Blues boss Paul Jewell has admitted that he’s had a thoroughly frustrating time in the transfer market this summer. Despite adding four players to his squad and having another bid provisionally accepted by a Premier League club, the Town manager says “everything that could have gone wrong in the transfer market has gone wrong” as he has sought to strengthen ahead of a 2012/13 season which starts with tonight’s Capital One Cup tie at home to Bristol Rovers (KO 7.45pm).

Jewell said: “There’s not as many [new] faces as we would have liked, that’s for sure. Elliott Hewitt’s only 18 and he’s not going to be fit until September, but we knew that when we signed him.

“Massimo Luongo hasn’t made his league debut yet, but we’ve got high hopes for the two of them and we’re really pleased to get Luke Chambers and Scott Loach.

“We’re not unhappy with the players we’ve brought in, what I am unhappy with is the lack of players that we’ve brought in to add to the squad.”

He says deals have broken down when he thought they were close to being confirmed: “We’ve had players here, we’ve agreed terms, medicals have been passed, then at the last minute something’s happened at the other end.

“Last week, a player from a Premier League team, everything was agreed for him to come for a year’s loan and then someone got injured at his place and we’ll have to wait until August 31st. It’s been one continuous knockback for different reasons this season.

“I don’t want to go into particular cases because that’s not right and proper, but everything that could have gone wrong in the transfer market has gone wrong so far. We’re due a bit of luck soon.

“It’s been frustrating because a lot of time and effort from a lot of people has gone into these [deals].”

Those abortive signings have broken down for various reasons: “One was an injury to a player, the other one was a change of heart at the last minute by a manager and there have been one or two others where we couldn’t afford them - we’d agreed with the football clubs to bring them in at a price but the players haven’t been able to agree terms.

“We only want players to come to Ipswich who really want to come to Ipswich for three or four years, not just for the short-term or for a pay day.

“We want players who are committed to the future of Ipswich. If we’ve got the impression that they are only coming for the money, we quickly decided to pull the plug on one or two.

“We’ve also spoken to clubs about players and we haven’t been able to agree fees,” he added. “That’s another reason why transfers haven’t happened. We won’t be the only club where that’s happened this close season. Whether those things can get reignited, I don’t know.

“What I do know, and what I’ll tell the supporters, is that the squad is light and it’s very young and we need to improve it.”

He says one potential deal is currently ongoing: “We have got a bid in for one player — and it has been accepted - but that is dependent on the Premier League team involved getting a replacement in. I don’t want to be vague but that’s exactly the situation.”

Jewell is unsure whether the squad will be improved before Saturday’s Championship opener at home to Blackburn: “I said I was 100% certain after the Southend game because I was, then the day after I thought we had a player tied up — everything was done, the player had agreed to come, then an injury at his club prevented that. I know we’re three players short of where I want to be, at least.

“At times in pre-season we’ve looked a little bit sluggish but in the last couple of games we’ve looked really good in the first half when we’ve kept that team together. Then when we’ve made changes, we’ve not got quite the strength in depth that’s needed.”

He says adding players from Premier League teams may be a simpler matter towards the end of the month: “I think it’ll be easier to get them in as the window closes or after the window closes because that’s what Premier League teams do. With this transfer window Premier League teams don’t want to let their players go until they know they’ve got replacements in.

“Once August 31st comes, whereas we can trade in the loan market, Premier League teams can’t and it makes the transfer market very frustrating and very difficult.

“That’s what we’re finding. We find it every year, but this year more than others. Also, I think it’s more important that we have to be more selective in the players [we sign] because we’ve got a long-term project here and I think people can see that we’re definitely going down the route of younger players.

“We want to bring one or two experienced players in and, of course, that’s important, but if you take Carlos Edwards out of the starting XI from the last two games [we’re a very young side] — our midfield four’s average age is about 19.

“We are building for the future and we want to continue on that route, but we also want to add one or two experienced players to the group to help that along.”

Photo: Action Images

Alfie1476 added 06:52 - Aug 14 Nice to see the club is looking at 3-4 year deals on players who want to sign. Can't help but think one of those 'pay day' players may have been Edu....*slowly stirs early morning coffee anti-clockwise*
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FabianMalyon added 07:05 - Aug 14 Excuses already? Before a ball has been kicked.. Surely a record and worthy of a medal!
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Pip50 added 07:12 - Aug 14 Looking at the cuurent squad strengh and league position likelihood Mr Jewel won't need to worry about the next transfer window!!
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PYBlue added 07:14 - Aug 14 He has had four months & now trots out with all the excuses. He Will gone by October.
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Keaneish added 07:22 - Aug 14 Strange we're letting 3 players leave and then bemoaning the lightness of our squad!
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backwiththeboysagain added 07:36 - Aug 14 Gold medal contender for excuses PJ. Doesn't really fill the current team with confidence how he speaks.
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bedsitfc added 07:41 - Aug 14 no edu then i wonder if he was the one after a pay day
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pennblue added 07:54 - Aug 14 So basically, we cannot agree fee's with clubs and then when we do, we cannot agree players terms. That is the biggest problem. The injury and the manager changing his mind are 2 occurrences, but there are more people not signing because of the money side of things. PJ is just not able to directly point the blame at the owner and Chief Exec. We have signed fewer players than any other Championship club. http://www.footballdatabase.eu/transfertstab.php?competition=2&lieu=Angleterre&s

