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Dyer: I’ve Probably Learnt More in This Last Seven Weeks Than in My Whole Coaching Career
Tuesday, 4th May 2021 23:06

Kieron Dyer, the club’s U23s manager who has taken on a coaching role with the first team in recent weeks, took Town’s post-match press conference following the 0-0 draw at Shrewsbury and believes the Blues have one of the best managers around in Paul Cook and that fans can look forward to exciting times ahead with the changes which are beginning to happen around the club.

Reflecting on this evening’s game, Town’s ninth goalless stalemate of the season, Dyer said: “A lot different this 0-0. In the six or seven weeks that I’ve been involved in the first team, I’ve been bored in a lot of games because we haven’t created anything in the final third.

“The pleasing thing in the last two games is the number of chances we’ve created. It’s something for the manager to build on for next season with the way he wants to play.

“The worrying thing is that for all the chances we created tonight I don’t think we think we hit the target, which is a must, you have to work the goalkeeper.

“So mixed emotions. On the one hand that we created chances but not to hit the target with the chances we had is something that we need to work on.

“The manager’s been quite vocal that there’ll be a lot of players leaving, a lot of players will be brought in and I’m sure he’ll be bringing in players at the top end of the pitch that will deliver goals. And if he gets that in, then this club will be going onwards and upwards.”

The 42-year-old believes the team is starting to look more like a Paul Cook side: “Yes, 100 per cent. In a way, he doesn’t show respect to the opposition, it’s all about us, us, us.

“He wants to dominate the ball, he wants to create chances, he wants the ball put in the box, he wants people in the box.

“Like I said, for the six or seven weeks I’ve been involved with the first team, we haven’t been seeing that.

“He changed his beliefs, they always talk about managers and their identity. He went to three at the back which pained him, but he thought we still had a chance of the play-offs so he adjusted to the players rather than the players adjusting to him. I thought he deserved some credit for that.

“But then when he realised that that wasn’t working he obviously went back to what he believed. He came out with some strong words for the players. Some people say it was very harsh, but that’s the way it was.

“This guy, I’ve been around a lot of managers in my time, forget all the one-liners and the enthusiasm show, he knows his football. Tactically, I’ve learnt so much from him.

“And I will say to the Ipswich fans, you can see with the infrastructure being put in place with [new CEO] Mark Ashton and now [director of performance] Andy Rolls from my time at West Ham, this club has been praying for that kind of infrastructure and I think we’ve got one of the best managers around.

“If we get the recruitment that he wants then this club is going to be flying next season, 100 per cent.”

Asked if he’s pleased to be part of it, the 33-times-capped England international added: “Of course. I’ve probably learnt more in this last seven weeks than I’ve learnt in my whole coaching career. Just the way managers influence the fourth official, it just blows my mind. I can’t believe how much emotion goes into the fourth official!

“I’m sitting there going ‘are you actually going to watch the game you managers? You just batter the fourth official!’. The fourth official should be on about a hundred grand a week for all the stick he gets!


“Just the little things like that are priceless. The dressing rooms. I’ve come into our dressing room now and I was an outsider, I was at the club but I was an outsider [when] Paul Lambert [was at Town].

“I always used to think it was Paul Lambert’s fault or Paul Hurst’s fault, then a new manager’s come in. It can’t keep being a manager’s fault. The players have to look at themselves.

“The players are rightly getting a lot of criticism from the fans, but I feel it’s not just the players, it’s the staff, myself included. I’ve been a part of the club for two years or so on and off and it’s the staff, everyone has had a part to play in this club’s demise, and it pains me to say it, but we have.

“It’s not just the players who are worrying about the future, I’m worrying about my future, Bryan Klug’s probably worrying about his future, all these people who are part of the furniture, we could be part of the problem as well.

“So, with the infrastructure in place now, in the next week or so everyone will be finding out decisions on where they’re going to be, and who knows?

“Again, I’ve read all the quotes about the players, I would say that I’ve seen them in the changing room and they do care. But they’re fragile, they are fragile at the moment. Players play to the best of their ability with confidence and they’re fragile.

“One thing I would say to the players, and I have said to the players, is that you are in control of your destiny. I’ve seen people leave the football club, Edwina [Sesto] was a receptionist at the club for 20 years, she lost her job when we got relegated.

“She had no control over her destiny, you have control of your destiny because if you do the business on the football pitch, you’re going to be kept at the football club.

“You have to find something inside when there is disappointment and if you read the quotes from the gaffer and you don’t like what the gaffer’s said, then go and prove him wrong. You’ve got to have that attitude.

