Town have announced a 1pm press conference [delayed to 1.15pm] where Paul Jewell is set to be confirmed as the Blues' new boss.

The former Bradford, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan and Derby manager has been the only candidate seriously in the frame since bookies stopped taking bets on him taking over from Roy Keane on Thursday, before the Irishman's exit had even been confirmed.

Jewell, 46, was born in Liverpool and began his playing career with the Reds but failed to make a senior appearance at Anfield before moving on to Wigan Athletic in 1984 for £15,000.

The 5ft 8in tall frontman spent four years at Springfield Park, scoring 47 goals in 145 starts and 26 sub appearances.

In 1988 he joined Bradford for £80,000 and was with the Bantams for a decade, netting 66 times in 253 starts and 55 games from the bench. In 1995 he had had a spell on loan at Grimsby where he scored once in three games.

Jewell’s coaching career began on the staff at Bradford while he was still a player and in January 1998 he was made caretaker-manager at Valley Parade, replacing Chris Kamara, having been the current Sky Sports man’s assistant.

After an impressive start, Jewell was given a permanent contract by chairman Geoffrey Richmond and in the 1998/99 season his Bradford side held off Town’s challenge to finish second in what’s now the Championship behind Sunderland to reach the top flight for the first time in 77 years.

Having been everyone’s favourites to go straight back down, the Bantams secured survival on the final day of the 1999/00 season by beating Liverpool 1-0 at Valley Parade, David Wetherall netting the vital goal.

Jewell resigned soon after — assistant Chris Hutchings taking over at the Bantams - to become manager of Sheffield Wednesday, who had been relegated along with Wimbledon and Watford. Jewell's record at Valley Parade was won 46, drew 26 and lost 45 in 117 games in charge.

The Liverpudlian was sacked after only eight months at Hillsborough with the club in financial strife which afflicted them for most of the decade and eventually saw them drop into Division Two (now League One) in 2003. Jewell's record in his 38 games with the Owls was won 12, drew five and lost 21.

In June 2001 Jewell was appointed as manager at Wigan, then in what's now League One, taking them into the Championship in 2002/03, his second season back with the Latics.

Wigan narrowly missed out on a play-off place in their first ever season in the second tier, but a year later Jewell beat the Blues to the Premier League for the second time, Wigan finishing ahead of fellow Scouser Joe Royle’s Town in third with Sunderland again the champions.

The Latics finished 10th in their first season in the Premier League with Jewell amongst the names linked with the vacant England manager’s job during the following summer.

The following season Wigan escaped relegation on goal difference on the last day of the season. A day later Jewell resigned after 127 wins, 74 draws and 90 defeats in 291 games in charge at the JJB Stadium.

Having been mentioned in connection with Leicester and the Republic of Ireland, as well as a possible return to Wigan, Jewell eventually became boss at Derby County in November 2007.

The Rams were already well on their way to their record low Premier League points total of 11 and Jewell was unable to stop the rot. Despite this and tabloid stories regarding his personal life Derby kept him in charge for what they hoped would be a promotion challenge during 2008/09.

But things went little better in the Championship and after a December 2008 1-0 defeat to the Blues at Pride Park, Jewell resigned with his side in 18th place. His record in his 58 games with the Rams was won 12, drew 15 and lost 31.

He has been out of football management since then, although he has become a regular on the media circuit.

Married to Ann-Marie with a son Sam, who has played golf for Yorkshire, Jewell, whose late father Billy was a trade unionist in Liverpool, has been living in Menston near Bradford.

Photo: Action Images

mark1969 added 09:13 - Jan 10 Whoever it is good luck to him , he will have our support , but if it is Jewell i hope the guy who leaked it has not made millions out of us on a betting scam ?How could the odds go down so fast even before Keane was sacked ? If it is Jewell somebody leaked the info to there advantage , not a good start maybe the bookies will insist on taking this to an enquiry ? Why if it is Jewell didnt Cleggy tell us when asked ? I would definately like to know who he was interviewing all weekend, who were the other candidates ?Cleggy if you need us all to renew our season tickets be honest with us , do not continue to feed us a load of old bull !!

