Blues boss Paul Jewell says he wants to get to the stage where Town are making a few signings each summer rather than making the wholesale changes which have characterised the last couple of close seasons. The Town manager, who played down suggestions he might move for Peterborough pair Paul Taylor and George Boyd, says a squad is freshened up by new signings but when 13 players are added in one go as happened at Portman Road last summer, it takes time for them to gel.

Jewell said: “Any manager will tell you that it’s nice to bring fresh players in in the close season, but certainly when you bring in as many as we did last summer it takes a while for them to settle.

“If you can just tweak it a little each year, that means you’re happy with what you’ve got already and just want to make little improvements here and there. We’re working towards that. I wouldn’t say we’re there yet but we’re working towards it.”

Posh duo Paul Taylor and George Boyd both have a year left on their contracts at London Road and are set to be sold this summer having turned down new deals.

Jewell admitted to being fan of Taylor prior to the Blues’ 3-2 victory over Peterborough at Portman Road recently, but wouldn’t be drawn further on any potential interest and in any case says they may be beyond Town in this new Financial Fair Play world and with Premier League clubs likely to be in the running.

However, he says players of “that ilk” are what he’ll be looking at even if they might not be targets themselves: “I just think Taylor’s a good player. It’s not really fair [for me to talk about them, although I] know they’re going to be on the market but I don’t know what the price would be.

“We would be in the market for that type of player with that desire and of that ability. But there’ll be a lot of clubs in for them, probably clubs in the Premiership, if you listen to Barry Fry anyway!

“If good players come up and are available and we can afford them, we want to be in the market for them, but there will be a lot of suitors for the lad Taylor.

“To be fair to George Boyd, he has played on the left, but this season he’s mainly played in the middle of midfield. We’re in that type of market, but he’d probably be out of our price range, to be honest.”

Photo: Action Images

legoman added 11:12 - Apr 6 I was horrified when I saw the headline but now I am relieved to see we are only cutting down from 13. We obviously need two or three new defenders and a goalie or two.
0

Farmers_Union added 11:18 - Apr 6 All well and good sayin that at this stage of a poor season, but focus must be on gettin in some key players. GK and CB's importantly, and a RB. And surely some of the OAP's need to be replaced.... We certainly require some depth in squad to challenge for automatic promotion...!!?? COYB!!! sink Derby.
0

robboo92 added 11:23 - Apr 6 I know its good that the club are addressing the ffp rules this early on, but if i remember rightly the punishments for failing to comply do not come in for another season or 2. yes we would still have to consider wages but i feel that pj is already consigned to the fact that he cant spend big, when if the right player comes along i feel he will pass up the opportunity.

0

walberswick added 11:42 - Apr 6 There I was, a-diggin' this 'ole 'Ole in the ground, so big and sort o' round it was And there was I, diggin' it deep
0

jas0999 added 11:44 - Apr 6 I fear we will get left behind this pre-season. Other clubs will look to strengthen their teams - and this will mean they'll be competitive in the transfer market. Sounds as though we won't. Sadly, after so many poor signings and loans last Summer - and with a number of players likely to leav on free's - I think we need a lot of new players. I'm not saying I agree with bringing in a lot of players - and if PJ addressed key areas and didn't rely on loans last Summer we wouldn't have to. But, it's clear we need: 1 x GK (high priority) 1 x RB (medium priority) 2 x CB (high priority - as Sonko and Smith may leave on frees) 1 x LB (low priority - need cover for Cresswell though) Then: 2 x Striker (high priority - only one if Scotland stays) Replacements for Murphy and Leadbitter (medium/high priority assuming they leave). Hopefully Bowyer will also leave! I therefore think we need 8 or 9 players. I can't see us getting 2 or 3 as other clubs will offer more than us. It could be yet another tough year.

0

Garv added 11:54 - Apr 6 The most we need to sign is 5 players, 6 at the very most. Smith and Scotland will sign.
0

Blue041273 added 12:16 - Apr 6 While it's sometimes difficult these days to take what PJ says seriously this particular pronouncement is even more ambiguous than usual. Following on from earlier statements it would appear to warn us not to expect lots of signings in the summer yet when you read it through it actually says the need not to make wholesale changes is an aspiration and that "We're not there yet". What we're supposed to make of this is anyone's guess.

