20Questions - Ipswich Town

Last updated : 04 April 2005 By Bigrich.....
Who are you; where are you from and how long have you supported your club?

I'm Philip Ham, I'm from Ipswich and, having been born a Catholic, I've supported Town since conception.

What was your first game?
Town 3-1 Southampton, 1979, Wark, Gates, Brazil for Town, Steve Williams for a by-then-demoralised Saints. Paul Mariner missed a penalty and Mich D'Avray made his debut. Mich D'who? South African striker, now manager of Australian champions the Perth Glory.

Describe the most memorable and worst game you've seen and why?
The most memorable game was probably the 5-3 play-off semi-final second leg against Bolton five years ago. It was a game that had everything; goals, penalties, red cards and even questions asked in the Commons!

The worst were several games against Tranmere in the mid-to-late eighties. They were all 0-0 with John Aldridge's side showing no attacking endeavour whatsoever, Aldridge even apologised to the press after one of them. Eventually George Burley cracked breaking down their defence; he bought their central defensive linchpin John McGreal and we beat them the next season.

If Ipswich Town was a celebrity, who would it be and why?

I got asked this earlier in the season and I said Carol Vorderman; neither are quite what they once were. Now, we're more Tony Christie; making an unexpected comeback.

Who do you consider as your current local rivals, and why?

Norwich, as they are our rivals and they're local. We played Colchester in the FA Youth Cup which got marginally heated until we thrashed them 5-0 at Layer Road. Our youths are excellent this year. If we make the Youth Cup final give them a look as they are fantastic to watch.

Who are the best and worst players you have seen?

My friend Neil has to go down as the worst, he's terrible. The best have to be, for Town, Arnold Muhren or Frans Thijssen who were a revelation when they came over from Holland at the end of the 70s and are yet to be bettered, although it's always Kevin Beattie or John Wark who win the greatest Town player votes..

Which current or former Rotherham player impressed you most?

Am always interested to see Chris Swailes as, after a tricky start (own goal match-loser on debut) actually did reasonably well in our next season. Chris Sedgwick seemed to do quite well against us as well. Have you still got that bloke who does the really long throws which beat us a few years back, Barker was it? Should have been sent off for pulling back Martijn Reuser earlier on in the match!

How did you fare last season?

We lost in the play-offs, it was annoying.

How did you expect to fair this season?
We had a lot of changes over the summer so opinion was very much split. I thought we'd do OK, but probably not as well as we have. There were those who thought we might even go down, but I reckon the overall view was that we'd be somewhere between tenth and the play-offs.

With just six games left, where do you expect to be? Play-offs or automatic promotion?

Automatic promotion. That's not being arrogant, that's trying to say it enough times that people believe it's true.

If you do go up, is there money to spend on players?
Given the buckets of cash with which Premiership clubs are provided, yes. There will be some to pay to our creditors from our 2003 administration but part of the point of CVAs (Company Voluntary Arrangements) is that the company involved should be able to trade in the future without being unduly hamstrung by previous debts.

So what do you think of The Millers?
Annoying. Sorry, but you've beaten us at really irritating times since you came up and we went down. Quite like Millmoor as it's like a trip back in time without all that annoying messing about with the laws of relativity and Christopher Ecclestone.

Is your manager barking mad?
Not really. Joe seems to take a 'music hall' attitude to post-match comment but he's not mad, no. Not in a world where there's Ian Holloway or Martin Allen anyway.

Are you happy with your Chairman/Backroom staff?

There's a split between those who feel chairman David Sheepshanks was wholly responsible for our administration due to his less than forward-thinking financial planning and those who think he was the victim of outside circumstances. The debate has gone on for two years so far and shows no sign of letting up.

Which team do you want to beat the most this season and why?
Sunderland would be nice as they are the only side above us we're still to meet, but as long as we're promoted I don't really care.

What sort of line-up can we expect from you?
It'll be: Davis in goal, from the left, at the back, Unsworth, De Vos, Naylor, Wilnis. Midfield: Currie, Westlake, Magilton, Miller, and up front Kuqi and Bent. Subs will be along the lines of Horlock for Magilton 80 mins, Scowcroft for Kuqi 83 mins, maybe Couñago for Bent around 80-ish if Bent's scored two or three.

Predicted score?
Unsurprisingly I think we'll win, scoreline's more difficult. If we get an early goal or two it could be high-scoring, if not then we could struggle and grab a late goal or two. It does very much depend on what your attitude is; if you're defensive then we might find it hard but if you try to make a game of it, I reckon we'll win comfortably.

Bold prediction 6-1, conservative bad day verdict 2-0.

Who's going up?
Us and Sunderland, judging by this weekend's results. My opinion could change several times over the next six games though!

Who's going down?

Sadly Rotherham, I say that as I quite like trips to Millmoor as, despite previous comments, there's always a decent atmosphere and I've generally had a day out there even though results haven't always been great. Forest, despite being absolutely brilliant when we played them at the City Ground in August, and Cardiff will also be discovering Chesterfield next season. Gillingham will escape, they weren't a bad side at all when we played them a few weeks back.

Pies - What Flavour?
Blackberry and apple.