The Christian name Paul has not produced many happy memories for Town supporters, but two of the four need some special acknowledgement.
Paul Jewell became a bit of an embarrassment in the end, and the less said about Paul Lambert the better. Paul Hurst will be remembered for having the shortest managerial reign in the club’s history at just under 5 months, but we must not forget that he recruited Janoi Donacien and Kayden Jackson, both from Accrington Stanley. Donacien is now a vital component of the Ipswich creative society, and Kayden Jackson is once again back in favour, thanks mainly to manager Kieran McKenna. Donacien describes his Town journey as magical, and the defender is now in his fifth season with the Blues.
Paul Cook is also worthy of some praise. Known as the “Demolition Man for off-loading lots of dead wood and replacing them with players of quality. It was a bit hit and miss but had it not been for him we would not have Cameron Burgess, Wes Burns, Lee Evans, George Edmundson, Conor Chaplin, Sone Aluko, Matt Penney, Kyle Edwards, and Vaclav Hladky in our squad. He might not have got the formula right but he did find some hidden gems. Interestingly, five of the above are still regular first-teamers! Cook was in charge for just over 9 months – just 4 months more than Hurst and again under a year. He also acquired Joe Pigott from Wimbledon, who is still contracted to Town.
I cannot deny that of the 16 players he recruited, whilst at the same time showing another 19 players the door, he did not get everything right. Rekeem Harper is still with us, but perhaps only just, after his howler led to us being knocked out of the Carabao Cup! He has not impressed me at all so far – although he came from West Brom with an undisclosed fee. I wonder how much that was? Hayden Coulson might have been good if he had not been so injury prone, and as for poor Tom Carroll, we got him on a free, but even that was too expensive! Scott Fraser showed real promise but was often played out of position and Louie Barry was too inexperienced to be of much help.
We all have selective memories, and sometimes we tend to overlook the good things that have been achieved at Town but did not always get the recognition they deserved. Paul Hurst and Paul Cook had plenty of weaknesses too, of course, but I would like to remind you that the side playing today would be a different one without their help. McKenna is the chief engineer who puts the building blocks into place to make it an oven-ready fit, but I am quite sure he would be the first to thank his managerial colleagues for leaving some vital parts in place somewhere along the assembly line.
Very true that Paul Cook in particular did a pretty good job recruiting players at breakneck speed. To be a good manager though you need to be more than just a good recruiter.
Wind the clock back and Paul Jewell had been a good and successful manager. But the nightmare that was his Premier League experience at Derby County (easily the worst season ever by any team) had knocked the stuffing out of him before he rocked up at Portman Road!
I can’t argue with that Richard. Paul Cook, and to some extent Paul Hurst put the building blocks in place, but they were more suited to stonemasonry than becoming the architect of a much bigger project.
I agree that there were some excellent signings, particularly Walton, Burns, Chaplin, Edmundson and Morsy. The trouble was Paul Cook tried to accommodate all his signings and never knew how to get the best out of them. Scott Fraser being played out on the left wing being a prime example.
Under Hirst Donacien looked a good player and I well remember one of his early games asgainst Aston Villa where he played Albert Adomah off the pitch. Then Mr Lambert came along and shipped him out on loan…..crazy!!
Yes, Terry, Paul Lambert made a big mistake by not seeing the true value of Janoi Donacien. I liked him from day one, to be honest, I was dumbfounded when he was sent out on loan. Five seasons later and he is one of the vital cogs in the Ipswich Wheel. Paul Cook knew a good player when he saw one but sadly could not put the jigsaw pieces together.