans and I know Lizzie has had a pop about “certain fans” of ITFC this season but that was a touch of class and also very touching. Sharp also received a standing ovation from the crowd when he was substituted, showing the human side of football. 

Another player to get a warm reception was Richard Naylor, to be honest I didn’t click that he was playing until after the final whistle when he was clapping the home fans!

Perhaps Paul Jewell will go and snap Sharp up and he’ll be playing for us at Forest in two weeks time? We tried to sign him and Coppinger in the summer they both showed us a glimpse of what might have been.