After two 2-0 defeats in succession, Town fans could be forgiven for thinking the bad old Keane days are back with us again. But, those two scorelines hide the reality of life under Paul Jewell.

For the first time since Jim Magilton’s second season as manager (when we lost only one home match all season) Portman Road has become a place where you can expect bundles of entertainment for your £25 ticket – by a team which will attack the opposition, and try to outscore them over 90 minutes.

But does that mean we will up there battling for promotion next season? Probably not, and for a very simple reason – one which will remind us of the Keane era. Sorry everyone, but I reckon we are facing yet another one of those intensely irritating “transitional seasons”.

Over the next six months we should brace ourselves for a big turnover of players. We all know about the couple of dozen (almost) players who are out of contract at the end of the season. We also know how we are crying out for at least one new full-back (on the right), maybe two (Kennedy will be 35 by the start of next season).

For what it’s worth, I expect us to be looking for a replacement for McAuley (maybe Delaney too) and Norris, while we need another player to step into the shoes of Jimmy Bullard when he goes back to Hull (as he is likely to). And, for all our glorious attacking football, we are still lacking that key striker (or two?), who will put the ball in the net more often than he misses.

Add all that lot up and even the most optimistic fan should be expecting seven new players compared to Saturday's line-up, maybe more.

Under Jewell, I’m sure it will be a more coherent transition than we have had in the past couple of times. Jewell seems to know what he wants from a team and a clearer idea of where he can get players than Keane (and maybe even Magilton) before him. I’m much more confident that he will select square pegs for square holes than his predecessors. But we simply can’t expect that influx of first-teamers to gel from day one.

Of course, it might not all work out quite like this. If Jewell can work some kind of magic, by persuading McAuley, Delaney, Bullard and (to a lesser extent) Norris to buy into his ITFC revolution, the framework of Saturday's much improved side will remain in place. If this happens, Jewell’s priorities can be limited to a couple of fullbacks and - that strikeforce. But if Saturday demonstrated anything to us long-suffering Town fans, it is that the man for Portman Road is staring us in the face.

For me, David Nugent is the closest thing there is a current day Marcus Stewart, in terms of the impact he could make at our club. Still only 25, he has a good six seasons left in him, and there is also no baggage between him and Jewell.

The only thing standing in the way of such a deal is our fans' dislike of him (but the current animosity would disappear overnight if he came here and scored goals for us) and a fee. But if we were willing to pay £3m for Chopra, Nugent is surely just as good a bet.

At very least, it would stop him scoring AGAINST us.

ITFCOYB added 14:57 - Feb 28 I think i agree with almost all of that. Another transition coming... wouldn't be too worried if we lost the players mentioned and wouldn't be unhappy to see Nugent here. ITFC should be an extremely attractive team to come and play for by the start of next season with a few results and new ambition in place. COYB. :-)
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chevblue added 16:36 - Feb 28 Nugent! I hope your not being serious. Nugent has scored on just sixteen occasions since he signed for Portsmouth in 2007 (and six of those were while he was on loan at Burnley). Works out at about a goal every four games - not the 25-goal a year man that Paul Jewell is looking for! Even the much maligned Jason Scotland has a better strike rate at 1 goal per 3 games this season.

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CleverTrevor added 17:03 - Feb 28 Chevblue - I'd say a few things to your point. He is playing in a v poor Pompey team, he was the main difference between us on Saturday. And a lot of the games you mention were in the Premiership. Plus, I was amazed to see he is still only 25. He has loads of good years ahead of him, has decent pace, an eye for goal. And I can imagine Jewell is just the kind of manager to get the best out of him.

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runaround added 18:37 - Feb 28 I cannot see Nugent ever playing for ITFC to be honest but a striker who can score goals like him is what we need. I also think McAuley and Norris will stay. Interesting blog though
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Calmingwind added 21:39 - Feb 28 billy sharpe from doncaster would be the ticket
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TractorRoyNo1 added 12:16 - Mar 1 good football, but a couple more defeats and the 'honeymoon' will be well and truly over, give me a boring one nil win any day!
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fourth added 14:08 - Mar 2 Yes, it seems rather important to save a lot of time by committing to the essential framework now-ish, working on retaining the 7 essential players and demonstrating to prospective new players that they will be fitting into a set-up that is starting to get its "automatisms" in place.
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Lightningboy added 15:27 - Mar 2 I think some bloggers are starting to over-analyse everything now. Saturday we played well but couldn't put the ball in the net - end of story. Things are much better than they were under KeanotheClown & I for one am very positive about a play-off/promotion push under Paul Jewell over the coming 2 or 3 seasons. Some players will leave in the summer..some will come in..that's how it's been since football began. I'm just glad that we've now got a proper manager in place who knows the game,knows the fans & knows how to do business with other clubs other than Sunderland. Bring on 2011/12...happier days are here again.

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joe9087 added 15:32 - Mar 2 I think Lightningboy has summed it up nicely.
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Bergholtblue added 19:08 - Mar 2 Nugent may have a strike rate of 1 in 4 whilst at Pompey. But isn't it 8 in 8 at matches he has played at Portman Road? If he can maintain a goal a game at home I would even forgive him for being an obnoxious git! He would never come. The player the fans love to hate, they would be on his back the minute the goals and/or wins dried up.
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MVBlue added 23:45 - Mar 8 I think Nugent has made it clear he does not want to play at ITFC. Sharp however..
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