Ipswich Town have blown away the Championship this season and, despite defeat at the weekend, look to be a Premier League side in waiting. It’s just unfortunate that their opposition is up there with the best the Championship ever seen…
There’s an imposter among us.
When picking out the favourites for promotion from the Championship this season, many touted the relegated trio of Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton, given the size and financial power they possessed. That is what has transpired, with those three at the summit. But there’s an anomaly.
Ipswich Town looked fabulous last season in League One. While they might have come second to an impressive Plymouth side, the Tractor Boys held the most regard when it came to survival chances. It’s safe to say that they’ve survived pretty comfortably.
Kieran McKenna’s side just continued that momentum into the Championship, only losing four league games in the entirety of 2023, two of which came against Leeds. Withstanding that, their unexpected and refreshing push at the summit of the Championship was always questioned.
Those questions have been answered with flying colours, capitalising on Leicester’s recent poor form and sitting top of the tree until last weekend’s results.
Their loss at East Anglian rivals Norwich City shouldn’t define their season. Regardless of form and quality, those games are always tight and often show little quality, the stakes on the line. Just look at Manchester United’s two performances against Liverpool this year. The inferior side in both but rose to the occasion and found a way to get something whilst, more importantly, denting their rivals title chances. The similarities uncanny.
Ipswich haven’t lost back-to-back league games since McKenna’s arrival in 2021 and they aren’t likely to start now. Promotion is still in their hands and while they sit a point behind Leicester, having played a game more, the Suffolk side are a point ahead of Leeds and will get promoted by simply winning each of their remaining five games.
Their attacking football is a joy to watch and there are always goals; Ipswich boast the best attack in the league alongside the leakiest defence in the top five. Plus, they are adaptable and can win a game by dominating possession, or are happy to soak up the pressure before hitting where it hurts.
Mentality is perhaps the defining factor in a battle like this. Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds have all shown they have the quality to go up, it now looks increasingly like a mind game.
The Tractor Boys have shown they have mental strength in abundance too. Those scenes against Bristol City, Rotherham, West Brom, Leicester (twice) and Southampton. The list could go on. All of those points won past 89 minutes and most of them in stoppage time.
Their winner against the Saints said it all. With a minute to play, Southampton ‘keeper Gavin Bazunu took an age to kick the ball up field, his side happy to take a point, his eventual ball falling to his opposite number, Vaclav Hladky. Here was the difference. Rather than dither, Hladky distributed instantly, allowing his side to drive forward, culminating in a 97th and final-minute winner from Jeremy Sarmiento.
It could be suggested that these late goals aren’t sustainable, but when they keep occurring, it is certainly no coincidence. Ipswich have won more points from losing positions at home than any other Championship side in history, a stat that says it all.
They will need this mental strength as they enter the final five and are sure to get punished if they aren’t at the races. Watford, Middlesbrough and Hull, their next three, are three sides who don’t seem to have much to play for, the latter two with an outside chance of playoff football. That’s before facing Coventry and Huddersfield, where the Sky Blues could be looking to secure a playoff place and the Terriers may well have to win to maintain their Championship status.
Ipswich will be confident of winning all five, but the second tier of English football is never predictable. Rivals Leicester have an extra game and are in pole position to claim top spot, back-to-back wins reinstalling the belief after wretched form (for a promotion-chasing team) dragged them into a battle that they should never have been in in the first place.
So, it seems that Leeds will be the team pushing McKenna’s side all the way. Daniel Farke has done it all before, ironically with Norwich, with the Whites also losing at the weekend at Coventry—now not the time to be dropping points.
That defeat was a lifeline for Ipswich, which meant they didn’t fall from 1st to 3rd in the space of two hours. Leeds’ run-in isn’t too indifferent to their rivals, facing Sunderland, Blackburn, Middlesbrough and QPR before a final-day tussle against Southampton.
A three-way battle at the top of both of England’s two leagues signifies a truly memorable season, with two points between the top three in the Championship and just one in the Premier League.
Perhaps Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds will all be playing top-flight football next season. But, come May 4th, only two sides will have their fate sealed, and how amazing would it be if little old Ipswich Town could sleigh the ex-Prem, parachute payment giants, and achieve back-to-back promotions against some of the best second-tier sides ever seen?
They still may not be the bookies’ favourites, but it would be foolish not to think they have as good a chance as Leeds.
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