Over the summer break, many sides have strengthened their squads to give themselves the best opportunity for achieving promotion. Teams like West Ham and Leicester have brought in high quality players already, but a team that has added a number of top Championship players is Ipswich Town. Their manager, Paul Jewell has used the money available, from the sale of striker Connor Wickham, to Premier League, Sunderland, to add strength in depth to the squad. But is this enough for Ipswich to sustain a title challenge over the coming season?
Throughout last season, the rumours surrounding the England Under 21s striker Connor Wickham were debating where his future lies and whether Ipswich can keep hold of him for another season. Early in the summer, Sunderland offered a high bid of £8 million and Ipswich felt it was a sufficient price to let him go and reach his potential. As a result of the departure of the most influential player, Paul Jewell used the money to strengthen the squad. Paul Jewell has brought in six new players, all with experience and capabilities to aid Ipswich in the pursuit of promotion.
Players In:
Ivar Ingimarsson (Reading, free) adds Championship experience along with strengthening the back line, with the possibility of contributing a few goals from set pieces.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Arsenal, undisclosed) spent the second half of last season with Cardiff and impressed with adding 2 goals in that time. He will bring an element of skill to the attack, which could unlock defenses.
Nathan Ellington (Watford, free) who’s been around the block in the last couple of seasons, but still knows how to find the back of the net, and could be a very useful substitution, when matches aren’t going Ipswich’s way.
Michael Chopra (Cardiff, £1.5million) will be the key to the success of Ipswich this season, hopefully continuing his recent goal scoring record over the past couple of seasons.
Lee Bowyer (Birmingham, free) brings in an element of steel and experience to the midfield and could help carry some of the younger players when needed.
David Stockdale (Fulham, season loan) has proved to be a good quality goalkeeper and wanted by a collection of Premier League clubs.
Tomorrow Ipswich Town travel to Bristol City to begin their quest for promotion and will hope the new signings will bring a sense of belief to the club, that this season could be it. They will want to emulate their east coast rivals Norwich and go up automatically, so they can make up for the 5-1 defeat at home, to Norwich at the back end of last season. Although Paul Jewell has lost striker Connor Wickham, David Norris and Gareth Mcauley, they still have the capabilities to launch a quality challenge for Premier League football. Will Ipswich achieve this high expectation this season? We will have to wait, but they do have a favorable selection of fixtures for August, which could help them gain momentum for the following months.