Blues boss Paul Jewell says managers feel defeats — especially heavy ones such as Town’s losses to Southampton and Peterborough — more than anyone else. The Liverpudlian says there’s no hiding place when you’re in charge of a team which isn’t winning.
Jewell said: "Everybody feels a defeat but I think I feel it more than anybody because as a manager you feel totally responsible.
"But you’ve got to face the music, you’ve got to go out of the house, you’ve got to stop at the traffic lights. You can’t run and hide from it.
"We played Peterborough, I came home, closed the door, went to West Ham [to watch Town’s next opponents Leeds] on the Sunday, which I didn’t really want to do, came home and closed the door.
"Monday couldn’t come round quickly enough to get to work again. We started again. You can’t wear sackcloth and ashes forever because you have to go out and lift the players, which is difficult.”
The Town manager says he remembers what more senior bosses have told him: "A lot of old managers told me to enjoy the good times in football because the bad times are just around the corner.
"I enjoy it by keeping my feet on the floor. The team deserve a lot of credit for what we’ve done so far, but it’s only the last three games.”
Jewell says Town need to keep that run going, maintaining consistent if not always stunning form: "We’ve got to make sure we’re not a team which plays three games, then has a poor spell. We’ve got to get to a level where when we’re not very good, we’re all right. That’s what sorts good teams out from the rest.
"When I was manager of Wigan, we probably played great five or six times a year, we had our bad days, but most of the time we were just all right, six-and-a-half, seven out of 10. If you play like that, you’ve got half a chance.”
After Tuesday’s win at West Ham, Hammers’ boss Sam Allardyce referred to Jewell as ‘Jagger’ a nickname often used by other bosses.
Jewell says the sobriquet goes back to his playing days, although doesn’t wholly explain its origin: "Everybody calls me Jagger, that’s my nickname from a long time ago.
"Mark Leonard, a player I played with at Bradford gave it to me. I don’t know why — Jagger Jewell.”
Meanwhile, former boss Roy Keane left Suffolk to move back to the Manchester area over the summer, according to Irish reports. Keane’s Woodbridge home is still on the market.