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How Much Blame for Keane?
Written by IamSpartacus on Wednesday, 10th Oct 2012 13:53

I see the argument raise its head time after time. When fans discuss the current dismal situation with the club a regular argument offered by those that think Paul Jewell should have more time is that ‘This situation is because of Roy Keane’. Does it have any validity?

Now, cards on the table from the off, I personally think Paul Jewell is tactically inept, contradictory and his ability to coach better performances from players has yet to be shown. In addition, he has never (ever, at any club) shown any aptitude towards nurturing youth talent- something which I would expect as a pre-requisite for any ITFC manager.

That said, I don’t consider Roy Keane any better. He spent a mass of cash. Hooked us into huge contracts and then, apparently, bullied the players into bad performances/results.

On the upside for both, they are/were very frank in interviews. Keane was good at giving youths a chance, although let good players go. Jewell brought a good young signing (in my opinion) of Aaron Cresswell and hopeful ones in JET, Scott Loach and Elliott Hewitt.

So, to the question. Is the current situation Jewell’s fault? My immediate answer is ‘No’. Without question. How could it be? When Keane left we were in a poor state (League Cup semi or not), Gareth McAuley and David Norris's contracts were running out, we had only won two in 10 and morale (in the stands and apparently in the team) was dismally low.

Now, as an incoming manager to a decent team like Ipswich, with relatively great facilities, what would be your initial plans? We can assume that Jewell was brought in to promote us ASAP (hopefully that first season) judging by the players brought in.

I’d assert that Jewell was very much financially backed by Marcus Evans - although I have issues with those above Jewell too, it isn’t through this. If you add up the wages offered to Jimmy Bullard, Lee Bowyer, Ivar Ingimarsson, Nathan Ellington, Ibrahima Sonko, David Stockdale, Daryl Murphy, Keith Andrews, Danny Collins and Alex McCarthy, plus the likely signing on fees, plus the pay-offs to those Jewell changed his mind on.

Plus the transfer fees for JET, Cresswell, Michael Chopra, Ryan Stevenson and Hewitt. And now the further wages being paid to the current crop of seven loanees, there is no relative lacking in support for Jewell’s escapades. In fact, on the back of a fag packet, I estimated the above and it resulted in approaching the figure we got for Connor Wickham’s sale.

Even if you adjust for the fact ‘someone’ had to come in, and alternatives cost less in wages, it is still several £million. Jewell has most certainly spent the ‘family savings’, just not as obviously as Keane - although I will concede that Keane spent more all in all.

So, Jewell had several players leaving, or out of contract, and stated that he would need to rebuild. At the time I thought this was a great position. We had a little cash, a new manager would want to play a certain way, he would essentially have a clean slate to work from and could bring players in to suit whatever formation that he deemed required.

If he wanted to play 4-4-2/4-1-2-1-2/4-2-2-2-1, and we were short of a goalkeeper, right-back, two centre-halves, a left-back, two central midfielders, a wide player and two strikers, hee would have five whole months to scout like hell and find the right players to fit the positions needed.

That’s right. We needed around 10 new players. That much was clear at the time. Jewell had several months to source them, get a list of 20/30/40 for each position if need be. Clubs have access to whose contracts are running out, they have lots of contact from agents desperate to sell their clients on, they have a large group of scouts to send out all over the country (and further) AND there were a few younger players coming through (anyone remember Luke Hyam, Josh Carson, Tommy Smith, Shane O’Connor, Cody Cropper or Callum Bennett?).

So, Jewell, in his wisdom, went for the ‘well-done’ ex-Premier player main course, seasoned with a good dose of loanee and served with a cancelled contract sauce. You don’t need to be on Masterchef to know how that Jewell concoction would turn out.

Not only were the players brought in, in the main, either wasted cash or mind-boggling, the initial concept that Jewell could bring in players to fit his desired formation was a stunning failure.

Jewell appeared to have absolutely no concept of the formation he wanted. He played narrow, played standard 4-4-2, played one man up front, played with two tall wide men so all and sundry could pump the ball to them in some 1980s Wimbledon fashion. All that looked disjointed and the players brought in to play them seemed just as stunned as the fans. Where was the cohesion?

Yes, there were a few high points. West Ham at home being the main one, in my opinion. Yep, it’s great when we win like that, but it seemed despite the manager rather than because.

By late 2011 almost every single player that Jewell was playing had either been signed by him, or had signed a new contract with him. It was Jewell’s team. No question.

Now, some may suggest that it takes time for a new team to gel. I totally agree, and this is where it gets more surprising. How can a team gel when you tinker with it so furiously? When you bring in a new player every several games from another club? When you release players you had brought in yourself? When the tactics you select don’t appear to suit the players you brought in/kept?

