Town boss Paul Jewell admitted he’s still some way from assembling the team he hopes to field on the opening day of the season. The Blues have fallen to disappointing pre-season defeats to Conference side Luton and League Two Southend in recent days

Jewell says he’s a long way from knowing the team which will face Blackburn Rovers on August 18th in the Blues' opening Championship match: “It won’t be what it was today, let’s be brutally honest,” he said after last night’s 2-1 loss at Roots Hall.

“It’s nowhere near good enough at the moment, let’s be honest about it. I think everybody knows that.

“Everyone knows that we need two or three players in. We’ve got to make sure we get the right type of players in.”

So far this summer Jewell has signed right-back Elliott Hewitt, who is out for another few weeks having undergone hip surgery while with Macclesfield, central defender Luke Chambers, keeper Scott Loach and loanee midfielder Massimo Luongo.

In addition to those players, Jewell is after a big striker and, judging by last week’s bid for Doncaster’s George Friend, who subsequently decided to join Middlesbrough, and the Blues’ continuing defensive woes, another centre-half, amongst others.

The Liverpudlian says he’s constantly working to add to the squad: “I wish sometimes people would come and sit in my office. I’m never off the phone trying to get players in.

“I spoke to three Premier League managers today about players but they all said the same old thing — we’ll see what we’ve got left come August 31st.”

He admits he’s frustrated, adding: “I must have tried for 20 players but for different reasons it hasn’t happened and I’ll continue to try and improve the squad.

“I know that the team we’ve got now isn’t good enough to get us to where we want to get to.”

But the Town boss is confident he’ll get at least some of the players he’s after before the campaign begins: “We will bring someone in before the start of the season, at least one, if not two, if not three.”

Meanwhile, Jewell played down the chances of former striker Connor Wickham rejoining on loan if he were to be made available by Sunderland, as was reported over the weekend: “I think we’ve got first call on Connor if he becomes a loan, but I also think we’ve got to pay three-quarters of his wages, and we haven’t got that type of money.”

Photo: Action Images

Langdon_Blue added 08:31 - Aug 1 I agree with Keaneish - the team looked very young last night, I think the signings we now need should be more experienced, as the balance has swung the other way since last season. Jewell is obviously getting frustrated about not getting his targets, but as the Manager really needs to keep his head. Unless, maybe he is using the media to give the players a shake up?!? It is crazy to worry over last nights result. Players from both teams were laughing and joking with the kids in the crowd during the game and with each other at corners etc. The first 30 mins everyone (from Ipswich) barring Luongo were terrible, after that it seemed they started taking the friendly more serious. Can't agree with the post about Bullard. I thought he controlled the middle of the pitch with Luongo when he came on. Positives - Chopra looks far sharper, Luongo is like a young Kieron Dyer, great touch, very skillful, finds the right pass and even though small has the body strength to hold off players much taller than him. Definatley a starter rather than cover. Some signs that we could have the Bullard from his loan days back. Chambers looked good but would probably benifit from playing with Smith. Keep your chin up Mr Jewell and bring in an experienced CB, defensive Midfielder and Striker.

0

brittaniaman added 08:32 - Aug 1 It seems to me that our Marcus Evans has tied a knot in the purse strings that he cannot undo,?? or has the FFP really got hold of him ??? I know Chelsea are in a different league to us (and I should not mention them) but with them spending £100 million + wages on players how does the FFP affect them ???? could someone explain it to me ?????
0

RegencyBlue added 08:38 - Aug 1 I'm not Jewells greatest fan but lets place the blame where it belongs here and thats with Evans. Jewell can only identify the players he wants to sign, its Evans who controls the money and the idiot Clegg who deals with the transfers. Clearly there is still time to bring in the extra players we need but if we kick off the season with what we have at the moment I fear its going to be a long hard season!

0

happybeingblue added 08:39 - Aug 1 hate to state the obvious but after finishing 15th last year why does anybody think pj will push us to a top six finish-dull signings apart from hewitt-no murphy this year-hardly cause for excitement ahead.owner & clegg whom i wonder do they actually know much about football,what do they know about the ipswich town way it certainly is a long way from it at present!! poor football last year and looking the same again for this season,and this is not just based on the two pre-season defeats!im talking about the last three woeful seasons.so disapointing.we live in hope i guess but reality serves us up something different!

