Where has it gone so wrong for Ipswich Town? The lowdown on Blackpool's upcoming opponents

It was a bizarre game in which the Tractor Boys scored with all four of their shots on target, but Blackpool fans will nevertheless have been impressed by the performance of a side they will have been expecting to compete at the top of the division.

Conversely, the result left Blackpool licking their wounds after suffering a fourth defeat in five, leaving them rooted inside the bottom four.

Neil Critchley’s side have turned it around since then and now sit in 12th place in the table, just one spot below Saturday’s opponents.

Ipswich, however, are in the midst of a miserable run of form, especially on home turf where they’ve lost six of their last seven. Their only victory was a narrow 2-1 win against bottom side Burton Albion.

Manager Paul Lambert is facing increasing calls to be sacked by Ipswich’s weary fanbase, so much so the county’s local newspaper, the East Anglian Daily Times, recently ran a front page calling on owner Marcus Evans to wield the axe.

So where has it gone all wrong for the Suffolk side? The Gazette caught up with Ipswich Town writer Andy Warren, who painted a bleak picture of the current mood at Portman Road.

One of Ipswich’s biggest problems has been their lack of goals. In fact, they’ve scored one fewer than Blackpool, who have looked a little goal shy in front of goal themselves this season up until recent weeks.

“They’re just toothless. In a nutshell, that’s been Lambert’s main problem,” Warren told The Gazette.

“They’re not a bad team defensively, but they put so much pressure on themselves at the back because they just can’t score and never look like scoring.

“They tap the ball around relatively nicely, get to the final third which is where they seemingly run out of ideas. That seems silly given the only time Blackpool fans will have watched them this season, they scored four and ripped Blackpool to bits.

“That remains their best performance of the season so far, but since then they’ve struggled to score goals and their strikers have been injured, which definitely hasn’t helped. Another one is currently suspended at the moment too.

“But even when they have been in the team, they haven’t got enough of a goal threat about them.”

Another main sticking point for Ipswich fans is their team's horrendous record against the league’s top sides.

During the two seasons they’ve been in League One, Lambert’s side have won just four of the 30 games they’ve played against sides in the top 10.

For a side that harbours hopes of promotion back to the Championship, a realistic ambition given the size and resources of the club, that record really isn’t good enough.

“It’s a horrific record,” Warren conceded.

“For a team that has entered both seasons talking about winning the league or winning automatic promotion, it’s actually a bit of a shambles.

“It’s hard to see an end to it, either. You go into all of these games, especially the ones against the sides at the top, almost expecting them to lose and they don’t disappoint.

“This one is going to be slightly different because they could give three debuts to new signings (Josh Harrop, Luke Matheson and Troy Parrott), which might change things a little bit and provide a bit of life.

“But they desperately need something from somewhere because the season is just drifting away again, just as it did last year.”

Ipswich’s campaign does appear to be going the same way as last season, where they ended up finishing 11th (via points-per-game method) having previously topped the table.

They currently sit in the same position, although they’re only four points off the top six with a game in hand.

“The whole thing is just mirroring last season,” Warren said.

“They started really fast and were top of the league both seasons, looked like they’d win two out of every three games throughout the course of the season but then they’d suffer a wobble. A couple of defeats seems to rock them and they’re not able to get it back.

“Of the four teams in the top 10 they’ve beaten over the last two seasons, those wins came against Gillingham, Fleetwood, Accrington and Crewe, so it’s not really the big guns of the league. They’ve not beaten a top six side in two years, which is horrific really for a team like Ipswich.

“That underpins it all and it’s been exactly the same this season as it was last season. That’s why it’s so baffling Lambert is still in charge.”

This, of course, begs the question why the club’s owner Evans hasn’t decided to act.

“It’s the golden question,” Warren said. “It’s all governed from Marcus Evans’ brain, but no-one really knows what he’s thinking.

“He’s obviously put a lot into Paul Lambert. Just over a year ago he gave him a five-year contract, so he’s got a lot invested in him.

“He’s not one for making quick changes and I think in his mind he fully sets out to give managers full seasons in jobs.

“It hasn’t always worked out like that, but we’re led to believe that until the play-offs really begin to get away from them - at the moment they have games in hand - he won’t be making a change.

“I haven’t really got the confidence that things are suddenly going to click, but I hope it does.”

Blackpool, who have never won at Portman Road, will be wanting to gain revenge on Ipswich for their 4-1 humbling at the beginning of the season.

But the roles have reversed since then, with Ipswich suffering a rocky patch while the Seasiders have got themselves back into the mix with back-to-back wins.

“That game came during their hot patch when they started the season really well,” Warren reflected.

“I don’t think Blackpool had quite got it together, they looked to be a team of good players that hadn’t built into a team just yet by that point.

“Ipswich scored with pretty much every shot they had, but none of those goals were scored by a striker which is where it’s gone wrong.

“The lad that scored two on that day, Gwion Edwards, he’s been out injured and the 35-year-old right-back (Luke Chambers), who scored the first one, he’s now looking like a 35-year-old right back.

“He’s been asked to play every single week. On that day he was getting forward loads and had a license to attack, but they’ve just been pushed further and further back.

“Ipswich have two 35-year-old full-backs who just can’t do it every week and the season has caught up on them a little bit.”

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