Town boss Paul Jewell admitted that he could have taken off any of his midfielders when he replaced Colin Healy after 28 minutes of Saturday’s defeat to Doncaster with the Blues already 2-0 down. Healy, 31, was making his first league start of the season having impressed in the reserves last Tuesday.

Jewell says he very nearly made two substitutions as he looked to change his system: “It was a horrible decision to make. Colin’s waited for his chance and didn’t want to humiliate Colin like that, but I felt that we had to do something.

“I could easily have brought any of the midfield players off. If I’d have had six subs I might have made six subs.

“I don’t apologise for it, but it’s not nice because he’s a terrific professional and he’s a good player. It wasn’t happening for him but it wasn’t happening for anyone in the first half.

“I made the decision that we had to change it, I very nearly made two but I didn’t want to leave us short.”

He says he wasn’t angered by Healy walking straight to the tunnel after his withdrawal: “Don’t give that too much credence. I work with Colin every day and he’s a terrific professional. He was hugely disappointed. No one likes to be brought off in the first half.

“I’ve no problem with that, he didn’t show petulance towards me. He’ll be disappointed and I was disappointed to do it.”

Jewell says he dropped Trinidadian pair Jason Scotland and Carlos Edwards as they’d not looked at their best lately: “Jason’s had a few problems, he’s been feeling sluggish and tired. I had a chat with him on Friday and he just hasn’t been feeling himself.

“As for Carlos, I decided to give Reece a start. I think Carlos has been a bit flat of late and those are the decisions every manager has to make, some of those you get right, some you get wrong.

“They are disappointed and I want them to be disappointed and I want the rest of the players who aren’t playing to be disappointed. I don’t want people who aren’t playing to be happy. You have to accept it, you can only play 11. It’s like getting substituted, nobody likes it, but that’s the way it is.”

Jimmy Bullard was replaced at half-time after another under par performance and Jewell says the 33-year-old’s interrupted summer preparations could be having an effect: “I’m a big believer in pre-seasons. We’ve got a few that have missed pre-seasons, a few of our players that came in late — Ibrahima Sonko, Lee Bowyer, Jimmy, JET.

“There are a few that are playing catch-up a little. But everyone knows we’ve got a lot of work to do here. It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to happen overnight.

“I’m sitting here taking a lot of pain at the minute, but I’ll bounce back, I’m a big boy and I’ll go again.”

Better news for Jewell was the performance of Josh Carson after he came off the bench: “I think Josh made a difference, he showed that desire and that energy that had been missing from us in the first half.

“He burst on to the scene last year and did exceptionally well. He came back in pre-season in not as good a condition as he could have been.

“But we’ve worked him hard, and he’s worked hard and I said last week that he was very close to getting in the squad and he’s staked a claim now.”

Photo: Action Images

sonian_blue added 12:52 - Nov 7 You couldve changed any of them, but you chose Healy... He comes into the team from nowhere then you ditch him after 20 minutes...speaks volumes of your judgement both pre and during the game. All these excuses, havent we been here before very recently? Get ODriscoll in now and he will get us promoted this or next season, thats with some of the dross on our books.
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BlackandBlue added 13:15 - Nov 7 If it's a maxim that you don't change a winning team, then it follows you do change a loosing one. So no complaints about the line-up, even if it didn't work. More worrying is the amount of players who are "off-colour" it's not just Scotland. They don't look jaded to me they look frightened. Fear of loosing, fear of being blamed, fear of looking like a load of washed up overpaid has-beens. I don't know what it is. But the dressing room motivational speeches aren't working.

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bluelady added 13:33 - Nov 7 jas your posts are so ironic! not that i totally disagree but you are telling people to do something you refused to do with Keane for double the lenght of time that Jewell has had, you when mad if anyone dare to use his name in vain....
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Blue041273 added 13:35 - Nov 7 The thing that niggles me is that we don't seem to be able to do the basics well. We all know that players have off days but even when they do they should still be capable of doing the fundamentals, ie passing, marking and tackling. Doncaster could have had more than 3 but the ones they got were all preventable. Runners weren't tracked, tackles weren't made and the scorers weren't marked. El Hadj Diouf hasn't had a pre-season, or any kind of season so far, but he was allowed to stroll about doing whatever he felt like. With due respect to Doncaster they should not have been allowed to kill the game off so early. In the modern professional game no-one should do that to us at Portman Road. The obvious question is why did our team allow that to happen. As usual however the answers are buried under the excuses.

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LordMamu added 13:43 - Nov 7 Where are the people who were saying we were crazy to want to get rid of Jewell? I went on Saturday and it was embarrassing in literally every respect....we should have brought the 15 year old ball skills lad on for the second half - at least it would have been entertaining. Please some-one rid of us of this pr**ck - has he actually taken any notice of how the Naarwich did it??

