Blues boss Paul Jewell says Academy Player of the Year Gunnar Thorsteinsson is if anything too focused on making it as a professional footballer. The 18-year-old Icelander is likely to feature in next season’s new U21 league, an aspect of the EPPP that the Town manager doesn’t particularly welcome.

Thorsteinsson received his gong at last week’s End of Season Dinner but Jewell thought he was far from the youngest looking award winner: “When he went up there on Tuesday I thought Cressy had won the Academy Player of the Year because Cressy looks younger than him!

“He’s done well, he’s a terrific professional. He lives, eats and breathes football. He’s one where you think ‘get a life, you boring bastard!’," he joked.

“I had a word with him because you can get too intense. He wants it so much, he trains hard, he’s got a fantastic attitude.

“The award wasn’t just for playing, it was for being a scholar in general. They have to go to school and it's for the way they are about the place, their manners, so there was the whole package taken into consideration and it’s a credit to him and his family that he’s won it.

“He’s a talented boy, he plays the guitar, he’s good looking, he’s got a lot going for him. If he had a yard of pace he’d be all right!”

Midfielder or defender Thorsteinsson joined the club last summer after coming through the ranks at Icelandic club Grindavik, where his dad Thorsteinn Gunnarsson is the chairman, making two senior appearances in 2009 and becoming their youngest-ever first team player in the process.

His father has been an avid Town fan since childhood and passed his passion for the Blues on to his son.

Despite his success in his first year as a scholar, Jewell says the Icelandic U17 international is not in line for an early elevation to the senior side: “He’s not ready for the first team squad yet.”

Having made a handful of reserve appearances in the ad hoc friendlies the Blues have played this season, Thorsteinsson will hope to be a regular in next season’s new U21 league. Town will enter the competition as a result of committing to Category Two in the EPPP reorganisation of youth football.

Jewell isn’t a big fan believing that if players are good enough they should join the ranks of the first teamers rather than being seen as part of an U21 squad: “It’s like me saying to Byron Lawrence, who’s 16, that he’ll have to go into the development group.

“If they’re ready to go into the first team and play with the first team, they should do that, they develop far better.

“I think what’s going to happen, and this is only my view, is that we’ll end up keeping players for the sake of it.

“I don’t want to just keep players so we meet the criteria for the U21 league. For me, that’s not the right way to do it.

“I think if you’re training with the U21 group at 18 or 19 or 20, I’m not sure it develops you that well, but they’re the rules, so we’ve got to abide by them.”

Jewell doesn’t believe the players will be sufficiently tested in the new U21 league despite the likelihood that clubs will be able to field two or three overage players: “We’re going to be able to test ourselves against the U21s of who? Colchester? Even the Premier League sides, why do we want to play against U21 teams from the Premier League?

“I think if you’ve got young players playing against men, from the Premier League or Colchester, it’s far more beneficial to them than playing on a level playing field.”

Photo: Action Images

newboy added 13:55 - May 2 Well that rattled cages and you dont need to be rich to watch U18 its free so dont give it all the 'i support from home *rap' the sad truth is people spout about things they know nothing about if someone has been let you you all start on the he must have a bad attitude must be bad in training etc it cant possibly be fool jewells fault and because he has won a few games you all think he is god again when you were all calling for his head at Christmas is that being a true fan just swinging in the breeze and going with the majority grow a back bone at least i have never changed my opinion he is unfit to do the job worse manager i have seen at the club and that includes RK and yes pls do from your armchair say good dont buy your season ticket or dont read the comments i have paid my money i will have my say

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tomisamos added 14:08 - May 2 Careful, awayfan, you might get told off for making a joke. Newboy, some people live an hours drive away, that also costs money. And time. To see the under18s. That's probably a bit OTT to expect. In any case, your comments suggest that if anyone's cage is rattled, it's yours. I don't really care if PJ makes it or not. I want Ipswich to do well, and I currently don't think PJ deserves an instant sacking and that this coming season could be where we see the fruits of his labours and finally see some real decent football that I think we saw glimpses of last year. I don't have any cryptic insiders information, but that's my humble opinion. Could you let me have it, please?

