Town chief executive Simon Clegg believes that manager Paul Jewell is still the man to take the Blues back into the Premier League despite conceding that 2011/12 was another season of “mid-table mediocrity”. Jewell, who was appointed in January 2011, has another year on his contract at Portman Road.
Clegg said: "There were a lot of people calling for the manager’s head at the back end of last year when we were going through that difficult phase.
"The owner and I discussed it and were absolutely confident that Paul could turn things round, and we continue to believe that he’s the right man with the right experience to take us back into the promised land. Only time will tell.”
He admits though that 2011/12 has been another under par campaign: "Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s mid-table mediocrity. That’s not where we want to be, that’s not where we aspire to be, so in that context we have to be disappointed.
"We were always going to play catch-up after that disastrous run at the end of last year, which really tested everyone, but I think that once we started to turn things around — Barnsley, West Ham — then we had a very reasonable run.
"Four losses in the last 19 games is not a bad way to finish the season but we didn’t play with the level of consistency throughout the season which is going to be necessary if we aspire to promotion to the Premier League.”
Jewell has admitted getting his transfer business wrong last summer but Clegg says he and owner Marcus Evans were also involved in the process which saw a number of high profile senior players brought to the club, an approach which failed to work out: "Let’s take collective responsibility. It’s not appropriate to point the finger and say that that’s one individual’s responsibility.
"I think we all have to take a degree of collective responsibility but I think it needs to be recognised that in the main the issue of player identification is down to the manager, and the owner and I feel an obligation to support him in that.
"But ultimately, the three of us have to carry some responsibility for the decisions which have been made. We tried to go up one route, invested a lot of money and it didn’t work.”
Jewell himself says going into the final year of his contract, with no discussions so far regarding a an extension, doesn’t add any additional pressure: "I know it is a year to go, but it wouldn’t have taken a lot of money to get rid of me last year, so it won’t be a money issue. And if I felt it was the right thing to do, I would walk away for free.
"I just hope I am here for a long time and I can bring success. I love working here, I love the area. It ticks all the boxes but the one at the top of the list is getting the team right.”
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