Town manager Paul Jewell has urged patience as he looks to sign not just any centre-half but the right centre-half to compete with Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith for a place in his side. The Blues boss had hoped to bring in additional central defender before Saturday’s game at Middlesbrough but continues to draw a blank.

Jewell said: “I keep on asking people to be patient. We’ve got to bring the right players in, a lot of things have to fall into place - they’ve got to be better or as good as what we’ve got, they’ve got to want to come, they’ve got to be affordable. All the boxes have to be ticked and that’s not easy.”

Dismissing suggestions he’s under pressure to get a centre-half signed, sealed and in his squad, the Liverpudlian says has been offered plenty of players but that they weren’t of the required standard: “I want to bring a centre-back back in and we need a centre-back brought in, but I’m not under a lot of pressure.

“The pressure I’m under is what I put myself under. I could have brought in 20 centre-halves between the back end of last season and the start of this.

“But I’m trying to make sure the one I get is the right one. The pressure is to get the right one, not to bring a centre-half in.

“It’s about being strong and about saying to people who think they know better ‘Look, I’ve got to try and get the [right] centre-half in’.

“I’ve had three calls this morning about centre-halves, but I don’t think they’re better than what we’ve got.”

He admits though that one injury would see his squad very stretched: “We want to bring a centre-half in. We want to improve the team all over but we know we’re a centre-half light because we’ve only got two and if anything happened to them we’d be in trouble.

“We want someone to come in and put pressure on them as well, competition for places. People can jump up and down all they like, I’m not going to bring in a centre-half because it appeases people, I have to bring him in because I think he’s the right one.”

He says that when he has found players of the right calibre, the moves have broken down: “That’s happened quite a lot over the summer for different reasons. Now that the Premier League managers have named their 25, that’s less of an issue, but then there’s less quality about.

“There have been a couple of enquiries that we’ve made, even to lads that are in the 25, but it hasn’t happened.”

As reported last week, Stoke pair Matthew Upson, who is in the 25, and Danny Higginbotham, who isn't, were on Jewell's list of potential signings, along with QPR's Clint Hill, who has been named in Mark Hughes's squad for the first half of the season.

Although he says he has to work within a particular market — “I could go and ask Brendan Rodgers if I could have Jamie Carragher or Martin Skrtel but we couldn’t afford them” — he says the financial side of bringing in the players he has targeted hasn’t been the problem but it's other issues which have scuppered proposed moves.

In one case an injury to another player at a Premier League club saw a permanent deal collapse: “We had one lined up where we were going to buy him but the injury came and I understand the manager’s point of view.

“We agreed a fee, the personal terms wouldn’t have been a problem, the injury happened and that was aborted.”

Jewell, who has ended his interest in Southend's Bilel Mohsni but could move for current trialist, former FC Köln man Kevin Pezzoni, put the search on temporary hold yesterday as he looked towards the weekend game at Middlesbrough and feels it’s just as important to work on developing the players already at the club as it is to bring new signings in: “It’s Thursday and all our efforts are towards Saturday.

“We haven’t been sat on a beach since the Huddersfield game having a laugh, we’ve been trying to improve the squad and improve what we’ve got.

“It’s important not just improve the squad but improve what we’ve got as well. We’ve got a good squad here, we’ve got a good bunch of lads who are giving everything they’ve got.”

Photo: Action Images

bedsitfc added 06:24 - Sep 14 to right paul, we need the right player that will improve the team not just improve the squad.
0

Rentaghost added 06:46 - Sep 14 Thats fine but you have to draw a line somewhere.
0

bigolconnor added 06:46 - Sep 14 Keep searching jewell a treasure is out there for the digging.
0

ITFCcharmer added 06:48 - Sep 14 Agreed that we want and need good additions to team that are better than what we've got ....BUT, Why the hell does it seem so hard to attract decent players to PR? Decent players that are making up the numbers in other teams surely should want to bite PJ's arm off for the chace to play first team football for a club like ours!!?
0

casanovacrow added 06:55 - Sep 14 yep get the right one, unlike what he normally gets back there but its taking ages. no sense of urgency. not looking good for saturday, 2cb's, one of which jet lagged. had the problem over a year, so frustrated
0

walberswick added 07:06 - Sep 14 "“We been sat on a beach in Huddersfield having a laugh. Now that the Premier League managers have named their 25 there's less quality about. Don't worry, we've got a good bunch of lads who are giving everything they've got. Shame we've only got eight."
0

