New Ipswich Town boss Paul Hurst is very much his own man and we are now starting to see the very obvious differences between him and another Yorkshireman, who walked out on the Blues.
There is no surprise in hearing that everyone starts with a clean slate because that is normal when I new incumbent arrives on the scene. What is different however is the fact that he is focusing his energies on a fresh start, and that even includes where they prepare for the season ahead.
Town were off to train in Spain today, and it is anything but a holiday, with as many as three training sessions per day, as Hurst and Doig endeavour to get the very best out of the squad he has largely inherited. Even club captain Luke Chambers cannot rest on his laurels and Hurst explained that what he may have achieved as Town skipper before, counts for nothing at all now.
He also suggested that some of his squad might not feel comfortable with this new regime and he argued that when a new gaffer comes in there will always be disquiet no matter how good the group as a whole are. He explained “I don’t want it to come across too harshly, but I don’t really care what they’ve done before. I’m interested in what they can do for me now because that’s all that really matters. Overall it is a clean slate. Just because some young players made their debuts it certainly doesn’t mean they are first team players yet.”
And we have already seen that he is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Adam Webster was sold to Championship rivals Bristol City and Luke Hyam and David McGoldrick have already packed their bags so making those tough decisions does not seem to faze Hurst.
Now I certainly would not want to see our top scorer Martyn Waghorn move on and I don’t think he will but of course, every player has his price. It would surely have to be a huge offer to let him leave, and after moving most of his family to Suffolk the player seems contented here anyway.
Joe Garner is a player that he might be tempted to off-load though because he is injury prone and does have a poor disciplinary record. I hope he stays but obviously if he leaves it is the better of two evils I suppose.
FW – editor of Vital Ipswich
