Town boss Paul Jewell insists that this summer’s much-vaunted look towards the long-term has not been abandoned, despite the total of loan players having risen to eight. He says that he would have preferred to bring players in on a permanent basis during the transfer window but for one reason or another deals — including those for some of the players he has now brought in on loan - couldn’t be done.

Jewell believess that sometimes it’s better for younger players to have the pressure taken off them when a side is struggling but says they won't be forgotten: “It’s not abandoned. We tried to get players while the window was open. I would ask the question ‘what do you want me to do now that the window’s shut?’ Not bring anyone in?

“We are in a difficult situation. We’re in a situation where we’ve got to put some daylight between us and the teams at the bottom, and if you put too many young players in, it can do more harm than good, both to them and to the team.

“We think Massimo Luongo’s smashing, we think Luke Hyam [is as well], but it’s a pressure situation we’re in and we’re just trying to get some players in who can deal with the situation to try and get us over this sticky spell that leads to a longer-term plan.

“But we’re happy with Luke Hyam’s progress this season," he added. "He picked up an injury which has knocked him back a bit. Massimo Luongo’s going to be a good player too.

“Sometimes when you’re in a situation like we’re in now, you can do more harm to the young players. Sometimes you’ve got to take them out and give them a bit of a rest, so that’s what we’ve done.”

He says that while his immediate priority is arresting the slump that has seen the Blues drop to 23rd, even that’s with a view to the longer term: “At the moment, we’re second from bottom of the league, so we’ve got to improve.

“Whatever we’re doing, however we’re playing - and I’ve looked at all the stats and we’re playing better football than we did last year, we create more opportunities, we’re passing the ball more - we’re losing games.

“So, we’ve got to try and get over this [spell]. To go long-term sometimes you’ve got to go short-term [in order to get there].

“Ever since I’ve come here there’s been a long-term plan. Every time we think we’re making strides, something happens, we get a knock-back.

“We’ve got some good young players here and we don’t want to harm them by putting them into game situations which they haven’t got the experience for.

“I know what people will say — you’ve got to learn. But if we can take them out of the firing line for a little bit and get experience and get results, then we can look further on.”

The Liverpudlian says that some of the nine players that have come in on loan or on a short-term basis were previously — and ultimately still are — permanent targets: “They’re not just here as loans. I tried to sign a couple of the players, and a lot of [other] players, before the window closed.

“But the Premier League clubs were saying ‘No, we’ve got to get ours in’, then all of a sudden at 12.05 after the deadline those players become available.

“It’s difficult for supporters to understand but sometimes it’s down to money, sometimes it’s down to other clubs, sometimes it’s down to players.

“Without going into each and every player individually, that’s why we find ourselves having to loan players. It’s not ideal. But the loan players we’ve got here are good people.

“We’ve got six domestic and two cross borders. It’s not ideal but we’d like, if it was possible, for those players to become Ipswich players. It’s not as if they’re ships passing through in the night.

“They’re good players and the couple of weeks' training that we’ve had, and the week we’ve had since the new guys have been here, have been really good.”

Ideally he says he’d like to get younger players in but says it’s not always possible: “We’d love to get a Danny Higginbotham at 23 but I have to tell you we’ve searched high and low for young centre-halves, ever since we’ve been here.

“Everyone’s looking for them and can’t find them. We’ve got Danny, who’s got the experience.

"You look at John McGreal and people like that who have been at this football club, Jason De Vos, they can play at the back for a bit longer. We wanted younger and hungrier players. We’d love to be getting Reo-Coker at 21 and DJ Campbell at 22, of course we would.”

He concedes that Spurs only sent Massimo Luongo to Town for the season in order that the Australian could gain first team experience, while Richie Wellens is here for just a month.

However, he says the Leicester man was someone he had previously been after and felt he was worth bringing in even if it was just temporarily: “Richie’s only come in for the short-term to play games. He’s a quality footballer and I don’t think anyone would doubt that he’s a quality footballer.

“We tried to buy him, we couldn’t buy him, then he got injured, then he became available. What do you do, do you take him or not take him? We’ve taken him.”

As for the other recent additions, Jewell says that although they are experienced, they’re hardly at the end of their careers “Reo-Coker’s 28, that’s not ancient, DJ’s 30, he’s sharp. I understand exactly what the fans must be thinking, but nothing’s been abandoned, however we have Plan B.

“It would be great to have a team which was 23 or under, but at the moment that’s not going to happen.

“But we do want to look long-term. We don’t want to fill the club with loan players. We don’t want to fill the club with 35-year-olds, we don’t want to do that, but for the situation at the moment, to lead us to a brighter future, I think we’ve got to go with quality players who have proven their quality at the level.

“The next question will be that we did that with Lee Bowyer, Jimmy Bullard and Keith Andrews. But with respect, [the players coming in now are a bit younger] — DJ’s 30, he’s quick, he’s strong, he’s got 100% record. Age becomes an issue only when results go against you.”

He says the striker is one he hopes might prove to be a longer-term signing: “DJ Campbell, his contract’s up in the summer, I’m hoping there might be something we can do there."

The three-month loan of Bilel Mohsni is another one which could become permanent and Jewell says was a good chance to assess the Frenchman over a longer spell: “He’s come here and it’s too good a deal not to have because he can play left wing, he can play right wing, he can play up front, he can play centre-half, he can play anywhere. He’s different and he can get six or seven goals.

“Guirane N’Daw, he’s here for the season. Then there’s Danny Higginbotham, who we will try and sign permanently, Daryl Murphy’s here for a year.”

Jewell dismisses rumours that Senegalese international N’Daw threw his toys out of the pram after being left out of the 18 for the Cardiff match: “He hasn’t thrown them at me anyway! Someone said he wasn’t at the game, but I saw him after the match.”

The Blues boss says that Marcus Evans’s funding of the recent deals shows that he still has his backing, despite the poor start to the campaign: “The owner has been right behind me, he’s backed me in really, really difficult circumstances and by bringing these players in has shown people that he has faith in me long term to do the job.”

Photo: Action Images

MattinLondon added 09:07 - Oct 19 If he is so happy with our scouting system why didn't it come into play rather than relay on Premier League cast-offs?
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WarkyWonderLand added 09:13 - Oct 19 The thing we have to remember is that Mr Jewell has now had 2 full pre seasons and over 80 games to create a team and a squad, and also more money than most managers in the championship. The bottom line is that he is no further forward than when he came in, in fact we have gone backwards. No man management ans no tactical nouse and is the worst modern day manager we have had. You cannot argue with the stats and his record. If people are happy with what he has done on what basis?

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SWBlue86 added 09:20 - Oct 19 I have supported Jewell throughout his period at ITFC however these quotes are absolute nonsense. They guy has lost the plot. He has brought loan players in purely to try and save himself from getting the sack. It's absolutely disgraceful. We are only 10 games in, he needs to give these young ipswich contracted players more of a chance. - Losing the faith
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PunchNoHopers added 09:29 - Oct 19 Sounds like Luongo will be the loan player to miss out then at Hull, as we can only have five (plus N'Daw and Murphy).
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Kesgraveblue57 added 09:31 - Oct 19 Paul I believe every word you say !!*! but there are some who think you might just have a script written by others. It has to be said that you and your staff could do a wee bit better in the way of management of my team. If you ever want to pack up and go home I for one will not stand in your way.
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Kesgraveblue57 added 09:40 - Oct 19 Quote:- “We are in a difficult situation” Now I need help on this one who is the Manager ?
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daniel9624 added 09:41 - Oct 19 Ok if what he is saying is true then i can kind of understand where he is coming from. That said I'm not sure if it is or not. If we were in mid-table, would these players be here, probably not, why get Wellens, no point!
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delias_cheesy_flaps added 09:48 - Oct 19 Who are these clueless idiots who give virtually any post asking for Jewell out or heaven forbid criticise his management skills a minus vote!!!
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jonwillpott added 10:00 - Oct 19 So let's examine what Jewell has said here - he sais he has had to resort to this ridicilous system of loans because he couldn't attract players in on permanent deals in the window. We have to ask the question - why??? Other clubs (with less backing than we have from our owner) made plenty of 'quality' signings and this is why we are in the position we are as we are playing against superior opposition week in week out. ITFC needs to look very closely at their dealings in the transfer window and understand that you cannot buy quality for peanuts and the players you want will go to the highest bidder and not Portman Road. Get our transfer policies coherent with other clubs in this division and then we can compete without all these loans and promote more of our own youngsters too!!!

