Ipswich Town column: Joey Sadler looks back on brilliant Tractor Boys comeback at Portman Road against Cardiff City
There aren’t many, but I tell you one thing I miss about League One and that’s not having to deal with International Breaks! Just as the season gets going, we then have two long weeks with no footballing activities and Saturday afternoons are spent doing that job you were supposed to do weeks ago, but couldn’t, due to the call of Portman Road.
This break, does however, give us an opportunity to review the first month of the season and admire for Ipswich Town for what a month it has been.
I think we were all confident going into this season, that it would be nothing like the last one we spent in The Championship, but the fact Kieran McKenna’s side have managed to equal the amount of victories the club got back in their last campaign at this level, in just five games, is astonishing and just seems typical of what he and his team are all about.
Cardiff City were the latest team to be bulldozed over by The Tractor Boys meaning we really have seen every type of win this season. From that 2-1 resolute away win at Sunderland, the 2-0 masterclass against Stoke, a scrappy 1-0 away at QPR and now the ultimate comeback, as Town scored three goals in 19 minutes to secure a famous victory at Portman Road.
It was brilliant. Jubilation, in fact. So excuse me for now taking a rather pessimistic turn, in saying I am slightly worried about the amount of goals we seem to be shipping. Last season was not normal. We were an absolute force at both end of the pitch and it was almost bizarre to see the other team manage a shot on goal, let alone score! I guess it was always going to be different this year at a higher level, but it does seem that once resolute, dogged and tight defence seem to have a few cracks appearing.
Something to worry about? Or will McKenna sort it out? I’d imagine the latter. But I do think Town missed a trick not getting in another quality centre half to compete with the two we already have. Axel Tuanzebe is in the building and apparently ‘on trial’ with The Blues and although that’s a quality addition if he were to play every week, his career statistics do not indicate that’s a man who is going to guarantee you 46 games a season.
That said, we must be encouraged by how much our medical department has improved. Touch wood and please don’t’ blame me if I jynx it, but barring Christian Walton, almost the entirety of the rest of the team who finished last seasons campaign are fully fit and have played most of the minutes in Town’s first five league games this year. Which could only be a positive for somebody like Axel, who will need some managing back into things.
I’d fancy the former Manchester United man to come in and relish playing under Kieran McKenna and think this move can only help him, as he looks to reignite his career. Just look at Massimo Luongo when he signed. A player ‘riddled with injuries’ is now a man you see every week out there playing in a blue shirt. Let’s hope it’s the same for Axel.
The window has come and gone and there’s no point dwelling on it now. In a way I’m glad that it’s over, meaning matters on the pitch is the sole focus now. But I do feel Town have perhaps left themselves a little short here and will look to address that in the January window, of which I’m sure they will.
If Axel comes in and can remain fit, then we’ve got a proper player on our hands and here’s hoping that Kieran McKenna, like for us, is exactly what he needs.