0

Mark added 12:27 - Apr 6 A goalkeeper is clearly the first priority and I think we need a strong, solid centre back as the second priority. It depends which others players leave thereafter as I think the rest of the squad is able to compete quite well. Clearly Evans isn't going to fund a big promotion push and the club are mindful of getting the wage bill down for the Financial Fair Play Rules, but I am hopefully that Jewell can do enough in the transfer market to get us challenging for the play-offs next season.

0

Andy32Cracknell added 12:50 - Apr 6 I'm sorry, but for the manager of Ipswich Town to say that a player coming from Peterborough (no disrespect against Peterborough) are out of league and we cant possibly afford is a joke, its farcical . It makes me think what kind of dross are we gunna bring in in the summer.
0

StowTractorBoy added 13:20 - Apr 6 Paul Taylor at Peterborough has already stated he wants to go to a Premiership Club so I think he will be out of our range. Boyd however is I believe a good option. He failed miserably at Forest making no impact at all but then bounced back in his comfort zone at Posh. Can't see him being a Premiership player but the stumbling block will be the ridiculous fee touted by Fry. Boyd can play on the left or in the middle of midfield and scores goals - I would love us to go in for him.

0

Mungo added 14:09 - Apr 6 1) The point PJ is making is that he doesn't want to have to bring in a full team of players again this summer, just a few quality signings (in reality, probably about 5 or 6) in certain areas to strengthen the existing team. There is nothing sinister about it, just common sense. Evolution not revolution... 2) With regard to Peterborough players being beyond our reach, Barry Fry has always placed high valuations on their key players. I remember not so long ago he was asking £5million for Aaron McLean! I don't particularly want to see us throw money at Peterborough, so am glad that PJ will look elsewhere...

0

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 14:26 - Apr 6 That was nice wobbleswick, are you dancing while you sing ?
0

foster added 15:38 - Apr 6 happy to see this,we need a setteled squad to get the team needed to achieve promotion.look at reading.
0

Keaneish added 17:34 - Apr 6 George Boyd can only play for us if he cuts his hair.
0

chepstowblue added 19:00 - Apr 6 Keanish,most football geniuses over the years hav had long locks and my reluctance to have a trim means i also fall into that category!!!Seriously tho Boyd and Taylor wud be a terrific double swoop,Taylor is the best player ive seen in the championship this season and could certainly do better than us.Im not for wholesale changes tho,the squad have shown how decent they can be over the last 3months,an additional 3or4 on top of what we have would suit me fine,i dont want to be starting from scratch again nxt season(gk,rb as cover for Carlos, centre half and striker) and id be delirious.

0

shoopdelang added 20:15 - Apr 6 Personaly I would like to see Delaney leave and us to bring in another centre back to play alongside Smith. I did not used to be a fan of Smith either but he has won me over. And also a new number one Goalkeepeer is priority. However the starting 11 is almost there in my opinion we mainly just need to sign squad players for cover... I am very optimistic about next season although saying that I am every season!

0

michaeldownunder added 20:40 - Apr 6 With the way PJ etc are talking about money there is no way we will sign any player as 'cover' player, this is what we should use our younger players for. A good strong c/half and a goal keeper that commands his area is what we need, not sure we will sign a striker if we can keep Murphy and Scotland. Don't forget we have Ellington (not very good but he is on a two year contract, so will be here what ever we think of him) Murray will be back and JET/Stephenson can both play as strikers

0

eaii added 10:48 - Apr 7 'Jewell Targeting Fewer Summer Signings' keep Clegg in charge of signings and this exactly what will happen PJ. Remember with Clegg it is budget not quality and once he has spent £125,000 on three players (total value) he will then expect you to win the Champions League in a season and a half.
0

bluearmy4life added 18:39 - Apr 7 Need 5-6 new players at least. Yet another big summer for ITFC and a fairly big season next season. Have we made progress? Probably a little lately, but league postion doesn't show how far we have come in recent weeks.
0

buryblue77 added 12:01 - Apr 8 We need GK RB 2xCB LB (probably) CF The problem I can see is we've really got going with this financial fair play stuff and I can't see us spending a lot of money or paying big wages, which all means it could be even more difficult to get players. If you ask me this financial fair play stuff could be more detrimental than good, if rich investors can't 'throw' their money around we will see less of them coming into the game. Small clubs will only get smaller as they will never be able to afford anyone and the big clubs will get bigger as they'll attract the best players. Doesn't sound like fair play to me!!!

0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls