LOCAL lad Luke Hyam should have been given a far longer contract at Ipswich Town.

That’s the opinion of former Blues striker James Scowcroft, who admits he is ‘baffled’ at manager Paul Jewell’s decision to only award the 20-year-old a one-year deal recently.

Ipswich-born Hyam – a former Northgate High School pupil – admitted recently that he was ‘living the dream’ playing for the club he grew up cheering from the stands.

The tenacious midfielder’s future at the club looked bleak after failing to play a single league game during Jewell’s first year in charge. However, he has played an integral part in the team’s turnaround in fortunes over recent weeks.

Today the Blues host Cardiff City and are looking to record four straight Championship wins for the first time since October 2004.

“Luke Hyam is everything that typifiers Ipswich Town for me – young, talented, hungry, level-headed and local,” said Scowcroft, writing in his EADT column today.

“One thing that does baffle me is why the club have only given him a one-year contract. I simply don’t understand – surely it’s in the club’s interests to tie him down on a longer deal and keep the vultures away?

“If Luke’s form continues you never know how high he could go.”

Bury St Edmunds-born Scowcroft – who made over 200 appearances for Town at the start of his career, earning England Under-21 caps along the way – continued: “When I was Luke’s age, David Sheepshanks and George Burley would insist on young first team players having long term deals; usually four years.

“We would never be allowed to get within the last two years of our contracts. There was never any chance of resting on your laurels as George Burley would constantly be on the case of the younger players.”

– For a preview of Ipswich Town and Cardiff City, as well as Scowcroft’s full column, see today’s EADT.