Crystal Palace assistant boss Mick Jones has admitted that financial considerations played a part in his club allowing Stern John to join the Blues on loan. Earlier in the season the Eagles were handed a transfer embargo after failing to make a payment due to Town as part of the £600,000 they agreed to pay for Alan Lee in the summer of 2008, and were unable to pay their players at the beginning of this month.

Writing in his blog on the Palace official site, Jones said: “I am not going to insult anyone's intelligence by saying it was not about money, because a part of it was.

“But the other part of it is that it is going to give Stern some really good games. So far this season he only played a bit part role, which is not good for Stern. Half an hour here and there won't benefit someone of his experience and age.

“What we need him to do is go to Ipswich and get right back into what I call 'cutting edge fitness'. “

John himself has said he would be interested in extending his stay if all goes well at Portman Road, as has Town manager Roy Keane, but Jones says Palace are looking at the loan setting him up for a return to Selhurst Park on December 29th: “We hope that Stern will come back to us in really good condition so he is ready for his chance when it comes, and I think he will because he is going to get regular football there.”

Meanwhile, Town defender Damien Delaney, who has shaved off his increasingly impressive beard, has backed keeper Arran Lee-Barrett to make the most of his surprise elevation to the Town first team: "Arran's a fantastic young keeper who's really impressed me in training.

"Since he came in he's grown in confidence. He's a good communicator and a good, strong keeper."

Photo: Action Images

pickles110564 added 14:48 - Dec 3 Do they still owe us money?
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PhilTWTD added 15:04 - Dec 3 No, they paid us back a month or so ago.
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Blueknight85 added 15:07 - Dec 3 how much would you ike for darren ambrose and victor moses :D
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WeWereZombies added 15:18 - Dec 3 Amazed Simon Jordan is still their Chairman, it would be interesting to hear what he has to say about their having to come cap in hand to us for financial favours after the comments he used to make.
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Trotsky added 15:19 - Dec 3 yeah we should take advantage of their plight as others did to us. Pity Ambrose didn't perform when he was here on loan, or pity that others didn't bring out the best in him....
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8ashblue added 15:29 - Dec 3 Whilst we need a striker, i dont like the idea that we're just getting him fit for Palace's benefit. Surely we should have got a better deal for much longer or even permanent. Maybe if he works out we'll be able to make an offer they cant refuse!
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Blueknight85 added 16:20 - Dec 3 the "money factor" is most likely that we are just paying all his wages while hes here and they may have allready agreed a fee for the rest of the season if both parties want to. if palace have to sell 1 of their more fancied players in jamuary they will want him back and match fit. if they dont then they will want to loan him out for the rest of the season for a small fee if we still want him. as for getting a better deal...your looking at it being before the xmas period practically no players avaialable as managers dont want to let players go just before xmas when they might need them we were lucky to get any player let alone an experienced one that keane allready knows...a permanent deal is not possible untill january the kind of player a club would allow to leave for longer is the kind of player that we would not need... so it was a job well done from keane.clegg and the rest of the staff involved

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WREXHAM_BLUE added 20:43 - Dec 3 Stern did very well at Cardiff, especially considering his lack of match fitness. Could easily have got a goal or two, especally 1st half and despite having to play the full 90, looked pretty strong late on. Could prove to be a decent signing and I hope he does.
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jas0999 added 22:36 - Dec 3 Ambrose was dreadful here on loanm last year - pitiful in fact - yet look at him now. No doubt many will blame Roy. Jim failed to get the most out of him.
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asmir_is_god added 23:03 - Dec 3 get alan lee back in a town shirt !!!
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bluesman added 23:03 - Dec 3 Sad fact is the senior pros ran Jim ragged. Its tough to manage people you've played with and Jim wasn't up to it. No surprise he's doing better now but he was no good for our squad. Ambrose was a joke when he was here for the same reason. Whatever you say about Keane it looks like he has the respect of the squad and that makes me hope because they are a good lot, especially with the changes he has made.

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Guthrum added 00:13 - Dec 4 Ah well, their loss is our gain. Hope we can keep him come January.
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Blueknight85 added 00:43 - Dec 4 jim done a great job he got the best out of a small squad of kak players becuase he knew most of them and attracted in atleast 1 good signing in david norris..most of keanes problems so far have come from not really knowing his players as he has got to know them and got his own in things have started to look good i would swap alan lee for counago in some kind of deal if the opertunity presented itself lol

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SeriouslyDelusional added 08:54 - Dec 4 Something tells me Alan Lee wouldn't come back to Portman Road in a million years after the abuse he got
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LincsBluebelly added 12:31 - Dec 4 I don't get the Alan Lee comments...he was slated by the fans when he was here for being slow and lazy. What's changed? Has he suddenly started putting the effort in at Palace? Personally, I thought he did a good job when he first joined but became disinterested thereafter. I wouldn't want to see him back in a Town shirt!
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Holdsteady added 13:47 - Dec 4 Fantastic news about the beard!
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