Scotland Must Stay

A perpetual habit of Ipswich Town's always seems to be letting a good or promising player go each summer for relative peanuts. In recent seasons, especially, it appears to have become a worrying trend at Portman Road.

There are endless players that you could easily go into detail about, but the latest one to keep an eye on is Jason Scotland. Admittedly, the former Wigan striker did not exactly set the world alight in his first season with the club, but then again, nor did former manager, Roy Keane – he still got another half a season.

Reports this week suggest that the Blues and Swansea City have already begun negotiations which would pave the way for the Trinidadian to return to Wales, and indeed, Premier League football.

Now usually that would spark a certain degree of interest from the selling club with the potential for a big amount of money coming their way. Last season when Jon Walters went to Stoke, it seemed a mutually agreeable deal – Town picked up in excess of £3m for the player, and the Potters got their man.

This summer, in fact, Connor Wickham smashed all records with his £8.1m move to Sunderland. Sure, it was sad to see him go, but at least there was a tasty incentive for Ipswich Town fans at the end of the day.

With Scotland, however, all looks to be very different. He looks set to join a group of players such as Alan Lee, Jon Stead, and Jordan Rhodes, who despite doing what appeared to be a decent job, were unmercifully pushed out of the door.

Like those players, Jason Scotland is not a bad player – he has proven many times before that at Championship level he can score goals. Actually, a lot of goals.

When such a situation occurs, it looks a pretty safe bet that there is not going to be a lot of money involved. If Town even recoup what they paid for him it would be remarkable.

Of course, a lot of fans will argue that with the arrivals of Michael Chopra and Nathan Ellington, as well as Priskin offering an alternative option, Scotland will not exactly be the first choice at the club. Maybe too, there could soon be another arrival in the striking department with reports earlier in the week that bids had been placed for two unknown players.

The fact is, though, Scotland has been at the club for a season now. In that season, he did manage to notch 10 goals – more than any of the other strikers at the club, and only bettered by the now departed David Norris, a midfielder.

Supposing Michael Chopra was to bag 20 goals this season, Ellington a further 10 – wouldn't 10 more from Scotland be a welcome contribution?

It is also worth considering that he played much of last season as a lone striker. Early indications from this pre-season are that Paul Jewell is looking to play two up front, meaning that if Scotland were to play, there would be someone to share the work load with.

Furthermore, Jewell himself is even said to be happy with how the bulky forward is performing in pre-season so far.

It really does beg the question: how the hell could he ever be allowed to just slip out the back door?

Warning: Bad boy Bowyer is in Town

Some footballers ought to come with a warning sign attached to them when they sign for a new football club, especially those with a bit of a reputation.

One of those is Lee Bowyer, who has just signed a one-year deal with Ipswich Town this week. I'm sure I read somewhere that he was the most booked player in Premier League history, and we all know about his off-field shenanigans with Jonathan Woodgate whilst at Leeds United.

Furthermore, it is worth considering that one of Town's reported transfer targets of this summer just so happens to be Keiron Dyer. Could the ex-Newcastle 'buddies' be re-united at Portman Road?

Since becoming a professional club in 1936, Ipswich Town has forged itself at reputation as a friendly, welcoming family club. A club that, essentially, signs nice players who play nice football.

The managers have been quite mellow too – the kind gentleman that was Sir Bobby Robson, the humble Scot, George Burley and the unobtrusive tactician, Sir Alf Ramsey.

Yet in recent times that all seems to have changed.

Roy Keane's arrival in 2009 reflected that change dramatically. The former Manchester United hard-man came in to replace Jim Magilton. Everyone said it could not work – the two were not compatible. Ipswich Town and Roy Keane could never work...

They were right.

The arrival of Lee Bowyer does seem to be of the same mould, if you like. Michael Chopra did not exactly represent the coming of a moral guardian either.

Somehow, though, both seem like fantastic signings for the club. Bowyer will bring a tenacity to the midfield, whilst also chipping in with goals. Chopra, meanwhile, is a poacher – a striker hungry for goals, someone who knows better than most in the division where the net is.

When the season finished back in May, Town were facing a crisis. It seemed as though half the squad were out of contract and would not be signing new deals.

Add to that the fact that the club's player of the season, Jimmy Bullard, had only been a loanee, and the reality of the situation was that the club was never going to be able to afford his wages. Paul Jewell had an almighty job on his hands.

He has done well though. The addition of Bowyer to the team instantly replaces the work ethic and steel that was ripped from the core of the team when David Norris left for Portsmouth. Ivar Ingimarsson adds the experience and quality at the heart of the defence in the position that was vacated by Gareth McAuley.

Aaron Cresswell, a player courted by many Premier League and Championship clubs, brings the enthusiasm of youth, and could turn out to be a gem from the lower leagues. Nathan Ellington arrived off the back of a disappointing few seasons with Watford – but his most successful years were under Jewell at Wigan.

In total five new players have arrived at the club – better still, they have arrived before the team has even played a single pre-season game. Fans have grown accustomed to no one signing before July, only for a mad rush in late August, leaving the squad imbalanced and the supporters underwhelmed.

Indeed, it looks as though there is more to come, too. This week Jewell has admitted that he is waiting to hear back from clubs regarding bids placed for a further two players – reportedly a winger and a forward.

It is nice to see the attacking options being addressed. For a number of seasons now, the options in those areas have looked depleted at best. Not since Shefki Kuqi six years ago has any player scored more than 20 goals for the club in a season. In fact, few have scored that many in their time with the Blues.

One concern for me, though, still remains defensively. Unlike some fans, I am reasonably contented with the goalkeeping options at the club, but I am still worried about the lack of a recognised right-back at the club – even if Carlos Edwards filled the position well towards the end of last season.

Moreover, there are only three recognised centre-backs in the squad. Ingimarsson is the only right-footer among them, and a man of his age surely cannot be expected to play all 46 games. Damien Delaney is prone to spells of catastrophically bad form, while Tommy Smith, despite having played at a World Cup is still only 21.

Leicester snapped up the main transfer target for that position, Sean St Ledger, so it is back to the drawing board there, unfortunately.

More money will have to be spent. Jewell has done well so far, getting in a raft of players on frees, while only paying half of the figure the club were quoted last summer for Michael Chopra (£1.5m).

And there should be money available. The Connor Wickham sale looks to be a blessing in disguise. At 18, he was never going to tear the Championship apart single handedly, but the £8m transfer fee (potentially rising to over £12m) will give the club a better chance of doing so.

It remains to be seen what Jewell still has in store for the club. So far he is doing well, and if he keeps that up, who knows, this time next year, he could be the toast of Ipswich.