Town boss Paul Jewell says he understands fans’ frustrations after five defeats on the trot but urged patience as he looks to bring success back to Portman Road after a number of lean years. The Blues manager says that while he has “materials that are top class” to work with, it takes time to build a successful side.

Jewell said: “I understand fans’ edginess but all I would say is be patient and if you go back to when I came here, I didn’t say it was going to be a one-season wonder — I thought it was going to take time.

“We’ve had a lot of mediocrity for a long time, [some people] think this club is in a mess, [if it is]we’ve got to get out of that mess.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s in a mess. The owner’s got a huge ambition for the club but it hasn’t been successful for a long time, you’ll know that better than me.

“We’ll have to have a bit of pain, but we’ve got a lot of materials that are top class here, but getting the right team, getting the right spirit takes time.

“The supporters have been great, but at the end of the day I understand their frustrations. But no one’s more frustrated than me and no one’s more determined to put it right than me either.”

The Blues boss says that while results are bad a lot of good work which is going on off the field can be overlooked: “I’m trying to build [an infrastructure] but people only want to know what the result was on Saturday, and I fully understand that.

“I think we’ve got to bring through some younger kids, we’ve got some talented young kids coming through.

“We’ve got lots of good things going on, we’re trying to improve all aspects of the club, the running of the club off the pitch.

“But the key thing is getting it right on the pitch, I fully understand that, but in time I’m sure all those things will make a successful football team.”

Regarding Town’s current woes, Jewell insists there’s no panic: “I think you’ve got to be calm. Things are tough for us at the moment but I’ve done about 500 games and I’ve been in tough situations before, I’ve got through some of them, I didn’t get through some others.

“But from my perspective I’ve got great belief in what we do, what we’re trying to do and as I said when I came here, it’s a long-term plan.

“I didn’t come to get promotion in a year, there might have to be a bit of pain [in order] to get better. I’m not panicking, I’m disappointed, hugely disappointed, but I’m not panicking.”

Going forward, he says he’ll be looking to start building his squad for 2011/12 when the transfer window opens in January: “We brought a lot of players in in the summer at once [this year].

“My idea would be to try and get players in for next year as we go along rather than all at once. I came in January with the window already half-closed and then we brought a lot of players in at once.

“Maybe the way to do it next year is to keep the players that we’ve got here that we want and try in January and between then and the new season to try and target people who will take us further on.

“It was never going to be a short-term thing. We’ve got 29 games left yet, so we’re not giving up on this season, but we’ve got to be aware we’ve got no divine right to be in the play-offs.

“People think that just because we signed one or two experienced players that we’re automatically going to be at the top of the league, but it’s a tough league.”

Photo: Action Images

mutters added 08:27 - Nov 29 PJ - from my perspective you have time to build the club, you can't change years of neglect overnight.
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MaySixth added 08:31 - Nov 29 Good stuff PJ - keep the faith.
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mwhitfc added 08:36 - Nov 29 I have every faith in Jewell and the team, and we all need to rally and get behind the team more than ever! Mutters - you are right, it was never gonna be an instant change, but some of the stuff we have played this season has shown glimpses of what we would love to be seeing week in week out :) COYB
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Bergholtblue added 08:37 - Nov 29 I agree that PJ needs time to rebuild and that we shouldn't expect success overnight, but I would at least like to see some signs that the rot that set in when Joe Royle left has ben hlated, if not some improvement. We still have a defence that leaks goals like a colander does water and we are still a long way off in having a striker that can score us 20+ goals a season. The latter is not necessarily a criticism of the strike force but an overall picture of the poor service that they get from midfield. When the like s of Ronan Murray publicly states that the youngsters had more chance of playing under Roy Keane that PJ, what does this say about PJ's committmen t to bringing these 'promising young players through'?

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newboy added 08:40 - Nov 29 PJ its never your fault is it 'a lot of mediocrity for a long time' that includes you.'Bring through younger kids we have some coming through' well if you want to keep them you need to do better than you did with Lavery and please dont try to pretend it was him and his agent being greedy people talk and where are these players . When we had a proper academy klug and humes played our youngsters in the reserves brought them through so did keane you have even ruined that. You need to sort yourself out leadership comes from the top stop talking start doing

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blueoff added 08:41 - Nov 29 * fat scouse alert *, Jewell you've brought in a load of players that are finished, it's no good saying they were good for you 6 or 7 years ago, Ingimarsson, Bowyer, Ellington etc youve taken the club backwards , just go ffs !
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bedsitfc added 08:50 - Nov 29 i still have every faith in paul to take our little club up.
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cobbolds added 08:56 - Nov 29 Hate to say it but look at Lambert and Norwich. No more excuses please Jewell.
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Surco72 added 09:00 - Nov 29 Newboy was it Jewell that got rid of Klugs long time working with the club and academy set up ? I thought it was Keane
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osborne1nil added 09:05 - Nov 29 newboy, I think you will find it was Keane who ruined the youth set up. He got rid of Klug who had been with Town back to the Robson era and was bringing through youth and had won the FA youth cup. I think Jewell is slowly turning this around and I think Osman and the additional scouts he has brought in well help. We need to find more players from lower leagues (like Cresswell) who will fit in and improve the team. The majority of our youth players are not at that level yet.

