Jewell Has Specific Central Defensive Targets in Mind
Monday, 3rd Sep 2012 06:00

Town boss Paul Jewell has specific targets in mind as he looks to utilise the emergency loan market to add to his stretched central defensive options. Football League clubs are able to take players on loan for up to 93 days from next weekend.

Jewell is all too aware that with Damien Delaney moving on, he has been left with only two senior central defenders: “It’s an area of the team we need to improve, a blind man could see that. That’s one area, as well as other areas, that we’re looking to strengthen.

“You look around us and one thing which stands out is the size of us. We’ve brought Murph in and he’s been a big help to us physically with his size. We’ve got Guirane N’Daw who we’ve got to get fit. We’re trying to bring a bit of size in.

“I think that one long ball down the middle of our defence is an area where we’ve got to tighten up,” he added. “One long ball can’t cause us as many problems as it does and that’s where we need to improve, not just on the pitch, but also off the pitch with the squad we’re trying to assemble.”

Premier League clubs are often more willing to allow fringe players to move out on loan once the transfer window has closed, they've done all their business and have named their 25-man squads.

The Blues boss, who ideally wants loans with a view to permanent deals, says there are particular players he is hopeful of bringing in, even if he’s loathe to say he’s confident having had his fingers burnt before: “I haven’t just decided we need a centre-half, we’ve been trying to get one in for quite a while but it hasn’t quite happened for different reasons.

“There are specific players. I’m not going to say I’m confident because I said that after the Southend game. I know we need a centre-half and there are specific players that I’m looking to bring in.”

Peterborough director of football Barry Fry has said his club would be willing to allow George Boyd to join the Blues on loan with a view to a permanent deal in January, but Jewell says no deal along those lines is yet set up: “Nothing’s in place. I said on Thursday or Friday that I wouldn’t rule it out but obviously we need to improve other parts of the team as well as that.

“We like George Boyd, we think he’s a good player but there’s nothing in place to take him on loan, it might happen, but there’s nothing in place.”

Photo: Action Images

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wrightyblue added 13:28 - Sep 3 Dog your the muppet! My god the man has bee here over a year and a half how long does it take to sort a crap defence out! It should be any managers first priority! Jewell is useless there isn't good enough training being done and the scouting for us is awful! And his team selections are rubbish as well. JEWELL OUT! B4 it's too late
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ipswich61 added 13:44 - Sep 3 i agree wrightyblue,also jewell has had more time than what keane had and we are no better off,yet keane got sacked jewell do us all a favour and resign before you get sacked
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 13:48 - Sep 3

Dog - I would rather have Delaney as back up than no back up, and the point people are making is that it is folly to get rid unless a replacement is in place. Gambling on getting a loan in is lunacy. A contracted player is more of a certainty.

I would add that if you feel this is the best thing Jewell has done, then this is a damning assessment of his time in charge in itself? I don't think that was the point you were trying to make. Perhaps it is you that is the muppet?

Dog added 14:06 - Sep 3

Wrightyblue - I probably am a muppet because i keep reading your posts and responding to them.

You are obviously a FF Manager as you have no concept of just how bad Town have been. For the last ten seasons we have let in, on average, 63 goals a season in the league. That is with the great defenders that were De Vos and MacAuley in the team.

I look forward to actually seeing a post where you inform us as to who you would sign, what formation you would play and what tactics you would choose rather than blandly saying "Jewell Out" without offering an opinion. Very easy to do.

I have said a number of times that Town need to have a strong spine to the team, that the defence needs to be sorted and that we need to sort out having a decent squad rather than a few players on massive wages. Height is also the key.

And also, why has it been so quiet on Martin. he is not signing a new contract and so it is another player who we signed for massive fee and wage who leaves us for nothing. Thats how to run a club!!.

BoomDog added 14:18 - Sep 3 Lets see who he brings in people.He has talked about loans leading to permanent deals.The next 2 weeks will determine our season and possibly Jewells job
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walberswick added 14:20 - Sep 3 don't wory, matty "fatboy" "who ate all the donuts" upson to arrive for a feed
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MattinLondon added 14:35 - Sep 3

Having a poor defence is not exactly new. Since we were relegated from the PL we have been poor at the back. The only difference is that when we had Bent and Kuqi we scored on a regular basis and this helped to gloss over the cracks at the back.

