Town boss Paul Jewell didn’t appear overly impressed to be told that summer signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is set to sing on a track by rapper Chipmunk, his one-time Arsenal academy team-mate. The Blues manager feels the 20-year-old, who he believes has exceptional potential, needs to concentrate on getting himself fit and into the team.

Jewell says he’ll have a chat with the striker or midfielder regarding his musical ambitions: “It’s something I might just go and pull him for a word about this morning. I don’t know about it.

“Jay Emmanuel-Thomas needs to concentrate on his football, that’s what he gets paid to do and that’s what I’ll be having a word with him about.

“He can’t be doing that well on the pitch because he’s not in the team,” he added.

Emmanuel-Thomas is one of a number of Town players on Twitter, something else Jewell says he has little time for: “I don’t know who these players think they are, to be honest.

“Who gives a toss what Jay Emmanuel-Thomas or Paul Jewell are doing? I’ve only got a million followers! I want them to concentrate on what’s going on on the pitch, certainly young players.”

But the Blues boss says it’s important to remember that Emmanuel-Thomas is still young and believes he’s a big talent who has the ability to go a long way: “When you look at him, he’s such a big unit.

“We’ve bought potential there, there’s no doubt about it. He can do things in training and in matches that no one else can.”

Jewell admits that so far the man known as JET has not made much of an impact in his five starts and six sub appearances, aside from his two goals, with his fitness having been an issue in his first few months at the club: “He’s frustrates you because he looks lazy, not meaning he is. He’s not fit, he’s come from Arsenal and he hasn’t had a pre-season like the lads have had here.

“It’s always difficult to catch up after pre-season. When I say he’s got potential, he can do anything he wants, he can be anything he wants to be, or he can just drift away. It’s entirely up to him.

“He might make more money making records, I don’t know. He frustrates you, there’s no doubt about that.”

Despite this, the Liverpudlian says Emmanuel-Thomas, who cost £1.5 million plus a further £500,000 in additional top-up clauses, is making progress on the training field: “He is improving every day. I think it was a bit of a shock to his system. He’s been at Blackpool, he’s been at Doncaster and he’s been at Cardiff, all on loan, and he’s always had the comfort blanket of going back to the Arsenal.

“He hasn’t got that any more, this is his team. I bought him to go into the team, but he wasn’t fit enough to go into the team. He’s shown flashes, he’s shown bits and pieces but he hasn’t shown enough consistently, but you do get that with young players.

“He’s making a name for himself by doing records and stuff like that. I want him to make a name for himself on the football pitch and I will be having a word with him about that.”

The Londoner spent much of pre-season with Arsenal’s reserves scoring hat-tricks in not overly taxing matches such as a 9-0 thrashing of Hastings. Jewell says this didn’t give him the same preparation as the rest of the Town squad: “Certainly every player that was here had a tough pre-season and I believe in the benefits of that.

“He wasn’t fit, I was surprised what shape he was in. He wasn’t up to the speed, the tempo of the way we want to play, the way we want to train, but sometimes that happens with players.

“When we did fitness runs, he was tailing off. Now he’s tailing off not so much, he is getting better. I certainly don’t want to vilify the lad, but mentally and physically he’s found it a bit tougher than he thought it would be.”

Even if the former England U19 international doesn’t make his Town breakthrough during this campaign, Jewell is confident that he will do so further along the line: “Whatever happens this season he will be better for it next season.

“He has got fantastic ability, I’m not going to liken him to Adel Taarabt at QPR but just as he can do things that no one in the QPR team can do, JET can do stuff that no one in our team does. And yet at times he finds the simple things difficult.

“When you look at him, he looks a man mountain, but he’s only 20. He’s got a lot to learn and a lot of growing up to do.”

Photo: Action Images

Dissboyitfc added 07:44 - Oct 20 you tell him paul, COYB
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Dissboyitfc added 07:52 - Oct 20 I firmly believe, that with the right man management JET is going to be a star ,COYB
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textbackup added 07:58 - Oct 20 I think we've seen the odd moment of quality from him, and as his fitness improves he will get even better.... id like to say that come Jan he will be like a new signing for us and push us on to have a strong 2nd half of the season.
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Sindre94 added 07:59 - Oct 20 Haha, so weird this bloke, but I kinda love him! COYB, i believe in his potential!
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Sindre94 added 08:00 - Oct 20 and Paul, i give a toss of what you or JET are doing, indeed, honestly! I do! :)
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Tillz9 added 08:09 - Oct 20 JET obviously has ability. You can see that when he gets on the ball. He needs a run of games to get his fitness up but at the moment isn't going to get in the team ahead of who we have playing up top. Long season though and I do believe he will have a part to play. I know not all fans have taken to him but he is the sort of player I like and I have my fingers crossed he will turn out to be an excellent player given time and a bit of patience

