New Blues academy director Bryan Klug says there should be more academy products in or around the first team than there are at present. The 51-year-old, whose return to Playford Road was confirmed yesterday, says there was a target of having five or six in the first team squad towards the end of his previous spell in charge.
Klug said: "When Joe Royle was here we were aiming to get five or six players in the squad most weeks and we were achieving that quite easily.
"I think we’ve probably tailed off a little bit since then. Certainly at Championship level I think a club of this size should be producing more than we have done for whatever reason in the last few years."
Klug says he expects plenty of clubs to try to emulate Barcelona’s philosophy given their recent success but feels Town should have an approach of their own: "I think everyone’s going to try and copy Barcelona and play out ridiculously from the back and have teams all the way through [the age groups] playing the same way, that is the ultimate really. I do like their style, but Ipswich has its own style and you’ve got to have your own identity.”
He says he and Paul Jewell haven’t yet spoken along those lines but is clear what he feels he has to instil in young players: "I’ve not really had that conversation.
"At the end of the day you just want to be practical on the footballing front. What you have to do for your academy, what you have to do, and we always have done, right the way back to Bobby Robson, is to establish good habits.
"Good habits for me are about playing the game in the right way, passing the ball well, good movement. At the end of the day, style with steel is what you’ve got to aim for because the reality of the game is that you’ve got to win.”
Klug represents a link back to Sir Bobby Robson's days at Portman Road, and also to every subsequent Town boss: "I’ve worked for every manager since Sir Bobby Robson, so I’ve seen some really good managers, and one or two not so good!
"Obviously there was Sir Bobby, but when I first started coaching John Lyall was here and was an unbelievable coach, his philosophy and his ability to put things on, get messages over and handle players. He was fantastic.
"Joe Royle was a great manager as well. We’ve had some really good managers here.”