Ipswich appoint Jewell as manager

Championship strugglers Ipswich Town have appointed Paul Jewell as a replacement for sacked manager Roy Keane.

Former Sunderland boss Keane left the club on Friday with Ipswich just three points above the relegation zone in English football’s second tier.

Former Bradford and Wigan Athletic player and manager Jewell takes over with Ipswich in 19th place and having slumped to 10 defeats in their last 14 matches.

He has agreed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club, who lost 7-0 to Chelsea in the FA Cup on Sunday.

“It’s great, I’ve been out of the game for two years but you’re never out of football,” Jewell said.

“I have had a few opportunities to come back in but this just ticked all the right boxes.”

The 46-year-old may well be joined by long-term assistant Chris Hutchings, who was sacked by League One Walsall earlier in January.

Jewell’s first match in charge will be against English Premier League Arsenal in a Carling Cup semi-final at Portman Road on Wednesday.

“I wanted to appoint a manager with several years of experience behind them who also had a history of promotion and then staying up,” Ipswich owner Marcus Evans said.

“I have been lucky enough to find a manager in Paul, who has done that twice and pertinently with two clubs who had never been in the Premier League.”

After a 14-year career as a player, Jewell gained promotion to the Premier League with Bradford in 1999 and Wigan Athletic in 2005.

He also took Wigan to the League Cup final in 2006, losing 4-0 to Manchester United.

His last job in football came with Derby County, who he took over in November 2007 with the club struggling at the bottom of the Premier League.

Jewell failed to arrest the slide and the team were relegated with the worst record in Premier League history, before he quit his post in December 2008.