Town captain Carlos Edwards has reiterated his support for under-fire boss Paul Jewell but believes that some of his team-mates could be on an entirely different wavelength. Right-back Edwards, who will be 34 on Wednesday, even admits that some players would prefer to see Jewell depart Portman Road.
He said: "I have told the gaffer I want him to stay but some players don’t want him here. That doesn’t necessarily mean that when a new manager comes in their situation is going to change.
"They need to know that at the present time they need to be on the side of the manager we have because if he goes it doesn’t mean that they will be playing week in, week out, for the new one.
"I would say yes, all the players are behind the manager, but I can say yes and deep down inside I know there are players who hide their feelings.
"I’m not going to come out and say we want the manager sacked or we want the manager to stay. I’m just one person and I can say I want him to stay, but that’s just me.”
Asked if he ever gets a bit nasty and steams into players he may feel are not pulling their weight, Edwards added: "I try to but some think I am just picking on them.
"But if they think that they haven’t seen some of the horrible players I have encountered. I have played with some who have called me names that I didn’t think existed in the vocabulary.
"I just get on with my game because I know all they mean is for me to get my finger out because I can be better than I have been doing.
"There are some players who still need breast-feeding, if I can put it that way. You still need to put an arm round them but sometimes they need a kick up the backside rather than an arm round them. It could be because they have too much money too soon, but who’s to know? Only time will tell.”
Edwards is not blind to his own shortcomings and was honest enough to confess that his display in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Hull, which leaves Town without a win in 10 games and still just one place off the bottom of the Championship table, did not rank among his best.
He said: "I think everyone needs a kick up the backside, including me. The gaffer gave me a week off recently and told me [after Saturday] that whatever happens I will never get a week off again.
"I took it on the chin. It didn’t work in my favour to have the week off. When I have a few days off it seems to take me a week to get going again.
"That’s just how it is but I’m the first to put my hands up and admit I did have a rubbish game on Saturday. I’m not pointing fingers but I don’t think the team performed in the way that we could and at this level you need everyone to be at least 90 per cent to have a good chance of getting something from the game.”