POUND-FOR-POUND, has Paul Jewell been any better than Roy Keane as Ipswich Town manager?

That’s the question on the eve of the current Blues boss reaching the 625-day landmark that saw his predecessor get the sack, with Saturday’s game at Barnsley seeing Jewell equal Keane’s 81-match spell in charge.

The tipping point for the latter came with a home defeat to Nottingham Forest – a seventh loss in nine matches which left the Blues stranded 19th in the Championship table at the start of 2011.

Fast-forward another 18 months and Jewell’s record is worryingly similar. Like Keane, he too finished 15th in his first full season at the helm and is now suffering the wrath of supporters after a run of five defeats from six.

Town have won more matches, have a better points-per-game record and scored more goals under Jewell than they did Keane though.

And with Evans having called upon his manager to work within a more restricted budget this summer, he appears to see little value in hitting the reset button for the third time in little under five years.

Instead he is willing to give Jewell longer to sort out the defensive deficiencies which have limited progress under him so far, rather than bringing in a new group of coaches who would want to set about the expensive business of building their own squad of players.

An internet poll of more than 1,000 supporters, held by this newspaper earlier this week, saw a sizeable majority of 72 per cent say the moment had come for a change in manager.

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, as they say. And with recent history at Portman Road proving as much, it appears as though the increasingly football-savy hierachy have decided it’s sometimes best to give that metaphorical grass time to grow.

ROY KEANE v PAUL JEWELL

TENURE

Keane: April 23, 2009 – January 7, 2011 (625 days)

Jewell: January 13, 2011 – present (625 days tomorrow)

OVERALL RESULTS

Keane: P81 W28 (35%) D25 (30%) L28 (35%)

Jewell: P80 W29 (36%) D17 (21%) L34 (43%)

LEAGUE RESULTS

Keane: P72 W22 D24 L26 – 90pts (1.25 per game)

Jewell: P75 W28 D16 L31 – 100pts (1.33 per game)

CUP RESULTS

Keane: P9 W6 D1 L2. Reached FA Cup fourth round and League Cup semi-finals.

Jewell: P5 W1 D1 L3. Twice exited League Cup at hands of lower league clubs and lost to Hull at FA Cup first hurdle.

GOALS Keane: For 98, against 106, clean sheets 21, conceded three or more in game 14

Jewell: For 116, against 139, clean sheets 19, conceded three or more in a game 21

SIGNIFICANT TRANSFERS

Keane

Spent �9m: Damien Delaney (�750k), Lee Martin (�1.5m), Tamas Priskin (�1.7m), Grant Leadbitter and Carlos Edwards (�4m), Jason Scotland (�1m), Mark Kennedy (�75k)

Received �5.6m: Jon Walters (�2.75m), Velice Sumulikoski (�400k), Jordan Rhodes (�850k+�800k sell-on), Danny Haynes (�400k), Alex Bruxe (�200k), Owen Garvan (�225k), Liam Trotter (free), David Wright (free), Dan Harding (free), Jon Stead.

Jewell

Spent �4.35m: Paul Taylor (�1.5m), Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (�1.1m), Michael Chopra (�1m), Aaron Cresswell (�240k), Scott Loach (�150k), Andy Drury (�150k), Elliott Hewitt (�150k), Ryan Stevenson (�50k), Luke Chambers (free), Jimmy Bullard (free), Lee Bowyer (free), Ivar Ingimarsson (free), Nathan Ellington (free), Ibrahima Sonko (free).

Received �8.1m: Connor Wickham (�8.1m), Marton Fulop (free), Gareth McAuley (Bosman), David Norris (Bosman), Damien Delaney (free), Marton Fulop (free), Brian Murphy (free), Grant Leadbitter (Bosman), Jimmy Bullard, Colin Healy, Tamas Priskin, Luciano Civelli, Shane O’Connor, Jaime Peters, Ivar Ingimarsson, Ryan Stevenson (all had contracts terminated).

LOANS

Keane (11): Jack Colback, Jake Livermore, Rory Fallon, Darren O’Dea, Andros Townsend, Gianni Zuiverloon, David Healy, Stern John, Liam Rosenior, Daryl Murphy, Asmir Begovic.

Jewell (12): Danny Higginbotham, Guirane N’Daw, Daryl Murphy (x2), Massimo Luongo, Keith Andrews, Danny Collins, David Stockdale, Alex McCarthy, Reece Wabara, Jimmy Bullard, Kieron Dyer.

DEBUTS GIVEN TO HOMEGROWN PLAYERS

Keane (9): Ronan Murray, Ed Upson, Jack Ainsley, Billy Clark, Luke Hyam, Tom Eastman, Troy Brown, Reggie Lambe, Jamie Griffiths.

Jewell (3): Josh Carson, Byron Lawrence, Cormac Burke.