“I don’t know if it’s the mentality from academies or the academies have changed, that soft mentality. It has been a problem.

“How they’ve played in the last couple of games, the manager’s said that it’s not going to affect his decisions. I don’t know what the decisions are going to be with the players, I don’t know what my role is going to be. But it’s exciting times for Ipswich.

“It’s a cut-throat business, football. People are going to be losing jobs, people are going to be having to move on, but I’ve been in football my whole life, that’s to be expected. You can’t get out the violins all the time and feel sorry for players and that’s the bitter truth.”

Dyer’s U23s have finished second in Professional Development League Two South this season and face a play-off against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Asked about that successful campaign and whether he wants to move up to be part of the first-team staff on a permanent basis, he said: “Of course, but I wouldn’t like to be a first-team coach who just gets out the bibs and balls and does an odd box. I like to coach and feel like I’m helping players and developing players.

“I don’t know what my role is. I’m very happy with the U23s. Everyone’s talking about the success we’ve had with the U23s being in the play-offs, the U18s in the semi-finals [of the FA Youth Cup], but I do think as an academy we get a lot of plaudits but we have to be better because when I was in the academy I was going for £6.5 million, Titus went for £5 million.

“You look at the academy now and we’re saying how great our academy boys are, but I don’t see them going for £6 million. Even Flynn Downes, who we think is very good, one-point-something million [£1.6 million] was being offered [by Crystal Palace] last summer, so it’s our job, if I’m still an academy coach, and Bryan’s and whoever’s, we have to keep doing better.

“Yes, it’s great that we’re in the in the FA Youth Cup semi-finals and the play-offs but we’ve got to turn these people into assets. It can’t be great them just getting to the FA Youth Cup semi-final, they have to be assets for this football club. Assets that are going to play in the Premier League.

“I was saying to Adz [U18s manager Adem Atay], you look at all the FA Youth Cup winners. The year when I was in the FA Youth Cup it was a West Ham versus Liverpool final. Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher were playing for Liverpool, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand were playing for West Ham, Daniel Sturridge has been in the FA Youth Cup final, all these players.

“You look at our FA Youth Cup-winning team, how many of them went on to play in the Premier League? We have to be better. If we’re getting teams in the FA Youth Cup semi-final, we have to be producing Premier League players.

“That’s our job as a football club, as an academy, we get together and we have to make that happen because we can’t be happy. Even though we think we’ve had a good season, we can’t be happy because we need players in our first team to make our first team better, not just coming in because they can’t do any worse.”

Quizzed on how Kane Vincent-Young was after the game, the right-back having been forced of with a painful-looking shoulder injury in the game’s dying embers, Dyer said: “Obviously you could see it was a shoulder injury. He’s being assessed. He’s not in pain, just before I came out to talk to you the pain had gone because he was in real discomfort out there.

“He’s got to be assessed and maybe have a scan but hopefully it’s not as bad as we might think. He’ll probably will miss the last game of the season but hopefully he’s back for pre-season because in a really disappointing season he’s probably been a real highlight, just the cameo that he’s made in the last four or five games.

“When you see him going down, I just thought of myself [in similar situations], he just can’t catch a break. Fingers crossed for Kane and hopefully it’s not as bad as we all feared when he first went down.”

Armando Dobra was one of Town’s top performers and Dyer says he is a big fan of the Albanian U21 international.

“What’s so great about Dobs, I call him a street fighter,” he continued. “He’s as game as. If people boot him, he’ll want to boot them back. He’s brave, he puts a proper shift in.

“I thought that was probably his best performance since I’ve been with the first team, but as the manager says to Dobs, to all our creative players, the unfortunate thing is you’re judged by numbers. You’re judged on how many goals you score and how many assists you get.

“And he should have had an assist, I think Nors will hold up his hand and say that he should have finished that chance.

“Not just Dobs, all our creative players, they just haven’t scored enough goals. I know he’s had limited chances and I know the manager loves his attitude and he’s one that we have got to make better.

“He still makes the wrong decisions in some areas but what’s pleasing is he’s young and when you’re young you can improve. It’s when you’re 27, 28 and you’re not getting the messages.

“It’s something to build on and if he’s selected in the last game of the season, hopefully he can get a goal and put in a really good performance.”

Reflecting on being trusted by Cook to take charge of the press conference, he said: “I spoke to the manager in the game because I’ve had the experience of going with the first team observing and he’s been brilliant for me.

