Boss Paul Jewell has revealed that he was seriously concerned that Town might be relegated after the 2-1 loss at Millwall in his first game in charge. Since then, despite Saturday’s defeat to Portsmouth, the Blues manager says he’s pleased with the progress made, but says there’s still much work to be done.

Jewell says that while he was worried after the game at the Den, he similarly wasn’t getting carried away after Town’s hammering of Doncaster: “After my first game in charge at Millwall I thought, ‘Christ, it’s going to be all on to stay up here!’

“After the Doncaster game we won 6-0 I said that it was never a 6-0 game, it was a freak result. Even the Derby game which we won, I didn’t feel we played that great.

“But in the three games since then — Hull, QPR and Portsmouth — I feel we’ve been outstanding for a large part of them.

“If we play like we did against Portsmouth in every game between now and the end of the season we won’t lose too many.”

Town’s recent performances have been significantly better in the first half than in the second, which Jewell says is down to a couple of factors: “I think it’s two things. Once the opposition get a goal they have a spring in their step. You can’t dominate any game for 90-odd minutes.

“When they scored [on Saturday], it was a bad goal from our perspective defensively and they got a lift. I think they’ve had three shots on target in the whole game.

“They got a lift and it puts us on the back foot a bit. And that’s what I mean when I talk about mental strength. We need to move forward, instead of taking a backwards step, next year we want to take a forwards step and go toe to toe with them.

“But then we gave a goal away like the second one, which was a bit of a comedy cut. Once that happened we were a bit deflated.

“We had a couple of chances after that, for example when Tamás went through, although it wasn’t a penalty. Chances like that we’ve got to take. We didn’t even make the goalkeeper work.

“We’ve got to get the mental ruthlessness into us so that when things go against rather than taking a step back and feeling sorry for ourselves, we take a step forward. We’ll get that either from within the group or by getting players of that mentality to join us.”

The Blues boss says that although he is disappointed with the result, he was pleased with the performance: “When I wake up the first thing I’ll think of is that we lost 2-0. Then when I watch the DVD we’ll analyse it and we’ll see that we have played well, which we did, even their guys are saying that.

“There’s nothing worse when you’re having a drink with the opposition manager and he says ‘We were lucky today’.

“We passed it with a purpose, which was the thing that pleased me. We went up, back, through, we had good rotation in the middle of the park and they couldn’t get near us.

“Their goalie’s made a couple of saves and even when we beat him it hit one of our lads on the line. It’s horrible sitting here when you’ve lost 2-0 but if you look at the overall picture, anyone who has an ounce of football knowledge will know we were unlucky not to win, although I hate saying we’re unlucky because teams who are bottom of the table are always unlucky they say.

“I’m quite happy with a lot of the progress that’s been made here but also I’m aware that there’s loads of progress and loads of work ahead to make us into a tough team that’s hopefully going to be challenging for promotion next year.

“We’re not out of the woods yet this year, there’s a long way to go yet, but it doesn’t look like a relegation team to me. After the game at Millwall, I have to be brutally honest, I thought it was a team which had it all to do to stay up.”

Photo: Action Images

DJ_Kesgrave added 14:28 - Feb 28 Let's hope we are not on a run of 1 win in 14 and end up being relegated. COYB!
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bluelady added 14:42 - Feb 28 my there are some real jolly people on here! comparing Keanes campaign with Jewells - lets see how well Jewell stacks up against Keane when he has been in charge 18 months shall we? Chripswich, who is the man then?? we have finally got a decent footballing manager who gives the players confidence and on the whole plays square pegs in square holes. We are ipswich town not Man u or Arsenal and for struggling championship team as we indeed were we have struck gold in our choice of manager. Basil this is not a spelling test it is a football forum, if you maybe made your posts a little more 'user friendly' everyone may begin to understand what on earth you are babbling on about.

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Garv added 15:18 - Feb 28 Hardly fair to include arsenal at the emirates as one of PJ's losses is it? Get to the games chripswich and basil and then give an honest opinion to how well we are playing, a massive improvement. Give up moaning.
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naa added 15:21 - Feb 28 Yeah, where on earth is all this 'we bossed games under Keane' coming from? No we didn't. We didn't even try to, that wasn't how he wanted us to play. So yes, in his 9 games in charge his points tally is looking much the same as Keane's. But firstly he's still playing mostly with the team left to him and secondly I've had more enjoyment from his 9 games than I got from the total of Keane's run. Yes, I know entertainment isn't everything and winning matters most, but seeing as we're getting roughly the same points return at the moment I can compare directly, and Jewell is already a much better manager than Keane.

