FIERCELY ambitious, quick-witted, hugely experienced.

Paul Jewell can now add caring to his football manager CV after admitting he sees his Town stars as an extension of his own family.

That means the Blues boss can say what he likes to his players, but woe betide anyone else who dares to criticism them – even when four consecutive poor performances leaves Town open to examination.

Jewell explained: “I care for my players and we all need help sometimes – myself included. If players come to me with a problem and I can help them then I will. That’s my job, to try and get the best out of the players I’ve got on a Saturday. If that means myself or the club getting involved in something off the pitch, whatever that is, we’ll do it.

“People look at footballers and managers and don’t see us as human beings. They don’t see our frailties and the set-backs we’ve had in life.

“A football club is like an extension of your family. You can criticise them, but you don’t want anyone else doing it. I feel a bit protective that way.”

The Ipswich manager has had to deal with a host of off-the-pitch troubles alongside searching for consistency once they step over the white line. Michael Chopra last month went public on his gambling problems, Danny Collins and Carlos Edwards have both had to deal with the trauma of their babies being born prematurely – while the full-back has also had his brush with the law following a string of driving offences.

Both Edwards and Jason Scotland, who has also had his personal problems, were dropped against Doncaster Rovers last week after looking “sluggish”, according to Jewell.

But the manager yesterday said: “Jason is fine, He’s got his head down, hasn’t sulked and trained fine. And I just thought Carlos looked a bit flat. He’s been through a lot in his personal life and sometimes things catch up with you.”

Another side issue was dealing with the fallout from Colin Healy after the experienced midfielder was substituted after just 28 minutes against Rovers.

Jewell said: “It wasn’t a decision I took lightly, but I felt something needed to be done. That’s life, I’m paid to make decisions, some are popular quite a lot aren’t. He’s had his say about it, I’ve had mine, we’ve shaken hands and we move on.”