New Blues boss Paul Hurst says he and owner Marcus Evans are working hard behind the scenes on adding to the Town squad and that he has a firm idea of his targets. His first addition, Chelsea youngster Trevoh Chalobah, is close to being confirmed on a season-long loan.

Asked at this morning’s pre-season press briefing whether he had eyes on further recruits, Hurst said: “I think targets have been passed over [to Evans]. The owner knows what I want to do and we’re working hard behind the scenes to try and bring people in as soon as possible.

“But, as I mentioned before, particularly when you move up the levels, maybe things don’t happen quite as quickly in general. I don’t think there’s been that much activity in the Championship. Yes, there have been some signings, of course, but not too many.

“So we have to be patient and I have to remind myself of that as well, but I’m sure there’ll be some new players for everyone to look forward to watching.”

Hurst says he’ll look to recruit from all levels of the game during his time at Town.

“Just good players, good people and if that’s from lower down, that’s fine with me," he added.

"If it’s from higher up, again I think it would be foolish to put a parameter on things and stop us from signing someone who could do a really good job for us.”

Dave Bowman, formally the director of football but effectively the club’s chief scout, remains in post, but Hurst says he will play a big role in identifying targets himself.

“I met Dave, we’d spoken anyway but I met him last Monday and he’s due in again on Wednesday and we’ll sit down and go through recruitment,” he said.

“I don’t know how things have worked in the past but from my point of view I’m very keen on player recruitment myself, I spend a lot of time looking at players.

“I’ve got a clear thought of who I would like to bring to the football club, but that doesn’t mean the door’s shut and I’m not going to listen to what Dave says.

“Dave’s got some great contacts, that’s become very obvious very quickly, so it would be foolish not to use him and have him working with us.

”But I kind of do take a lot of that on myself, maybe that’s where I’ve come from and what I’m used to doing. I don’t really see that changing.”

In terms of his coaching staff, he reiterated that academy keeper-coach Darren Smith will be given the chance to prove that he can be the retiring Malcolm Webster’s long-term successor.

“I said at the press conference, Darren’s got first crack of the whip, if you like," he confirmed.

"He’d been working with the first team anyway along with Malcolm, so I’m happy to have a look and see how he is with it.

“I’ve been told he’s very good. Obviously I’ve got to see that with my own eyes, not that I’m a goalkeeper-coach or profess to be, but I know I like to see people working and that’s something that we’ll monitor.

"But at this moment in time there’s no thought to be replacing him or asking him to step back from that position.”

Photo: TWTD

runningout added 15:41 - Jun 25 Brilliant plan
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jas0999 added 17:43 - Jun 25 Sounds like Hurst has a very clear plan which is great news. He's also taking pre season seriously, something MM didn't.
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1RWR added 18:40 - Jun 25 I used to hate this expression "he's his own man" but by jolly, from what I've read "he his his own man,!" Great insight to Paul Hurst, early days I know, but roll on the new season.....roll on the new Ipswich Town!
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GiveusaWave added 05:46 - Jun 26 Like the fact that he's bringing in loan players early so they can settle into the team....rather than what we have experienced in the past. Sounds to me like he wants players who are hungry to succeed also...which means it is less likely that we'll be signing up those 32-35 year old journeymen on a free...
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KiwiBlue2 added 08:58 - Jun 26 The more that I hear from PH the more confident that I am becoming about the future. I think that he is wise to give people like Darrin a good chance to impress rather than just bringing someone else in straight away. It will also be interesting to see who he brings in. All very positive thus far.......
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