Ipswich Town Football Club have officially announced the appointment of Paul Jewell as manager on a two-and-a-half year contract.
Jewell was named successor to Keane at a press conference at Portman Road on Monday afternoon. The news comes less than a week after Roy Keane was sacked on Friday following 20 months in charge. Keane arrived at Portman Road in April 2009 with much expectation of a quick return to the Premier League, but a disappointing 15th place finish followed in his first season. After a promising start to the current campaign that saw the Blues among the early pace-setters, Keane’s last game – a 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest – left the Blues languishing in 19th place in the Championship.
That defeat seems to have been the final straw for owner Marcus Evans and chief executive Simon Clegg, whom many Ipswich fans have been calling upon to axe the controversial Keane for several months. Having appointed the former Manchester United midfielder within 24 hours of dismissing his predecessor Jim Magilton back in April 2009, Evans and Clegg have been similarly swift to snap up Jewell for the Portman Road hotseat.
Jewell will be well known to Ipswich Town fans having previously guided Wigan Athletic to automatic promotion to the Premier League at the expense of Town in 2005. The 46-year-old, who had also taken Bradford City into the top flight in his first job before an unsuccessful spell at Sheffield Wednesday, has largely been working as a pundit since being sacked by Derby County in December 2008. His last match at Pride Park – ironically a 1-0 defeat to Magilton’s Ipswich – came after Jewell had failed to mount a promotion push following their relegation from the Premier League.
The appointment will come as welcome news for some Blues supporters who were becoming increasingly frustrated with Keane. The fiery Irishman divided fans from the very start however, with some hoping that he would be given more time to emulate his spell at Sunderland where he won the Championship title. Instead, that task will fall to Jewell, who himself will probably take time to convince many fans that he is the right man for the job after a poor performance at Derby. Jewell is now set to take full charge at Ipswich after Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final first leg match against Arsenal.
More details from the press conference will be available shortly.
Are you happy with the appointment of Paul Jewell as manager? Was the club right to sack Roy Keane in the first place? How do you think the rest of the season will unfold?
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