Town boss Paul Jewell says he has no intention of walking out on the Blues, despite the current run of six successive defeats. The Liverpudlian says the situation is different to his time at Derby County, where he resigned — coincidentally after a 1-0 defeat by Town — when he felt the owners no longer had faith in him.
Jewell dismissed the suggestion that he had thought about making a similar exit from Portman Road: "No, not at all. I can see a situation where I get the sack because we lose the next however many games, but I spoke to the owner [on Wednesday] and he said he has great belief in me as a manager and that I’ve got to have that belief in myself, and I have.
"When I was at Derby I just felt I couldn’t take that any further. There was so much going on off the pitch, but I don’t feel the same here. I feel hugely disappointed with our last six results but I don’t feel as if I can’t turn it around.”
The Blues boss says that while the chief executive at Derby wanted to keep him, the Rams’ owners no longer believed in him: "Adam Pearson was terrific and I asked Adam, if they could afford to sack me, would the owners sack me? He said he wouldn’t but the owners said that if they could have afforded to they would, so that’s why I walked away.
"[I don’t want to be at a club where] people are only keeping you because they can’t afford to get rid of you, I want to be working for Marcus Evans because he’s got belief in me not because can’t afford to sack me, which I’ve got to tell you with my contract is not the case here.
"That’s why I walked away at Derby. Staying around because I’m getting paid well isn’t what I’m about.”
He says he finds life very different at Portman Road: "I just think that off the pitch at Derby there was a lot of politics going on. There’s no politics here, there’s Marcus Evans.
"At Derby we went down with the lowest points total and there was a big black cloud hanging over it. I know it’s a brilliant football club Derby County, similar to here - great tradition, big support - but there was always something going on behind the scenes.
"When I asked the question to Adam, he said he wanted me to stay but the Americans said that if they could afford to make a change they would do. That’s why I went.
"The relationship between the owner and the manager is the most important thing at any club. If the owners haven’t got confidence in you, there’s only one way that’s going to happen and rather than wait around to get the sack, I thought it was best for everyone’s interest that I went.
"At the moment I won’t consider walking away [from Town] because I believe it’s too good an opportunity for me to walk away from.”