Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Hurst "Surprised By One or Two Things" That Are "Nowhere Near Good Enough"
Tuesday, 17th Jul 2018 06:00

New Blues boss Paul Hurst admits he’s been “surprised by one or two things” since taking over at Portman Road, which he believes are “nowhere near good enough” for him and his staff. The Town manager says the sale of central defender Adam Webster - who he doesn’t expect to be the last departure during this window - has allowed him to put his mark on a squad which he believes needs freshening up.

Hurst hadn’t anticipated Webster’s departure for Bristol City late last month, in a deal worth an initial £3.5 million, but confirmed that he had the final say in whether the move went ahead.

“Yes I did,” he said speaking after Saturday’s 2-0 friendly defeat at Braintree. “I wouldn’t have taken the job on if I felt that I wasn’t going to be making the decisions.

“I probably did expect to have him here. I wouldn’t have expected the interest coming so early.

“But overall I was more than happy to agree to that sale and to try and use that money to strengthen the squad overall.”

He says the Webster cash allows him the freedom to tweak the Town squad more than might otherwise have been the case.

“Yes, and I think it’s needed,” he added. “And again, I think I’m still very conscious and people might say I don’t need to keep saying it, but this isn’t a criticism of anything before me, this is about me wanting to put my stamp on it.

“And maybe we want to play a little bit of a different way, but I guarantee it wouldn’t matter who is manager, it all comes down to you wanting to win games of football.


“I think that the group needs probably some help, it needs freshening up and I’m sure there’ll be some more casualties as we move forward because, for me, people talk about standards and what they expect.

“We’ve been surprised by one or two things, shall we say, that are nowhere near good enough for us and we want to get people in that we feel are and can do the jobs and the roles that we would expect.”

Explaining what he means further, he added: “I’ve been told that some people are good players, that some people are very promising and I’d have to disagree on some of them.

“I’m not going to name names. Fitness-wise I’ve said from the start, I expected that we wouldn’t be able to perform the pre-season that we would like to have had and certainly if I’d stayed at my previous club that we would have gone through.

“But in fairness, in general, the lads have worked very hard but we’ve had to cut it back slightly because I think we would have broken them and maybe [they would have] suffered injuries more than it would have benefited.

“We’ve had to be a little bit cautious on a couple of occasions but in general, if you asked them, I think they’d be surprised to hear that because they’ll say they’ve worked extremely hard.

“[We’ve taken the edge off it] slightly, not altogether, but slightly. But it’s new and they have shown a good attitude to that, I have to say.

“But ultimately you have to deliver when it’s game day and, like I said, yes, we’ll be fresher [once the season proper gets under way], but they’ve got to do a lot better than they [did at Braintree].”

Regarding new signing Jordan Roberts, who will face his old club Crawley in this evening’s friendly at East Grinstead, Hurst says he primarily views him as a winger rather than a striker, despite starting him up front at Cressing Road.

“No, that’s where we’re at at the minute. He has played there, we just thought we’d have a look at him,” he said.

“He gives us a little bit of pace up there at times. But I would have preferred to have played him wide really.

“We switched it just before the end with Freddie Sears going down the middle. I’ll have to look at that moving forward, whether we give it another look or put him back out wide where he was really brought in to play.

“But at the minute we haven’t got too many options, in all honesty. We’ll have to keep looking at what we have got and try and figure out the best way of people getting the minutes and hopefully playing in positions that we want them to.”

Meanwhile, Town look set to confirm the signing of Peterborough United winger Gwion Edwards at some point today.

The 25-year-old was spotted being photographed in a Blues shirt at Portman Road last night with the image subsequently circulating widely on social media. Club photocalls routinely take place before deals are finalised.

Former Wales U21 international Edwards will join Town for a fee of £700,000 which was agreed at the end of last week.


Photo: TWTD



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.



BlueandTruesince82 added 18:50 - Jul 17
Call players out? Who? No names named, no one singled out. Squad all know they are playing for their places.

Spot on.

2.5 yrs of complaining some players are too comfortable. PH says 1 thing and it's oh we cant upset the apple cart.

They are pros and should all now be saying I'll make him eat his words which is exactly what he wants.


Generation once upon time people took a bolocking now sone can't take someone else getting bolocked.

Motion to change forum name to town fans cry just thinking about it
3

dirtydingusmagee added 18:55 - Jul 17
Say it as it is Paul. Weve needed someone to sweep the cobwebs away. Glad you have a ''hair dryer''.
3

janeb123 added 19:14 - Jul 17
I like this article, recommend reading
Norwich City: Michael Bailey reflects on Paul Hurst's Ipswich Town ...
www.edp24.co.uk › sport › norwich-city
-1

ITFCsince73 added 20:39 - Jul 17
Be very surprised if proper bloke of all blokes, captain calamity, Chambo survives.
Can't play football as it should be played.
King of hoofball.
-2

stormypetrel added 21:12 - Jul 17
Hurst knew what he was stating. It was considered, measured and balanced. Was he right?...was it part of a wider plan to motivate and send a message?..I don't know. What I aspire to is that it's part of a wider plan that promotes the team in an evolving direction...failure to achieve that has consequences....

Best be on it Hurst....Marcus Evans or not, this is a results driven environment and you need to come up trumps...MM was many things, but he was no mug, despite the Neanderthal on here, he got team spirit and loyalty right, tactics poor maybe but man management was his thing...speak to Antonio Conte to reference otherwise....corrupt it at your risk Hursty Boy...love the verve and vitality but don't be a bell end versed on ego ...please
0

stormypetrel added 21:16 - Jul 17
I forgot...Aucto Splendore Resurgo.....
0

armchaircritic59 added 21:50 - Jul 17
This club has needed a huge root and branch shake up since long before MM. I'm getting the feeling the current incumbents are starting to do it. It may take time and it'll almost certainly put some noses out of joint, if it hasn't already. To those that don't like it, not just players, but other staff too, it's the end of comfy cosy time. If you can't stand the heat.........well you know the rest!

PH has done nothing wrong at all by publically stating that "one or two things are nowhere near good enough" I suspect that's a reference to things both on and off the pitch. If he'd named names that would be a different matter, but he hasn't. Any manager of any business would know that if you've got something to say to a particular staff member, you do it face to face, behind closed doors. I'm sure PH is no different! Good luck Paul, i have a feeling you're going to need it!
1

eddiespearitt03 added 00:05 - Jul 18
At long last we just might have a manager to sort the wheat out from the chaff. It was all too cosy and now it is time players have to actually justify their contract.
1

RRanger added 10:43 - Jul 18
Having gone to East Grinstead to watch the match v Crawley its worth pointing out that both Chambers and Skuse played the full 90 minutes and in my opinion both played well.I was also quite impressed with Wolfenden who I hadn't seen before. I would think that Skuse is nailed on to start v Blackburn whichever midfielders are available. One of the things I find on this site is that probably the majority of fans here think Skuse is a waste of space (I don't) but I suspect most in the football business (managers,Coaches, players etc) would take the opposite view: a very solid DEFENSIVE midfielder which every team needs.I believe this season he will be the base that PH constructs his young midfield around. Chambers I suspect will also be (at least initially) a first choice pick.
0


You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© TWTD 1995-2024