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[Blog] Team Building Is A Work In Progress
Written by Pessimistic on Thursday, 24th Nov 2011 14:47

It was the much used phrase of Jim Magilton I recall and Roy Keane used it too from time to time but this "work in progress" is a virtually exhausted football cliche - that says much about being busy.

rytext">This blog has been submitted by Pessimistic. To view more from this author click here. TWTD blogs are added by site users unedited by the admins. Want to become a TWTD blogger? Simply send us your first article via the Contact Us page. Busy doing nothing in particular it would seem. In fairness to Paul Jewell he has uttered these words much more sparingly but if ever there was a need for these words to have some element of plausibility it is surely now!

Reading the recent blog by Glasgow Blue has provoked me into responding to some of his criticisms of our manager. He has supported Town for almost as long as I have so I do have some sympathy for his impatience, but the stats he throws up only focus on the negatives so in this regard, it is a very unbalanced argument, in my view.

We are, of course, like any other football club, a very broad church of opinions and one thing is for sure and that is that we cannot all be right! Taking this on board, not everyone is going to agree with my point of view either and having felt the barrage of criticism hurled in my direction on some of my earlier posts, I am ready to take more of the same, if it means airing a point of view that might not conform to everyone else's.

I am a strong believer in continuity and would never contemplate dismissing a manager - even if I felt it was the wrong choice - before he has had time to develop his own ideas. Anyone in the game will tell you this takes time. Paul Jewell is less than one year in the job and yet people are calling for his head which is quite absurd.

Tamas Priskin and Colin Healy were recruited by Roy Keane and it is not too surprising that they are on their way. That said, he is not so narrow-minded as to see this as his main priority. On the contrary, Jewell has given everyone a fair crack and remember even Lee Martin (another Keane recruit) is still in the squad and often playing when he isn't injured or suspended which incidentally, happens far too often in my view.

Grant Leadbitter is currently captain and once again let us not forget that it was not Jewell who signed him and Jason Scotland has forced his way back into the manager's thinking because of his determination to show his worth in training.

You could argue I suppose that Shane O'Connor and Luke Hyam have been largely ignored but they were never Jewell's personal preferences anyway if we are brutally honest. No one on the other hand would surely argue that Keith Andrews and Aaron Cresswell are not worthy Jewell acquisitions and we all love to hate Jimmy Bullard now don't we!

I firmly believe that Jewell is heading in the right direction but Rome was not built in a day and in this impatient world where success means everything, even at the expense of team performances, a win is a win is a win!

Town's defensive frailties have been without a doubt their Achilles' heel to date under Jewell. He has been a tad unlucky though because no sooner had he found Ibrahima Sonko and then pairing him with Danny Collins, injuries deprived them of a lasting partnership that I feel would have ensured that we were still in and around the top six.

Of course, if we were, there would be no head- hunting expeditions taking place and even those supporters who doubted his ability to turn things around would be a little less restless now.

The fickle nature of football determines that everyone is impatient for success but why do we always assume we have a divine right to claim it and with immediate effect? Look at the clubs around us in the Championship that have supporters that feel equally hard done by - Derby County,Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Reading, Birmingham and Leicester City, the list goes on and on and yet we somehow seem to convince ourselves that it should be plain sailing to the promised land!

In our dreams perhaps? Reality paints a different picture. Reality tells us that there are many more losers than winners in this life and in business especially. We are in the sports business and what a ruthless business this is!

Sadly, the longer we stay out of the Premiership the further away we are from it, as the closed shop of elite football tries to shut its doors to the outside world. Marcus Evans is a shrewd businessman and that is why he does not expect Jewell to deliver immediately. He knows that it takes time to fit all the pieces together and put in place the building blocks for long term success.

Unlike Roy Keane, who boasted that he could get Town promoted in his first full season in charge, Jewell has never said that. Even when we went on our much-vaunted six-game unbeaten run he repeated what he is repeating now and that is that we should not delude ourselves into thinking the patient is better because there is always the risk of a relapse on the road to full recovery. Get well soon Ipswich Town!




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naa added 16:11 - Nov 24
A nice reasoned blog.

I still find it incredulous that people are calling for Jewell's head. Sure, he's made mistakes but the fact is that he saved us last season and has shown this season that he has a team capable of challenging (the 6 game run took in some seriously tough games).

So, as far as I can tell, people are calling for his head because of 10 bad games this season.

Madness.
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irishtim added 16:19 - Nov 24
jesus u guys clueless its backwards we have gone
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naa added 16:22 - Nov 24
Backwards from where? If you're seriously suggesting we're worse off than under Keane then I can happily start ignoring you now as the Keane era heralded a true nadir for our club. Awful football, awful results and an awfully big ego from the manager.

