Keano

As I mentioned the breaking news yesterday, the whirlwind of a week at Portman Road culminated early today when Roy Keane was officially introduced as manager of Ipswich Town Football Club; becoming just the 12th man in our esteemed history to be honored with the post.

Take your pick of the news articles, and I wont repeat the details of the story, but there will plenty more commentary on the way and, no doubt, plenty of room for debate. Especially if you are Town fan please add your comment but all are welcome.

Keane Appointed Ipswich Manager from BBC Sport

Keane Excited to be Back from Sky Sports

Keane Targets Premier League from Soccernet

Personally, I'm going on record as saying I am on this bandwagon. And you heard it hear first (maybe) but we will run the table next year. I'll elaborate in my next post.

Cheers all...I'm off to learn that Keano chant and pour another pint - best thing to happen at Portman Road in at least 5 years....UP THE TOWN!!

Does Keano Drive a Tractor?

Breaking news hot off the press is that before Jim has even cleaned out his desk and turned in the keys to the Tractor, former Manchester United legend Roy Keane is about to accept an offer from Ipswich Town to return to the management ranks.

If you had asked me a couple of months ago I would have thought Portman Road would have been one of the most unlikely landing spots for Keano; if he ever decided to manage again. I'm not sure if it is still a likely destination, given that Jim was only shown the door this morning....but at the very least there seems to be plenty of smoke swirling around this storyline.

Much more to come...I'm sure.

Who is Luciano Civelli?

In case anyone was wondering the Tractorboys have actually been doing a bit of transfer business under the radar in the past few weeks, and on Wednesday they introduced the latest addition to the team, Argentine midfielder Luciano Civelli. The fee is reported to be around 1 million pounds, though there appears to be some confusion as to whether the Town have bought him outright or attained 50% of his rights. I'm really not sure how they can buy 50% of the players rights or what that even represents, so lets hope it is an outright purchase and not something out of the Carlos Tevez drawer.

On paper it appears the new lad has some potential. He is only 22 and has scored 8 goals in 68 appearences for his club Banfield in the Argentine Primera División. He is a left footed left midfielder who has been a first team regular since 2006.

This story broke rather quickly as it appeared Ipswich were going to stay quiet in the transfer market given their current middle of the pack (but notably improving) status. This seems to be an encouraging signing and could well pay dividends. Hell, finding a left sided left footed player who can play to some pedigree is an accomplishment in itself. Lets wish the lad a warm welcome and hope he can fit into the team and start contributing. With 17 games to go there is still much to play for and maybe, at least for while, we can look on the bright side.

For the doubters that say it's a waste of money on someone we have never heard of - well to be fair any player that can be attracted to a mid-table second tier club is mostly going to be unheard of, and a million for a reasonably well established 22 year old is a fair gamble in my book.
Besides who had ever heard of Mauricio Taricco?

Luciano, una calurosa bienvenida a Ipswich...

We look forward to adding your name to the coveted Tractor Driver of the Week list.

Cheers!!

TractorHawks Legends of Sports Series

As a new series of articles to throw into the mix, I am introducing a series entitled “TractorHawk Legends of Sports.” At least once a month, and maybe every couple of weeks time permitting, we’ll take a look back at a legendary team, player, coach, or sporting icon associated with the interests of this site.

There are just a couple guidelines for selection.

1. They must have contributed to the particular game or sport, for the most part, during my sporting lifetime, which goes back about 40 years so there is no shortage of candidates! There will be a couple of exceptions that cannot be passed.

2. They are somewhat aligned with the general sporting interests and teams of this site. But that does not mean that we will just focus on players from Ipswich, England, and Seattle. I am more than happy to take requests from readers, so if you have someone you would like to nominate feel free to comment below – I’ll add a ‘recommended by’ note to the tribute. All requests will be considered. As you will see many of the subjects will have had an impact on the sporting world and contributed to a variety of clubs and teams.

I already have a pretty decent list of candidates to get this historical perspective started but, as I mentioned, if you have a player or team that you think are worthy of consideration from any era just fire away below and let me know who and why.

Cheers!

Rafa Benitez Launches Attack on Manchester United Boss then Draws with Stoke

We still have a bit of catching up to do on Blue Hawks as we continue to review the recent football activities, but sometimes a story presents itself that demands coverage. Seems like the the boss of Premier League leading Liverpool has taken it upon himself to be the self-annoited spokesperson for the other 18 managers in the EPL by launching a full-fledged assault on Man United boss, Alex Ferguson.




The timing of this is really quite confusing. Benitez has guided Liverpool to their best ever start since the formation of the EPL and his squad have held top spot for several weeks. Although Man U prepare to face a critical clash with Chelsea this weekend, Liverpool do not actually play United again until mid-March. So why the outburst?

Seems like Benitez is upset that Ferguson gets away with criticizing referees, and apparently the Man U chief is unjust in complaining about the particular sequence of Man U's fixture list. Like this is something new. Are you kidding me? Fergie has been going handbags with the likes of Arsene and Jose, and just about every other EPL manager for the past 25 years - ask Keegan how that worked out for him.

But Rafa, with his well documented notebook, pulls out his file with a list of facts regarding Feguson's attitude towards referees and United's schedule, and acts like this could derail Liverpool's chances of the title.

Fergie's been up to this for far longer than Rafa will ever be manager of Liverpool, regardless of how many marches the red side of Merseyside organize on his behalf. I'll hasten to add that I doubt any Premier manager will ever come close to the amount of silverware that Sir Alex has attained.

Sounds like Rafa is bottling it; although there is almost half the season still to go and he is the one in first place....for now. Last year we had the blow up with the American owners being blamed for Liverpool winning crap in the Premier League. This year after another 30 or 40 million quid of spending, the team are in finally in first place and actually challenging for the title, but it seems that is not good enough for Benitez. Maybe he is he trying to make a pre-emptive excuse just in case Man U win their couple games in hand and climb to within a point of first place. Who knows?