0

AberdeenTractor added 09:15 - Jan 10 Spot on Wickets
0

muhrensleftfoot added 09:19 - Jan 10 Would have preferred Curbishley, but Jewell's got a decent record at this level. Let's hope he does well. He'll be backed by the fans only if he quickly produces results though, & to be honest, that's the same with whoever they bring in!
0

SinghyITFC added 09:22 - Jan 10 Not my first choice if im honest, i would rather have seen Curbs with Matt Holland as number 2! Nevertheless, you will have my backing and should have the backing of every other Town fan!!! The club really needs re-shaping, top to bottom! Starting from the acadamy which is non-existant. Having played there no so long ago seeing all of the exiting talent and playing under well respected coaches, all of that is gone! KEANES FAULT for sacking Brian Klug, the guy obviously knew something about football as he is now head youth coach at Tottenham!!! The transfer policy at the club is a shambles! The manager should be making the delas happen not the chief exec! Maybe then we will start signing some quality. The scouting network was non-existant in Keans reign, he only signed Irish or players he already knew. The team need's at least 4 or 5 new signings in the transfer window to stop the slide! Overall, i would much rather the club build the foundations to stay in the Premier League and not just go for a qucik fix. We all need to be patient and give Paul Jewell time to fix this mess! Good Luck Paul.

0

bluelady added 09:25 - Jan 10 Mark samed happened with Keane, it was leaked to the bookies and his odds dropped before he was announced, thats life im afraid. As for the interviewing at the weekend, just maybe they had Jewell lined up but wanted to sound Hodgson out first who would not have talked to town before Keane left? Just an idea. That said i do think Clegg must think we are totally numpties if we believe his B*****T about nothing being decided, lots in the frame etc etc. For me its the above reason or a total lie by the board. As for signings, well my hope is that Jewell has remained close to the game over the last two years (i believe his choice to take a break, wanted one after Wigan but took the derby job, had some personal issues he needed to sort too :-) anyways lets hope his targets are far more realistic than Keanes and so will not take too much to get signed off. Players like Big Mac coming from a team that had been relegated, Walters coming from the lower leagues are perfect examples of great players that are around but with a reasonable price tag. Keanes players that he signed have all depreciated in value, can you see us getting 1 million for any of the dross he has signed??? so i am fully behind whoever comes in, i wont expect us to soar up the table BUT i will expect entertaining football and a team that turn up week in week out. Jewells is still a legend at Wigan, if it is him lets make him one here.....

0

Karlosfandangal added 09:26 - Jan 10 Clegg will not come stright out with it for one reason contract negisoations. He would have looked very silly if he had said Jewell and then Jewell turned down the contract. Could it be a smoke screen and Hodgson is the man and just waiting for he to sort out his Liverpool contract (we will find out at 1pm) If you read the comments that Keane and Clegg have made over the last 2 weeks it was looking more and more like Keane knew he was going.

0

Acen added 09:26 - Jan 10 Paul Jewell, what a lad!
0

heavenlyblue added 09:27 - Jan 10 Can't say I'm overwhealmed with enthousiasm! A rather boring appointment - someone nobody else has wanted for the last 3 years as I see it. I'm generally pretty upbeat and optimistic but I can't help thinking there must have been someone a bit more inspiring out there? Wonder if they tried approaching others and had to fall back on Jewell given that they were supposed to be interviewing over the weekend?

0

osborne1nil added 09:28 - Jan 10 TheTruth, - 'Managers need time, minimum of 5 years, so all of you that wanted a new manager do everyone a favour and give this guy time' Maybe the new Manager will not come in being quite so cocky in that he will have ITFC up in 2 years and 'any muppet can get mid table' type quotes, as this puts expectations in many fans eyes! I feel the manner of the defeat yesterday may have sped up the annoucement for today as I am sure they do not want the same level of drubbing on Wednesday. Whoever gets the role, and going by Phil's account it appears to be Jewell (which the EADT seem to think the same) will have a lot of work to do. Yes we need a few more players in, but more importantly the players who we have got need to feel valued again and give them back the desire and ability to play good football as a team. PJ wouldn't have been my first choice along with many others but he has done some good work in the past and will hopefully be up for proving himself again. If it was down to the three being quoted of Jewell, Curbishley and Megson then as long as it is not Megson, I feel the majority of fans will give the new manager a chance and hope to see a gradual improvement in the performances and results(as they had stayed loyal to RK for most of his term - he only started to get a bit of flack towards to the last few games). Good luck to whoever comes in.