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ncharles added 08:27 - Oct 20 This is where Town being in a cup competition would be a benefit.
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Back_The_Boss added 08:31 - Oct 20 Credit to the lad, he's only have a laugh!
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TractorMan added 08:34 - Oct 20 On Tuesday, it summed up Jewell's point here as both him and Hutchings consistently had to tell him to run and close down. You didnt see that with any other player. Knuckle down and hopefully he'll come good!
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DanLyles added 08:39 - Oct 20 If he gets fit and applies himself I would like to see JET in Leadbitter's current role at the apex of the midfield diamond. Given the freedom to get on the ball and roam behind Chopra and Scotland he could be leathful (like Taarabt). I would, however, question his work ethic for this role. As people on here have said many times, it could take an awful lot of man management from PJ. Maybe he could play off Chopra if he utilises his physical attributes.

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blueoff added 09:03 - Oct 20 Jet my arse, more of a bi-plane I'd say, talk the talk walk the walk son, £1.5 mill' ? ,you could have given supporters free travel to the away matches all season with that. I've grown to really like PJ so if you read this, err Jet !, lose all your loser mates & concentrate on your football.
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:07 - Oct 20 rap the rapper PJ ! We need X factor on pitch not on frickin CD .
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BlueMeAway added 09:07 - Oct 20 I would buy that single.
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CardinalRansome added 09:22 - Oct 20 has Jewell got verbal diarrhoea? Boy does he go on. The Club cannot dictate what a player does 24 hours a day, no more than my boss can tell me what to do on a Saturday for example
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RetroBlue added 09:23 - Oct 20 JET will never reach his potential as a professional footballer , because he hasn't the focus or desire
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Frase1987 added 09:23 - Oct 20 REMEMBER JET isn't just some guy like Martin who could be a good player if he commited himself, he actually has more skills than 95% of the Premier League (you can ask any arsenal fan this). The problem is he clearly likes the game but he seems to be distracted like all the time. Let's back him because if he straightens his priorities he really will be a diamond for us (and probably tapped up very quickly).

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fourth added 09:28 - Oct 20 JET needs to grow up. Will he?
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LFCITFC added 09:56 - Oct 20 Retroblue - completely agree. Another kid who has signed pro forms and think he's messi! If he gets himself fit, by working hard, he will be a great asset, but in the championship you can not afford lazy players, which I think he is.
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Sindre94 added 09:56 - Oct 20 I sure hope he will, IJWT
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tractorboybig added 10:28 - Oct 20 err we are mid october and he still is not fit? looks like wenger has had us over.
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Bluewelshman added 11:09 - Oct 20 Loads of you slatted me for saying that JET should concentrate on putting in 90 minutes of football rather than rapping, and now that PJ say's the same you are all agreeing with him. Do me a favour, next time someone makes an observation that seems wrong for the club dont say they arent real fans or its a disgrace that someone has an opinion on a player who seems lazy on the pitch but not in the studio, please remember that occasionally that person may have a point. Thank you PJ for saying what most of us REAL town fans were thinking, not the ones who think that every player who puts on a town shirt is a saint.

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Gazelle added 11:31 - Oct 20 He's a young lad and i daresay he's feeling a bit lost out here in the sticks. Keep an eye on him PJ.
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clive_baker added 11:36 - Oct 20 I've said it before and i'll say it again, he has enormous potential but his career will go one of 2 ways. He could be yet another wasted talent and expensive flop or he could realise his potential and go on to much bigger and better things than Championship football. He needs to put the work in though.
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HarryfromBath added 12:23 - Oct 20 I reckon that JET could learn a bit from Wilfried Zaha. This Palace flair player is really doing the business for them and will be a handful on Saturday. JET is such a prospect and can learn so much from such an experienced squad.
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CornardBlue added 12:50 - Oct 20 JET has quality to unlock defences, had a run against Portsmouth where he went past 3 defenders and was nearly in on goal. Not ready yet for 90 minutes at this level but great as impact player, also for a tall lad needs to improve in the air.
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