Town boss Paul Jewell says he empathises with the frustration and anger amongst fans but has vowed to keep going while he still has belief in himself and the backing of owner Marcus Evans. The Blues manager dismissed suggestions that the club is in crisis but conceded that his side are in a relegation fight.
Asked if he had a message to fans unhappy at the lack of progress his year in charge — he took over as Town boss a year ago this Friday — Jewell said: "I understand the frustration and the anger. I don’t want to be giving out messages, all I want to do is do my best to try to turn things around to make them like me, and more importantly enjoy coming to watch Ipswich because it hasn’t been fun watching us. I understand that.
"I don’t think I’d ever run away from a question or a problem. We need to win matches, we need to stop conceding goals and I take the blame because I’m the manager.”
He says he has no plans to quit: "I’ll soldier on as long as Marcus believes in me and I believe in myself. It’s a tough time, but at the end of the day we’re all human beings and we all have feelings and all have pride and pride is hurt at the moment.
"The owner has been so supportive of me that I couldn’t even think about walking out. I’m sure most of the Ipswich fans at the moment are thinking ‘Let’s have a change’ and I’ve got to take that on my shoulders.
"It’s not a pleasant place to be, walking around the town. But the owner, who employs me, has got faith in me, I’ve got faith in myself, which is important, and over a period of time, after a couple of transfer windows, I’m sure we’ll be brighter.
"We’ve got other targets in the transfer window. We’ve got targets for next year and beyond as well. We need a couple of short-term loans with a view to longer [signings]. We’re trying to get the balance right, it’s a tough juggling act at the moment.”
Jewell says that although the 20th-placed Blues are in a battle at the wrong end of the table, the problems at Town have been overstated by the press: "It’s a club in a relegation fight. I think when you’re on about crises I think that means when you can’t pay the bills and maybe are looking at administration. Certainly from a financial point of view the club isn’t in crisis.
"Crisis is a word that you journalists like to use. It’s a tough, tough time for us at the moment. There are a few teams that think they should be near the top of the division that aren’t and we’re one of them.
"We’ve got to fight our way through, we’ve got to get our hands dirty. There are a lot of tough times ahead but without tough times ahead, I don’t think you can prove you’re a side.”
Although the tabloids are already linking sacked QPR boss Neil Warnock with the Blues, owner Marcus Evans continues to give Jewell his backing — the Liverpudlian says Evans sanctioned a permanent move for Sean St Ledger although the deal agreed with Leicester is a loan with a view to a permanent switch in the summer — with his eyes on a more successful future: "He’s never really reassured me about my future. Everyone else seems to be talking about it. Marcus has just said it’s a long-term plan, just think beyond the troubled time at the moment.
"We’ve got to get through a lot of hard work, a lot of tough times but over a period of time, he’s got confidence that we will do it right.”
He says the situation is more similar to his time at Wigan, where Dave Whelan gave him similar backing, than his spells at Sheffield Wednesday — where he had only eight months in charge - and Derby: "At Derby I knew the board had lost faith with me and they were only keeping me there because they couldn’t afford to sack me. Certainly it wouldn’t cost Marcus a lot of money to get rid of me now, so it’s not a financial thing.
"I think he’s seen what I want to do for the future and he likes it. I know it’s bloody tough times at the minute and I’m not going to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. It’s tough for us all but nothing comes easily.”
"I think you can make decisions with the confidence that the owner is going to give you a fair chance.
"I’m not stupid, I know how football works and how life works and people can change their minds, but at the moment Marcus has given me the green light to go ahead and do what I think is right. Given a little bit of luck and time, I’m hoping I can get people to buy into what I’m trying to do.”
Ultimately Jewell hopes he can bring the type of success to Town that he enjoyed with two of his previous sides: "It’s a great club with a great history and tradition, but that’s the team that’s been in the Championship the second longest.
"I’ve come here and played against teams from Ipswich with Wigan and Bradford and we’ve got promoted and Ipswich have stayed in this division.
"I’ve taken teams up, I’ve taken teams up at the expense of Ipswich, it would be nice to take Ipswich up at the expense of someone else.”