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SamWhiteUK added 16:01 - Feb 28 @chripswich someone get out of bed the wrong side this morning? Haven't seen you comment on any of the wins that PJ has gotten us. Do you only start to comment once we drop a few points? Get over Keane. We haven't missed any opportunity. We've gained the opportunity to see some exciting football, and we've gained the opportunity to actually attack the oppo's goal, instead of just trying to get lucky. PJ hasn't put a foot wrong since he's come here. Since he has come in, I genuinely feel that the players are to blame fo dropping points through lack of concentration or whatever, instead of shoddy tactics.

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fourth added 17:10 - Feb 28 These are exciting days. The pendulum is BOUND to swing excessively sometimes now when the NEW is tried. I too watched in amazement as the shots at goal racked up without concrete return. In fact isn't it good that such definite pointers came out of the Portsmouth game? Playing 90 minutes would be a good idea...knowing that one is fit gives amazing confidence...becoming ever more challenging in the last 10 minutes. The Leadbitters of this world living in the wonderland of Ronaldinho with 30 yard shots which are 80% off target. Put some WORK in L! The lack of a havoc-making n° 9 with a head of lead and space torn from the broken bodies of the defence. The sum of the whole is greater than the individuals. That is the MANAGEMENT miracle. Our Football Club needs to accept that an investment in 2 major players is necessary. If it means taking €10million for one player (who only has 2 legs) to put in 2-3 more. But. Don't make the purchases conditional upon the sale. This needs to be POSITIVE. Well. My Saturdays are definitely BETTER!

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chripswich added 17:22 - Feb 28 priskin 16 wrong..i have eaten humble pie on a few occassions and have enjoyed some of the stuff ive seen from the norf.. we had a good squad (one thing keane did do right..not much else) you or I could have got them playing better then they were... I just do not think this guy will do anything "special"..I do not think he will get us promoted.. just cant see it.. never have from day 1.. I hope desperatley i am wrong.. i really do. we shall see..

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chripswich added 17:29 - Feb 28 theres also 20 spoilt footballers playing for contracts so they can remain spoilt at a great club... i reckon that might have something to do with the jewell miracle (as some seem to see it) aswell... Anyone notice that the equalising goals v barnsley and Hull happened after what seemed needless changes from the bench?? Why was martin replaced? He was everywhere...
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bedsitfc added 18:02 - Feb 28 So many children on here who have won the league on some football management game and now think they know how to manage a squad of players and club expectations.
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Mark added 18:11 - Feb 28 > Spot the legion of logic errors in Mark's post. He's a true fan, all right! What errors? Has Jewell not got more points per game than Keane? Have we not moved up the table since Jewell took over? Did we not win three in a row? Did we not win 6-0? Are we not playing better football? To add to what I wrote, Jewell is doing all the rights things in terms of being in an experienced number two and proved coaching staff and a good scouting network. He is not afraid to look in the lower leagues for players. Also, he seems a very nice guy with a good sense of humour, who players WANT to play for. Add that to his proved track record (promotion with two clubs) and everything is there for success.

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MAVERICK added 19:30 - Feb 28 devontractorboy, are you Angus from AC/DC ? Looks like Bournemouth in background but might be wrong ! Its nice to see most positive comments now, What a change a manager can do. Keane's way was not the Ipswich way. Good times ahead. Let's put the F back into football. COYB
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petermorris added 20:25 - Feb 28 Big, Fourth. My Saturdays are better too.
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StochesStotasBlewe added 21:27 - Feb 28 So then chripswich. Who was the saviour whom we missed a trick with then. I dont remember too many top class premier league managers knocking down Mr Evans door in January to take the helm at our wonderful club. Mr Jewell is doing just fine thankyou with his brand of attacking free flowing football. Relegation was a distinct possibility and, although not entirely safe yet, real progress is being made and things are looking much rosier in the garden.

