Three weeks into 2012 and not a lot has changed. Three defeats and one draw is hardly inspiring but I still get the feeling that Paul Jewell is not averse to making a few New Year's resolutions!

One year on and he has realised that what worked for Wigan and Bradford all those years ago will not work for Ipswich. Third time unlucky you might say.

Now Roy Keane also went back to his old hunting ground to recruit the likes of Carlos Edwards, Grant Leadbitter and Martin Fulop to name but three but the difference was that these players had not reached their prime. They still had potential.

Jewell, on the other hand, went for football brains but he forgot that they also needed football legs and many of his Dad's Army has-beens were already past their sell-by date by the time they got to Portman Road.

He was overburdened with players that at the height of their art had real ability. Sadly, however, the Bullards and the Bowyers of this world provided us only with fleeting moments of their former glory and this he now accepts was a mistake.

You have to be a brave person to admit to your mistakes and unlike Keane and Jim Magilton perhaps, Jewell is prepared to accept that he got things wrong. That said, of course, he did not have the spending power of his predecessors and if you look at the squad he assembled for this season, there were a staggering 13 new (or perhaps old is a better description) recruits!

Of this grand assortment very few cost anything at all. Even the much talked about Michael Chopra signing cost Town less than a million and the one new kid on the bloke with promise - who has been arguably Town's best newcomer to date Aaron Creswell's fee was decided by a football tribunal and we even got him on the cheap!

Now Jewell is rewarding his younger players with new contracts and the promise of first team football at long last. 'Dad's Army' is on the decline and the new transfer targets seem to revolve around players in the early 20s or younger so perhaps the tide has finally turned?

As with all clubs that have graced the Premiership before, Ipswich Town supporters are impatient for success. We house a very broad church of opinions about Jewell, Simon Clegg and Marcus Evans and the future of this wonderful football club that we hold so dear.

Maybe it is time to make a belated resolution of our own? Let us back the boss and give him the time to really show us what he can do. They say that lightning never strikes twice and yet he took two teams that had never been in the top flight before up into the clouds and one of them is still there.

Continuity is the key in my view and I applaud Marcus Evans for giving Paul Jewell the backing his curriculum vitae so richly deserves. Now it is time for us as supporters to give him the benefit of the doubt too I believe and whatever our divided loyalties wipe the slate clean.

Surco72 added 16:20 - Jan 20 The likes of Bullard, Bowyer and Chopra will come good as they are exceptional players ,as you say time is the key .People are all too quick to write players off it seems especially at Town in recent times Mac,Norris ,Martin,Scotland all amongst those who have come good after indifferent starts at Portman Road.Jet i believe will be another of these but we must stick with one manager to have any chance of continuity in training ,playing style ,and even turnaround of players and staff which is all detrimental to a successful club . I also believe that our fan base needs to have a reality check in the fact we have no given right to be in the premiership and have hardly made an indent into the history of the premiership just a few glancing moments and are in theory a championship side with average support to most . Do we deserve to be in the premiership above the likes of Saints,West Ham ,Leeds ,Birmingham,Middlesboro with better recent histories and support ? And who would we replace that are there already all apart from Swansea have been and played more games and seasons than us ? Support your team and enjoy ,that is the key

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naa added 16:28 - Jan 20 Very well said Surco. Agree completely, especially about the fact that we are not a premier league team by default. 5 seasons out of 20 (two of them relegation ones) doesn't make us deserving of it, we have to earn the right.
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naa added 16:29 - Jan 20 I should also say that whilst I obviously want us to do well and get promotion, the best period of watching Town in the last 20 years was the play-off years under Burley. Great fun to watch us then. It hasn't been the same since he finally got us promoted. Being in this division isn't so bad, as long as we compete and challenge (which of course we aren't doing at the moment).

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BillBlue added 17:11 - Jan 20 Yes Pessimistic, you got it just about right. You have drawn some sensible posts too far better than the normal drivel. Yes let everybody get behind the Manager and by doing that, behind the team too. COYB
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AJblue added 18:25 - Jan 20 Pessimistic and Surco........ Good grief 2 people talking sense on 1 thread...never thought i'd see the day! I have supported Town for more years than I care to think about, through thick and thin (mainly thin), its has been a rollecoaster of a ride, the key to it (imho) is to just enjoy the ride, be thankful to be a supporter of a respected and well liked club, and take whatever may come. I am not happy with mediocrity, I am happy to be a Town supporter, and whatever happens I always will be. In my book that means all pulling together in one direction, getting behind the team, the management and the club. I hope that Jewell gets the mix right sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, I plan to enjoy (as best I can) the rollercoaster ride that is being a Town fan. PS I will take a draw tomorrow at Leeds.

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