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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 13:46 - Nov 7 Pazelle do you still think priskin is our best striker? For someone who had a point to prove he showed absolutely no desire or effort. Just ponced about as usual. Had more than enough chances, needs to be sent packing.
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40yearsablue added 13:54 - Nov 7 What sort of captain tells everyone 'the game's over at half time' ???? True yes but Grant, you are the LEADER on the pitch - you KICK A*SE on the pitch until the final whistle, you NEVER SAY DIE Grant. Sorry but you're just an insult to proper captains like Matt Holland, Mick Mills and the rest. Grow some b*lls!.
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bluelady added 13:56 - Nov 7 think its unfair to pick out Prisken, he followed some lost causes and started pretty brightly, then we went 2 down the heads dropped throughout the team and he didnt get any service at all. played in the correct position with proper supply he can do a job i believe.
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flyingdutchman added 13:58 - Nov 7 what a pity we can't sub you dead wood........
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 14:02 - Nov 7 Bluelady, sorry wasn't just picking out priskin, most of them were dreadful but I just think if I had been out all season and got my chance I would run til i dropped. Did priskin come off that pitch knackered? . I don't think so.
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WashbrookBlue added 14:06 - Nov 7 Bluelady....its not just ironic, its hypocritical and so boring. Every post the same , repated on the hour , every hour only now using capitals which are just even more persuasive aren't they. The same old bile just copied and pasted....negative tactics...10 months....PJ lovers stop making excuses...terrible tactics...failed signings....ruined Derby now us. Little else to change now except maybe the font size and typeface colour? Try that pal, everyone will really get in then. I don't hear or read any "PJ lovers" on here , nor have I read anyone blame our recent results on Keane. All I read is supporters bitterly disappointed at the recent downturn after allowing our hopes to be raised after the briefest of upsurges, some pretty justifiable criticism of some baffling selections on saturday and all manner of addtional emotional bloodletting, all of which is completely understandable but doesn't really help anything....wonder actually whether these damn boards are actually a curse rather than a blessing. Who knows where all this is headed. 2 weeks ago it felt pretty good, now really pretty grim. We have little choice but to support the team (was tempted to use block capitals there), hope that this management team will in time prove to be less duds than the last and continue to challenge our ever present vociferous minority who just love to revel in the misery of it all.

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rugbytomc added 14:08 - Nov 7 Why on earth was Healy starting anyway?! He's slow and not very skillful - is that really what the team had been missing?! By starting Wabarra - surely that was the perfect chance to play 442 - with Carlos playing his more natural right wing role and Martin on the left with Carson coming off the bench late on when one of them tired? For goodness sake, put some of the deadwood on the transfer list at least - Healy, Leadbitter, Priskin, Ellington - then play Chops and Scotland up front, with JET as cover until we buy someone decent like Sharp. Bullard and Andrews in midfield - Bowyer coming on for Bullard when he tires. Why is it so hard for Jewell to just play 442?! We might as well face it - we're stuck with him for a while :-(

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rgp1 added 14:53 - Nov 7 Can We substitute the manager and coaching staff
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strikalite added 16:51 - Nov 7 If only we'd have managed to get Sharp and Coppinger during the summer, can't believe we offered 300k for Coppinger, that lad can cross a ball, something we haven't had in a long while, all our best sides down here have had natural width and pace - now we have no outlet on the break what so ever and it's very disheartening, you're not going to simply pass your way through the middle of sides in this league, defenders hate two things...pace and whipped in crosses, say no more!

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h32 added 17:58 - Nov 7 bluelady - excellent post, many good points - your mention of Priskin is spot on, he was never going to get the service he needs - and he never has had !! People slag him off but I would have him in my team - but it is essential to have the right people around him, including the right Manager. Very,very difficult for ANY striker to perform well in this team right now - in fact I would say IMPOSSIBLE.

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neillrumsey added 18:13 - Nov 7 Poor excuse from PJ to justify his actions. It would appear that too many on TWTD still see our problem is with the strikers - it is not. Why would Billy Sharp come to Ipswich ? We haven't got a midfielder who creates chances. In Chpra we probably have the leagues best proven goalscorer but how many chances did we create. Priskin and Chopra had to feed off high long balls - this is not their game and this is not football. I'm glad somebody else saw the contribution of JET as he is probably the only player in the squad capable of the skill he applied for Chopras goal. He has got quality it's clear to see.

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Pettitt10 added 18:40 - Nov 7 we need some bright keen youngsters in the team, keen prove a point who will step up the pace of the team and make it a bit easier for our golden oldies. look at how good cressie and stocks have been so far! come on PJ, for now lets get our lot focused on what really matters... WINNING!
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bluedart added 19:25 - Nov 7 We have to many midfielders who play the same way, Leadbitter - Bullard - Andrews - Bowyer they are all attack minded, we cannot play them all in the same team. The only one we dont own is Andrews he needs to be sent back. For years we have needed a holding midfield player with experince to play with Leadbitter then with Martins and Carson on the wings we would have a top six side. The centre halfs are exposed too much. With the current squad lets play 3 centre halfs with Edwards and Cresswell wide with Healy or Kennedy in front then Leadbitter and Bullard with Chops and Priskin.