Pople talk about how good De Vos was but I seem to remember that he was the subject of a fair few moans in the past.

I think that PJ has suffered from mixed messages coming from both Clegg and ME. On one hand it was about getting younger players and building for the future and then it was about instant success and bring in expensive has-beens in the hope that they would be that quick-fix in the PL. I do not think that PJ would of made this mistake unless he was given the impression that he had to get into the PL asap.

PJ has made mistakes but what manager hasn't? I do get annoyed with his excuses as they all seem cut-and-pasted and have been used before. I am also annoyed at his continued insistence that clubs in the Championship are all looking at the same players. If thats true then broaden the outlook to (dare I say it) abroad.

I don't think that PJ is a great mangaer or even a very good manager. He is an average manger who has the misfortune of followina a dire manager who took the club back years. I do think that he has made progress, he has cleared the decks of the deadwood and I don't think the squad has any players who are old and just players who you see watching the game from the stands.

I think that PJ place in history will be that of a manger who cleared the deadwood and held the team together for the next manager. He doesn't deserve abuse, he doesn't deserve the nastiness that some people on here seem to thrive on.

Dog added 15:11 - Sep 3

MattinLondon - very good point. Sums it up completely. An average manager indeed trying to repair the damage from the previous incumbnent.

WhoisJimmyJuan - Jewell has made loads of mistakes - from signing Bullard, Squandering Wickham's money on has been's and even offering Delaney a new contract. Getting rid of Delaney IS the best thing he has ever done - and admitting to making mistakes mean you are more than half way there to sorting out the mess. Yes he gambled and it is a stupid gamble because we should have back up. We should never have Delaney anywhere near the bench. In his three years here, give me three good games he had. I rest my case.

righty added 15:20 - Sep 3 Still no one telling me what good Jewell has done for this club
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onetowatch added 15:20 - Sep 3 How long has this clown Jewell had to get defensive players in, and almost every target we go for they fall through why ?. He keeps saying next transfer window ,then at the next transfer Nothing ! Excuse Excuse Excuse.- Time for a change i think.
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wkj added 16:16 - Sep 3

I would LOVE to LOVE Jewell as I remember what a fantastic squad he'd built with Bradford when we were improving under Burley; however- what gets me is he is very inconsistent in his approach. When he arrived he said ha had a three year plan and to be fair, although I feel his support from Clegg/Evans is pitiful in comparison to the war chest that Keane had, I have failed to see signs of strengthening. Yes, The contract renewal fiasco in Keane's wake didn't help, and who's to say if Evans, Jewell or Keane is to blame. It's early days, and as a fan who loves ITFC through thick and thin, this season HAS to see us finish at least top 8 for me to feel Jewell is worth keeping around- Looking at the transfer window in the league, we are the most inactive of all 24 teams in the championship - this either means we are weaker or have saved a lot of money on pointless gambles- all I know is these target(s) Jewell have, better happen ASAP or we could be in deep trouble; and whether or not Clegg goes- we need a good footballing brain in the thick of the board room, and badly. I sympathize with Jewell on the account that the Invisible man (Evans) and the business man (Clegg) is something as bizarre and confusing at times as WWE wrestling; something needs to give at town and fast as PJ is under pressure, and I think the administration of Evans and Clegg is binding his hands a lot tighter than he, or any of us imagined would happen. (Rant mode deactivate)

wkj added 16:26 - Sep 3

@Dog I am not a Delaney fan, and I never have been, but the one thing that angers me about him is not that he's crap, because he isn't, but he is disastrously inconsistent; I remember a particular headed clearance in a dramatic 3-2 win against Coventry... if he could play like that week in week out or even 75% of the time, he'd have been a good keep. Sadly, he should have gone sooner, so we could have been getting replacements in sooner.

P.S.- Will someone take Clegg's copy of football manager away from him... he isn't learning very well from it so far >_<

Surco72 added 16:26 - Sep 3

righty ...stopped us getting relegated a couple of seasons back as Keane was only taking us in one direction fast .What was it 2 wins in 20 league games before he was sacked ?