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buryblue77 added 14:17 - May 2 Newboy, why are we not allowed an opinion on our supported club, some of us can't afford season tickets or even to go to the odd match whilst some of us like myself work every Saturday (apart from the few I'm allowed each year) and sometimes into early evening. I also now live 50 miles away which means that making an evening game (even if I get off normal time is tricky) but I still go to as many games as I can make. But apparently according to you we're not allowed a say because we're not season ticket holders. There are a variet of reasons why people don't/can't have season tickets and we're not all as lucky as those who do have the time/can afford to do so. I WILL continue to have my say on here, as will the other casual fans, we may not all agree with each other, that's the whole point of the forum. But the good old Suffolk negativety really shows on here at times so much so you'd wonder if we were supporting the same team at times.

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Garv added 14:27 - May 2 We have no idea what the player is like. He could easily have a similar kind of humour as Jewell and laugh at his manager's comment. We have no idea. It was odd reading it though, just didn't sound right. The player could well have read Jewell's comments himself and had a little chuckle, the fact is we have no idea. If he didn't expect this kind of comment from Jewell and took offence to it then we have a bit of a problem. Our manager needs to know who he can make tongue in cheek comments about and get away with it, and who he can't. From the outside it looks very odd to be making this comment about a young player just starting out. Personally it was the 'if he had a yard of pace he'd be all right' bit that I didn't like more than anything.

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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 14:33 - May 2 newboy - of course you can have your say. Its the way you (and some others) go about it. If people dont agree with you we are either PJ's cronies, losers, lack ambition etc etc. I would say that all of us on here want the same thing but we all have different views on how we should get there. For your info i am a season ticket holder and have been for 30 years and i havent changed my opinions about PJ. If you look back i said when we were on our losing run that i thought we would turn it around and i still say we are about three players short (first XI) and five/six (squad) short of a really decent side. In my opinion the football when we play well under PJ is miles better than anything under RK , however if by the end of the calendar year we are no farther forward then yes, maybe we need to look at the situation again, but i think we are a better side now than 18 months ago. As i said , of course you are entitled to your opinion, but so are we and even if you do know someone at the club that is one other persons opinion, it doesnt make it the truth.

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ITFCOYB added 14:40 - May 2 Newboy- Please do have your say, tiresome as it is to read you saying the same thing all the time- just try and avoid the 'if you haven't got a season ticket you can't have an opinion' type of stuff. You can't crow about having a right to an opinion while demeaning others. It's not just you, mate- sorry if you feel like a scapegoat.
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WickedBlue added 16:48 - May 2 Gawd you lot are morons...
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alfromcol added 17:02 - May 2 SpivvySpackyChops Well said
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Crock added 18:25 - May 2 How good is he? Is Gunnar good at the rear?
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TractorTrog added 19:27 - May 2 Im really not happy with this at all PJ you have let the lad down what a tradgic way to conduct an interview have some heart man the lad has obviously worked extremely hard to achive this award ... really not happy with you right now PJ if I was the lad id feel very agreived....Please show more Bobby Robson style interview technique...he was loved by players and fans because he was a genuinly good man...right now your a milloin miles from that please have a quiet word with yourself...no more of this please!!!!

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tomisamos added 19:42 - May 2 I'd like to point out we haven't exactly seen the players reactions to Jewell, or asked them, for that matter. We're just going by our views rather than theirs. I'm sure they're able to speak for themselves if they're unhappy. They might love him though, as difficult as that may be to comprehend...
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RegencyBlue added 19:49 - May 2 Not quite sure what it is Jewell is looking for. This lad is apparently too focussed but a few days ago Jewell was saying another one of our youngsters is not making the hoped for progress, presumably not focussed enough then!
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s6blue added 20:10 - May 2 good on him
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riley26 added 20:48 - May 2 The squad needs to be mentally stronger...too much focus form the chap! Said tongue in cheek though I'm sure...
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Sindre94 added 21:23 - May 2 I dont see the problem in his comments, im a young footballer my self and I would just find it funny if my coach said something like that, cause I know he doesnt mean it
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Sindre94 added 21:26 - May 2 bedsitfc, totally agree.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 07:44 - Jul 25 It's just a little joke, folks! Sometimes if you try too hard you don't relax and give your best.
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