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Skippy93 added 20:43 - Nov 7 Just reading through the comments there are lots of similar posts - the squad's too old, not enough youth, not enough width on the wings, the strikers aren't getting the service, the diamond isn't working. While most, if not all the statements above, are (in my opinion) correct, the thing that is worrying me is the excuses and the fact that this club is slowly but surely beginning to repeat itself, game after game, season after season. While Jewell in my mind is a better man manager than either Keane or Magilton, the excuses being made are at best disappointing. While I was never a massive Keane fan, he would certainly have never made excuses like this. To some degree, Magilton wouldn't have either. I don't think the problems are as simple as footballing problems any more. Paul Jewell seems to be very comfortable in his position - Clegg and Evans seem to be great pals of his. Grant Leadbitter, despite being arguably our worst player this season, is still our captain and seems to have a stick on place in the starting line up. My point is, people around this club, on the field and off it, are starting to get a little bit too comfortable with obscurity and mediocrity, and it's worrying.

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chripswich added 21:32 - Nov 7 just clueless..... just go!
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bluelady added 22:10 - Nov 7 bluedart oh you did make me giggle! leadbitter attack minded, he only ever manages to pass the ball backwards or sideways at best. On sat when he got the ball in there penalty area it was like a hot potato and he coudnt wait to pass it when he should have had a shot! I think the problem is more that we have NO decent attack minded midfielders and certainly none with any creativity other than Bullard when on form (which clearly he isnt! Just maybe its the diamond that doesnt suit his style of play? he is playing way too deep which is dangerous as he is often knocked off the ball. We do desperately need a sweeper type player who will take the ball off Stokedale and play it along the ground through midfield and NOT hoofing it over everyones heads.

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HARRY10 added 00:59 - Nov 8 'I have to question JB's lacks of detemination to get to Diouf when he scored the third....' Spot on. I didn't notice it so much at the time but seeing it again he looks totally unconcerned or committed. The sad thing is that there is little money and subsequently little ambition. Jewell was not the first choice and it says something when Gary Megson turns us down - or that he was even considered. Look how much was spent after Walters was sold - Drury from Luton. £8m for Wickham and what do we get, pretty much zilch. Don't be fooled by misleading transfer fees. Most are has beens and cast offs that may have been ok on their day, but those days are long gone. I'm sure Jewell took the job knowing the constraints and was willing to give it a try. I doubt there were many others beating a path to his door. So we have been lumbered with players who have numerous off field 'ishooooos' (they used to be problems a year or so before), carrying injuries and/or just generally not that good or bothered. There seems little urgency about the place. Crowd numbers continue to fall yet there seems little to win them back. Apart from Carson there seems little coming through from the youth squad - and with another 18 players out of contract next June we are going to struggle to build a decent squad, more so if this is the best we can manage after an £8m input. There is something badly wrong somewhere. somethimng wrong that decent players want to leave, and do so for free. We seem unable to attract good quality players on their way up (bar Cresswell) yet have lost the likes of Trotter and Rhodes. From what I am hearing it is a case of money. Cut the budget too far and it will show. Worse than it already is, I'm afraid. I am a Town fan and always will be. We are a good club, the fans respect for Sharp on Saturday demonstrated that. But the simply fact is Jewell's ineptness, unsuitablity for the job is not the sole cause of our problems (ishoooooos ?) it is a consequence of them - and at the moment with Evans as owner and his hapless puppet Clegg in charge I fear we have a fair way more to fall before we can start to pick up again.

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Dissboyitfc added 07:55 - Nov 8 omuircheartaigh, who's dim? i think you' ll find its spelt . believed not beleived as you put..... coyb
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Premiertown added 08:49 - Nov 8 Worrying thing is we have 11 players who if all fit play OK and 3 dont belong to us. there is a lot we arte not hearing about going on, maybe finances, moral, injuries affecting players still being picked. The other factor to me is that we have no competitive reserve mayches to make the substitutes and squad players ready to come in. Look at top tema and they can swap 11 players and still get a perfomance out of the squad because they are ready to play. Ambitous clubs have a plan, including looking for the right manager and coach, and a squad we can afford in the long term and a youth system that actually produces 2 or 3 stars a season. If we sell a top player we use the money to replace them with scouted quality not desperate signings of players past their sell by dates. We need 2 goal keepers, a complete back four (so we can replace Sonko etc when not available), at least 3 fast capable midfield players and a strike force of 4 to give options from the bench. That i am afraid is what Norwich have and we dont.

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arablue added 08:59 - Nov 8 PJ, time to let actions speak louder than words...
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