I do laugh at our so called fans and their views of management and money its all so easy , yet checking the fantasy football table for the championship as managers we are bottom of the supporters table ,maybe because we dont know as much about football as we think !!

wkj added 16:37 - Sep 3

It's important to realize that there is probably no manager in the world who could turn things around all the way in one season under the financial structure we have set ourselves; however with the right players who are willing to stick around a few seasons with us while we add and add- is and always has been our key to success- Just think back to our play off final vs Barnsley- All those players who had been with us many seasons leading up to that day with Reuser and Stewart being the very sweet icing on the cake- that finished 5th in the premiership the following year. At no point did we make that promotion by buying 6-7 players and getting instant success, and all you folks against loanees- need I remind you when we were successful we had a few of those along the way too (Magilton in his prime... speechless) ;)

clive_baker added 16:42 - Sep 3

BrendanWard - I'm certainly not a Jewell 'outer' but I don't think your analogy is accurate. We shipped 6 goals to Blackpool and went to the supermarket the following week with £1.5 million in our pocket and circa £15k p/w of salary and came back with a forward and loanee from Celtic. 2 good players don't get me wrong but defence should have been a priority all summer, our goals against column last season was no coincidence.

righty added 16:52 - Sep 3

Surco72 Thanks for giving me a reason you think Jewell has done a good job now let me tell you why he has not worst defence in league last season awful loans terrible signings man management no defenders after 2 years need I go on oh yes the treatment of Luke Hyam.
People go on about Keane who was very poor in the extreme but thats nearly 2 years ago .
And with people like you who go on blaming everyone else we will never improve on the pitch or fantasy football table who ever takes any notice of them .
JEWELL OUT

yorksblue added 17:04 - Sep 3 Not just the long balls, I'm afraid. Any sort of ball from around 40 yards out and heading goal-bound, cause us problems, and have done for longer than I care to remember.
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Dog added 17:04 - Sep 3 Righty - he got rid of delaney. Bought Klug back. Got £8,000,000 for Wickham. Not a lot and plenty of harm too so don't take this as "I love Jewell". I just want stability.
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blues1 added 17:16 - Sep 3

tractorog, walberswick. it may not have been ideal to release dd without a replacement in place, but with only saturdays game to get through & n'daw as cover if neede, before the loan window opens i believe was a reasonable decision. the fact he clearly wanted to leave also made it best he went when he did. otherwise we'd have been stuck with a player who doesnt want to be here, or having to pay part of his wages for him to go on loan.

TotalBlue added 17:20 - Sep 3

righty I take it from you comment then moving forward be winning every game. Yes it would be great but fantasy land we HAVE moved forward we have now got a massively improved team from when the Dark Lord left also we have a much improved financial state of affairs with the wage bill. The 19th of December is 93 days solid but there are ways round this by taking loans over a staggered period also if you remember last year Danny Collins was sent back for a couple of weeks as we had not any matches.

walberswick added 17:26 - Sep 3 Give Delaney to someone in Div 1, don't strengthem opposition in your own league.
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MattinLondon added 17:26 - Sep 3

I don't understand why people who don't want PJ sacked are labelled as Jewell lovers.

Whilst watching the Soton v Man U game yesterday it was stated that the average PL Manager stays in post for 55 games. I'm betting that in the Championship its roughly the same if not shorter. How is a team supposed to find consistency if the Managers office needs to be cleared on such a regular basis.

Lets not forget that it took Burley five seasons to get promoted. In his first season in the second tier he failed to get us into the Play-Offs. Also Sir Bobby didn't actually start on fire. I'm betting that in both cases, if the internet was around, the likes of Bluey123, walberwick would be typing their anger out towards them. Both of these managers benefited from having time as well as a very patient chairman.

Jewell doesn't have forever to sort it out - but if he gets us into the Play-Offs - or close to it- then compared to recent efforts then he would've of done a decent job. If its a midtable finish then in my opinion, it will be time to say bye-bye.

walberswick added 17:31 - Sep 3 It will be 15th as usual (or worse). BTW I don't mind keeping Jewell here, He's like a saop opera, better than Corrie. Pure tragedy.
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