Town boss Paul Jewell has confirmed that he’ll be looking to secure a new keeper on a permanent basis in the summer. This season four different players have worn the gloves with David Stockdale and Alex McCarthy having had loan spells cut short when they were recalled early by parent clubs Fulham and Reading.

Jewell says he doesn’t want a repeat next season: “We want to avoid that situation with temporary keepers. It’s been a tough one. We want to go with a permanent one next year if we can or if we get a loan make sure there’s no 24-hour recall.

“We are looking. We’re looking all over for players, and certainly we’ve been at the mercy of other people. It’s galling enough if our player gets injured, that’s part of football, but when the number two or three gets injured and they get called back, it’s far from ideal.

“I think this season has been a bit tough for the goalkeepers because we were always waiting for Stocky to get called back and now Alex has been called back.”

The Blues boss opted against adding another loanee before the deadline last month and is confident Arran Lee-Barrett and Richard Wright will be fine until the end of the season: “Arran and Richard are both decent goalkeepers. I’m not panicking because they’re playing.”

He feels it’s been a while since Town have had a recognisable number one, the last long-term regular having been Richard Wright during his second spell at the club: “If you asked me who Ipswich’s goalie was in recent years, the ones that come to mind are Wrighty, Craig Forrest, Kelvin Davis.

“Lewis Price has played, Shane Supple’s played, Arran’s played, so there hasn’t been one has been established [more recently].

“We all know who West Ham’s goalie is, everyone knows who Reading’s goalie is, for argument’s sake, so we want to get to the stage where our goalkeeper’s recognised and is an established number one.”

Jewell felt McCarthy, who went back to the Madejski Stadium last week, improved the more he played for the Blues: “I think Alex got better when he was here. It was difficult for him at first. He came into a team which was losing matches.

“He conceded after five minutes against Birmingham, then again in the last minute. He got better and he’s got a big future ahead of him I think, and he was growing into the role.”

Town’s third-choice keeper is US U20 international Cody Cropper, who has just returned to action having undergone knee surgery before Christmas: “Cody’s been injured for a long time. He’s been out for four months with his knee.

“He’s been training for a couple of weeks and has had a couple of games with the youth team. He’s the only other goalkeeper we’ve got really.”

He says a decision is yet to be made on whether 19-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, will be offered new terms: “We’ll discuss that with the relevant people. He’s been injured for a large part of the season and I haven’t seen him in any senior game really, we’ve only seen him in training really.”

Jewell caught Cropper in action for the U18s in their 4-1 home defeat to Southampton at Playford Road yesterday afternoon.

Photo: Action Images

jas0999 added 09:42 - Apr 5 "We want to avoid that situation with temporary keepers. It's been a tough one. We want to go with a permanent one next year if we can or if we get a loan make sure there's no 24-hour recall" It's 100% PJ's fault that we have had temporary GK's - but what's more worrying is he uses the words 'if we get a loan' - have the club and PJ learnt nothing? I hope this is just another error on PJ's part and a PERMANENT no. 1 keeper is signed as a priority in the Summer.

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jaydee added 09:48 - Apr 5 Joe Lewis anybody ?
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algarvefan added 09:50 - Apr 5 Jas has PJ slept with your wife or something?????
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brian_a_mul added 09:52 - Apr 5 Learnt nothing?? The title of the post is "Jewell Wants Permanent Number One". Its pretty obvious he wants a permanent number one. experienced keepers at champ level or higher are tough and expensive to get. Nobody wants to let go an established GK or even second choice. Next season we may have to use ALB as permanent number one and get in a permanent back up. However, If Reading do get promoted it may allow McCarthy to leave permanently, assuming they can buy in a better GK for Premier League. He may not be ready for PL for another few seasons.

