Hello Paul Jewell - Welcome to 2012!

What a difference a few weeks makes in football….6 weeks back Jewell was a Dead Man Walking and now he seems to have won round a number of the nay-sayers. However I could re-phrase the first part of that sentence to say 'What a difference a formation makes in football. Paul Jewell has embraced the in vogue formation of 4231 since the Blackpool game and the performances and results have improved drastically - it is clear that this formation was forced on Jewell by the personnel but he has been brave enough to keep it, and leave the high wage earners on the bench, so credit where it is due.

The problem I always felt with Jewell is that he was 'stuck in the past' with regards to football tactics, in the last 10 years, the playing area has grown dramatically in the game of football….not literally of course. With the rule changes with regards to offside, it is no longer possible to play a high line and a compact game, think back to Arrigo Sacchi's Milan where the forwards positioned themselves around 35 yards ahead of defenders at all times (if you're old enough to remember/sad enough to watch tactics on YouTube!). This now means that the distance between defenders and attacks is to vast to line 4 men across it, or to have a diamond where 2 players are effectively in the middle of where play happens and isolated. If you were to try and note down what formation a team is playing, rather than the traditional 442 or 433 - there almost needs to be a 4th 'line of play' - 4231 or 4141. Gone are the days of a midfielder that is good going forward and solid defenisviely…the heart and lungs man, the box to box midfielder, etc. Football positions can now almost be split into the following 4 categories:

• Defenders
• Defensive midfielders (ball winners, holding players, deep lying ball players - think Andrea Pirlo)
• Attacking midfielders (Wingers playing on natural side, wingers who cut in, number 10's - those who play in the hole and create things)
• Strikers

Any players who were traditionally an up and down midfielder need to really reinvent themselves and this is why I believe the inclusion of Bowyer and Leadbitter led to poor performances for the team earlier in the season, they neither get forward enough or back enough so are by-passed. I think Leadbitter can play a role similar to what Drury has been doing for our current team so I wouldn't write him off yet - he is young enough and a good enough footballer to adapt.

I hope Jewell sees this throughout the rest of the season and his recruitment is more structured for next season. Last year there was a scattergun approach and in my view we recruited people who were 'good players' without any thought given to how they will fit into a system - and in reality, what system and style of play we would look to play throughout the season. If Jewell makes the same mistakes this summer with regards to buying players who don't fit into our current system then the sack will be too good for him! Obviously we do need to be flexible but they still need to be 2012 footballers so no central midfielders who can't play in the positions stated above…..

Brighton 3-0 Ipswich

I will try and tactically review every game I go to between now and the end of the season, apologies for being a bit slack but I kind of lost interest in it when we were on a bad run making same mistakes week in, week out - and have been busy at work since the run turned round. Also apologies that we have to start with a defeat since the good run!

First halfWe lined up in the same shape we have since the Blackpool game, the energetic central 3 of Drury, Hyam and Martin where matched by Brighton, who lined up in an effective 4303 - they played an exceptionally high front 3 and this caused us problems from almost the first minute.

The play was spread wide on a number of occassions and Will Buckley on the right wing, gave Cresswell a torrid time. Lee Martin couldn't get on the ball and this was allowing their midfielders to pass from deep to the sideline hugging Buckley and Cresswell's lack of height was exposed, and the third time this happened we were punished and went 1-0 down. If I were in charge I would have slightly changed the formation to counter Brighton's threat, which was all coming from deep with balls for their pacey front 3, by pushing Drury up and dropping Martin slightly so that more pressure was put in the ball in their defensive third to cut the supply chain off at source.

I think Hyam could have coped as a sole holding midfielder as they didn't producr much threat from their attacking midfield positions. We dominated possession for most of the half, but by them having a back 4 with 3 sitting fairly deep in front of them space was limited and we struggled to create anything of note other than a couple of long-ish range shots which the keeper saved. What also didn't help us trying to get on top of Brighton wa that Luke Hyam had been booked so he wasn't able to be his normal combative self, he was also being dragged forward by the deeper lying Brighton 3 and this left us a bit out of shape for parts of the game.

Second halfWe started the second half in the ascendancy and once again had a great deal of possession in threatening areas but couldn't break through. We didn't move the ball quickly enough and allowed them to get back into their shape and made it difficult to break down. Some of the movement, especially down the left hand side was a bit laboured and this was fairly easy to defend against and we struggled to create. Luke Hyam was replaced by Grant Leadbitter to add a bit more quality on the ball and before he had a chance to get into the game a dreadful kick by Lee-Barrett was punished by Barnes to effectively kill the game.

After this, with Leadbitter's greater quality on the ball, and a reticence from Brighton to attack, we looked a little bit more threatening - however the ball didn't fall for us at any point in the box and it was really just one of those days. Scotland replaced Murphy and joined Chopra up front for the last 20 minutes but even he struggled to hold the ball up on what must have been a tricky pitch to play on.

The game petered out over the last 7 or 8 minutes and when a 3rd Brighton goal was scored 3 minutes from time, I made a swift exit to get the train.

PositivesWe didn't deserve to lose 3-0, and bossed possession against a good Championship side away from home. I think JE-T looked threatening on the ball and the team worked hard all game and had good energy.