0

bluelady added 09:29 - Jan 10 oh and those that keep going on about Matt Holland, he doesnt want the job!!! He has already said this week he loves his work in the media and the time isnt right for him to return to town, BUT that one day he would like to! Going back to yesterdays game, personally think McParlan is a numpty, anyone hear his post game review? talk about lack of inspiration. He said the players are totally thrown by what happened this week - is it because they miss Kene NOOOOO its because a vast majority are s**t scared as they know any half decent manager coming in will have them out of the club as quickly as possible!!! Those who have slacked under keane will have to pull their socks up or be found out. Positives Brown is turning into a great little player and ideal cover for Big Mac, Jamies Peters should keep a place in the team, Fulop showed what a good goalkeeper he is, Big Mac is back and will hopefully re-sign now and Murray and Prisken could be the next strike force!!!!

0

Keaneish added 09:30 - Jan 10 Completely agree Mark1969 - 20/1 - 6/5 overnight before Keane went. Maybe someone should start asking questions about the meteoric rise of Paddy Power in the last 5 years!!!
0

brian_a_mul added 09:31 - Jan 10 Jewell was my second choice and a good one at that, if you can ignore his past private life. We have all made mistakes and he deserves a real chance & full backing of supporters if he is appointed. He knows the Championship, knows how to set a team up and plays decent football. His style is to have a solid defense with pace out wide and powerful forwards up front. He also likes to use proper full backs. He may be able to make a partnership out of Wickham and Scotland. I cant see him using Priskin unless its out in the wide areas. He also liked to have a creative player in the middle, ex Jason Koumas, pinging the ball around to create fast attacks out wide or through balls for the big lads up front. His first job will be to sign a RB. Best of luck Paul!

0

blueoff added 09:31 - Jan 10 I hope it's not jewell, I won't renew my season ticket if it is, that's for sure
0

dirtydingusmagee added 09:32 - Jan 10 I said same thing about Clegg's comments yesterday ,and if it proves to be true it shows he is full of sh;t and has no feelings for fans ,just feed em sh't im getting to dislike him by the week .
0

Drew added 09:32 - Jan 10 Big Fat Paul's Barmy Army! Yay, it works.
0

bluelady added 09:33 - Jan 10 blueoff great to see you giving the new guy a chance! Fans like that we dont need anyway, writing someone off before they have even been anounced, what a numpty
0

groovyASH added 09:39 - Jan 10 Totally agree bluelady- we need fans who will get behind the team and the manager. People forget he has got 2 teams promoted from this division (and don't forget with what ease he got Wigan promoted as champions, or the fact he kept both his promoted sides up the following season). Yes he also got Derby utterly destroyed but with over 2 years out of the game he will come back refreshed, ready and enthusiastic, very similar to good old Joe Royle back in the day. We could do a lot worse than Jewell. BFP's barmy army!

0

Marcus added 09:40 - Jan 10 Not sure it's Jewell. The bets were called off because of the risk of insider better rather than anything else. True there hasn't been any significant speculation about anyone else but be prepared that it might be someone unexpected.
0

Boz581 added 09:41 - Jan 10 Hmm Paul Jewell sounds like Marcus looked at who will be a cheap gamble, who's out of work but will sound like a reasonable appointment !!! Not impressed but good luck to whoever gets it , lets face it who ever gets the job hasn't got much to do to beat the previous managers record !!! All time low right now and another emmbarrasment coming midweek , on telly too I'm hiding behind the sofa..

0

Bostonblue added 09:43 - Jan 10 One of this mornings papers says Jewells pipped O'Driscoll to the job,hope it's the other way round!
0

brogansnose added 09:45 - Jan 10 So two blokes who know nothing about football spent the weekend interviewing for the manger of a football club. Wonder what the questions were?
0

sonian_blue added 09:46 - Jan 10 Smacks of desperation. Why oh why havent we taken more time over this to ensure we get the right man. I will get behind whoever it is but I feel this is a big decision that shouldve taken a bit more time. After yesterdays pitiful display this will be a big job. COYB Boys
0

bluelady added 09:48 - Jan 10 brogansnose, well Keane knew a lot about football but that didnt make him a good manager :-)
0

budgieplucker added 09:48 - Jan 10 Daily Mail seems to think that Curbishley, Hughton and O'Driscoll were also interviewed. I guess our salary structure (and potential compensation to Doncaster) had the eliminating factor. But anyway good luck to the new manager whoever it is.
0

blueoff added 09:48 - Jan 10 Bluelady : I'll have what ever opinion I want thank you very much and I certainly don't need your permission to do so, jewell has been out of the game for two years because no other club has been daft enough to employ him !
0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls