Jewells Dilemma

Back in January, Paul Jewell surveyed the wreckage of an Ipswich Town first team that had managed one win in nine league matches and was hurtling towards the relegation zone.

With several first team players approaching the end of their contracts, a talented prodigy being scouted by every major English club and money being made readily available by the owner, there was scope to quickly remodel the side into one in his own image.

But Jewell opted for a more measured, steady approach to development. Whilst the signing of the mercurial Jimmy Bullard was pivotal to this development, it was the change to a five man midfield, and the redeployment of Connor Wickham, Carlos Edwards, Lee Martin and Colin Healy within this structure, which helped quickly propel the side to safety.

It echoed the impact of Joe Royles employment several years previously. Whilst supporters largely acknowledged that it was “papering over the cracks”, there was also respect for a manager who was seemingly able to mould a squad to a system in a way that his two predecessors had failed to achieve.

All of which is why Paul Jewells current travails seem harder to fathom.

To preface all of this, it has to be acknowledged that no manager can bed in eleven new signings immediately and gain an instant impact. It requires a lot of work on the training ground; to develop a system.

But its currently difficult to recognise what system the manager is developing towards and how several of those eleven players are going to fit.

Town have started several matches in this fledgling season playing a 4-5-1 formation, something which Jewell has stated is more about a fit for the existing players, with his preferred system being a 4-4-2 line up. The signing of Daryl Murphy may well be the answer in that regard, as the former loanee demonstrated on Saturday why he prefers playing in a forward position rather than the left-midfield role he has often found himself in throughout his career.

However, with a forward partnership in place with Michael Chopra, it is the four immediately behind them which seem harder to fathom. In each position, there appears to be a question mark regarding the current incumbents or their proposed successors.

At left midfield, Lee Martins indiscipline at Peterborough was only partly related to the sending off he earnt, perhaps harshly, after another characteristically late lunge. Martins failure to diligently protect his inexperienced full-back was perhaps of bigger concern; a reminder of another character trait which doesn’t appear to have improved.

Filling the gap on Saturday, as against Hull City previously, was Grant Leadbitter, a player so ill-at-ease with his performances currently, that being asked to fill an unfamiliar role was probably the last thing he needed. Inevitably, Leadbitter struggled, and things were only improved when Mark Kennedy was summoned to roll back the years in a position that he has not occupied for several seasons and never in an Ipswich Town shirt.

Ironically enough, in a five man midfield with the wide players encouraged to join the lone forward, Daryl Murphy would seem to be an ideal signing to fill that position, but he looks likely to be required elsewhere.

The same applies on the right-side of the pitch, where Jay Emmanuel-Thomas appears to epitomise the dilemma faced by his manager. A talented young Arsenal graduate, signed for a reasonable fee, Paul Jewell appears unsure where to fit him into his team. As again on Saturday, Emmanuel-Thomas appears isolated and bereft when playing as a wide midfielder. It is telling that his only real contribution to the game was when running through the middle on goal, resulting in the Leeds sending off and the injury which ended his involvement. Yet, Jewell is reluctant to use Emmanuel-Thomas as a foil for Chopra, so far only granting him the opportunity from the start in the Peterborough debacle.

Josh Carson provides a more orthodox threat from a wide right position but, as with Lee Martin, the young Irishman appears to have blotted his copybook in the eyes of his manager currently, by returning to pre-season out of shape and not helped by his involvement against Peterborough.

In the central positions, there are more questions than answers currently, many of them being posed by Jimmy Bullard. Its unthinkable that Bullard wouldn’t play regularly, given the expected influence he will have on the team. But putting Bullard into a team with limited defensive attributes already leaves little room for manoeuvre.

Lee Bowyer may provide a good aggressive partner for Bullard, but it would be brave to play a 32 year old and a 34 year old as a central partnership, particularly given the paucity of impact Bowyer has provided so far in his Town career.

Andrews has been the stand out midfielder to date, but he is also something of a conundrum. Signed for his defensive attributes, Andrews has proven more effective as an attacking threat, adding an ability to shoot from outside the box which Town have missed for some years. Yet, defensively, Andrews has suffered along with his other teammates, being outfought in midfield battles. It was notable on Saturday that the combination of Bullard and Andrews was breached several times in the last fifteen minutes as a ten-man Leeds, content to play a lone-forward and defend for a draw, were inexplicably afforded chances breaking forward.

Having been handed a set of players in January and managing to coach them into a more capable formation with immediate and impressive results, fans would presume that, with his own players specifically bought to play his way, the task would be simplified a whole lot more. Yet, having signed so many new players, it seems puzzling that what remains seems such an ill-fit for the 4-4-2 formation that Jewell has seemingly been building towards.

Its all a little confusing to an outsider, but is the manager that certain either?