http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3925168/Giovani-dos-Santos-h

Sorry. Has to be worth a mention.

PJ really does have an impossible job with SOME of you lot, as no matter what he announces there will always be moaners than know better and claim they had the brain wave first and its about time. If he employs experience, he's damned, if he employs youth, he's damned. He's supposed to buy cheap, mid 20's proven, 20+ goalscoring, rock of the defence, pacey, left and right sided, played in lower league and premiership but proven at Championship level, mid fielders that can play commandingly in goal, that want to come to Ipswich and die on the field, say all the right things but dont 'cos its cheesy and to be expected, and not have a life outside of football, not want to be paid much and never get injured. Any takers that can do that job on this forum get your CV's to "Iknowjackaboutmagagement@smartAholes.com". Entries to be in yesterday.

'What most of you clowns don't realise is it takes time to bring good young prospects into the club. When Jewell came in our squad was a mess, so he has drafted in the only kind of players with any real quality you can get on short notice'

Another Paul took a crap squad (relegation, beaten 1-7 at home) to winning the title in 9 months. Atkin turned the Saints round in a matter of months. One is now in the Premier the other is certainly heading that way, yet here we are floundering around the lower half of the league stuck with a bunch of injury prone, has beens and cast offs.

Looking at the quality we have, a play off place is way beyond our reach. the club seems a shambles both on and off the pitch. Clegg seems solely preoccupied with squabbling with the council over the rent - which suggests a rather deeper agenda. Little concern seems to be shown about the constant downward drift of our gates or the team come to that.

Jewell appears to operate on a reactive basis, stumbling from one crisis to the next with the all the believe of the town drunk sobering up and pronouncing that he has mended his ways and last nights episode wont happen again. Scotland and Edwards have off field problems, as have Chopra. Healey was played when he was clearly not up to it and Leadbitter is permanently not up to yet appears to have a guaranteed place come what may.

We had all these 'give him time' cries when Keane was clearly failing and I'm sure they will continue with Jewell till he finally waddles off back to a life back out on the golf course. Something, somewhere is badly wrong and our on field performances are a reflection of that. It is not time that is needed buit a radical revamp of the club from top to bottom. Looking at Cleggs actions i fear that maybe on it's way - but not how we want it to be.

@ Dirtyboy So if you comment on the managerial tactics in a negative manner, you are in fact claiming you could do a better job or a "know it all"?

The facts are:
Won the opening game 3-0 away, next game 9 changes and we win 1 in 6 and that was a lucky win v Leeds.
Stumble across a winning formula v Cov and go 6 unbeaten with some performances.
Other teams figure out how to play against us and we lose the next 3 games.

Now this is not great , but it is not disasterous either. But we do need to learn how to adapt to player availability and opposition. You really can't expect to employ the tactics that beat Coventry and say that's the formula that we'll take through the remainder of the season and we'll get promotion.

Now for the basis of my point: I am not a "know it all" I have an opinion, I'm sure that I could no better manage ITFC better than PJ, any better than he could manage a portfolio of customer accounts worth £20m to a major FMCG company than I do.

That's all!

Have read many comments over the last few weeks about PJ's "old and past it signings" and just wanted to throw a couple of questions out there:

If you were running the club and were alerted that Lee Bowyer was available on a free would you have jumped at the chance?

How many of us fans were desperate to get Jimmy Bullard in at the end of last season? (and many voted him player of the season)

When we were down to the bare bones at the back (DD TS and JA) who would have turned down Sonko (who i believe has been a good signing) and Collins?

I agree as much as anyone that we need some pace and more importantly a plan B. But the "OLD signings" argument is a bit tired.

We tried some of our own youth at the beginning of the season, Smith, Ainsley I don't recall that having a happy ending. Carson aside there are none of the Academy players I would put in the team as they are not ready/good enough. Martin was banned then injured and to be fair PJ's diamond was working well and all was fine and dandy. Last three or four matches have been poor and have clearly shown our lack of pace out wide but give the bloke time.

Cresswell has shown the sort of player PJ can bring in but these are not cheap or easy to come by. JET might be a prospect if we can get him going.

Yes we need a solid centre half, yes we need another wide player and a proper right back would be lovely but it takes time. PJ has brought in solid players on short term contracts to get us stabilised whilst he works on the long term plans.

Lets get behind the team and Manager and make players want to come here.

agree Saffronblue. We started poorly. The Diamond did work for a few weeks and my only issue has been the lack of a Plan B from the bench. We had like for like substitutions until Donny when we finally had the option to throw two wingers on if things were not working.
The Diamond can still work if we keep the ball. I would also like to see Jimmy play at the tip of the Diamond rather than the back. He has been useless in last few games

Souper and dirtyboy +1!

