Ipswich Town: A closer look at the Blues' disciplinary record

Sam Morsy has gone four matches without picking up a yellow card (Image: Ross Halls)

Sam Morsy

We know this rule all too well by now. Five yellow cards and you’ll have to serve a one-match suspension. The cut-off point for this is matchday 19, which is the home game against Chelsea on December 30th in Ipswich’s case.

The players most at risk at the moment are Sam Morsy and Omari Hutchinson, both of whom are on four bookings – one away from a ban.

Morsy is certainly used to this. He’s faced this challenge many times before and is known for being able to walk a yellow-card tightrope for an extended period. Even by his standards, it seems unlikely that he’ll avoid it for another eight games at this level.

His four yellow cards came early on in the season - three of them in successive matches. At Manchester City, he fouled Savinho on the edge of the box in the first half of the match. At home to Fulham the following weekend, he caught Rodrigo Muniz with a mistimed lunge.

After the international break, two fouls in quick succession earned him a booking in the seventh minute at Brighton. Then, two weeks later, he clattered Morgan Rogers and was given his fourth caution of the campaign as a result.

That fifth booking will surely come at some point, but thankfully, Ipswich have good depth in the centre of the park. Jens Cajuste impressed away at Tottenham while Kalvin Phillips is improving week-by-week. Jack Taylor will hopefully be back from injury after the international break too.

Omari Hutchinson is also one booking away from a ban (Image: Ross Halls)

Omari Hutchinson

Somewhat surprisingly, Omari Hutchinson is also on four yellow cards. He’s not a physical, aggressive player like Morsy, but he’s had the odd booking for repetitive fouling and time wasting.

His first came just 13 minutes into the season when he took out Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo. A month on, he caught Lewis Dunk with a high boot away at Brighton, which also saw him receive a booking.

A lunge on Ross Stewart saw him receive a third at Southampton the following weekend, with the most recent one coming away at Spurs, which came for late time wasting.

So he’s also one away from a ban and he’d be hard to replace. His dribbling, creativity and defensive work rate have really helped Ipswich so far this season – he’s a unique player.

With Chiedozie Ogbene out, Conor Chaplin would likely slot in through the middle, with Wes Burns out on the right. Alternatively, Sammie Szmodics could be moved centrally to allow Jack Clarke to come in on the left.

For both Morsy and Hutchinson, it’s important to remember that there’s a two-match ban for any players who hit 10 yellow cards before matchday 32, which for Ipswich is Chelsea away on April 12th, 2025.

On top of that, a ban that comes from hitting five or 10 bookings is competition specific. They can’t be served in the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.

Two of Liam Delap's three yellow cards have been for dissent (Image: Ross Halls)

Liam Delap

Striker Liam Delap thankfully has a bit more leeway. He’s on three bookings, so can pick up one more without any consequences. There’s a realistic chance of him making it all the way to matchday 19, but his style of play would probably say otherwise.

He’s also still learning to harness his aggression, having been booked for dissent in consecutive weeks against Southampton and Aston Villa. His most recent yellow card came at Tottenham when he caught Cristian Romero with an elbow.

The reality is that all three of these are unnecessary. Yes, his combative nature is crucial to his style of play, but as England Under-21s manager Ben Futcher said last month, ‘he needs to control it’.

If he’s suspended before the end of the calendar year, George Hirst would undoubtedly be picked to lead the line if fit and available.

Leif Davis has been cautioned twice so far this season (Image: Steve Waller)

Others to watch

Ali Al-Hamadi, Axel Tuanzebe, Jack Taylor and Leif Davis have all been booked twice. Al-Hamadi isn’t playing regularly, so will probably be fine. As regular starters in defence, Tuanzebe and Davis will need to be careful. Taylor is yet to start, but he’s looked surprisingly bellicose in many of his cameo appearances.

There are 12 others with one yellow card to their name. In no particular order: Kalvin Phillips, Arijanet Muric, Ben Johnson, Conor Chaplin, Dara O’Shea, George Hirst, Jack Clarke, Jacob Greaves, Jens Cajuste, Luke Woolfenden, Sammie Szmodics and Wes Burns.

Kalvin Phillips was given a second yellow card in the Blues' 1-1 draw against Leicester City (Image: Steve Waller)

Kalvin Phillips and Harry Clarke

Although he’s technically been shown a yellow card three times this season, Phillips only has one booking to his name. When you’re given a second yellow card in a single game and sent off, that solely counts as a red card, which is what happened to the midfielder against Leicester City.

The same counts for Harry Clarke, who received two yellow cards against Brentford and was subsequently given a red card. It wipes the slate clean for the match in terms of cumulative bookings, so he technically has none.

Both players do have to be careful now they’ve been sent off, however. If it happens to them again, they’ll be given two-match bans instead of one.

A red card for dissent is an automatic two-match suspension. Violent conduct, of course, is three. Unlike yellow cards, a ban from a red card will apply to all domestic tournaments. So if an Ipswich player was sent off before an FA Cup match, they’d be unavailable for that game.