Manager Paul Cook admits he didn’t know how his first meeting with U23s coach Kieron Dyer would go when he took over as boss at Portman Road at the start of March, but has been very impressed with the former Blues and England midfielder, who he says will be involved with his first team next season.
Cook sent Dyer out to give his post-match press conference at Shrewsbury on Tuesday and the 42-year-old spoke passionately and eloquently about his thoughts on not just the match but more widely on the club’s current situation, and also on how much he has learned from Cook.
"How’s he impressed me?” Cook pondered when asked about Dyer. "I didn’t know Kieron when I walked into the building, so it was one of the relationships that I was curious to see how it would pan out.
"I had a feeling that our first meeting wasn’t going to be a good one. And when I left the meeting probably 30 minutes later, to say I was impressed with Kieron wouldn’t be doing impressed justice.
"He’s a boy that cares absolutely passionately about this football club. He demands that the standards of what we were doing go up.
"He’s so disappointed [about] so many aspects of what’s gone on and quite clearly he was someone that we felt we wanted to be around.
"Kieron’s going to have a bright future in football, he really, really is. Hopefully that can be at Ipswich Town going forward and whatever pathways that presents.
"But he’s very, very football focused and it was great to see. A young lad, a young man who’s not just got Ipswich Town to the forefront of his mine, but is also studying the game, every aspect of the game, tactically, fitness-wise, data-wise, all the above.
"We’ve got on great and I think Kieron’s enjoying working around us, he sees what preparations we’re putting in, what sort of efforts we’re demanding.
"I thought Kieron spoke great the other night. I think his involvement with the first team has been great and certainly I think he’s learnt that, while I’m sure he wanted to be the manager of the club at one point, I think he’s learnt over the last six or seven weeks that he’s still got a fair way to go, and that’s not just being a manager, that’s in learning the game.”
Dyer is among the candidates to be Cook’s assistant manager for next season and while the Blues boss didn’t want to talk too much about his plans for his backroom team, he did confirm that Dyer would continue to have some involvement in the senior set-up.
"I think that’s an unfair question,” he said when asked whether Dyer would be part of his staff from the summer. "I think what we’re trying to do, we’re just trying to put platforms down, building blocks down at the club.
"Kieron’s a lad who we very much enjoy [working with]. Do I think Kieron will be involved with us next year? Yes, 100 per cent.
"Kieron’s got Ipswich blood going through him as everyone knows. He wants to be part of the success story of the club and also a success story for himself that will lead in the future to coaching, managing or whatever Kieron sees in the game because he’s a really good guy to be around.”