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Blueboy added 08:06 - Aug 14 What a joke! Exactly the same problems as last year where we went out and picked up washed up has beens at the last minute to ensure we had squad numbers filled. What the hell does he do in the close season? Simply not good enough PJ! Somebody mentioned last week that Sean O Driscoll signed a whole defence in a week!
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Ipswich24 added 08:06 - Aug 14 Getting really sick and tired now of all these excuses. We are four players short no strength in depth. One of players we had here and couldn't afford was Fuller! Why don't we go for more players like Hewitt? On cheap wages would jump at coming here. Matt Ritchie, Ryan Hall, Kane Ferdinand. There is no point wasting time if we are only offering low wages
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BlueAllOver added 08:23 - Aug 14 Seems a reasonable explanation why transfers have not happened, we are working to a tight budget, and trying to get the right players in. Up the Town.
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Legend added 08:24 - Aug 14 Is there no end to this mans excuses? The management has had months and months to get players in!! Other clubs have managed it so why cant we? We will now start the new season with a much smaller and weaker squad than we struggled with last season! Nice one Jewell and co! Progress??
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DiamondGezzer added 08:25 - Aug 14 You can only spend what you're given.
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irishtim added 08:37 - Aug 14 Long hard season ahead i reckon. Unless he gets players in pronto.
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RegencyBlue added 08:41 - Aug 14 To me Jewell is doing all he can, short of coming straight out with it, to point the finger at Evans/Clegg regarding the financial side of things. I'm not a great Jewell fan in all honesty but he has my sympathy in this situation. No manager is going to improve us without considerably more financial backing than he is apparently getting at the moment. I know there are worries about FFP but it doesnt seem to be bothering virtually every other Championship club!

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mickeyjb added 08:41 - Aug 14 Interesting to see 5 times the amount of negative comments over supportive ones. I understand the need for FFP but I also agree we should be looking further down the leagues for gems. After all very few premier teams are nurturing home grown talent in their youth set ups. I afraid it does sound like the "don't blame me I've tried" we keep being fed just to keep us happy. I'm happy with the signings so far but we have off loaded far more than got in plus some of our best players are injury prone or tend to get a lot of yellows ala Martin "has he signed a new contract yet?"

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metalhead added 08:45 - Aug 14 Well, it appears we haven't signed Emile Heskey (yet), so not everything when wrong, Paul.
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MickMillsTash added 08:51 - Aug 14 Who is responsible for PR at Portman Road? We should be looking at the lower league players who want to come and play and will be committed rather than the obvious overpaid players in the premier league. Ipswich vs Blackburn- which Manager will be sacked first this season?
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dirtyboy added 09:04 - Aug 14 Hardly poor excuses are they? And it's not like PJ writes the cheques either. <rollseyes>
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SuperReuser added 09:05 - Aug 14 lets all just stop moaning... maybe things just didnt go well in the transfer market. its that simple! lets get behind the boys instead of the usual 'he is making excuses' and 'jewell outs.' the transfer market isnt over yet anyway.....
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Michael11 added 09:12 - Aug 14 We were linked with Simon Church from Reading midweek possibly could be him? I totally understand that PJ wants players who want to be here not just for the money we all do, but if it means having a player who's going to be top quality for just two years with us or having someone who will be average for 4 years then i know what i'd rather have.
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smudger99 added 09:14 - Aug 14 I can understand what Jewell is doing getting rid off the deadwood and high earnings. But if ur not replacing them with anyone then the players you have just let go were actually good squad players!! If Bullard was on £15K a week why cant we get two good players on £7.5 a week who will offer much more to the team than bullard would have??? if we cant afford to offer decent salaries then we need to look at talent in the lower leagues who want a chance to make it big.

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theancientmariner added 09:26 - Aug 14 What a plonker.
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mark1969 added 09:30 - Aug 14 Looks like Jewell is getting very little back up . If players are just coming for the money then i agree turn them away. But if a player has travelled to Portman Road he must be interested or why bother ? Our seeming inability to tie up deals is amazing ! This is not rocket science , Jewell must know the budget surely we speak to agents so we have an idea what there client /player is earning . So where does this fall down ? It looks like at the final hurdle. Can Clegg sell Ipswich ? Does he really know the area and live here ? I bet the answer is no ! Get someone who is passionate about Suffolk and Ipswich as CEO they can make a difference . Simon Clegg does not fill me with enthusiasm . Ipswich is a great place to live , the club has fantastic facilities , good fan base that puts up with a lot of rubbish . Start talking it up Clegg and get the deals done or leave .

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BlueBadger added 09:31 - Aug 14 And once again, last season's short termism is biting us on the arse. How many of Jewell's favoured midfield quartet of Bullard, Andrews, Leadbitter and Alf Garnett are still here? Why not get in a proper keep last season after releasing two competent keepers?
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