Jewell has at least got us playing some better football, even if there are obviously some problems that need sorting. Even on a bad day at the moment the football is more entertaining than at any point in Keane's tenure.
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Daleyitfc added 16:34 - Nov 24
This is, frankly, sycophantic rubbish.
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mawwam added 16:38 - Nov 24
I must admit I did point the finger at Jewell after the Doncaster game, but that was simply for the team selection not overall. I agree with this blog, and also agree that we have been unlucky in defense. I do cringe at some of the posts calling for his head at this stage.
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Surco72 added 16:41 - Nov 24
It is nice to read a blog without the panic blinkered view of many on here ,this is a better squad short of few additions due to the fact we are still trimming deadwood to have a reasonable fight in this league .
The football is more entertaining than that of Keane , the results still better than his first season in charge with half the money spent on transfers
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My_TFC added 17:20 - Nov 24
I agree with m
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My_TFC added 17:25 - Nov 24
Stupid iPhone! I'd agree with most of this blog. Sacking Jewell would not bring instant success. In fact, instant success is hard to come by. Jewell has failed to address defensive issues, signing quality centre backs had to be done and I'm unsure he has managed this, and his stubbornness to not change from the diamond is frustrating at times. But no one could have predicted Bullard would start so poorly or that so many off field problems would shroud the club in such a short amount of time. We have quality, and as someone has said on the forum, Jewell has got all the right notes, he's just struggling to put them in the right order.
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Lesta_Tractor added 17:31 - Nov 24
I miss Joe Royle..
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SWBlue86 added 17:37 - Nov 24
Totally agree with this blog. It is a shame but Ipswich are a championship level team and will continue to be with all the money that is banded about nowadays. Although we have a wealthy backer in ME do we really have the money to compete at the top table of English football? I don't think so. - We are £60million in debt for goodness sake! We don't have a devine right to be in the top division any more than 23 other teams in the championship. Jewell is trying to build a team that can be succesful and more importantly sustainable in the future but he also needs to ensure we are succesful now. It's a very tough ask but I think we are making progress. Got to keep the faith
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HARRY10 added 17:40 - Nov 24
A work in progress, eh ?

Whereas work NOT in progress would not be err, ............. work
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Kropotkin123 added 17:55 - Nov 24
Usually I find myself in disagreement with you, and your general theme, but, good blog!
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Garv added 18:50 - Nov 24
Agree completely, a sensible voice amongst some very stupid ones.
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blrmy added 19:30 - Nov 24
Unfortunately you will get lots of criticism, particularly from the FIFA 12 and Championship Manager brigade. Good blog, provides a different point of view to the usual cr@p of "Jewell out", etc.
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runaround added 20:11 - Nov 24
Excellent blog

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wesleyITFC added 20:55 - Nov 24
I can't believe the rubbish coming out from people on this page, how have we gone backwards since Keane's era, Keane is the reason we are still playing like this, his short-sightedness caused important players to go on a free and Jewell had to replace him quickly, Yeah the defence needs some stabilising but once that's done who knows what could happen. Jewell won't change his philosophy that has got 2 teams promoted because of a few bad results, Give PJ time and I'm sure he'll sort it out. COYB
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megamoth added 21:18 - Nov 24
History tells you that you build team spirit and results through the spine of the team - GK, centre backs and central mid. Our spine is made up of three loan players, an old sicknote, and a donkey (Leadbitter). When you add to that the disappointing performances of our once great saviour - Bullard, you have to ask what chance do we really have? Im not baying for Jewell's blood but he's culpable for a good deal of our woes bearing in mind that he's signed up so many players in critical positions who, when the going gets tough, have no reason to show commitment to the cause and to the shirt
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ClassyCranson added 22:54 - Nov 24
I agree with Lesta_Tractor.

Joe Royle did an excellent job for the football club in very trying circumstances and in my opinion didn't get enough credit.



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Portman51 added 01:12 - Nov 25
Indeed he did, ClassyCranson. Would have probably got us up with a tenth of the money that's been wasted over the last 5 years....or without that assault on Kuqi by Dion Dublin. Ah well....
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Strikes added 13:19 - Nov 25
I would agree with pretty much everything in this. Credit to you Pessimistic for sticking your head above the parapet for the "Jewell Outers" to take a shot at you.

PJ has had a lot of surgery to do in his ten months in the job, some of it has worked, some of it hasn't, but to call for his head before he's been a year in the job is, in my view, premature.

It's not that much fun to watch Town at the moment, but it's not as bad (yet) as the darkest days of Keane. Keep the faith. COYB
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Strikes added 13:26 - Nov 25
Daleyitfc - of course you're entitled to an opinion but to dismiss this blog as "sycophantic rubbish" leads me to question your faculties of constructive criticism.

Agree or not, Pessimistic has laid out a well reasoned and well argued case to back up his argument. The least he deserves is an equally well reasoned and well argued case against what he's saying without descending to cheap insults.

And no, I don't know and am not (knowingly) related to Mr Pessimistic...
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Pessimistic added 14:35 - Nov 25
It is re-assuring to know that the majority of the posting here are in agreement. This tells me that I do not speak entirely alone and the fact that most of us are willing to give Paul Jewell the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps it is time for Daelyitfc to place a blog instead of resorting to derogatory and largely unsubstantiated remarks, which tells us nothing about what his grievances exactly are?
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llewej_tuo added 17:49 - Nov 26
ROY KEANE in charge for 81 games, lost 28.

PAUL JEWELL in chatge for 41 games, so far lost 18. PATHETIC

JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT
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Wolfowitz added 01:32 - Nov 27
spot on
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rosseden added 10:27 - Nov 27
the reality is there is a lot more to running a footie club than just the bits we as fans see, i would imagine the finances are starting to look much better for the next few years with the current squad and the way its being operated, and i think PJ still has a lot to do to get us to a place where we have a foundation to really push on. Theres a reason why the clubs who go down to league one often come back on top form and head to the top of this division, its called consolidation, something that has to happen in all businesses from time to time to get things in order.......... instant success doesnt happen now, look at Manschitty, £500+million in transfer fees, hundreds of millions in salaries, and coming up to three years of sheiky ownership, and they were around the top 6 already........ we need to get real, i think this is a great blog.......
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