0

Karlosfandangal added 08:40 - Aug 1 Hang on a minute Did Jewell not say he had all these target and they would be in before pre season training started and did he not say we were going to improve the squad not re-build a whole new team? Wickham cant be on that much money and if we cant afford three quarters of his wage then we cant afford any of the prems players so why is he looking at them and wasting time try to sign them. Portsmouth had player going at knock down prices and other team soon snapped them up, Bristol City Leeds and Palace have signed some very good players so why are we not going in for them? Very poor season ahead

0

Haygaz added 08:42 - Aug 1 Pre-season its always hard to judge how your team will do when season starts proper for example Man City with top players back lost at Oldham. Town are in my view at least 4 players short. Another CB is a must and a target man up front to help Chopra and give us options. wide area on the left now that it looks like Murphy not coming is a problem area, cant keep player right footers there. Maybe thats why the awful diamond shape Jewell likes these days is in use. Theres no real cover for Creswell if he gets injured either. Hopefully get mistakes and problems out now before the kick off starts. Personally i would like us to go with wing backs, Creswell and Edwards supplying width with 3 centerbacks. We have good center midfielders to choose from and supposed wide men can also play in the middle, Martin and Jet. But thats hope for a good season at least make a challenge

0

alliedaz added 08:44 - Aug 1 this is bullsh*** and we are doomed and now jewell thinks we have a problem but how long have the fans been sayiny that and earn ur wages and do something about it and marcus evans must be a fool coz i dont wana invest £5m a year and get nothing back
0

bigolconnor added 08:49 - Aug 1 Delaney looks good sometimes. Just seems to have too many bozo moments when it looks like he forgets that he's playing a match. He's a good headerer on the half way line just not in the box it would seem. We need way more players.
0

BROTHERBLUE1974 added 08:50 - Aug 1 This I getting beyond a joke. Is it players don't want to come and play under Jewell or is Clegg and Evans have tightened the purse strings. Was there no chance if Collins coming back instead of joining Forest. Someone please sort it out!!
0

osborne1nil added 08:52 - Aug 1 I would much rather hear Jewell stating 'we are no where near good enough at the moment' after 2 poor results than to hear that everything is ok! He knows that team is missing some key players at this time and I have no doubt he is working very hard to find them with hands tied behind his back with an extremely low budget it appears. If PJ was given the sort of cash thrown at Magic and Keane then I think we would certainly see a difference in the team. Sadly it appears that M.E. has shut up shop or given Clegg orders to and this makes a tough job much tougher. It is also fair to say that some of the new players need games and time to bed into the team. It is better to be losing these games at this time of the year then when the season has started. It may also serve as a wake up call to Marcus Evans to allow him to spend some more? Jewell knows when his contract expires and will also be aware that the team will need to be doing better than mid to low table for this to be renewed.

0

PimsNumber1 added 08:52 - Aug 1 frightening statement , but spot on. We are not good enough with who we have carson ainsley hyam whight murray are not the future, they are miles away from being good enough in the championship , or certainly top half. as for people like stevenson , i will be suprised if he ever starts a game. Too off the pace.
0

Gazelle added 08:55 - Aug 1 Don't keep having a go at Jewell everyone, it's pretty obvious his hands are tied. To all you moaners give us an answer to this one, with no money WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?
0

BlueWalloo added 08:57 - Aug 1 Wow - So much negativity! Splurging will not work in isolation Good players will hold on until they know where their future lies- Who has really made a stand out signing so far? PJ, SC & ME are all working to a plan which will not drive the club down the drain! Think of it as your money and then start moaning! I dont remember Reading spending big and pre-season rarely reflects regular season form. Chillax!

0

bedsitfc added 09:04 - Aug 1 the answer is 2 signings a damion replacement and another forward as we keep losing the ball when we are on the attack and invite pressure on our defence.
0

yorksblue added 09:10 - Aug 1 At least someone else will be splurting the same old garbage this time next season. Shame it'll only be the Manager who goes.
0

PunchNoHopers added 09:21 - Aug 1 I'm unsure how everyone else is reading this, but I am concerned if he is saying this before the season starts, and it won't exactly motivate the players either!! And OK wickham must be on low(ish) Prem wages, so if we can't pay for 3-quarters of his salary then we are also stuffed financially, because that means we can't even afford three average players on championship wages!!

0

finidigeorge88 added 09:22 - Aug 1 Same old story Paul, Why do we leave bids so late, wait till boro stick one in then make a bid i.e Friend, personally Hyam and Carson i dont think are good enough and PJ thinks the same, we received 8 million from Connor Wickham, now lee bowyer was probably on 15k, leadbitter 15k, murphy 12k, Edwards 12k dropped down to 5k, Scotland the same, so we a freed up allot of money on wages, i know we have financial fair play but if we want to languish in the second half of the division then well done simon clegg, but there is players out there in the lower leagues which you need to do now, no good looking at prem squads because they don't give a flying f*** when on loan, players that need looking are ones like Anthony Wordsworth Colchester united creative player young hungry plays down the road scores goals from midfield, jewell i swear is absolutely clueless, Nathan Ellington hadn't scored a goal in 5 years but we stick him on a two year contract worst business ever known, i don't know where we go from here, this season could be longer than last

0

StowTractorBoy added 09:26 - Aug 1 Pims totally agree none of those youngsters will make the grade although Hyam did look good last season so he may be in with a chance. I feel a bit sorry for PJ as there is no doubt he works his socks off but is obviously working with his hands tied behind his back. For those who keep banging on about the Wickham money, it goes towards the running of the club which loses in excess of 5 million a season. As has been said many times Jewell is paying the price for the millions wasted by Magilton and especially Keane. Good luck PJ hope you can find the players we so badly need.