“We had a conversation and he said ‘go and see the press and see how they try and manipulate your words and see how you handle that’. So even this is [a learning experience].

“It is hard because I’m employed by the club and I love the players in there but I’m a fan as well, so it is hard because I just try and speak the truth and what comes from the heart, but I owe the club.

“It is good, it is a good learning experience, so tomorrow I will be picking up the papers, we’ve got it recorded if you try and twist my words!

“It’s been a horrible seven weeks in a way with regard to results and how we didn’t make the play-offs but for my own personal journey, it’s been different gear, different gear.”


Photo: TWTD



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NthQldITFC added 23:31 - May 4
Superb interview Kieron.
32

Fat_Boy_Tim added 23:31 - May 4
That is from the heart, well spoken Kieron. I hope to see him carry on next season with the senior squad. COYB
22

Europablue added 23:39 - May 4
Kieron is definitely a potential future manager, he might have to make his name away from Town eventually. It's having people like him around the club that make it special to be a part of. It feels even more special if the players came through our academy, but if they have a strong affinity with the club and the fans, we should be keeping them involved where possible. I like that PC has a good blend of outsiders and insiders.
16

VanDusen added 00:27 - May 5
What a brilliant interview. And great Cook is giving him this experience. Looking forward to next season more and more...
15

OwainG1992 added 01:22 - May 5
Fantastic interview.
Well done all round.
He's got me way more excited for next season than any of those players can.
10

Monkey_Blue added 01:24 - May 5
Love Dyer but I assume this is his pitch for assistant manager. He probably learnt a lot but not sure it's wisdom in terms of man management from cook. He played for sir Bobby and cook's constant rants against players isn't something that would have worked for Kieron or many players. I suspect Cook has found himself bereft of ideas and Dyer who has made no secret
Of the fact he'd like to manage Ipswich is making sure he's in prime
Position to take the role if cook gets shown the door. I'm not criticising KD as I'd love to see him as boss but we've all heard the “As soon as I heard the managers plans” line from every player who signed for every club. We have yanks in charge and Dyer is also far
More marketable than a fat bald scouser.
-14

shakytown added 05:35 - May 5
We need players now with Kieron's attitude and desire for success. keep learning from those around you and that includes everyone else in the off field team as well as Cook. It takes more than players to make a successful club.
6

martin587 added 06:38 - May 5
A brilliant interview and assessment of the clubs proposed future and infrastructure.Big signs of improvement and movement of the team and you can see how PC wants his teams to play but it is still working that we still cannot score.Norwood needs help up front but this will come.We have to be positive in PC during the summer.Good things to come.
4

Karlosfandangal added 06:41 - May 5
Europablue

Possibly an Ipswich manger when Cook leaves
2

Europablue added 06:54 - May 5
Karlosfandangal

I hope that is a few years yet, but it would be great to see KD in charge.
1

itfcserbia added 07:07 - May 5
Edwina was the first person who got in touch with me 20 years ago and her kind words and all the help with establishing the supporters branch in Serbia will never be forgotten.
17

atty added 07:08 - May 5
Very good interview. Loved the comments about infrastructure, echoing what so many of us were thinking, but was never a topic for the media until Lambert mentioned. You c@not run a business like a football ckub, like Arkwrights shop in Open All Hours. Arkwright/Granville - Ev@ns/O'Neill.
1

tractorboybig added 07:22 - May 5
well in the present climate he is not going to say anything else, is he?
0

ArnieM added 08:25 - May 5
KD speaks from partly the heart and with experience as a player. I think he does have a future at this Club in a first team assistant role - but not yet. He simply doesn't have the experience of coaching senior players on his cv. Two years ago he left the club ( it was said ) to go and get that experience. I know from his family member that “ he was bored fishing kids. What does he do ? Nothing ! He ends up signing up for a celebrity tv show , then suddenly returns to the club working with the U23's .

Why didn't he sign up with a league two / club to gain that experience and broaden his experience? Yes he wants to be the first team coach , a massive step up from U18/U23's . Can Paul Cook take that risk next season? PC HAS to delivery. If you were him, would you have a rookie assistant with NO senior first team experience on his cv?

You have to take the emotion , and heart felt feelings out of the equation. To make the right decision you have to be objective.

So I'm saying yet again , now is not the time for Dyer as a the managers assistant at first team level at this Club.

