Boss Paul Jewell believes the relationship between a manager and an owner is the most important at any football club. The Liverpudlian says working with Marcus Evans has been “terrific” and that the pair share a vision for Town.
Jewell hopes that given time he will be able to provide Evans with the Premier League football club he has been after since his takeover late in 2007: "Hopefully, long-term, I’ll be able to reward him with what everyone wants here.
"I’ve been here 10 months now and it seems like an awful lot has happened in that 10 months. He’s very supportive. We speak on the phone a couple of times a day if he’s available.
"It’s great, I think eventually that’s what makes something successful. The most important relationship in a football club is between the owner or the chairman and the manager.
"If that relationship is fragmented, then everything breaks up. Every manager talks about stability and continuity, but you do need a fair crack of the whip.”
The Blues boss says all managers need to be given time to succeed, no matter who they are: "Look at Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea. He was the dog’s whatever in the summer, now people are questioning whether he’s too young or whatever.
"It’s takes time. It’s easy to change, it’s easy to make rash decisions but I don’t think Marcus Evans does that in anything he does. I’m very comfortable with the relationship that we have. But at the end of the day we are in a results-driven business.
"I wonder how many games Alex Ferguson was away from the sack. We’re all a certain amount of time away from the sack, it’s just that some of us have got five games, some of us have got 25 games.
"Working with Marcus has been terrific because I think he’s got a vision, like I have, a long-term vision of where the club wants to be in the future.”
Meanwhile, Jewell says he has no plans to change his captain with Grant Leadbitter continuing to wear the armband if selected.
The Blues boss believes too much is made of the role in any case: "The captaincy is overrated in football, it’s not like it is in cricket or rugby.
"Grant’s never going to be the loudest but you can never question his workrate, his endeavour or his professionalism.
"In other ways he’s a good leader, leading by example rather than being someone who shakes his fist and goes around shouting and bawling."
Photo: Action Images