NegativesThere wasn't a huge goal threat and we were caught out the same way 3 times before a goal was conceded down our left. Delaney needs to help Cresswell through the games and I have my doubts about him defensively away at good sides (not a criticism more an action point to improve on). Some of the movement by Murphy and Chopra was a bit sluggish and they may be feeling effect of playing a lot of games recently. Hyam committed a rash challenge, which on another day could have been a red, and this yellow card affected his performance as couldn't harry and harrass as much as usual - again, he's young and will learn and has been a revelation, so not a criticism.

Up Next - Bristol City (h)I went to the return fixture and they were a very poor side, I hope Jewell sticks with the succesful team from the winning run, with the possible exception of Tommy Smith. I rate Tommy and think he should be given a new contract, but after following his arduous journey on Twitter to Auckland (Ipswich-Heathrow-Bangkok-Sydney-Auckland), with a return flight this week he will be mentally and physically drained and will be an important player in the run in so we shouldn't risk injury.

Prediction - a comfortable 3-1 victory.

Blackpool 2 - 0 Ipswich Town

After taking advantage of the free coach to Blackpool I was looking forward to a tough game against a side with recent Premiership experience. We had also added Danny Collins to our squad to shore up our leaking back line. Blackpool play a fluent brand of football and Paul Jewell had stated in his pre match press conferences that he wished for us to 'quieten' the crowd in the first half and slowly get on top.

First half
Again when I saw the team I was disappointed with the line up picked by Paul Jewell, he had started 4 central midfielders with Bullard, Bowyer, Leadbitter and Andrews playing, this had proven unsuccessful against both Southampton and Leeds and led to changes in formation during the first half which resulted in us looking more fluid.

This formation was even stranger, Edwards, was almost playing as a wing back of a back 4, Leadbitter was a nominal right midfielder, Murphy was playing pinned to the left hand touchline and Andrews was in an advanced role. Overall the formation was nearly a very good 433 which worked so well vs Bristol City, but was let down by the personnel, square pegs in round holes sums it up.

Leadbitter was the right winger, but as he is a natural central midfield player tended to drift inside very often. This meant Edwards overlapped and we actually had a bit of success down this right hand side with Edwards in support. However, with Edwards bombing forward at every opportunity, there was a big space that Brett Ormerod lingered in and almost made us pay with a good chance in the first half.

Murphy played very wide and this left Chopra isolated and there were still too many long balls sent in Chopra's direction which Evatt and Cathcart dealt with easily. Andrews did his best to support but isn't creative enough to make things happen in the hole, he also committed a few needless fouls which broke the game down.

However, that all said it was a very even first half with few clear cut chances for either team and 0-0 was a fair score at half time.

Second half

As has been the habit in recent weeks, sloppy defending allowed Blackpool to go in front. They ran the ball through Town's left hand side after a couple of half hearted tackles from Murphy and then the ball fell to Billy Clarke in the box who scuffed his shot, fortunately straight to Taylor-Fletcher who couldn't miss.

This goal really seemed to knock the stuffing out of Ipswich and all energy levels seemed zapped. This may be because of lack of match fitness of a number of players but Bullard and Murphy especially seemed to suffer. Bullard was not the same player as last year where he demanded the ball every time we were in possession and tried to make things happen; he looked disinterested and like he wanted one too many touches at all times. A tell tale sign he wasn't his usual self is that he was even let other players take free kicks and corners which surprised me.

A second Blackpool goal wasn't too long in coming, another scrappy goal following a run down our left resulted in Barry Ferguson/Grant Leadbitter beating Stockdale, and effectively winning the match.

Not long after this Jewell made 2 changes, JE-T and Scotland replacing Leadbitter and Bowyer. We then moved to an attacking 424 formation, with JET and Murphy as the widemen.

The game opened up at this point and there were a few chances at each end, with Ipswich creating 3 good chances. 2 of these were completely fluffed by Murphy. Twice he shanked the ball wide when he really should have tested the keeper, this was not good enough. Bullard also should have done better after Scotland set him away and we had men over and he opted to shoot and dragged his shot wide.

The final whistle came not long afterwards to end a disappointing second half, we allowed 2 sloppy goals and couldn't capitalise on any chances we created.

Positives

Collins made an assured debut and looks to be an astute signing. Scotland again looked sharp when he came on. Andrews looks to be the teams driving force and a good player.

Negatives
Bullard and Murphy don't look fit, perhaps not unsurprising but disappointing after an international break. We struggled to create chances until going to a 424 formation. Edwards was caught out of position a few times and needs to be playing behind an out and out winger so he isn't forced forward too often.

Overall
Paul Jewell needs to make some difficult decisions, he currently seems to be picking his 11 best players and trying to make a team out of them. We have no defined shape and by playing people out of position, especially Leadbitter, it is creating weaknesses across the pitch, i.e Edwards getting exploited. He needs to decide on a shape and get the team playing that way, if he opts to use Leadbitter as a right winger, he needs to shout and bawl at him to ensure he stays in that position.

While tactically analysing the last few games I am really disappointed in Jewell, nobody could argue that he hasn't improved the squad with some quality additions, but until he settles on a formation and drops some of the players that appear undroppable we are going nowhere fast. We need to have 2 genuine widemen and either play 424 or 451/433, until we start doing this we will not start picking up points consistently.

Up next
Our next game is at home on Monday against Coventry, we can't be any worse than when we were last on Sky and hopefully Jewell makes the tough decisions that face him next week. I hope we start with the same back 5, with Bullard (if fit) and Andrews (captain) anchoring the midfield. 2 from Murphy, JE-T and Carson on the flanks and Scotland has done enough in his last 2 cameo's to earn himself a start alongside Michael Chopra up front.