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RetroBlue added 10:21 - Apr 5 How about avoiding the situation we have had for YEARS! eg No bloody decent CB's in front of this new #1 GK. or a PROPER RB (we've not had one since David Wright was shown the door) We NEED: GK RB x2 CB x 4 LB x1 With the sole exception of Cresswell and Smith (back CB) we have utter dross for defenders!
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yorksblue added 10:27 - Apr 5 Alexander from broke Jocks, Harper from Newcastle (now way down the order), Kuscak/Loach at Watford, Yank from Villa, Speroni from Palace, Kenny from QPR when they go down (but he'll end up at Leeds) Almunia at Arsenal. Plenty out there, just need someone, who's capable, to secure a deal.
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bluelady added 10:30 - Apr 5 Jas, can you please tell me how your beloved Keane addressed the situation or even Magilton before him? its been an issue for years and no PJ did not address it as he should have but it isnt his fault he adopted the position of no decent keeper please be real with your posts. Algarve Fan its more likely PJ has slept with the Roy Keane :-)
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Karlosfandangal added 10:35 - Apr 5 RetroBlue Feel we need a striker to add to your list, so would like to see us sign Murphy and maybe another who would be the natural cover to Chopra. Talking of Murphy's maybe we should have offered Murphy (goalkeeper) a better contract before he signed for QPR.
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Bangor31 added 10:40 - Apr 5 @retro so Cresswell is a superior defender to Edwards? i think you'll find Cresswell is the leakiest defender we have and Edwards has been a revelation this season. Learn what good football is then start to demand players. Why a second left when we have Joe Whight as an up and coming player?
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naa added 10:55 - Apr 5 Yes, some utterly ridiculous comments on here, jas being a prime example, but then we expect nothing less. It's obvious that he isn't happy that we're currently doing well which says it all frankly. What kind of fan is that? As for the keeper, obviously we need one but I suspect PJ did actually try to get one in the summer but found it hard to get anyone decent. After all, if they're not better than what we have already what's the point? Having said that, I think he needs to try pretty hard this summer as it's vital we have a solid, stable keeper at the back. It helps no-one having to chop and change. Keane is actually essentially the cause of this situation. He dropped Wright (who people seem to forget had been the fan's player of the season they year before) after 3 or 4 dodgy games and failed to ever replace him.

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Garv added 10:59 - Apr 5 @Karlos Brian Murphy was an awful keeper and much too short. @Bangor I agree with your bit about Edwards, I hope he stays where he is, but what you say about Cresswell, sorry but that's complete bull.
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Kesgraveblue57 added 11:37 - Apr 5 Just read Retroblue right on everything , so Jewell wants a permanent No1 how much more time does he need 2 or 3 years to find one
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walberswick added 11:53 - Apr 5 "PJ did not address it as he should have but it isnt his fault" Are you sure you're not sleeping with PJ ?
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ThatMuhrenCross added 11:55 - Apr 5 Who said Joe Lewis? No thanks, he's bl00dy awful! The other Peterborough keeper is decent though!
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Bangor31 added 12:01 - Apr 5 @Garv, not saying worst but leakiest, every game i have seen he allows them to get the cross in, still think our CB are worse defenders and probably add to the problem but i feel he is not at the Edwards level yet
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Tractamatt added 12:14 - Apr 5 SCOTT LOACH
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I_Eat_Canaries added 12:51 - Apr 5 Look into Alex Smithies at Huddersfield! Promising young English keeper that does have a bit of height. However if they are promoted this season it will be a fairly hard deal to do...
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BillBlue added 13:24 - Apr 5 Interesting, interesting, I wonder which one is right, Algarve or Bluelady or is it possible that both are? COYB
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CobboldNeal added 13:46 - Apr 5 @Bangor I agree. I've also noticed that Cresswell, good player / prospect that he is, allows too many crosses to get past him - something to work on in training with the coaches.
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arc added 14:41 - Apr 5 Well, this story will do wonders for ALB's confidence...
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bluelady added 15:23 - Apr 5 Walberswick is that really your picture or a silly joke?
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Ipswich24 added 15:56 - Apr 5 1st choice Alex Smithies 2nd choice Brad Guzan 3rd choice Scott Loach 4th choice David Stockdale We need a proper number 1, not someone who plays a few games then gets dropped. A keeper needs to establish himself, make his defence trust him and i'm sure we will be fine.
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Lukeybluey added 16:11 - Apr 5 I just recently asked Steve McCall to look at a certain keeper in the German League! I wonder if he's told Paul then? crazy shiz!
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walberswick added 17:40 - Apr 5 Yes it's me, come and say hello at the Anchor and I'll buy you amd Paul a drink.
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Farmers_Union added 17:59 - Apr 5 We can never consider ourselves serious contenders without a permanent No.1. Loanees just dont cut the mustard when it comes to the Keeper. Buy a keeper or keep faith in the current lads....
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