Paul Jewell

Manager (& Forward)
Born: Liverpool, 28/9/64
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 11' 10" (While playing)
Previous clubs: Liverpool, Wigan, Grimsby Town (Loan)
Signed by: Terry Dolan
From: Bryan Hamilton (?) (Wigan)
Cost: £70,000

Who would have predicted that the young left winger that Terry Dolan signed to bolster the McCall/Hendrie deprived City would one day become City manager indeed Lennie Lawrence had let Jewell go on loan to Grimsby with a view to a permanent transfer but Jewell returned and, aged 31 joined the backroom staff at Valley Parade.

More so, who would have predicted when Jewell took over from Kamara and guided the team through a disastrous spell, attempting a sweeper system, letting team players go on loan and being out classed on the last day of the season by a relegation threatened Portsmouth, that Geoffrey Richmond would give Paul the job with a two year contact? Not only that but be given £3.5m to spend on players. Never the less, Paul got all these things, and he got them aged 33, the youngest manager in the professional English game.

When appointing Jewell, Richmond talk of his "layer of steel". If, on his return from Grimsby Jewell set his sights on becoming City manager then I would heartily agree. The rise of Jewell is uncanny. Most superb talent mature quickly. Pele played in the World Cup final aged 17. Strachan captained Aberdeen aged 18, the same age as Michael Owen when he wowed the World in France 98. Similarly Kenny Dalglish and Alex Ferguson, two double winning managers got their chances to manage when they were relatively young. Jewell could be, and I stress could be, a budding talent of this magnitude. Else wise why would a canny businessman like Richmond allow Jewell to spend £3.5m, more than any other manager in the club’s history?

Jewell’s real strength as a manager is his quickness to learn and not to make the same mistake twice. His flirting with the sweeper system was abandoned and he never tried it again. Likewise, when he finds a pairing and the field (Mills and Blake or McCall and Whalley) then he sticks to it, when a pairing does not he changes things.

In tribute to his manager at the end of January 1999 Geoffrey Richmond had this to say "What came shining through in those early weeks as caretaker was his tactical awareness and an inner layer of steel. He is very tough when he has to be and his man-management skills are superb. He recognises that he cannot treat every player exactly the same. He knows who to hug and who to kick. And when."

Jewell also has a refreshing attitude to the media coverage that surrounds football, steadfastly refusing to answer stupid questions put to him and attempting to focus post match interviews and press conferences onto the positive elements of his team.