The signings we've made have made a nonsense of Roy Keane's grumbles that players won't come to Suffolk - they wouldn't come to play for him. Particularly with Stockdale the signings are above and beyond my expectations. We all agree we need to sign at the very least another centre back. But - for all the hard work that Paul Jewell has done bringing players in, I have a niggling feeling that he may have taken his eye off the ball. His response after each of the disappointing pre-season friendlies has been along the lines of - "we know we're still a couple of players short." Actually, the players we already had should be getting a result at Southend, Cambridge, Colchester.. and it's led me to wonder if Jewell needs to refocus on getting the best out of and giving attention to the players he already has rather than throwing new signings at the problem. There has to come a point where, at the very least for a core group of players, there is a feeling of security and of feeling a part of things. If I were Grant Leadbitter or Jason Scotland or Jaime Peters or Lee Martin I'd be thinking 'doesn't matter how hard I try, I'll be replaced anyway'. We had some talented footballers at this club before we made any signings - and although none of them have exactly covered themselves in glory, we aren't going to do anything this season without everyone feeling a buzz around the camp. Paul Jewell needs to refocus his efforts now, he does need to sign another centre back, but instead of talking about new players we haven't even signed yet he now needs to give everything he's got to the squad, old and new players alike and get the best out of each and every one of them.
I think you are being a bit harsh on PJ Yorkie. He has a very difficult balancing act to perform in integrating the new players into the squad whilst at the same time keeping the existing players motivated and on board. I have been to all 3 friendlies and yes we have been distinctly average against the likes of Cambridge, Southend and Colchester but considering that JET and Stockdale only joined us a couple of hours before kick off last night what more could we have expected? The underlining problem is the quality (or lack of) that PJ inherited from that useless tosser Keane. We all knew that major surgery was needed and tbh I think PJ has made some very shrewd signings and to get players like Chopra, Bowyer, JET & Ingar for a combined fee of £3.5Million has been fantastic business. This when you compare against the Keane and Magilton era's when they were chucking money around on a load of garbage. It will take time for everyone to get used to their team mates and for the group to settle down into a compact unit. I expect PJ will now focus on a Centre Back and a creative midfielder. We are not creating enough in the middle of the park and PJ definately knows this and will be doing something in the transfer market to rectify these 2 weak areas. IMHO we wont be making a promotion push this coming season and we as fans must realise that it will take at least 2 seasons before we are serious contenders. I expect nothing more than a top 10 finish and after all the crap we have been through I would be happy for that. So long as we progress on the pitch playing some fast, attacking , incisive football I will be happy.
JWM? Surely you are not settling for mediocrity mate? Thought you gave me a right old bashing for that before!!
Fair point - Well made Rushmere! Looking at the squad I just think realistically we are still too few short of a side that will seriously challenge this year.
I have always believed that a good manager can achieve a lot with a poor to average set of players. I believe that Paul Jewell is a good manager. I don't think that constantly saying we are short in some areas sends an encouraging message to Roy Keane's players.
I understand where you're coming from Yorkie but the truth is we are still short in certain areas. The Keane buys have had a good 2 years in which to prove themselves and no amount of coaching is going to instill quality! Once PJ gets his own team in then we can judge him properly.
I just remember Joe Royle saying the same thing all the time, about how his players weren't quite good enough - but the players he had were certainly good enough. Do your talking in the transfer market, not in the press conferences, and don't talk about players that we haven't signed yet.
This season Im not expecting a top 6 finish, but what I do want to see is a competetive side playing good attractive football which has been lacking in the main for several seasons, and if we can achieve that then we should have the basic quality in the squad to push on to better things in the future. I think the last 2 seasons in particular have shown us just how far we have dropped down the quality ladder and its not likely to be a 5 minute job to put right, but PJ is showing some serious intent to get us back to being challengers and Im right behind him and the boys.
Have you recently been prescribed prozac JWM, you've changed your tune a bit from last week. So realistically you're saying you realise we are rebuilding again and it's ok to lower your standards. What happened to having ambition and needing success now because we've heard the same **** year after year.
You are right San Diego but a week is a long time in Football! I want the best for Town just like every other supporter but we have to be realistic. After watching the friendlies and seeing first hand the weaknesses that we still have I have resigned myself to the fact that we will not be serious contenders next season. We still need a few more quality players at this level and I still remain unconvinced that the board has the same level of ambition for this club like we do. Actions speak louder than words and if we were serious about promotion we would be buying quality players with proven experience, not 20 year old wet behind the ears rejects from Arsenal.
Totally agree with you JWM - putting together a an almost half decent first team with£3.5 mil is an amazing feat - just waiting for a class CB now and we can look forward to the season ahead - even if were not going to be gunning for the playoffs for a while !!
I think it might take a few games(competitive) for the team to gel but after that i see no reason why we can't be challenging, in this league any team can beat any other team which is what makes it exciting, i feel we will score goals but at the moment fear we will leak a few too but i'm sure PJ will address this issue in the fullness of time.
I personally think we've done well in the transfer market and fancy many to be surprised by us this year. The Narwich boys seem to think we have bought poorly but other teams in the league are talking about us. I am not saying we can run away with the league but I have a bit more confidence than some on here that we will do well. Ivar and Smith for defensive partnership I feel.
San Diego You can't be serious about Smith being in our starting line up! He's like Bambi on ice, everytime the ball gets knocked towards him I wince! He was utter garbage against Cambridge and Delaney wasn't much better. The Centre Back positions need some serious attention along with a creative midfielder who can pull the strings.
If we don't bring someone else in then I can see this being the partnership. If Tommy is played every week there is no reason why he shouldn't get better and maybe iron some of his weaknesses out. I'm not saying this is my preferred scenario, I would rather a new CB in place but I think Tommy has more room for improvement than Delaney.