Jewell was brought in as an EXPERIENCED manager. He had managed over 500 matches previously and was the man to instantly take us to the next level. Fast forward 12 months after his appointment and he is apologising for players not being signed in time (cue Grant Leadbitter exiting for nothing), getting too many loanees in, relying too much on ex-Premier players, the same mistakes being made by HIS players over and over (coaching issues?) etc etc. All the while utterly failing our younger players. Experienced manager? Just another way of saying ‘out of date’ perhaps?

So, to the current day. All the players at the club for the last year or so have been here through Jewell. We are currently back to playing one striker and ‘big wide men’- the ‘JET and Murphy wide, so hump to them’ formation.

Recent transfer activity brought us Paul Taylor. He looked lively, without goals, but how exactly would he fit into this formation? Does he replace Chopra? Is Taylor a player you would seriously play up front on his own? Does this indicate anything other than desperation? Add in the current influx of loanees allied with the reverting to shuffling our OWN younger players to the background and the picture is clear. This is Jewell’s mess.

In the ‘Is it Keane’s fault’ scenario, I just keep returning to the question, ‘Where?’ Jewell had his own players, readily admits that he has been totally supported financially by Marcus Evans (or rather, the debt has been sufficiently increased by Evans), has made all of the tactical, selection and purchase decisions himself over the last 22 months and has still come up very short.

Keane was an exciting appointment that worked out very poorly. Jewell is no less disappointing and, if anything, because of the experience he was feted to have, perhaps even more disappointing. Keane was poor, Jewell is Megson-esque.

Keane has a lot of things to be blamed for, but Jewell’s ongoing ineptitude is not one of them.




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Elwood added 19:17 - Oct 10
Nice blog, I think mostly agree. Keane was a disaster, taking us from the periphery of the play-offs to relegation fodder whilst wasting a fortune and destroying the fabric of our club. Jewell inherited a shambles and is correct when he states we haven't been a premiership team for many of the last 20 years. However when he suggests he's not to blame for the continuation of our exile from the elite it just isn't good enough. If he can't make us a force once again he should step aside.
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TimmyH added 19:51 - Oct 10
Yep totally agree, some are trying to put this mess now partly on Keane and after 21 months now we have little evidence that he was here apart from Martin and Edwards and glimpses of Scotland who are all reasonable players when they are playing in the correct position, but while Keane was here he got a lot of things wrong and put a lot of peoples backs up. Unfortunately and I never thought it would come to this Keane's record now looks better than Jewells!
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jamesmostevens added 21:33 - Oct 10
It's also worth mentioning that, compared to Jewell, Keane and especially Magic before him were inexperienced and entitled to make a few mistakes as young managers.
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Edmunds5 added 21:45 - Oct 10
Great blog, Agreed with pretty much everything you talked about. I personally would judge each manager individually. I thought the biggest problem Keane had was man management, As you say I think he was a 'bully' and a bit to disciplined so that players couldnt express themselves. I think Jewell is not disciplined enough which is shown by how we concede goals late on though I know that isnt all down to him. Many manager inherit teams who have been struggling and a squad that is all over the place but it is down to that manager to sort it out whatever the previous situation, a compotent manager would be able to deal with the situation after Keane with authority and have a clear blueprint of where he wants to take us. both have had money to spend and neither have spent it particularly wisely. I also think both Jewell and Keane have been round the block and I just think we are looked at as a soft touch to be honest, there is no plan, its like lets get this small club promotion without much consideration. When you look at younger managers they seem to have more of a plan, Nigel Clough at Derby for example are putting faith in youth and they're steadily progressing. Neither manager has built anything at the club to the point that we're now reliant on loaness and quick fixes.
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essexblue41 added 21:49 - Oct 10
i heard it during the roy keane era and i've heard it now how true it is i wouldn't know but it's seems like both managers could get decent players interested in signing for us and fee's agreed but they could never sort out the issue of wages so the players moved elsewhere hence why things are as they are as the old saying go's '' if you pay peanuts you get monkey's ''
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Blue041273 added 08:49 - Oct 11
Absolutely.

The PJ apologists have been in total denial. This blog graphically illustrates the extent of his failure as ITFC manager. True he's a likeable guy; true RK left him with a massive mess to clean up quickly, and true, the strange executive policies of ME and SC mitigate against his total culpability for our current situation. But the bottom line is whatever criteria you measure his performance against he has failed. Failed to the point that placing any faith in him that fortunes can be reversed is misplaced. We need to draw a line under 2012 particularly and start again. Most fans would now accept slow progress as long as that progress was measurable.
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ArnieMsBigToe added 09:30 - Oct 11
Yep. Excellent Blog. Well done IamSparticus.

I have to admit, even though I have been an ardent PJ supporter, my patience is wearing thin.

