New Blues boss Paul Lambert was pleased with what he saw from the Town squad in his first training session yesterday with some of the younger players having caught his eye, however, he reiterated that he'll need to add in January.

Speaking to Blues legend Alan Brazil to talkSPORT (5min 18secs) this morning, the Blues’ lack of goals - they have netted only 11, the joint-lowest in the Championship - was pointed out to the new Town manager.

“I think that’s the problem,” Lambert said. “I think you know yourself that the top end of the pitch is where it’s important and we have to find a way.

“It’s OK criticising what’s happened before, but I trained the lads yesterday [Tuesday] and they were excellent for me.

“Whether there’s a lack of confidence or it’s fear I don’t know, but hopefully we will get it going. I’m really looking forward to it. We have to play well as a team.”

Lambert was impressed with the 2,200-strong travelling support at the Den on Saturday and believes that results will see home crowds grow.

“I saw that myself Saturday at Millwall, you wouldn’t have thought it was a club at the bottom of the table with the support they had behind them, it was brilliant,” he said.

“If we can get them going, as I said yesterday, you want fans to come to the stadium and enjoy it, you don’t want them to come feel like it’s another day at the office, you want them to have a good time and we have to give them that. If we can do that then we’ve got a real chance.”

Lambert admits that he will need to add some experience in January with owner Marcus Evans taking a similar view but says he has liked what he has seen of the squad’s younger players.

“We need a little bit of help I think in January,” he said. “As I say, I took the team yesterday and I was really pleased with them, with their effort and the way they went about it and tried to take things on board.

“The owner’s been great with me, he really has. I think he recognises as well that we’ll need a little bit of help in January, which is important.

“There doesn’t need to be a major overhaul, January’s a difficult month. But you do want one or two lads who know the league and know exactly what it’s about, it certainly helps you.

“There are some really good young ones there, definitely some really good footballers, really tidy. They need a little bit of strength in their game but they can play the game, it’s not as if they’re novices, they can certainly play the game.”

Reflecting on the challenge ahead of him with Town currently bottom of the table, he added: “It’s a really tough division, it’s getting better with every single year. Every game is winnable, it’s the team that be consistent more or less gets out of it.

“There are so many games still to play, anything can happen, you can have a little run at it and all of a sudden you can find yourself in mid-table and that’s what we need to try and do. We need to get ourselves out of that bottom three.”

He says building the players’ confidence is an important aspect of his job: “If you’re going out there feeling confident you think you’re unbeatable at times. And that’s my job, to instil that in them.

“I’ll do that the best I can and hopefully they can go out and play with freedom and go and excite people.”

Lambert’s first game is against 20th-placed Preston North End at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.

Photo: TWTD

blockb_steward added 21:00 - Oct 31 Up the Town! COYB!
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Bildestoned added 21:16 - Oct 31 Under Lambert we can now happily wave goodbye to the craziness of effectively having 'Town players' and 'PH players'; that couldn't have been a healthy atmosphere! To Lambert they are now just ITFC players. I'm still not one for criticizing ME for the Hurst appointment but ending up as we have/did with i) a cluster of Hurst favourites being parachuted in and ii) existing Town players being asked to put their trust in an inexperienced manager from the lower leagues (and then seeing it all go tits-up too) now makes ME's decision look naive.

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timkatieadamitfc added 21:32 - Oct 31 Make no mistake, this is going to be a massive task just to keep us in this division( talk of play offs at this point is absurd) We could have Pep Guardiola here now but the bottom line is 1/ most of the players PH bought in are CLEARLY not good enough for this level 2/ most of the players PH sold/ let go were good enough for this level Lambert really has got his hands full and I really hope people don't get on his back because of his Norwich connection if things don't go well straight away, good luck Paul through no fault of your own you're going to need it. I just hope he can keep us in touch until January and make some quality additions COYB

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LondonBlue73 added 21:37 - Oct 31 One main point here is that PL is speaking positively about the players and especially young ones. This breeds trust and confidence and helps when on the pitch or doing your job in any area of life. Contrast that to Paul Hurst opening interview when he stated some of the youngsters and players were not as good as he had been told. Now as a club we all need to unite, us fans have a huge Part to play and the staff and players need to believe in each other as our season starts now. I have a belief we can do it and I'm looking forward to the game, win or lose supporting the blues with youth at the heart may yet be the beginning of rebuilding our club.

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Dissboyitfc added 22:04 - Oct 31 if we can start to turn things around now, the season could still be interesting! In Jan we can take back Nydam Josh and the Wolf, 2 or 3 signings as well!
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Dissboyitfc added 22:09 - Oct 31 “If we can get them going, as I said yesterday, you want fans to come to the stadium and enjoy it, you don't want them to come feel like it's another day at the office, you want them to have a good time and we have to give them that. And we have waited too long for the fun to begin, hopefully a good new chapter in the history of Ipswich town!
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Guthrum added 22:15 - Oct 31 Knows what to say to get the fans onside - a useful skill at a time like this. Probably means every word, too. Lambert has a good past record of using youth. Plus I think our squad is nowhere near as bad as it's looked. Some proper organisation, tactics and motivation will work wonders.
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shakytown added 22:16 - Oct 31 I dint think you can wait until January Paul. You really need to have a look in the free agent pool for some quality and as you put it players who know this league.
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timkatieadamitfc added 23:26 - Oct 31 @pisitivity - which part of my post do you not agree with????
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shakytown added 23:33 - Oct 31 Sorry timka . clicked down by mistake as I totally agree with you.
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harlingblue added 02:38 - Nov 1 A new Manager, one that has played at a far higher level than any of our current squad, demands respect. As for the Ipswich Town fans that keep on bleating about his Norwich connection...just remember he was the Colchester United manager when his team won 7-1 at Carrow Road, the worst ever home defeat for The Canaries. Good luck Paul Lambert, you have a big task ahead, but I for one will back you to the hilt.