PJ makes a comment about adding youth and pace and the topic becomes a tirade against signing the older players. Age surely isn't the issue. The likes of Sonko, Bowyer and Bullard may be losing their legs a bit but still have much to offer. Sure we could use some pace but by itself it is not the total answer to our problems. What we need is an injection of commitment, confidence and spirit. These qualities have to be developed under inspirational leadership. We can't just send a scout out looking.

As I have said on here before and when ME bought this club.

I was told that ME made it quite clear he was not interested in the youth set up. He was interested in first team only and promotion.

This is why we have no youth coming through. PJ can be blamed for not giving them a chance if we have any.

"If you were running the club and were alerted that Lee Bowyer was available on a free would you have jumped at the chance?"

No, I would have asked why is he on a 'free' and whether the signing on fee and wages could not be better spent elsewhere


"who would have turned down Sonko (who i believe has been a good signing) and Collins? "

Why were we in the position of needing them ? We had just received £8m for Wickham so why was that not invested in younger players who had a future at the club Ellington and Ingimarsson, crocks the pair of them who will eventuially drift out of the club having played a few games each. Murphy, another crock. Wabara and Collins could well head back to their clubs in a months time. Wabara not a day too soon.

Stockdale is on an even shorter lease with an almost immediate recall. The bloke has been a revelation and is probably the reason why we are not a point or two from the bottom three. But if he goes, then what ? Lee-Barrett, heaven forbid.

Priskin, Healy, O Connor and T Smith are doing what bar taking wages ? And this is after Jewell has been ten months and supposedly had £8m from Wickham.

I would like to say that 'we are doomed, doomed I tell you' but I think it is worse than that.

Being young and being fast does not make you a good footballer.

When PJ took over he was mid table as far as I was concerned and thats where town have been mostly since he came.
At that time most agreed that a creative midfielder was required and we now have that in JB who is not a defensive midfielder.Also a right back and a bit of pace which still hasnt been addressed.Central defence was ok but have lost two cb's and gained two sick notes in Ingamarsson and Sonko so are really struggling in that position now.
Overall therefor have advanced little in the past ten months which is reflected in league position.
Yes Souper Jim this clown has been supporting town for 50 years.

I notice various comments being made about PJ trying to seek something that we already have in the club. Therefore, begs the question why these wonderfully talented young players already at the club aren't playing.

Despite what people may think, PJ does know what he is doing and has proved this at previous clubs (not Derby, before people comment). Therefore, there must be a reason with each young player as to why they aren't getting games.

Carson obviously annoyed PJ by not coming back fit enough from the summer break and the rest must have similar problems or PJ doesn't feel they are up to it.

With Cresswell, PJ has shown he is happy to include youngsters in the team if they are A)Good Enough and B)Show the desire to play for the club and give 100% every match they play. He has also shown that this attitude will be rewarded with longer contracts and more money.

Suggests to me that all these wonderful youngsters that people seem to think the club has, either haven't got the ability or they have the wrong attitude for what PJ is trying to achieve.

It might just be the case that many of the youngsters already believe they should be playing in the PL without ever proving themselves, because that's what they are told by their greedy agents and unrealistic friends and family.

So PJ, get rid of the youngsters who feel they are already bigger than the club and reward those that have the desire and ability with longer contracts and game time like you have Cresswell. Also, find some good young talent that will help the team next season and beyond.

Ps Don't lose any more games because it is becoming rather annoying.

@HARRY10

I'm not sure the comparisons to Norwich and Southampton are that useful. For every success story of that ilk, you'll find 10 failures. There is no automatic win button and PJ has a proven track record. What better man could Evans have appointed that would have guaranteed success?

I don't agree that a play-off place is beyond our reach. On paper we have a decent squad at this level and they have shown that they are capable of play-off form for an extended run of games. Jewell just needs to get more of that form out of them and get us over this current blip.

I do agree however that Jewell has been far too reactive, certainly of late. This is a criticism that has been levelled at him at previous clubs, with fans saying "he never has a plan B" and similar. The line-up against Doncaster was inexcusable and the way we staggered from one extreme to the other, first half team to second, was ridiculous.

There are things at our club which I am not happy with, however, I do have confidence in Jewell's ability to put things right given time. I am not suggesting he has been perfect, but for me we have shown clear improvement since the dross served up under Keane. We have already seen some very impressive performances this season, the likes of which, in my humble opinion, we have not seen for years.