I still think that RK inflicted HUGE damage on ITFC.
1. The sale of Jordan Rhodes.
2. The purchase of Grant Leadboots.
3. The purchase of Lee Martin. (I still think he's a headless chicken!!)

On the other hand PJ has bought well. Just look at Aaron Cresswell for a start.
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knickersnbra added 09:47 - Oct 11
I wonder how things would have panned out had we had a stronger CEO to tackle or manage Magilton's fury and megalomania. At times his teams had the hallmarks of EarlyBurley, excellent possession with insufficient/inconsistent end product.

One has to wonder ... if the extra funds had gone into tempering (no pun intended) Magilton's mad streak that might have born fruit - and indeed helped Magic personally. Too often owners/chairmen place more importance on changing managers or throwing money at new players when what might be more constructive is spending money on honing or redirecting people's existing talents. Fans don't see that type of work though, so club owners see little value in it.

Apols for stream of consciousness ...
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Surco72 added 10:15 - Oct 11
A good blog , but also into the equation you have to add the sell on money from signings for the club as a business also .Keane made nothing for the club with his over priced signings and quite clearly sold an asset off far too cheaply in Rhodes ?
Jewell on the other hand may have gone for some high paid quick loan deals but a number of his young signings could be at Ipswich for a long time or have a good sell on value Cresswell,Hewitt,Jet, Loach ,Chambers ,Taylor ?
I think maybe rather than look at any Town manager individually you have to look at the reason since Evans took over 3 managers who have had moderate success have all failed quite dramaitcally ?
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Vizslaraner added 14:04 - Oct 11
Excellent blog, couldn't have put it better myself. Identifies the failings of both in this dark period in our history.

ArnieMbigtoe - You make 3 sound points too. Leadpants was awful, and although Martin has ability he has no final ball, can't cross, take a set piece and get knocked over by a strong gust of wind.
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IamSpartacus added 15:39 - Oct 11
@ Surco72- I'm not entirely sure that Keane can be blamed for not making a sell on fee for the players he purchased. The fault for that should most squarely be placed at Clegg's and ME's door, although I would have expected both managers- Keane with McCauley and Norris & Jewell with Leadbitter & Martin (he will go for free, almost certain)- to be causing havoc with the Chief Exec and Owner.

I'd even go as far as to say that the club should make it clear in a statement to the public what went wrong and what they will do to ensure it doesn't happen again- much like Peterborough.
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Fatcatevans added 21:30 - Oct 11
It's a results business. Jewells results are beyond awful. Irrespective of Keanes influence the man cannot achieve anything like the required points haul. He has to go. If he stays we are doomed to relegation. Fact
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Pessimistic added 08:40 - Oct 12
I agee with many of the points raised in what was a well considered blog. That said, I am one of the few it would seem that thinks Jewell can turn this around. We have some quality players in the squad and winning and losing is about fractons in this league. We proved against the leaders Cardiff and Brighton that we can compete with the best in this dvision and once we get another win under our belts literally anything could happen. I expect Town to be mid-able by Christmas. I am also impressed with our new recruits and the players in the wings that will aid our cause later in the campaign. Hewitt is certainly one for the future and contrary to what many of you may think, the future remains bright in the long term, irrespective of our more recent results.
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Blue041273 added 08:59 - Oct 12
Love the fact that Pessimistic is actually optimistic.

The truth is that whether or not PJ can turn it around in the short term (and I really hope he can), his record as manager does not inspire confidence that he has the wherewithal to push on from lower table mediocrity and turn us into realistic contenders. He is lucky to still be in the job now. He will need the luck of the devil together with an unlikely sequence of results to get everyone onside. Meanwhile the doubters rule ok!
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Surco72 added 14:20 - Oct 12
@i am spartacus .. iwas merely trying to point out that Keanes signings were so poor they offered nothing to the side and we could not get money back for them as no one was willling to pay even when made available .Fulop,Priskin,Leadboots. And even Martin ,he may go for free but seriously who would buy him anyway for anywhere near the money we have forked out if we did try to sell him ?
Whereas Cresswell has already won player of the year and been touted about a big money transfer and i can see Jet ,Taylor ,Chambers and Hewitt going down the same route .All is not quite as dark as many make out .
And relegation seems to have done no harm to Saints ,Scum and Leeds does it ?
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Garv added 23:40 - Oct 12
Discuss where we were when Keane took over, then where we were when Jewell took over, and write another blog.


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IamSpartacus added 14:57 - Oct 13
@ Gary: not a bad idea. I don't think anyone can doubt that Keane was bad for the club, but I also think that Jewell has accelerated it's demise.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 23:32 - Oct 14
just like when you get a new government they / we are entitled to blame the previous shower, but you get to a point when all the decisions are down to the new mob, and that point was reached in May of this year for me, Jewell then had all the summer to sort things out and hit the road running - he has totally failed and should do the honourable thing and hit the road himself

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