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CornardBlue added 09:10 - Nov 29 The supporters could understand the postion we are in if PJ had brought in young hungary players in the summer to build for the future. If you bring in older players and loans on big wages you expect a quick fix and at the very least up in the top six. The only thing i agree with PJ is about the lean years, we have had ten of them with no sign of things getting better.

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wherescounago added 09:18 - Nov 29 cornard dblue - So you want more Priskins then??????
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Frase1987 added 09:29 - Nov 29 How is it building a team when they're all gonna retire in a couple of years?? That argument was nullified months ag.
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bluelady added 09:29 - Nov 29 PJ talks a very good game, just need to see that emulated on the pitch. PJ we dont expect miracles, we know it takes time BUT each time i go to Portman Road i fear we are going to get trounced, not just beaten by a better team but thrashed by some very very poor teams. I will back the manager unlike some, but i have to say my patience is running thin so the results need to start coming in, i would take a 1-0 or even draws at the moment to steady the ship.....

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blueasfook added 09:34 - Nov 29 Jewell Out
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dannysigma added 09:35 - Nov 29 Very good wherescounago!
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nearly50yearsblue added 09:37 - Nov 29 PJ,after you have watched countless DVD's please address the following, Square pegs for square holes,coaches working with the players and cutting out basic errors,such as throw ins back to our goal with seconds to play. Pass and move in the midfield,players moving into space,providing their legs hav'nt gone (go back to square pegs).I could go on,but I am sure you know better than me,just prove me wrong is all I ask.

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sonian_blue added 09:40 - Nov 29 Spot on Cornard. Think most of us on here would settle for mediocrity for a season or two if he was bringing in young hungry players and developing those he inherited. But when he brings in has beens and those out for a final 'wedge' then his talk doesnt wash with me. Make your mind up....on the way out the door if you please.
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SamPentas added 09:47 - Nov 29 I can't understand why people were slating Paul Jewell, yes we're all massively disappointed but this isn't PJ's fault! He said when he came in 'this is a long-term project, we're not gonna achieve much this season, but in the next few seasons'. Can we not just trust him?
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jaydee added 09:54 - Nov 29 PJ...Your full of it & its getting boring now,the infrastructure is still there Cropper,Murray,White,Hyam Carson etc. You say you want to build for the future but have signed ex prem players on high wages just here for one last pay day...to me this looks like a quick fix ! Sod this season,grow a pair & put these young hungry guns in who want to play for their shirt.Hyam looked class last season & you only gave Carson a recall because of your hasbeens injuries this year.We have nothing to lose,so lets start building now.

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buryblue77 added 09:54 - Nov 29 Like it wherescounago!!! Anyway....the team has been in decline for years, it all set in with some over ambitious stadium improvements which cost the club a lot of money, relegation followed and we weren't able to keep the finances in order hence the sale of some of our top players for less than half what we'd paid for them. Royle nearly did it, how I don't know but from 2002-2008 we didn't really spend any money, there wasn't any to spend! The next mistake was to take Klug away from his youth duties and make him assistant, since then there hasn't been a real academy like we've been used to. Then it appears that Keane destroyed the academy and that's why the youngsters we've got coming through just aren't good enough. I think we've got the makings of a good team, (albeit short term with the age of some players) which Jewell will want to build on in the upcoming years with some hungry (not Hungarian) youngsters which we've produced such as Carson or that we've signed from elsewhere like Cresswell. I've still faith in PJ to get it right and I think he will. COYB!!!

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hogster1970 added 09:56 - Nov 29 well as i see it its this, the current situation. we have X amount of good players unforchantly some are being fitted in the wrong hole eg JET when you have martin, we have certain players who just upto the task in hand EG lead bitter, he is never a captain and his build up play is poor. we have suffered from medioca midfield for years, this is the heart of the team and in the center of that heart is your 2 center midfielders. to me personally i would like to see andrews and bullard ( give him a freer role) and exploit his talent, i know he has been poor of late but i think its frustration. and use your wingers eg martin and carson to also help feed the front 2. people ask for a 20 a year stiker well i feel with have one but unless you feed him quality ball then he will struggle, as will any other striker, as in the defence well prob with sonko and collins are our best center pairing and with aaron and edwards we wont be to far wrong. but what frustrates fans is, we all know who our best team is and we just havnt seen it on the pitch yet have we, also behind the scenes our struggle is the same as every one else who is non premier leaque, the reserves set up. its a shambles, we should go back to a proper reserve system when we will play like for like not needham fri=ging market, this is the stepping stone from youth to first team but thats not our fault. this defo needs sorting out properly with the league,

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meekreech added 10:01 - Nov 29 SamPentas Agree with your comments ! Trouble is with a lot of the posters on here they have selective hearing and vision ( if they are able to do these anyway ) and are not able to reason beyond the level of " we are going to win everything because we are who we are " . The players we have will steady the club and allow proper team building to take place !
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nitroblue1970 added 10:17 - Nov 29 Oh dear, this sounds like he's been told to say this from someone higher up, a little bit of stage management to satisfy the fans calling for action...giving youth a chance.... it hurts me too..... i understand the fans etc etc etc ....Give Clegg his due he knows how to manipulate people!
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itfc1981 added 10:45 - Nov 29 But you are not making progress. its your own fault buying old players has left you open to attack. Jewell Out
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