TWTD understands that Richard Wright and David Wright have been told that their Town contracts will not be renewed when they expire at the end of the season. Defender Pim Balkestein can also leave the club during the summer, while Jon Stead and loanee Liam Rosenior have been told they are not in Roy Keane’s plans for next season.

The decision to release Richard Wright, who rejoined his hometown club two years ago, comes as no shock with Brian Murphy increasingly establishing himself as the club’s number one and with the former England man a high earner.

David Wright’s exit after three and a half years at the club is perhaps more surprising given that he is in the team at present, although Keane brought Rosenior in on loan for the season in August, indicating that the former Wigan man wasn’t a player he particularly rated and had also made a move for Danny Simpson before he joined Newcastle.

Balkestein, whose two-year deal is up in June, although the club had the option of a third season, has fallen out of favour in the second half of this season and is currently on loan at Brentford. The Bees are understood to be interested in signing the former Heerenveen man on a permanent basis, while the player is considering moving back to Holland.

Rosenior, whose Reading contract is up this summer, had established himself as Town’s first choice right-back until the latter stages of the season when he fell out of favour, particularly after his performance at Watford.

Stead, who is contracted to Town until the summer of 2011, joined Coventry on loan in January having failed to score enough goals in the first half of the season. A fee for Stead's permanent move to the Sky Blues is believed to have been agreed, although personal terms are yet to be settled. Daryl Murphy looks to be a direct replacement for the much-travelled former England U21 international.

Town have 11 players who are out of contract this summer and not all have them have yet been told their futures. Boss Roy Keane has also said that a number of players who will still be in contract next season are also likely to be on their way.

Photo: Action Images

16_Jack_ken_16 added 11:17 - Apr 28 noooooooooooooooooooooooo keep david
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dobbie73 added 11:20 - Apr 28 A bit surprised and disappointed if David Wright is released, but as others have said - let's wait and see who comes in to replace him. The others - not really a surprise. All I will say to them is thank you for your efforts and good luck wherever you go!
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WadzillaBhoy added 11:20 - Apr 28 I hope Peters is our RB next season, he's had a great season. He is just as reliable as Fabian when he plays fullback.
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moomoosereni added 11:22 - Apr 28 No real surprises there. Rosenior has been poor towards end of the season. D. Wright is a good player but me thinks he may be on a high wage for the type of quality he is and I don't thik we'd struggle to get someone just as good on half the money. R. Wright - Not the same player he was when he was last at Town. Think Murphy is a better prospect. He's younger, undoubtabely on less money, and is a future international. Stead - Whilst he scored some crucial goals for us, he just isn't quite what we need right now upfront. Same as Pabs, doesn't matter how we get them next season, we just need a couple of strikers that will get 20 odd goals for us. Wickham has come on leaps and bounds late part of the season, so someone to partner him would be ideal. Not sure if D. Murphy is worth 1 mill. He's played well for us whilst on loan but had a massive blip towards end of season. Pim, got to admire his enthiusiasm, but think unfortunately he hasn't quite come on as well as we all thought he would. Best of luck to him and the rest of the players released. Now bring on signing one of: Lambert, Jackson, Austin, Stokes? I know Stokes is a long shot but hey ho!

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naa added 11:35 - Apr 28 moomoo: Murphy is three or four years younger than R Wright. That really isn't very much and while he may yet improve (he needs to IMO) he's not this young and upcoming keeper that some seem to suggest. I suspect that a) RK didn't like R Wright for whatever reason - maybe he couldn't forgive his dodgy displays at the start of the season and b) he's on big money. Either way, it's sad but was inevitable. As for D Wright, RK may know who he wants to replace him but wanting and getting are very different things. And must admit, the more I think about it, the more I don't want D Murphy to come here next year. I guess RK may be thinking we need some experience up front, so if he gets a young player from League 1 we could have too much youth up front. But if you're going to pay £1M and big wages you better be getting a decent player and I'm unconvinced that Murphy is decent enough.

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JayITFC added 11:37 - Apr 28 Letting David Wright go is crazy. He's fine for the Championship and his versatility (LB, RB) is of great value in a 46 game season (injuries, suspensions). Reminds me of Fabian in that he could do a job anywhere across the back line. Not happy.
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bluemonday added 11:38 - Apr 28 I suspect RK is having the clearout he wanted to do last season. All good news in my opinion !!! well done and good luck to all leaving.....
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OnlyOneSirBobby added 11:59 - Apr 28 im not surprised with the richard wright news, with murphy and ALB both proving themselves this season, and young mccloughlin coming through, it makes sense not to keep hold of him. he is probably one of the higher wage earners on the team, and whilst he has been a great servant to the club over the years, this makes sense. also not really surprised about stead or david wright, stead was sold by keane before, and to be honest i always felt it was a matter of time before he was moved on again. as for david wright, i really like him, but he seems to have started to lose a step or two, the way routledge continued to breeze past him on saturday was a concern, yes routledge is pacey, but that is something we greatly lack across the park. which is why im slightly puzzled we aren't going after rosenior, he showed at the beginning of the season that he was a very good RB, has pace and like to get forward, however he seems to have fallen out of favour lately (i wasnt at watford game but sounds like he had a mare, but then who didnt that night!?) and so people saying he has been poor the past few games confuses me even more as he hasnt even been playing.....personally i would bring him in, he is one of the better full backs at this level, is still young, has openly stated he like playing here, and would mean we could focus on other areas of the pitch. sounds like a striker overhaul is coming up, if our frontline was a pick from murphy, wickham, chopra and hooper i would be doing cartwheels (although thats me dreaming, i dont for one minute think we could pull that off!!) its going to be one very interesting summer!!

