Inconsistent Albion head to indifferent Ipswich

Ipswich Town v West Bromwich Albion; Portman Road, Saturday 25th October 2025, 12.30pm

There was an undoubted sense of frustration, if not anger, in the away end at Vicarage Road on Wednesday evening after Ryan Mason’s team had surrendered a promising start to fall to a disappointing defeat on a wet night in Hertfordshire. Expectations for their trip to Portman Road are not high despite their opponents’ indifferent start to the campaign.

Kieran McKenna’s team were relegated last season but not without putting up a fight but, like Luton Town last season, they have not found life back in the Championship easy. I’m not suggesting that the Tractor Boys will face a relegation battle, but it seems that the parachute money is not currently providing the expected advantage for any the clubs currently in receipt of it. None of current top eight have been in the Premier League since 2018.

After failing to win any of their opening four league games and exiting the League Cup on penalties to Bromley, Ipswich seemed to have found their feet with ten points from four games before losing at Middlesbrough and then being beaten 3-0 at home by promoted Charlton Athletic. That game also saw former Baggies’ ‘keeper, Alex Palmer, limping off part way through meaning that he is unlikely to face his old club on Saturday. Of course, there are plenty of other ex-Baggies in McKenna’s squad albeit Conor Townsend is also injured and both Cédric Kipré and Darnell Furlong were unused substitutes against the Addicks. Dara O’Shea did, however, captain the side.

For me, the Watford game was demonstrative of the inconsistency of the Albion side this season. For the first half an hour, they looked in control and took the lead through a fine piece of brilliance from Isaac Price who scored his second excellent goal in two games. The Hornets’ equaliser came quickly and was both a brilliant strike but also a result of two less-than-perfect defensive actions – Phillips’ header was tame while Mowatt’s efforts to close the shooter down seemed a little half-hearted. While those “errors” can perhaps be forgiven, and were only punished because of the quality of the strike, Albion’s performance from that point onwards was just as drab and disappointing as the weather.

The winning goal was something of a horror show as the ball got caught between Phillips’ legs but, bar one chance that Price really should have converted, there was very little from Albion in the second half despite plenty of possession, while the hosts could easily have scored one or two more.

It was such a contrast from the display against Preston but there were similarities in that Albion only seem to score worldies. Where are the scrappy goals? Only twice this season have they scored more than once in any game despite averaging 53% possession over the entire campaign so far. There is a definite concern that Albion don’t create enough and, according to FootyStats, they are not scoring as often as they should, underperforming on their xG by 0.28 goals per game. However, it is encouraging that they are the seventh best team in the division based on xGA, a measure of the chances they allow the opposition, albeit it has not been translated into clean sheets of late!

While there are some clear issues in the way that the team is playing, it is important to remember that the club are still in a rebuilding phase. While early season promise both this season and last may have raised expectations for some, the new owners are still trying to balance the books that were in such a bad way when they took over, while keeping the team competitive. It is something of a tightrope and we probably all recognise that the current squad is a little thin and, when injuries bite as they have done this season, it puts more pressure on the players that are able to play, and tired players are more prone to inconsistencies.

Three-game weeks are a particular challenge and Mason was once again short of numbers on Wednesday night with two ‘keepers on the bench, not for the first time this season. Molumby was missing with a problem apparently picked up on international duty, while Bielik was unwell, adding to injuries that Collyer and Wallace have picked up in recent weeks. Bany is not yet fit enough to take his place on the bench but it was encouraging that Grant was once again involved, while Daryl Dike got his first minutes of the season.

Alfie Gilchrist got his first start at Vicarage Road and, personally, I thought he looked a little bit nervous going forwards but was growing into the game when he suffered an injury of his own, which is another blow to Mason as he prepares for a very quick turnaround for the trip to Suffolk.

The Baggies head coach has complained about the scheduling and it does seem to have hit Albion hard with away trips to Norwich and Millwall earlier this month separated by less than 68 hours and this week the separation is even less with the game at Ipswich kicking off at lunchtime. When you consider that the Tractor Boys had both games this week at home, and they played a day earlier, it hardly seems fair.

