Head of coaching and player development Bryan Klug has been talking about the new roles recently taken on by Kieron Dyer and Gerard Nash, as well as Terry Butcher’s return to the club earlier in the year.
Former Town and England midfielder Dyer took over as the U23s coach from Nash a month ago with Blues and England legend Butcher joining him in running the development squad, while Dubliner Nash moved to a new position.
"Gerard, over a number of years, has developed into a superb coach,” Klug told iFollow Ipswich. "He’s been involved with the first team. He’s at his happiest when he’s working with any young player.
"We identified a need between when players go from the academy to the first team and sometimes come down too.
"Predominantly, he’ll be working with those players and making sure they don’t fall through the cracks.
"The first team have their programme, it’s about going game to game. I still feel that there’s a lot of development in some of the players.
"Over the years, there’s been a few players who have had a few games but then their progression has stopped a little.
"Gerard is one of the best development coaches and is highly qualified so that really does suit him. It’s all about getting the best of all the people and resources you have.
"We think there’s a real role for Gerard, getting closer to the first team. He’s picking up that role and we’ll see where that goes."
Regarding former England international Dyer, who spent a year away from Town looking at coaching at other clubs having previously been in charge of the U18s, he added: "Kieron has been on the fringes of coaching. He’s been out to Anderlecht to work with them. I think he’s going to be a really good coach.
"I think it’s right to give him a bit of responsibility and let him lead a team, which is what he’s doing. He’s not here for the financial rewards but he’s here to learn his trade and he’s doing really well. He’s here because he loves this football club.”
Klug says coaches can learn by visiting clubs in other countries: "That’s what it’s all about. We want the culture at this football club to be that we can always get better, every one of us.
"I’ve never been afraid to bring in people who I think can bring something new and a new perspective. We’re never happy with how we’re doing.
"I look around and I see a lot of young players in and around the fringes of our team but that’s not good enough for us.
"They’ve got to be players who go into the first team and make the team better. Our culture is that we can always get better.
"Kieron is bringing in some new ideas and he’s also working alongside Terry Butcher - that's fantastic. He’s one of the nicest men but obviously a very experienced coach as well.
"The work he’s doing with the young centre-halves, it’s incredible to think we’ve got that. Again, he’s not here for any financial reason, he’s here because he loves this football club. We’re very lucky to have those people around us."
He added: "That’s what this football club is about. Terry knows what the standard looks like. We’re in League One at the moment but we’re aspiring to produce players that can hopefully play at the level that Terry did."
Manager Paul Lambert has stated on a number of occasions that the aim is for teams from the senior side downwards to play the same style of football.
"I’d like to think that over the years, the academy have had not one particular style but a way of playing,” Klug reflected.
"It’s very good for the first team to settle into a way of playing and it’s our job to produce players who can do that.
"There’s more than one way of playing football, that’s something I’ve learned over many years.
"When players come out at the other end of the academy, we like to think that they’d be prepared to play in a way that any manager can want them to play. We haven’t had to adapt too much.”
He continued: ”We know the work that the manager and the first-team staff are doing. By the time the players get to our U18s or U23s, they understand that way of playing. Also, there’s other ways of playing and we ensure that they get a full rounding and education."