PAUL Jewell has achieved in a week, what his predecessor Roy Keane failed to do in 20 months.

PAUL Jewell has achieved in a week, what his predecessor Roy Keane failed to do in 20 months.

Keane always intended to appoint a No. 2, during his unsuccessful stint as Ipswich Town manager but, for one reason or another, he could never find the right man.

New Town boss Jewell, by contrast, has lost no time in welcoming an assistant manager to Portman Road. His tried-and-trusted right-hand man, Chris Hutchings, was named Town’s new No.2 yesterday, so joining new coach Sean McCarthy, who was appointed last week.

For Jewell, it is a case of turning to someone he knows well, a luxury that Keane never had.

This is the fourth time that Hutchings will have worked with Jewell, after their previous roles at Bradford, Wigan and Derby.

The first two partnerships brought Premier League football, to the Bantams (1999) and Latics (2005) respectively, although they failed at Pride Park, with a doomed Derby suffering relegation from the top flight in 2007-08.

The only occasion that Jewell did not call upon Hutchings was during his eight-month stay as boss of debt-ridden Sheffield Wednesday (2000-01). Hutchings had stayed on at Bradford as Jewell’s successor.

Hutchings, 53, played more than 500 senior games for Chelsea, Brighton, Huddersfield, Walsall and Rotherham (also a coach).

It was then-Bradford boss Chris Kamara who first recruited Hutchings as an assistant manager, and he stayed in that No.2 capacity when Jewell took over in 1998. When Jewell moved onto Hillsborough, Hutchings had 21 games in charge, but only managed one win in 12 Premier League games before his departure. He only lasted 13 games at Wigan.

Hutchings’ longest stint as a manager was at his last job - he had two years at League One strugglers Walsall, before being sacked just a fortnight ago.

It seems, then, that he is more suited to a No.2 than a No.1 role.