I understand fans’ frustrations, and I do share some of them. For example, I feel that Mason is a little slow in changing things – Gracia made changes at half time on Wednesday and they definitely made a difference, but it’s difficult to say that Mason had the options to do that. His attacking options on the bench were either youngsters or returning from injury – if Maja had come on at half time, for example, that may well have ruled him out from starting at Ipswich as far as the medical team were concerned.

Another criticism is the speed of building attacks and, of course, the number of sideways passes. The latter, I feel, is the modern football disease and based on the desire to retain possession while trying to move the opposition defenders around to create gaps. It can work, but a well-organised defence will make it very difficult; without players who can receive the ball under pressure and pass it on or turn quickly, it can become very tedious. Johnston and Price can both do that, as can Maja, while Collyer has also shown a willingness to receive the ball in difficult situations, but it also needs those making the passes to hit their marks accurately and quickly and, perhaps more importantly, to have the confidence to believe that they will.

There have been signs of this working on occasion, but it takes a lot of time on the training ground to get it right and, with games coming thick and fast and injuries hampering availability, it’s going to take a while. Furthermore, I don’t think this is the only plan that Mason’s team has employed – we have seen the more direct approach and Albion have looked dangerous on the break on occasion, so I don’t think it is necessarily a one-size-fits-all tactical picture. Personnel will obviously impact that and, with Dike up front, for example, I think we are more likely to see the ball getting forward more quickly. I personally thought persisting with playing out from the back in the rainy conditions at Watford was a mistake, but then again, they were getting very little joy with the longer ball.

When you consider all of the factors affecting Albion this season, I am not surprised nor too disappointed as to their current position. The promising start did raise hopes but it should not have raised expectations. If Maja and Dike can both get back to full fitness, there will surely be a better chance of those scrappy goals becoming more frequent and the domination of possession translating to better results. I have never expected Albion to get promoted this season, but I did feel they should at least be challenging for a top six spot, but not necessarily achieving it.

Saturday’s match will not be easy, and I have read many opinions from Albion fans this week predicting that the Baggies will get a hiding. While Ipswich lost 3-0 at home in midweek, we cannot forget that Millwall had lost their previous home game 4-0 before they turned Mason’s team over convincingly. I could see any result at Portman Road, to be honest, but I do think Albion are going to be feeling a little beleaguered after the result at Watford, and the injury challenges facing the squad. If Mason and the leaders we hope we have in the team can turn that into a positive reaction, perhaps we could surprise a few.

History

Albion have only been beaten twice by Ipswich Town in the 21st century, both of which came at Portman Road – on New Year’s Day 2008, goals from David Wright and Jason De Vos gave Jim Magilton’s team a 2-0 victory over Mowbray’s Baggies while Grant Leadbitter’s penalty settled a League Cup quarter-final tie between the sides in December 2010 with Albion fans furious that Roberto di Matteo’s team selection suggesting he was happy to lose against Roy Keane’s Tractor Boys and concentrate on promotion. The Baggies have won three times at Portman Road in the same period, the most notable being a 5-1 win in October 2006 thanks to a Kevin Phillips hat trick and a Diomansay Kamara double.

Before the turn of the century, however, Albion had gone seventeen years without securing any sort of win over the team from Suffolk earning just five draws in 24 meetings following a 2-1 Hawthorns victory in January 1984 when goals from Gary Owen and Garry Thompson overturned an opener from Eric Gates.

Stat Attack

Current Form

All competitions; most recent game on the right

Last matches

Last meeting

10 Feb 2024 – League Championship
Ipswich Town 2 (Broadhead, Hutchinson)
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Fellows, Swift)

Last win

25 Nov 2023 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Furlong, Diangana)
Ipswich Town 0

Last win at Ipswich Town

23 Nov 2018 – League Championship
Ipswich Town 1 (Jackson)
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Rodriguez, Barnes)

Albion’s Record against Ipswich Town