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backinbeige added 12:03 - Apr 28 Shame Richard Wright has played his last game for Ipswich, a good servant to the club over a number of years
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muhrensleftfoot added 12:11 - Apr 28 Never understood why RK doesn't like David Wright. I can't remember him letting us down badly, or showing lack of committment - which is normally why RK would drop a player. Not overly impressed with Darryl Murphy so hope he doesn't join us at inflated wages. Might as well let all the others go, as they've not done it for us either under Jim or RK
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JTL279 added 12:12 - Apr 28 David Wright is the only concern for me. Always gives 110% and is a solid defender. Not necessarily Premiership standard but we are not a Premiership club at the moment either. Will be disappointed if he goes and if so thanks for the tremendous club contribution (off and on field) during the time here and best wishes for the future.
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kerryblue added 12:30 - Apr 28 With regard to R wright ,he has had no confidence since he left Town to join Arsenal and has shown no form whatsoever for any of the three clubs he was with before returning to Portman Rd to pick up more cash so Im delighted to see the back of him.Cant see many clubs fighting for to sign him up,I agree that D wright was ok but nothing amazing about him so off with him,Pim was never good enough and was lucky to have played as many games as he did and Rosenior played a bit for a few months then thought hed done enough and who needs that.Only about eight more to get rid of Roy to rid the squad of duds that were a disgrace to the jersey this season and gave no effort.GOOD RIDDANCE TO THEM

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Suffolk_n_Good added 12:34 - Apr 28 Like others have said, agree with letting these players go, other than D Wright, Yes he's not a world beater, but solid & dependable he is, I don't understand why we always seem to let players go before getting in a decent replacement, wanting someone & actually sign them is a big difference.
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shoopdelang added 12:34 - Apr 28 Getting rid of D Wright and Rosenior I think would be a mistake. Rosenior on the whole is a good defender and gets forward well, especially earlier in the season. And D Wright is always solid without setting the world alight.
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shoopdelang added 12:34 - Apr 28 Getting rid of D Wright and Rosenior I think would be a mistake. Rosenior on the whole is a good defender and gets forward well, especially earlier in the season. And D Wright is always solid without setting the world alight.
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ITFCsince67 added 12:45 - Apr 28 Have to agree with these decisions if we want to go forward.......... I love RW but i guess he is on big money and agree that BM has not anywhere near proved he is the solution. DW bit disappointed but he is not a modern defender who gets down the wing. Still think he is an excellent cover across the whole of the back 4. Rest of released no problems. BUT ROY PLEASE KEEP PABLO, HE IS THE MOST GIFTED, TALENTED AND SKILLFUL PLAYER AT THE CLUB. Find a place for him just behind the strikers.

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bluebare added 12:45 - Apr 28 if keane is as honest and upfront as he leads us to belive, he should state why the hell he is letting d wright go along with the not quite good enough players. or he should pack his bags and make us all happy
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bluemonday added 12:48 - Apr 28 Perhaps Richard Wright will start on Saturday... then we can all clap him good bye.... and welcome not paying his wages....
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GeorgiDoundarov added 13:14 - Apr 28 Two sides of this overhaul - good side is all the released payers are not good enough to become a Premiership players as we are shooting in that direction so the expectations are we will bring better players on their places - we need to release before getting new players so that we can afford giving better wages. Bad side - if we release 10 players and get 5 new players we will become a completely new team AGAIN and this coming season may be not that different from the current one as all the new players need some time to gel. Let's hope we get the right new arrivals this time! From the released I have only one objection - Stead! He may be good enough for a cover striker if the first team strikers are not feeling well and etc.

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el_nino added 13:18 - Apr 28 Gary Neville to be Wright/Rosenior's replacement?!!
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arc added 13:24 - Apr 28 I'm surprised about DWright; I thought from Keane's recent comments that he had finally worked out DW's worth. I would love to see someone go through the results for the season and work out our record with and without him (and especially with him at RB). He doesn't let us down is a class act. I don't see what Keane has against him.
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mightytown added 13:33 - Apr 28 i dont think keane has anything against d.wright, or any player for that matter. agree with georgidoundarov, think the releases suggest we are looking for a higher calibre of player and that despite the players being released being solid players, they may not quite meet the standards deemed necessary to progress. however, i have always been a fan of d.wright and would have thought there would have been a place in the quad for him next season, if not rosenior, it is the decision to move both on that suprises me. if we have to let some go to bring in others, than so be it. just hope we can bring in suitable replacements!

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Lightningboy added 13:34 - Apr 28 BIG mistake letting David Wright go..hopefully Bruce will come back in from the cold. Not surprised re the others. More changes will equal more excuses.
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ITFC1985 added 13:38 - Apr 28 Bruce is a worse defender/footballer than David Wright, Wright isnt a fancy player and maybe dpesnt get forward as much as he should be he's solid and would be a very good back up to anyone who may come in, I like Jamie Peters but i dont think he's a natural defender he is good going forward and getting back but can be weak in tackles and gets knocked off the ball far to much, but time will tell......

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Millsey added 13:50 - Apr 28 Never rated DW. was so so as a defender but got lost when he went forward. After crossing the halfway line he'd stop and then past backwards, or he'd cross from way out instead of getting to the dead ball line.He also had a tendency to jog back after losing the ball, like he had all the time in the world.
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