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WarkyWonderLand added 21:30 - Feb 28 Alot of the comments on here are unbelievable and I am wondering what will ever please some people. What are they expecting at this stage of the season. On 29th December we had 27 points and Sheff Utd 25 points. On 4th January we had 28 points and Sheff Utd 26 points. Look where we are now and Micky Adams hasn't won a game. PJ is building a team which we haven't had for a season and a half. He is not lamblasting players when things don't go right, he is building them up. We he was appointed we all wanted to move away from the bottom 3. He has done that. We are now playing football and got to disagree with the Northstander in the EADT about playing pretty football and no cutting edge. We played quick, attacking football on saturday. Yes, we didn't score and we know that is an area which we have struggled for 4 years. What it did show is what PJ and his management team have achieved in a short space of time. They haven't had a pre-season with these players. Also seems that some people don't understand the transfer window!! Why go and waste money in January on hyper inflated prices?? PJ will know who it wants at the end of the season and build from there. Patience is a virtue and too many so called fans don't have enough. People must be great on fantasy football !! Seems like it's easier for some people to moan for the sake of it rather than give praise and encouragement where it is due. COYB

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coco_the_clown added 21:38 - Feb 28 Well said Warky..... Some of these posters should go and support Arsenal, or erm, er AC Milan... ummm I enjoyed Saturday. We just need a couple of errr, .... Nugents?
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StochesStotasBlewe added 21:41 - Feb 28 WarkyWonderland. Great post. Have been saying most of this for a week or two.
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Worcester added 21:43 - Feb 28 We're still not clear. We need to get something from Cardiff....a draw you do
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coco_the_clown added 21:50 - Feb 28 Red Monkey Bum - we need to get something from Cardiff alright.... Chopra & Bothroyd would do for starters.
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Worcester added 22:13 - Feb 28 Fat chance CoCo. Neither were interested inm the summer even after hey were in the finacial brown stuff and rescued with a new finacial deal and the arrival of Bellamy as competition.
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Mark added 22:20 - Feb 28 Well written WarkyWonderland. We were almost in the bottom three in January, now we are 11 POINTS CLEAR! We surely should be glad about that, if nothing else. Jewell knows we need a striker, that's why he tried to sign Charlie Austin for £2M. The deal didn't work out, so we need to be patient for a good signing, probably in the summer. There is little point in bringing in an expensive loan signing now and think of the ones we had before (Stern John, David Healy, Daryl Murphy, Rory Fallon...no thanks). Besides, 17 league goals in 9 games since Jewell took over isn't that bad, is it?!

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Bluroo added 08:06 - Mar 1 eck, people are sensitive. When I mentioned that Jewells record so far is pretty similar to Keanes overall record, I did not say or imply that therefore Keane was a God and Jewell was a Prat, I merely stated a fact in order to apply some reasonable perspective to an inflated sense of achievement. That was my point, to point out that whilst the football, the confidence, the atmosphere have all improved considerably, results have only very, very slighty improved. FACT. And the last time I checked, that was the key criteria... Some of you need to stop having a fit everytime you read something other than boundless praise.

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Upbeat~ added 08:29 - Mar 1 chripswich why is it that so many people seem incapable of looking at he bigger picture? I am of course highlighting you as a key example of someone who is not able to. Paul Jewell was understandably unable to sign a striker in January and hadn't even been able to properly assess his strikers before the window closed. We're now creating numerous chances a match and are simply in need of someone to knock the many, easy opportunities into the back of the net. Were our tactics wrong for the last few games? No, they were spot on. We generated chance after chance and for lack of a clinical strikeforce were unable to put them away. Reverting to a 4-4-2 formation would have created no more opportunities than we did against Pompey, that wasn't the problem. Let's also not forget that Jewell is working with Keane's team here, not his own (although I'd like to add that I think we have aa very good squad assembled here and this is evident from our recent performances). Not so long ago it was all about the performances; yet now suddenly the points are far more important, at a time when we are extremely unlikely to get promoted or relegated. Consider these next couple of months as preparation for next season. The idea of bringing in a loan striker on fat wages (only to then let him leave in the summer) seems absurd to me. What would we gain from that, other than being out of pocket? As long as we keep playing the way that we are then soon the players will start taking more opportunities. If you're unhappy now then maybe Arsenal is the club for you.

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bluepeter added 08:50 - Mar 1 Charlie Austin still hasn't scored yet!
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