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norfolkbluey added 07:17 - Nov 1 Isn't odd how coincidences in football come up time and time again. On Saturday against PNE we have two ex Norwich managers going head to head! Paul Lambert sounds very positive in approach to this game but we can't expect too much of a turn around immediately although if he can that would be marvelous. Can hardly wait for Saturday and am holding my breath in anticipation. Good luck boys, its time for positivity on the pitch.

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midastouch added 08:42 - Nov 1 He seems to be taking a much more positive approach with the players which I think is desperately needed. Really hope he can translate the good vibes and initial good feeling out there on the pitch. I hope we get a bounce in performance from this managerial switch as obviously the sooner we drag ourselves off the bottom of the table the better! It's not good for our nerves down there. Survive this season and big lessons will have been learned and we'll be stronger for next season. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! If we go through the trap door then who knows what will happen, it might turn out to be an odd blessing in disguise, it might send us the same way as Coventry! Going to be a massive couple of years for Ipswich which I think will have a significant bearing on our long-term standing and stature going forwards. It's squeaky bum-time folks!

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BlueySwede added 09:13 - Nov 1 Let´s just see how this pans out. Some fans are already praising Lambert as a messiah. Some is writing him off before a ball has been kicked under his reign. I had a good feeling about Hurst, and that one turned out great... Personally I don´t get my hopes up..this team is still very limited and I don´t see where the goals will come from. Btw, if I were the manager of ITFC (thank god I´m not), the first thing in January would be to recall Woolfenden. Great talent, should never have been loaned out for longer than maybe a month.

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brittaniaman added 09:40 - Nov 1 I notice all front 3 who started for Derby last night were Ex Ipswich Marriot, waghorn and Lawrence with M and W scoring, Oh for those 3 Now here ?? OK stop dreaming NOW !!
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robmonkey007 added 10:09 - Nov 1 Makes a refreshing change from: I've been told their good players, but some of them aren't. and The fitness is no where near where it needs to be All classic man management speak from Hurst and bully Doig. Now we have someone who knows how to build a cohesive team!!! Lets get up this table!
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Razor added 10:47 - Nov 1 Lets not forget these are the same players although it is amazing what a little bit of loving can do and telling they CAN actually play. Surprised though he has not gone out and got some non-contract players immediately as I do think we need help-----Warnock and Mclaren did just that to great effect.
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JewellintheTown added 11:00 - Nov 1 Hypothetical, I know, but wonder if the senior players who exited over the summer would have gone if Lambert had been appointed then instead of Hurst. Also, wonder what calibre of player we would have attracted instead too. No point crying over split milk, as they say as one or two of the ones we've had brought in might end up being the "gems" we're looking for with Lamberts nurturing. Got to look for the positive.

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supasmiler71 added 11:06 - Nov 1 Talking of free agents, I see that Robert Huth is currently available. Could he be the rock in central defence at this level that could make a difference for us?? Only 34, always seems to have been reliable in the Prem.
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martin587 added 12:19 - Nov 1 I have a great deal of faith in PL. He has the experience in both this and the premier league.His words about the younger lads and the rest of the squad are refreshing to the ear.We really need to get behind the team and hopefully a big crowd on Saturday will see us through to getting three points. Let's forget the past from today and look to the future.We are a big club and by far the most successful in East Anglia.🙏

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Sourdough added 12:38 - Nov 1 Fine words butter no parsnips.
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DanSuperTown added 12:49 - Nov 1 I genuinely think that Hurst made some good signings, but did leave us hugely exposed with the number of players with little championship experience. Add to that his apparent inability to stick to his principles in terms of formation and selection, and the outcome was inevitable. If PL adds a couple of experienced championship campaigners to the current crop, and starts to build a style, formation god forbid an identity, he really could turn in around

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Dissboyitfc added 12:51 - Nov 1 i really wanted for hurst to work out, i was pleased with the brave new direction, was what most of us wanted, young manager who is hungry would use our youths and grab a couple of lower league gems. that was the promise, but Hurst did not deliver, he did the opposite regarding our youths and went OTT on the lower league players and dont get me started on the high tempo high pressing exciting football! Truth is deep down from very early doors i never really felt it with hurst,( Exeter game which i went to gave me real cause for concern) although i wanted to! With Lambert i genuinely feel it!! Everything to play for, there is enough of the season left for one hell of a ride, maybe a bit bumpy at times. Will settle for survival and a cup run! COYB's

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TimmyH added 13:16 - Nov 1 Letting Marriott go was undoubtedly one of McCarthy's cock-ups...should be here now banging them in.
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runningout added 13:17 - Nov 1 slightly negative.. Playoffs and win the FA Cup would be nice hehe
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