If KD seriously wants this / he has to go and get that experience for a couple of seasons somewhere. This is not unreasonable and in any other walk of life if you want a job your Skills, Knowledge and Experience mix must match the job spec you are applying for . His doesn't , yet.
1

ElephantintheRoom added 08:30 - May 5
I wonder if teams like Peterborough, Barnsley, Rotherham Wycombe etc who have navigated their way out of this division in recent years have 'the infrastructure in place'? I'm fairly sure it is more to do with committed football clubs having a handle on what division they are in and managers who by luck, judgment or serendipity have cobbled together the players to cope.
2

ArnieM added 08:39 - May 5
It's also down to an efficient recruitment strategy. I can't remember when Town last had one. In fact we've been so far removed from anything resembling a recruitment strategy , let alone an efficient one.
4

50yearsablue added 09:08 - May 5
Monkey_Blue, your last 3 words mean you have learned nothing from the online abuse issues. Why there is a need to be insulting when none of those words are indicative of an ability to be a manager is beyond me.
10

clive_baker added 09:26 - May 5
What a great bloke Dyer is. A really great ambassador for the club and the town of Ipswich, blue through and through. I thought he was spot on in his interview, and I hope he's got a key role in the first team set up next season.
3

tractorboybig added 09:49 - May 5
50yearsablue ....... grow up
-8

Bad_Boy_Mark added 12:39 - May 5
Absolutely love Kieron, really hope that he is part of our staff next season and beyond!
0

BettyBlue added 12:44 - May 5
Hold on a minute.

How about assessing Paul Cook's contribution THIS season before we all start signing each other shirts and head for school holidays?????

0-0 against Shrewsbury? You're having a laugh Paul??
0

KernewekBlue added 14:06 - May 5
KD...

“I always used to think it was Paul Lambert's fault or Paul Hurst's fault, then a new manager's come in. It can't keep being a manager's fault. The players have to look at themselves."

KD's only stating what many of us have known for a long while... it's not always right to blame the manager for poor results and performances. It has been obvious for quite some time that a lot of the current squad weren't good enough for The Championship, are even nowhere near good enough for League 1, let alone our beloved Ipswich Town.

If a succession of different managers struggled to make a silk purse out of the sow's ears we have had under contract, it surely points at a few problems that should have been addressed years ago.

Now we have new owners who say they're not afraid to back a rebuild of the team. That is music to my ears after having suffered the debacle of Marcus Evans ownership.

The problem I had with Evans tenure was his apparent apathy and unwillingness, at critical moments, to make the right decisions to bolster the squad with suitable playing talent. He didn't show any real desire to make us better, in fact, he seemed happy to sell off our best assets for relative peanuts and watch us struggle, content for the club simply to lose it's identity and tumble into a slow, painful death spiral, resulting in relegation.

The record will show that Evans was a catalyst for disaster, a catastrophic influence who presided over the worst few years of ITFC's proud footballing history.

I thank God he's gone!

On a brighter note, we may not have to suffer the boredom and dross much longer.

Games and results like this, another dreary 0-0 against a lowly team like Shrewsbury (no offence), could soon be a thing of the past.

One more game and the rebuild can start. Just one more game before the square pegs can be shipped off to ply their trade elsewhere and some nice, shiny, new round pegs can be brought in.

I really can't wait to see what the new structure and new team will look like and how the club progresses and feeds off all the positive energy that should create.

Onwards and very much upwards... PLEASE!!!

COYB
1

KernewekBlue added 14:31 - May 5
>BettyBlue

Yes, you can judge Cook on his short time here if you wish, with an underperforming, underwhelming playing staff, who have a losing mentality and seem to have given up the ghost, knowing their days here are numbered.

None of them are his own recruits, whom he has personally chosen to represent his own playing style, his own ethos or that of the club and probably, not many of whom he'd trust to empty his wastepaper basket.

Myself, I'd much prefer to reserve judgement until I see the fellow send out a team representative of his own drive and ambition and the results he achieves next season.

If he fails to get the team to progress, given those parameters, then he'll deserve whatever criticism is aimed at him but don't be too quick to hang the guy for the failure of others who won't still be here in a few days time!

Just saying!
-1

BettyBlue added 18:07 - May 5
You join a team that is 8th in league with an easy run in and you can't win any games, your side can't score a goal, and they haven't had a shot on target for 18 hours.......

I prefer to look at reality.

Cook OUT. Lambert should have gone after his toothless capitulation to relegation from the championship.
0

therein61 added 18:56 - May 5
Cook has seen something that he likes in him and putting out in front of the media is another step in his learning curve i can see him around the club for a few seasons yet his positive attitude is great.
0


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