0

PunchNoHopers added 09:35 - Aug 1 At the time we had a relatively successful season with Joe Royle, who managed without any transfer fees on a very limited budget, so it can be done. So if Jewell's hands are tied behind his back, i) he could walk and ii) clearly he hasn't got the contacts or the know-how that Joe Royle had!!
0

Edmunds5 added 09:40 - Aug 1 I dont understand why we cant get players in?, ok so ME is probably being tight with the money which is within his rights but looking at all the Championship sides this season they have all invested in some decent players and improved their squads and we seem to be similar to where we were last season. If the Premier League managers say the 'same old thing' look into league one and league two because if we offer 200k/300k clubs will have to accept and i think the gap between the Championship and the lower leagues is getting smaller which is probably proved by last nights game, Kane Ferdinand for one could be good for us judging by last night. and thats one player from 48 clubs over league one and two.

0

nitroblue1970 added 09:46 - Aug 1 Punchnohopers....Joe Royal knew how to coach his players to get the best out of them, he knew how to work with his coaching staff to motivate the team, he knew he had the respect of the players..that is the real difference here! Town not having any money is nothing new!...i hate to say it (again) but we have gone backwards in the last year and Im STILL waiting for the PJ lovers to tell me where the improvement is....apart from the increased seat availibilty in the stadium...I want the team to succeed i really do, it hurts like hell to see the club in this situation but i still stump up my cash each season to buy my season ticket....so i may have a negative outlook but i think im entitled to it the frankly p*ss poor managemt of this once great club is shocking!

0

Ipstones added 09:47 - Aug 1 It's not just a case of not good enough, more of a lack of quality options. It was put into perspective for me when i watched Brighton v Maidstone a few weeks back they sent around 20 players to Maidstone and a reserves squad to Dover that day( that one got postponed due to rain) Brighton gave Maidstone a footballing lesson in the second half despite Maidstone holding there own in the 1st. Now my point being all Brighton's players on show asides Vicente and Bridge not there, were very good comfortable on the ball and played some tremendous stuff. They had strength in depth in every position inc 3 top keepers used. Now without going over the top i am like a stick of rock and have IPSWICH running through me, whilst watching i could only think we are as confirmed by Jewell a million miles away from a successful squad capable of competing for honours. Also to top it off im sure like me you can think of at least 6 teams with comparable squads to Brighton in our league. Last thing imagine we God forbid get three key injuries Chopra, JET and say Cresswell where does that leave us??? Still hope im wrong on this but i feel Jewell has just confirmed my worst fears. COYB

0

gibbo added 10:02 - Aug 1 really bored with the same reasons for not signing players, watford have signed 7 in just over two weeks, Forest have signed 5 in less than 2 weeks.
0

legoman added 10:09 - Aug 1 Jewell has done brilliant so far. Some great signings. He must be extremely frustrated with the new budget rules that many clubs appear to be ignoring. Marcus has decided to be a member of the new era and we must be patient. This is what keeps me from despair. Would still like you to open your wallet a little bit wider though Marcus.
0

Blueulster added 10:25 - Aug 1 I think many of the comments on here are not negative but born out of frustration. PJ has had some time to put things right and if things go poorly this season he will probably get the chop. It is true we need to work out a system that works, probably 3 CBs to allow our full backs to be wingbacks (which they are anyhow). This wil give us extra height defending set pieces. Also this would allow us to play 3 CMs which should allow Bullard to express himself. This would leave JET playing just behind Chopra. Jet is an enigma, he plays wide yet never crosses the ball, usually steps inside and shoots from 25 yards. But centrally he can pick a pass for Chopra or a midfield runner, also JET has goals in him. We lack a true winger with pace, a defensive midfielder, a midfielder (like Andrews) who can get 8-10 goals a season, and a big striker not to mention a leader at the back. I'm sure PJ is fully aware of this but trying to bring players in is a nightmare. A useful benchmark is to look at what teams who are better than us are interested/linked with any of our players - Cresswell to villa, JET and fulham is probably about it. Lets hope we get some players in defense positions with experience and some players with pace in advanced positions. I think Chopra has plenty of gols in him but not many others do. We are better than recent results suggest. COYB!

0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls