Blues boss Paul Jewell says Town are likely to extend midfielder Josh Carson’s two-year contract when he turns 18 in June. The Northern Irish youngster quietly signed his first professional deal last summer after impressing in his first year as an academy scholar at Playford Road.

Jewell says the club will look to offer him improved terms but only if he earns them: “We’ll look to extend it, providing he carries on as he is. I remember the Leighton Baines scenario at Wigan.

“When I signed Leighton I brought his mum and dad in and told them that I wasn’t going to give him a lot of money but if he does well we’ll give him a new contract.

“He did well and we gave him a new contract, he did well again and we gave him another new contract. And by the time I left, I won’t tell you what he was on, but he was on an awful lot more than when he started.”

The Blues manager says youngsters can suffer if they are given too much too soon: “If you give players a nice easy contract too early it can work against them subconsciously. The next thing they’ve got a new car in the car park and a new bird on their arm.

“I want them to have that hunger and if you have that hunger, the rewards will come, rather than the rewards coming before they actually do something. Especially with young players I think that works better.

“Not with all young players, though. If you’ve got young players who are being chased by huge clubs you can’t do that because you have to protect your club,” he added.

“But I’m happy for their parents to trust me as a manager that if they do well they won’t have to come looking for us, we’ll come looking for them.”

Photo: Action Images

DiamondGezzer added 15:01 - Apr 12 Makes sense to me, but surely bigger clubs with a bigger scouting network will be aware of him already.
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floridaboy added 15:15 - Apr 12 The more I read how PJ operates the more I think he is the best thing to come to Portman Road for a long while. Things can only get better!!
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ALF added 15:19 - Apr 12 "quietly signed" - are you saying you missed that news last summer Phil???
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ElginCityBlue added 15:20 - Apr 12 'The next thing they've got a new car in the car park and a new bird on their arm.' I love PJ quotes!
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Hungry_Badger added 15:25 - Apr 12 OMG! Keane did do something right after all by signing up this lad, looks a good prospect for the future along with Mr Wickham.
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HighSeasBlue added 15:38 - Apr 12 Top quote by PJ! Hopefully Carson will flourish next season.
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Barhamblue added 16:39 - Apr 12 Make sure she's a nice bird Josh. Get in there son!
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pazelle added 16:57 - Apr 12 Go on Josh! You've got a lot of hard work to do before you become a superstar - You have to eat your sprouts before you can have your pudding!
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PhilTWTD added 17:06 - Apr 12 ALF I did, but in my defence it was never announced by the club at the time.
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Back_The_Boss added 17:13 - Apr 12 Get him to sign on the dotted line! COYB.
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Mark added 17:21 - Apr 12 Every day I am more and more impressed with Jewell's management. He is totally right for Ipswich. I wouldn't swap him for any other manager in the country.
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rosseden added 10:44 - Apr 13 'I wouldn't swap him for any other manager in the country' agreed...... hopefully there are still enough decent people in the game and theyre all not total mercenaries, that way we could be in for a good few years......
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confoosed_dot_com added 16:51 - Apr 13 "The next thing they've got a new car in the car park and a new bird on their arm." I know other posters have mentioned it, but this just adds to the list of Jewell gems. There you go Phil - a new feature! Jewell keeps it real, he is totally not what I was expecting
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Worcester added 22:57 - Apr 13 again sounds good. Obvious nod to Wickham being on a higher rung of the ladder
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Garv added 23:23 - Apr 13 He reminds me so much of a typical Sunday league player does Carson, in his looks I mean. He looks a quality player though, I don't see why he can't become as big a talking point as Wickham in the next year or two.
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