DiamondGezzer added 07:14 - Sep 14 It'll happen, when it happens.
0

Sindre94 added 07:24 - Sep 14 One rule you should always follow is to bring in better than you already got, this way (obviously) you will improve. Think jewell is spot on and I hope he knows what hes doing although certain fans wont agree on that
0

Duncan added 07:24 - Sep 14 I would say we need more like 2 CB's unless there is an acadamy player ready to step up I don't know about - 1 would be a good start though
0

MattinLondon added 07:37 - Sep 14 I totally agree about being patient and only bringing in better players. But I just wonder just where exactly we are looking for these players.
0

Behind_Enemy_Lines added 07:40 - Sep 14 Yeah it's all well and good but everyone knows you can't buy a Rolls Royce when the budget you have is for a ford mondeo.
0

Dissboyitfc added 07:41 - Sep 14 Actually i totally agree with getting the right one in, its not only about the ability of the player on the pitch but his ability to be a member of a team, something Mohsni had lacked by the sound of things. I mean he wasnt prepared to do a second weeks trial, says a lot about the player imo, could see him being real trouble if on the bench and not starting with an ego like that, doesnt strike me as the sort to work hard to gain his place back, strikes me more as the sort to believe he has a god given right to start! People often question whether jewell learns by his mistakes, i think this link is about him saying, i made mistakes ,this time i am getting the right ones in. I'm so pleased the Mohsni deal fell through, so good on ya Jewell. I want to add this though, i have been( and those who read my posts on a regular basis will know this) a give Jewell time supporter, Not sure if i have ever really believed he was totally the right man to do this job, but i am not sure how much his hands are tied either, so for me i am still playing the patience card. I am though, as most of us are pretty miffed and surprised the problem areas still exist and the lack of depth in key areas, his next signing or two will determine his fate, so lets wait and see who he signs! if he gets it wrong i will be amongst those seeking a change, there comes a time when patience runs out, someones lack of ability becomes Apparent, for some that time has come already and for others that time was as soon as he started. My support for him being in the hot seat is still there, although its hanging by a thread. As Bigolconner says above, there is treasure to be found,so Jewell find it! ....COYB!

0

suffolkpunchdrunk added 07:51 - Sep 14 Yet more froth and bubble....
0

pennblue added 08:00 - Sep 14 PJ, you are on the right path, don't be affected by the idiot's, they don't know what they are talking about.
0

BehindBlueEyes added 08:37 - Sep 14 “It's about being strong and about saying to people who think they know better ‘Look, I've got to try and get the [right] centre-half in'. That'll be aimed at a section of posters on here then...they are always right!
0

cats_whiskers added 08:45 - Sep 14 This is becoming just as boring as watching paint dry.... Only it's not as glossy... Ho Hum.... yawn...ZZzzzzzzzzzzzz
0

Sir_Bob added 09:10 - Sep 14 Some people on here make me laugh, as soon as they see a player on trial they comment ' sign him up NOW'. I wish some of the player RK & PJ have signed over the last 2-3 years would have had a trial.
0

Premiertown added 09:22 - Sep 14 Buy not loan 2 centre halves = stay up and prosper. Don't and down we go.
0

PunchNoHopers added 09:27 - Sep 14 So he still doesn't know who he is going to sign, unbelievable!
0

pazelle added 09:29 - Sep 14 Quite right!
0

sudburyblue16 added 09:38 - Sep 14 Jewell spouting his usual bull. So he could've signed 20 centre backs between the end of last season and now? And not one of them is better than our current ones? Unbelievable. Not only that, he's been here getting on for 2 years and not only is our defence worse than ever, our squad is full of underchievers playing utterly dire football. At least our new signing Taylor offers a glimmer of hope, someone with PACE at long last.

0

BlueBadger added 09:43 - Sep 14 Didn't we have all this goalkeepers last season? That worked out well.
0

righty added 09:58 - Sep 14 remember Jewell has been looking for the right players for nearly 2 years still no luck either he has no idea what a good player looks like (remember the 23 players he has signed and how many of those have turned out to be good signings) or he is not looking in the right places probably to busy on the golf course !!!!!!!!!!!!
0

raycrawfordswig added 10:15 - Sep 14 Just admit you haven't got clue.
0

runningout added 10:20 - Sep 14 realise that good CB's are hard to come by, but not that blooming hard.. it's been too long
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls