Paul Jewell says he hopes his own experiences as a striker can help Connor Wickham develop his potential, even though the new Town boss admits that he wasn’t actually that good during his own playing days. Yesterday, Wickham, 17, signed a new contract designed to keep him at Portman Road until 2013.
Jewell says he hopes he has some wisdom to impart from his time as a frontman with Liverpool’s youth and reserve sides, Wigan, Bradford and briefly Grimsby: "I hope so, although I wasn’t a very good striker!” he joked.
"He needs to know the game and he’ll get that as he goes along and as he makes mistakes. Hopefully, we can give him that little bit of help to make him become a player. He’s got all the raw materials, he’s got to put them together.
"When you’re 17 and a young player, you do have your peaks and troughs, so I’m really keen not to put too much pressure on the lad. But he excites me.”
Taking the pressure off the Hereford-born striker is something Jewell sees as vital: "I think it’s really important, and I’ve said this to Connor, that we don’t expect too much of him. You forget that he’s only 17, looking at the size of him. He’s built like a man mountain, he was outstanding against Arsenal.
"But we have to be careful not to put too much pressure on his shoulders. There are very few young players, Rooney was probably one of them, who are ready to go and play at the top, top level. Players mature differently.
"I keep forgetting his only 17, you look at him, he’s 6ft 3in, he can run, he can play, he can score a goal. He’s got a lot to learn and he’s keen to learn, which is a great thing. He’s got an exciting future ahead of him and hopefully that’s with Ipswich.”
The new boss hopes the England U21 international can avoid further fitness problems for the remainder of 2010/11: "I was looking at the stats and he’s been in and out and up and down with injuries, little niggles. Hopefully he can keep injury free, have a run of games and score some goals.”