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cornishnick added 10:02 - Oct 19 I've said it before, the problem isn't the players. It's the manager who can't get the best out of them
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BlackandBlue added 10:26 - Oct 19 The current approach seems to be. We've got a plan, but it's not working, so we'll make it up for a while and hope something shows up, but don't worry, if that starts working we'll abandon that too and go back to the original plan that didn't work.
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brendanh added 10:48 - Oct 19 dugoutdave, we've been trying that short-termist approach for 12 years, it hasn't worked, it will never work. The only exception was during the early Royle and Magilton eras when we blooded our own and bought lower-league and hungry. These are the only times we've looked like promotion candidates. In Suffolk we grow great teams, the finished product is not boughtloaned in. It's just who we are, and the sooner EvansClegg and Manager realise this, the sooner we finally start to turn the club around.

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warbeat78 added 11:12 - Oct 19 This is for all that keep going on about hyam he is avery good player and deserves a place in the team, but when will you remember he's still got problems with back injury, so no he won't be playing saturday!!!
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AndrewPC added 11:19 - Oct 19 DurhanTown Fan I agree with you. Jewell is frank and sets out his stall as to why things have changed and what he and ME have done about it. Yes, there is risk in having all these loan players. But the potential benefits of Higginbottom, Wellens, DJ Campbell and Reo Coker far outweigh those risks. Most of those posting here so far, seem not to bother to read carefully what Jwell says in this interview. IMO he is talking sense. We will not get out of this 23rd position to mid table security with only Hyam, Drury and Luongo in midfield. Simply put: they do not have the guile, devilry, and armour plated confidence to hang in there for 95 minutes week in week out to grind out the results ....;

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MickMillsTash added 11:21 - Oct 19 Is there anyone at the club who can fix a couple of results? that may help us move up the table
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brendanh added 11:29 - Oct 19 AndrewPC. You are not reading the history of this club carefully. When we have ever been successful buying or loaning players from the top two divisions? It has never happened, it will never happen. Suffolk is where financially-secure-for-life players go to relax and pick up a pay cheque. The decent ones play football in London, not here. We can never succeed this way. We shouldn't try. I don't care what division we play in for the next couple of years, as long as in 3-5 we have returned to the values that built this great club.

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levington added 11:45 - Oct 19 It seems Jewellio is suffering from a schizo-affective disorder.
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levington added 11:52 - Oct 19 now is the time to sack him, then it gives the next manager a fair crack at next season.
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Urchin added 11:55 - Oct 19 brendah - I can see your point but cant disagee with some of what dugoutdave says. The problem with your comment "In Suffolk we grow great teams" is that we haven't for so long. Even promising young players seek apprenticeships at bigger clubs or regretably area where there are more cluibs. I saw a survey about 10 months ago done by a sporting research company which maintained that only 6 per cent of players in each club were born within a 30 miles radius of the club for which they play. I wqish we did have a team of great suffolk born players but I think those days have gone and the odd one or two is perhaps the best we will ever get.

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kerryblue added 12:25 - Oct 19 Its one hell of a long kiss goodbye,sack him and let this club move forward again
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Lombokblue added 12:41 - Oct 19 PJs has no record of developing young players. He buys players and tends to get good value. He gave Carson his debut and he scored 3 goals in a week. Hyam was highly rated under Keane. We might as well sell Murray now. They sit on the bench and watch loanees with no match fitness go straight in first 11.
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Wickets added 12:43 - Oct 19 Trouble is this sticky spell stared about 8 games after you became manager, when will we get out of it?
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SilentMajority added 12:48 - Oct 19 Doubleplusungood doublethink. In other news the weekly chocolate ration has been increased upward from 30g to 25g p/w.
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thechangingman added 13:09 - Oct 19 I've taken a break from TWTD for a few days and on returning and reading this it hits me even harder just how inept, incompetent and clueless PJ is. He clearly doesn't have any kind of idea as to how to lead the club forwards and it is really starting to irk to hear him trotting out his usual meaningless platitudes. If we do get out of this current rut I fear that it'll be more by chance than design and hopefully we'll come out of it at least rid of this managerial charlatan... Sigh - it's time for another break from this forum - it isn't good for ones sense of well-being and hope...

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strikalite added 18:01 - Oct 19 AndrewPC...you are bang on, we have to try and get out of this situation quickly and steady the ship, of course we want 'our' players to do this, but they're simply not on their game right now...we could carry on and hope they come through this, but by then we could be virtually down and then we'll all be asking why he didn't protect the youngsters and do something in October when he had the chance to...a difficult one no doubt..

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