Sturrock: 'Impressed by Kalala'; Jewell: 'They were the better team for periods of the 2nd half'
Last updated : 23 July 2011 By westfield shrimper
Sturrock: 'Having a chat with N'diaye, must change the way he plays'
A game of two halves for the Shrimpers faithful in the crowd at Roots Hall Friday evening, and after the match Blues boss Paul Sturrock, while impressed with his teams improved second half display and happy with one trialist, is concerned with a certain season-long loanee.
Bt Bomber is happy with his new best mate!
Sturrock told www.echo-news.co.uk: “For 40 minutes of the second half we were the better team and that’s encouraging when you consider we were playing a Championship team. The first half was a culture shock for us in many ways and we didn’t play well. Ipswich are a good side and they took advantage of that but we changed things around at half-time and that definitely helped. It was a very good header and that was certainly a plus point for us. Mark Phillips also did well when he came on and I was also pleased how Jean-Paul Kalala did again as well.”
More interesting was a tweet sent out by Echoman Chris Phillips that summed up Luggy's problem after a poor display by Alassane N'Diaye that saw him come off at half-time.
Sturrock said: 'Pleased with second half and impressed by Kalala. Will be having a chat with N'diaye and stressed he must change the way he plays.'
Followed up by Phillips posting: 'Sturrock aware we are leaking goals down the left hand side and will address it.'
This is after three of the Shrimpers four goals conceded in pre-season have been down the left side of the pitch, Peter Gilbert in for some extra training or the problem caused further forward?
Also a quick comment from the scorer Neil Harris who had the excitable, but always unpredictable, Bilel Mohsni for company in the second period.
Harris said: 'We set our standard in the second half and I enjoyed playing alongside Bilel.'
Jewell: 'It was like chalk and cheese really'
Meanwhile, Tractor Boys manager Paul Jewell was in a far more talkative mood and agreed that while his team could have had a bigger lead in the first 45, after the break it was a completely different story.
Jewell told
www.itfc.co.uk:
“In the first half I thought we played very well. We had a little look at a different system that we might play next season in certain games. In the first half hour we were certainly very good. In the second, it was like chalk and cheese really, it was a disappointing performance in the second half but these pre-season games are all about getting fit.”
It seems that second half come downs were a habit of Ipswich Town's over the last campaign, one that saw bitter rivals Norwich, who the Shrimpers take on at Roots Hall next Thursday, promoted to the Premiership.
However, credit to the former Bradford City manager who accepted the improvement of the home side in the later period of the game.
Jewell continued: “It’s a trait of ours that we had last season that we’ve got to put right – when we come under a bit of pressure we give possession away too cheaply. They made the pitch big, whereas in the first half we were in complete control of the game. In the second half we didn’t start off right and if you don’t start off right it’s always going to be difficult. It was a decent tempo, fair play to Southend, they were the better team for periods of the second half. We had a couple of chances which we should have scored but we didn’t. These pre-season games you can get false aspirations one way or the other, but I think we all know we’re at least a couple of players short.”