Time To Plan For Jan, Starting With JJ

Since the appointment of Johnnie Jackson on a caretaker basis my guess has been that Thomas Sandgaard would wait until the approach of the January transfer window before making a further decision – give him a permanent contract, make him manager until the end of the season, or bring in a replacement. That time is now fast approaching, a point underlined by Ipswich disposing of their manager (albeit after an embarrassing FA Cup result).

Basically the thinking would be something like this. By say mid-December, do we have a realistic chance of getting promoted (based on both position and momentum)? If yes, what do we need to do to increase the chances; if no, we start planning for next season. Clearly we have benefited from JJ’s installation and I’d suggest that replacing him before end-December with someone else would not deliver any fresh ‘bounce’ likely to increase our chances of promotion. For me, changing horses now would be tantamount to more or less writing off this season and preparing for the next campaign (it might be considered advantageous in that respect to have in place early the next manager to get the basics relationships sorted in preparation for summer transfer activity rather sooner than last time around). It would not be surprising to see the players draw similar conclusions and, whether consciously or not, take their foot off the pedal.

It follows from that, for me, that if we consider ourselves as having a reasonable chance of promotion this season, the decision is then between either a long-term contract for JJ or an extension of his position until the end of the season. That would in turn pave the way for decisions over what we might do in January to build on the positive momentum (leaving aside the last two away games) and have a real run at it – and I don’t mind admitting that I’m in favour of anything that increases our chances of going up this time around (and vice versa, which drives my attitude to the unwanted distraction of an FA Cup run and the simply unwanted Papa DoDa thingy).

That said, it’s TS’ money and if he, for whatever reason, believes that the club will be better off with an alternative manger, so be it. Presumably by now he will have seen enough of other candidates to know who would take over, so that all would happen quickly. It would be disappointing, somewhat surprising, but ultimately something we as supporters would have to go along with.

When it comes to the January window, the options and priorities would seem fairly obvious – even if the answers are not. Whether or not we need a new centre-back depends entirely on assessments over the availability of Inniss, Lavelle and Pearce, plus whether Elerewe is considered ready as at least a regular squad member. The midfield and wide positions look covered, while up front whether or not we need another (the outright goalscorer) would seem to hinge on whether Burstow is considered to be ready to play a material role through the rest of the season and/or whether Leko is seen as primarily playing as a second striker (giving us effectively Stockley or Davison and Washington or Leko/Burstow). These are decisions for the manager to be primarily responsible for, at least in terms of detailing what we need if we are looking to strengthen.

I wouldn’t criticise TS for taking this long to decide on JJ. But the time for contemplation and looking at options is pretty much over now. And surely our club is big enough for two guitar players.