An honest question? Is it a simple managerial problem? Or do you think ME is the wrong person to take the club forward? Is it just the players that need to be scouted better? Honest to god, not a wum article. I just see that Ipswich fans are not happy and would like to get a feeling of what you guys think would take you forward.
When we will be in the premier league is not an easy question to answer. The league is generally very difficult and with the parachute payments then its going to be difficult to break into the top 2 which leaves the play off lottery. What do we need to be in with a fighting chance - This season we have played some very good football but we are very Liverpool like in the current format. We can keep the ball and play lovely passing football but are lacking a physical presence at the back and although Chopra scored a decent goal on Saturday Im not convinced that he will always be the option. We can also suffer from lapses in concentration. If we could add a bit of steel to the current team I would be fairly happy. A 16 stone 7 foot tall central defender would be great. Someone who can dominate and clear their lines. Now we have got past the problems of last summers transfers then I am quite happy with the new additions. I think Jewells team are good at scouting long term potential but with talents like JET its another question if they can turn them into 90 players. ME is a difficult one to judge. Our wage bill for the past few seasons has been out of control (somewhere around 97% of income) and you dont have to be genius to work out that that is not sustainable but then with his wealth he could bankroll us (at least for a season or 2) if he wanted. The fact that we owe our debt to him, which means we pay interest on it and that it is still a debt rather than written off is also worrying. Jewell has got the team playing some very exciting and decent to watch footballing displays but he does need us to have a killer instinct both in front of goal and in defence .He also has to cut out the chances of us capitulating before I will be convinced that he can be a long term managerial option for us.
PREMIER LEAGUE... We're having a laugh! We are closer to League 1 than the Premier League. The last few years we have endured our lowest finishes in the English League since 1956/57 and under these clowns I don't see much improvement!
It certainly won't be for another 3-4 years. If we can keep all our yougsters for a few more years, and add the odd experienced player every year, then we may eventually make it, or at least be challenging for it. I think we need to seriously look at our coaching staff. I find it hard to believe that we can do the same mistakes over and over again. It's well known that our defence has been ****e the last few years, so surely the coaches need to teach our team how to defend.
A swift change of manager or a good run of results and you can suddenly find yourselves up there. Until we are eight points off the play offs we have a chance in any given season. That is part of the problem though. There has always been a lack of urgency and so no-one has MADE IT HAPPEN NOW, which of course is the reason it's acceptable for us to be where we are. We need it to become unacceptable.
Talking about our coaching set up and our shambolic defence, why on earth haven't we got someone in, possibly on a part time basis, to sort out our defence. PJ clearly can't coach defence and i very much doubt chris hutchings can, considering how bad we have been in that department ever since they arrived. we've brought the former olympian rower in on a part time basis. I'm not saying that it was a bad idea and it might well prove to do some real good but why not swallow your pride PJ, realise that you have had long enough to sort it out and haven't and bring someone in. You only have to look at arsenal and the promotion of steve bould to see the effect it can have. I'm not really sure who off the top of my head but someone like Tony Adams wouldn't be the worst idea.
Stewart Houston was our best defensive coach a few years back when he worked for Burley during the late 90s. I wonder what he's doing these days...
there must be loads of ex defenders turned coaches out there. get them in twice a week to sort them out and I think we would all be surprised what a difference it would make. PJ comes out with the same old stuff when we get hammered but what is he actually doing on the training pitch? are the right messages being sent through? or is it just a case of poor players, either way PJ it is your fault!
We do have one of our best ever Centre Backs working at the club now! WTF don't we employ him in the role of Defensive coach FFS!
On Mondays evening star web chat the journalist was asked about a defensive coach and said Paul Jewell had ruled it out as the whole team should be able to do their bit rather than relying on a seperate coach for defending. I can see what he means. You want fluidity to run through the team but I would have to disagree with him and even if it was for only 10% of our training sessions then a bit of defensive knowhow would be welcome.
A defensive coach could take sessions with the whole team, doesn't have to concentrate solely on the defenders. Premier league is a long way off, and it is getting increasingly difficult to achieve due to parachute money giving advantages to teams who have been there recently.
I agree San Diego All great teams defend from front to back so the whole team should be trained on how to defend different scenarios all over the pitch. How many times do you see the big Centre Forward heading clear from a corner or a free kick for example. Drogba was the best at defending set pieces!
Surely its common sense to have a coach for each department. **** me, you have that at basic Sunday league level. Surely with all the millions that's spent in the club, someone on 100k a year should be employed to teach our muppets how to defend!
I agree with that San Diego but I still feel a defensive expert is very much needed. I hadn't read this piece on twtd before I made the point but obviously others are thinking the same. http://www.twtd.co.uk/blogs/21214/time-for-ipswich-to-appoint-a-professor-of-the-defensive-arts I've just seen the u21's (yes nathan ellington is an up and coming 20 year old, one for the future i reckon) smashed cardiff with the trialist bilel mohsni scoring a goal. what do people think about him? for me, why not get him in? by all accounts he is a very talented player, why not offer him a one year deal and if he turns out to be a liability then we can get rid!
This whole issue just about sums up the current malaise at the club. We have Russell Osman actually employed in another role and we have Mick Mills who would give some amazing insight into the art of defending and we are not using either! Two of the best defenders who have ever played in the Blue & White and yet they are not consulted! Perhaps Jewell would feel threatened by these 2 legends that actually know what they are talking about!
of course it is yeah i meant that we need to get someone in regardless of whether it is coaching the defence or the team as a whole to defend. Our propensity to lose by 5-6 goal margins under PJ is alarming. its clear that whatever he is doing in terms of sorting us out defensively just isn't working
I'd love to see big Joe Jordan coaching our team..he's outta work, so could be approached. I'm sure he'd shake the team up.
While I agree with the point you're making, they simply might not want the job. Am I right in saying that they work with the youth teams? If so, that might be what they specialize in and train the youngsters more on the mental side of the game and how to behave. Its all very well saying why not employ them as this, but it's never as simple as that. Having said that, I find it crazy that we don't have a specialist defensive trainer, hopefully it's something that will change in the near future
