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.
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