Boss Paul Jewell admitted that fans are entitled to be annoyed after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Charlton, but vowed to fight on. Town remain in 23rd in the Championship after seven games and are without a win at home since March.
Speaking after Saturday’s loss, Jewell said: "I understand the supporters’ frustrations and they’re well entitled to be annoyed. I’m annoyed and I know I’m not very popular at the moment, but what I’ll do is do my best and work as hard as I can and until I’m told different I’ll not run and hide.
"It’s not nice, it’s a horrendous position to be in at the moment, second bottom of the league, but what can I do? I know what I can do and I know what I will do, and that’s keep on doing my job to the best of my ability until I’m told otherwise.
"You’ve got to face up to challenges in your life and it’s a challenge for me, a challenge for my family as well. They’re a part of it. I shall dust myself down and come in [on Sunday] to prepare for the Barnsley game.”
The Liverpudlian admitted that he was unaware that his side had yet to score a goal in the first half in the league this season, while Jason Scotland’s 57th-minute deflected strike against Charlton was the first before the hour mark.
Jewell conceded that results show his team is currently lacking, even if he had been pleased with their two performances prior to Saturday: "I say the team’s not good enough at the moment because we’ve lost three games on the bounce.
"This time last week I was sat there after the Middlesbrough game saying we were the better team and we should have won the game. I said the same on Wednesday.
"I can’t say the same today because I can only see the game as I see it. I’m not a kidder, I know we should have won the game against Middlesbrough and we certainly should have won the game against Wolves. Today we shouldn’t. The team with a bit more edge and a bit more belief in themselves won the match today.
"Ipswich players are no different to any other players,” he added. "If you lose matches, you lose your confidence, that’s what happens.”
He revealed that Town’s much-reduced wage bill is now well below that of many of the clubs they are up against and not far off the figure that Joe Royle had to work with in the years after the club’s administration: "The Wolves wage bill is £22 million and ours is £6 million. Against Wolves, you wouldn’t have spotted £16 million of difference.
"I don’t think you can talk about today’s performance in the same breath as Wolves. I thought against Wolves we missed gilt-edged opportunities.
"But I know that’s not what people want to hear. They only see that we’ve lost three on the bounce, and I understand that.
"I’ll never shirk away from a press conference or a question, but the answer I’m giving you is my truthful answer. I thought against Middlesbrough and against Wolves, we were good.”
While budget limitations played a role in restricting the recruitment of players in the summer, Jewell acknowledged that few bosses ever have the squads they want: "There aren’t many managers who can put the team on the pitch that they want all the time.
"It’s a terrific, wonderful club with great supporters in a really tough league with about 16 or 18 clubs that thing they should be in the Premier League.
"The team on the pitch at the moment isn’t good enough, and I include myself in that. But until I’m told different, I’m not going to run away. I’m confident in my own ability.”
While he has no intention of walking out, he admits he needs a result or two quickly before the decision is taken out of his hands with rumours regarding Harry Redknapp and the Town job continuing to circulate: "We need something at the moment, we need to score a goal in the first hour, and we need to try and get a result to try and build on in the short-term to look long-term.
"We’re in the results business, I know that, and we need a couple of results quickly before we can look long-term.”