I dont buy into the anti Jewell argument of the fact he stumbled across our best formation. It obviously wasnt his preferred formation at the start of the season but he could of done a number of things at the time he implemented the change. The way some fans talk about it makes you think we only had 11 players fit and available and so we couldnt play any other way. OMG......He clearly did stumble across that formation. Jewell is tactically inept, last night was more proof, taking off Scotland instead of Murphy or Chopra, leaving JET out of the starting 11, still keeping Bowyer in the squad ahead of Carson, no sub goalie but only using 1 sub all night.....and that is on the back of a good performance from the team...On almost every occasion a tactical change has taken place during a game jewell has been out manovered by the oposition manager...
some good players there warky - i'd steer clear of ched evans and gary madine... both have massive off the field issues on a regular basis. if you sign taylor and boyd from the posh they'd give you a good attacking base to build on, though again, taylor has had off field issues - hopefully he's over those now
What we need is evolution rather than a wholesale clear out but we do need to get rid of the dead wood such as Leadboots, Bowyer, Delaney, Bullard and Murphy. I think a lot of players have off-field issues, lets face it when your earning £1000's every week you can afford to have!
But Jimmy Bullard was your player of the season last year! We're not saying get rid of that Grant Holt deadwood North of the border.
Your spot on Jwm, and this is the first time for a while that during the close season we don't need to bringing in a full team of players 2 or 3 good signings is about all we need, depending who goes maybe we will need to look at the odd replacement.
It doesn't have to be the 70s. Players like Adam Tanner and Tony Vaughan were all given their chances. If we can't even produce that level of player, forget about a Darren Bent or Jason Dozzell, then we are simply not Ipswich Town any longer. It's not a lack of ability from Cropper or Eastman or Wight or Carson or Hyam or Murray or a dozen others it's the coaching and management being completely and utterly inept!
As far as i'm concerned Luke Hyam is my player of the season with Andy Drury coming a close second When these two came into the side together we were up **** creek! 8 or 9 games later we had a feint chance of the play-offs. I'm not suggesting that this was solely down to these 2 but they played a hugely important role in our recovery. Just to prove that Jewell is clueless, Drury was all but down the road to Crawley before Crawley pulled out of the deal! What more proof do you need?
Absolutely Warky. A team can be greater than the sum of its parts. Take Hyam out of the equation and it's not the same side. I think it's painfully obvious why - he protected the back four so well and is so composed on the ball that the other players had confidence to flood forward. I don't think it's any coincidence the goals have dried up a bit. Your point about Drury just sums up our transfer policy over the last four years... scratching around in the dark letting some of our best players go, letting contracts run down and signing pot luck players.
Weighty, JWM has actually stated 5 position/players as a minimum, so that is still a pretty high movement of players this summer.
If we are refering to this level of players then the argument has already failed as Carson, Hyam and Wickham were all given opportunities by Jewell. One of those opportunities led to us bringing in £9m. I personally think Hyam should be starting more often then he does but since Leadbitter has regained his place in the team he has shown his best form in a town shirt. Carson for me is unfortunate that we have so little size/ strenght in the team as I feel that is one of reasons Murphy gets the nod over him, although I seem to recall that Carson let himself down last summer by coming back unfit. The promising WHight has been in the news recently with having found it difficult to adjust to his first year as a pro but they have high hopes for him next season and will also have to fight it out against Cresswell for a place. Murray, showed potential but they wanted him to have a chance of regular football which he is unlikely to get here at present, unless you are saying he should be ahead of Scotland, Chopra, Jet or Martin for an attacking slot? Eastmann, for me was unlucky not to get a new contract but was hardly standout for us either. He was one that I would have liked to have seen stay as part of the squad but wasnt good enough for a start And I'm guessing that you know next to nothing about Cropper. Apologies if I am wrong but with the infrequent nature of our reserve games and the fact that nobody has mentioned him until the last few weeks I assume that it is just another name being bought out to have a go at the club We are also playing Smith regularly who is another youngster and one who I will be annoyed if we dont offer a new contract too. looking at the stats I think the reason why Hyam has started as many as I would like to is due to his discipline. I hadnt realised that he has 5 yellows from his 7 appearances this season. The stats show that young players from our youth set up have actually started 39 matches so far this season so its hardly true that they dont get a chance. Add to that Cresswells and JETS appearances and it actually add up to quite a decent amount. Im guessing that you wont be happy until we have 5 from our youth team playing every week but off course we are not allowed to let performances slip either as we should be at the top of the league.
dont forget a central defender or two weighty. For me, I still think we need quite a few additions, not all for the first team but our squad strength is pretty poor. For the first team I would say A keeper, either first team or back up. ALB is a good shot stopper but needs work on his distribution to totally win me over. A RB that can defend. A CB to partner smith and so I never have to see Delaney again A Target man, or someone with some size to give us another option going forward. To add to squad strength we need to add players or hopefully see some forward progress from the youngsters at LB, CB, CM and wideman/ men and depending on the contract situation we may need to add more. If the likes of Ainsley and Whight show their worth over the coming months/ summer then that would be a great help.
Lets just bring in a few players to play rather than to add strength in depth, i want 11 quality players rather than 22 average ones if you know what i mean.