Even if you fall firmly in the pessimistic camp, the fact remains that the periods of success we have had in our history have all come via a platform of stability and patience at both board and fan level. We had 18 months of almost total garbage under Keane, surely "inconsistent" Jewell deserves at least that long?

I like the idea of having more scouts in play. We have a decent core to the team however we need a strong squad with people pushing through. From what I can see Jewell has no choice but to play the old timers, particuarly in the middle of the park. We have no young CMs pushing for a place. A couple of 20-23 year old CMs who can learn form Jimmy and Bowyer and can push for a place for the run in could be a god send. Come on PJ find the next Cresswell!

I fink Town should rename Portman Road. That's a stuffy old monniker, innit? Bring in some extra shekels as well, cos the Chav With The Bag On His Bonce is skint.

Less have a fink now. The Chav Areana sounds nice.

Or Twilight Home for Unemployable Managers, CEOs and Players Arena.

Or the Chantry Estate II and less move the football ground darn the A12 somewhere.

COYB! FOG! FOP!

PS

For the hard of spelling.

Basil Smallpiece: you're a dick.

Not: Basil Smallpiece: your a dick.

Report Abuse

@Seasider - how long someone has been supporting the club is not an accurate guide to how much of a clue they have. There are plenty of 50+ year town fans who still don't know their backside from their elbow. If you think we were a mid-table side when PJ took over then I would suggest you are one of them. We were in 19th place, just 3 points off the relegation zone, having lost 7 of our last 10 league games.

Has anybody realised that maybe the youth we have here are just not good enough? So let's try the strategy people keep talking about here, try our own crop of youngsters, we could well be down the bottom fighting for our survival. We haven't had a real youth system in place for years (since Klug left the youth set up) and thus haven't really produced much over the last few years. In fact the only proven player we've produced who's moved on for a fee is Rhodes (and he's only proven at League one level) and obviously wickham but I haven't classed him as proven beacuse he isn't yet, not even at championship level, but bags of potential. However I'd like to see a few younger players brought in this up coming transfer window, but any player brought in on a basis of potential (under 22) will not be at his best and is still waiting to develop, which could be 2-5 years waiting for a youngster to hit his full potential, developed proven 23-30/32ish players will also cost a lot more, command a greater salary and quite likely will have other clubs looking at him too.
Jewell inherrited a mess and it will take a good two years in my opinion to sort out. If given time we realistically wont be looking at a promotion challenging team untill at least next season.

This season is a long way to conclusion and a lot of people on hear slagging off Jewell,Bowyer,Bullard,Chopras personal problems will look very foolish come May , as a lot did in defending Keanes awful time at the club .
We have improved from last year and will continue to do so ,all this talk of we keep getting thrashed ? 5-2 to Saints,4-1 to Millwall no different from our 3-0 wins at Coventry and Bristol ,the 7-1 to Peterboro was a one off result again no different to us stuffing Doncaster 6-0 last season .This league is unpredictable and all teams are losing and winning random games ,get Sonko and Bowyer back in the side and we are a different team the one which highly entertained me at West Ham,Boro and Brighton .
If all of those calling for youth would like to recall that is what we had last season whilst losing 9 from 12 games under Keane and the Irishman blaming that we had no experience !!

I guess there are a lot of professional managers on here who know exactly how to turn the team around.

I'd lay my house on the line, that 99% of the naysayers would have Ipswich relegated in their first season if they were put in charge, yet they seem to know the answer to everything.
---------------------------------------

Actually I really doubt this, I don't think being a football player in your youth improves your management skills a great deal. I'd say there are MANY non-footballers who could do a better job than SAF. Jose for example wasn't much of a footballer.

team for forest game. stockdale edwards sonko collins cresswell carson bullard andrews o connor chopra murray youth experience & speed 4-4-2 worth a try

Souper Jim hope you are not in the legal profession as you must learn to read items thoroughly.I said that mid table is where Town have been for MOST of PJ's tenure.
Since he came here yes there have been several impressive performances;but equally there have been several dire ones as well the record breaking 5-1 home loss to Norwich and the 7-1 thrashing by Peterborough,plus Swansea,Southampton Leicester and Millwall.Surely through your rose tinted specs you must agree that Ipswich are leaking more goals now than for several seasons past which if you are a true supporter must concern you,because I can assure you that it does others.
The club may have,as you say,a good team on paper but dear old Greavesie used to say the game is played on grass not on paper!

Thank God the proverbial penny has dropped at last, a team for the future cannot be mostly constructed of old timers....Youth and Pace I like it :)