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| Luke Chambers: finally a Town player |
It was in danger of
becoming a 'transfer saga', as it is known in football. No, in fact,
it probably was that already.
Luke Chambers arrival
at Ipswich on Monday could not have come soon enough for Ipswich
supporters, with a worrying sense of deja-vu lurking as negotiations
continued to grow more and more drawn out.
Paul Jewell insisted
that there was nothing to worry about, that the transfer would be
concluded in its own good time.
The trouble is, similar
sound-bites have come out of Portman Road in the past. After
replacing Roy Keane as manager, Jewell very nearly made Charlie
Austin his first signing at the club.
Indeed, the former
Swindon hot-shot was in Ipswich to complete a medical, fees had been
agreed and everything else just appeared to be a formality. Then, out
of the blue, he had a change of heart and joined Burnley.
Throughout the Jewell
tenure there have been similar stories of near misses in the transfer
market, and for the supporters it was growing more an more
frustrating.
Fingers were starting
to be pointed. Some blamed the manager, many blamed the chief
executive, Simon Clegg. An idiotic minority even argued the problem
lied with Marcus Evans – the media and hospitality tycoon who had
rescued the club from possible administration just a few seasons
before.
So it was little
wonder, then, that a few were getting restless when former Forest
skipper, Chambers was allowed to head back to the East Midlands and
consider his options after passing a medical last week.
Nevertheless, Jewell
was proven right, and Chambers signed on the dotted line parallel to
much excitement from Town fans who were well aware of his ability at
this level.
Yet the harsh reality
of the matter is that Ipswich remain a fair way short of what will be
required to compete at the top end of the Championship next season.
A few more players in
the Chambers mould would go down quite nicely, and there would be a
great deal of optimism around the place to go with it.
The fact is, in time like this, clubs need to act fast.
Positive, as you would
expect from a new signing, Chambers praised the quality of the
players he would be linking up with, but even he was quick to admit
the squad was still a little thin on the ground.
“You look at the
squad we’ve got, it’s not the biggest squad,” he admitted, “but
I think some of the players we’ve got here are of [the] top level.”
A goalkeeper now has to
be the top priority for Jewell, with the Town boss keeping his cards
close to his chest regarding who that might be.
The club have already
lost out to Brighton in their attempts to lure former Manchester
United keeper, Tomasz Kuzsczak.
As things stand, the
Blues only have one registered goalkeeper on their books in Arran
Lee-Barrett; a solid, dependable sort, but arguably not the man help
Ipswich into the play-offs.
Almost typically, Swiss
international goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupović was snatched from Town's
grasp by Hull City this week, despite having been on trial.
The fact is, in time
like this, clubs need to act fast.
More defensive cover
surely has to be another of the areas Jewell will be looking at. With
Chambers arrival taking the number of senior central defenders at the
club to three, surely at least one more will be required.
For quite a few seasons
now there have been concerns over the standard of the defence going
into the new campaign, so the sooner that is sorted out, the better.
Questions will
undoubtedly be raised as to whether Daryl Murphy will return to the
club on a permanent basis next season, too.
The Irishman impressed
in a wide midfield role towards the back end of the last campaign,
and with the ability to play up front, such a player would certainly
be useful.
In fact, the wide areas
are among those most in need of strengthening ahead of the new
season. Often Town were criticised for a lack of pace last time
around, so perhaps that will come into Jewell's thinking.
And finally, a striker.
With Jason Scotland and Michael Chopra the two senior players vying
for that position, there is definitely a solid foundation to build on
there. However, it was a lack of variety in that department last
season that often proved to be the team's downfall, so a couple more
solid goalscorers certainly would not go amiss.
Overall, though, the
squad is coming together. In the second part of last season, things
did look much better, which is always encouraging for the upcoming
season.
With a strong core to
the team now in place it is about building on what the club already
have, and making the most of it.
Of course, it remains
essential that no more players can be allowed to slip through the
net.