Regardless, anyone reading this site knows that BlueHawks personally couldn't give a toss about any of the so called "Big Four," but this as we routinely cover the Premier League, this story could not be passed up. So while Rafa spent time trying to rattle Ferguson's feathers, his team went out and drew with 3rd from bottom Stoke nil-nil - again; in a game that the Potters came far closer to winning. Maybe he should have spent more time filling up his dossier with scouting notes on Stoke - sort of like Hartlepool did in the Cup last week.

If I had to pick a personal favourite of the "Big Four" to win the league this year, I'm rooting for Villa...sod the rest (and yeah I know Villa are not considered a member of the EPL elite - thats the point).

Is Benitez right? Who does it impact more? Do you really think Ferguson cares? Hit the comments link and let me know.

Holiday Football Review - Ipswich Town

I suggested in my last article that we need a few quick reviews to catch up on the holiday action so the site is up to date and on the right page as the tractor rolls on into 2009.


First up, part of the main focus and highlights (that might be stretching it a bit but still..) of the blog; the blue boys from Suffolk. Heading into the Christmas festivities Ipswich faced a tricky schedule with away games at Coventry and Derby while hosting Birmingham on Boxing Day. A couple weeks back I predicted 2 points from this particular engagement but the Town exceeded expectations and doubled that tally by squeezing in a win against Derby. Four points out of nine is not much to be excited about, but given the maddeningly inconsistent form that has plagued the team this year it is about as much as Town fans can hope for in any given 3 game stretch.

The sequence began back on December 20th as Kevin Lisbie made a surprising return to the score sheet as he bagged both Ipswich goals in a spirited 2-2 draw at Coventry. Certainly not a spectacular result as the Sky Blues, like the Town, appear to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in the table, but at least somewhat positive. The brace by Lisbie moved him into second place on the Ipswich scoring chart this year with five – that alone sums up some of the problems the Town have had this season.

Birmingham City have been in the top three in the Championship all season and were the favorites heading into the Boxing Day affair at Portman Road. A Christmas home match against one of the pacesetters of the league provided an opportunity for Ipswich to inject some life into their season in their final home match of 2008. A James McFadden penalty was all that Brum would need to see them head home happy and dash any hopes that Town fans may have harbored of gaining some much needed momentum. Statistically Ipswich looked to have had the upper hand in terms of goal attempts but this was misleading as Birmingham’s midfield controlled possession for extended periods of the match. One surprise came in the Ipswich starting eleven as Ivan Campo made a rare appearance for the Tractorboys.

Next, it was off to Pride Park for the final game of 2008 to secure a draw and deliver the 2 points for Christmas that BlueHawks had forecast. Derby had been struggling themselves recently with just one win in their previous six games. Magilton made two changes to the starting lineup with Velice Sumulikoski coming in for the injured Danny Haynes and Jonathan Walters being preferred up front to Jon Stead. Thus, the forgotten free agent Campo made his second consecutive start in a defensive midfield role.

The change up front paid dividends as Walters headed in a Ben Thatcher cross in the 14th minute for the only goal of the game as Town managed to record at least one win over the Christmas/New Years period. By all accounts, Town controlled this game and could have won by a wider margin, though they were aided when Derby’s Jordan Stewart saw red on 77 minutes. This match was the final game at the helm for Paul Jewell as he was fired a few days after this defeat, his 50th match at Derby.

Holiday TractorHawk Grade: C
The latest string of results leaves the Town in 10th place on 35 points, 6 points behind Sheffield United who currently sit in the final playoff spot, and a practically insurmountable 23 and 16 points behind top teams Wolves and Reading respectively.

A mostly forgettable end to a mostly forgettable year at Portman Road in 2008 as Ipswich have really struggled to put together any kind of decent run of form. While the playoffs are certainly well within reach, Magilton has got to get this squad playing some consistently decent football if the Portman Road faithful are to be rewarded with any kind of excitement in the second half of the season. Personally I wont hold my breath – the influx of players that Jim has signed have not made much of an impact and the team has shown only occasional sparks.


Still we could win the FA Cup….but we’ll catch up on that in another posting. Cheers!

Welcome to 2009!!

With the festive season now firmly in the rear view mirror and the foundations in progress for some other major web based projects and initiatives, it’s time to welcome the New Year and get the ball rolling again in the land of the TractorHawk. I hope you and yours had a great holiday season and that you were afforded enough time to keep track of an incredibly busy festive football program.

We have lots to catch up with on both sides of the football universe as it applies to this blog, so over the next few days I’ll publish a few quick reviews of some of the major events that transpired in the Premier League, Championship, and NFL. And we can throw in anything else anyone might like to discuss. So if you have something you want to read or argue about, hit the comments below and we’ll get going.

I mentioned some ‘other’ projects at the beginning of this article. There will be more details to follow but I have been working on a few ideas for some subject themes for BlueHawks as we move into January and beyond. A couple that I’ll mention right now include a regular “Legends” series that will profile a player, coach, manager, or team of particular interest to this site. Most likely the focus will be on football (UK and US) and I have some basic guidelines established. But like everything else on my site I’m always open to feedback and requests to add to the agenda.

Another exciting component that I plan to add shortly are soccer products and merchandise reviews where Blue Hawks & Tractors will provide unbiased articles profiling some of the latest and greatest products from a leading web based company. More to follow very soon as we wrap up the final details.

I will be sure to keep everyone updated so keep an eye out for further announcements and a whole series of new articles over the coming days.

Looking forward to a great 2009 in the TractorHawk sporting world, even if the Town don’t go up….Cheers All!!