Chopra would be a superb signing but pushing Garvan the other way would be a huge mistake.

Chopra would be a great signing if Marcus Evans is willing to pay his fee and wages. If not, we would be better looking at some League One hot-shots.

I remember being delighted when Garvan decided to stay with Ipswich and signed his contract. What a shame he has gone from this to someone we are trying to offload.

A little comparison, which presumably is correct:

GOING
Owen Garvan (age 22). 163 appearances for Ipswich, 13 goals. 13 appearances for Ireland U21s, 5 goals.

STAYING
Lee Martin (age 23). 16 appearances for Ipswich, 1 goal.

get real mark

Martin has only been here a year and deserves the chance to stay and improve Garvan has been here much longer and has not lived up to his potential remaining a one trick pony with a bad attitude off the pitch and a bad work ethic on the pitch its time for him to move on and hope that puts some fire in his belly

in no way would it be sensible to try and move Lee martin on now.
regardless of how bad he has played

fed up of people rating players purely on nostalgia and coming from the accadamy so they must have a god given rite to play here until they are 35 instead of form

P.S. being captain of irish U21's is no proof of a high standard he just happens to have the most experience to get the job for them because he has been over used by us lol

It is a shame about Garvan, but I tend to agree, if its part of a deal to get Chopra then so be it.

As always pure speculation

The only thing that concerns me is Chopras record whilst at Sunderland, whilst under keane-would chopra definately want to be reunited with keane??

I accept that Garvan hasn't developed as we would have liked and I was just saying that was a shame as playing 150+ games at Championship level by the age of 22 is not a bad achievement and you can't do that without talent. Garvan hasn't pushed on though and I wouldn't be adverse to him leaving to bring in Chopra or for cash, so long as we got a decent price for him and that was sensibly reinvested.

As for Lee Martin, Keane said he would get another chance and I thought he would have been started in the end of season games, but he was not. I have seen nothing from him and have no reason to think he will be any better next season. The reason he will stay is probably that we spent so much on him and have put him on wages at a level no one else would want to take on. Of course, if he does stay and improves dramatically then great!

Garvan is U21 captain because he is consistently the best player on the team and has a responsible attitude. Apparently he is a whinger but surely that has no bearing on his contribution to the team. We are going to get rid of him because we know his failings and are going to keep Martin because of his 'potential'. We should have kept Billy Clarke instead ( oh, I forgot, he was a lightweight !).

Mark, i agree with you,
On the Martin front. I just think that it is all down to where he has come from,
Alot of people think that because he has come from Man Utd that he is going to be a brilliant player straight away, he oviously has a bit of ability otherwise Man U would never have looked at him in the first place,
I think given time and gently feeding him back into the first team he could yet be a good player for us, he's still young and has had his comfidence knocked big time.
The reason for him not playing at the end of last season is due to injury i think,

why should we have kept Billy Clarke....lol
he is as sub standard as Dean Bowditch the only person i would say we should have kept is maybe Danny Haynes but even that is a stretch.

I also think it would be a mistake to get rid of Garvan, as he does offer us something different to all the other workhorse midfielders that we have. Apart from the 2 well publicised games where he got subbed off early (although in both games, most players perhaps should have been too) he has not let us down. In fact, if you look at the end of season stats blog that someone put on here, it showed that Garvan had one of the best points returns for games that he started in. But having said that, so did D Wright and looked what happened to him.

Garvan undoubtedly has a great deal of potential and i would agree that he is our most naturally gifted creative midfielder. It is also true to say that you dont clock up that many first team performances at such a young age and lead your nation, at under 21 level, without being a talented prospect. However, Garvan really hasn't improved his game considering the experience he has now gained. At his age and with his first team experience he should really be cementing himself as a regular in the side. for whatever reasons he hasnt kicked on and sad as it is, it seems to be a case that either he's just not cut out to reach the next level in terms of fulfilling his potential or a move away from town is needed to give his career a jump start. Whichever way you look at it, sad as it is, i think garvans time at town is coming to an end. i'd love to see him stay but i think his position at the club has become rather untenable. yes, it is a managers job to get the best out of his players but the player has to take responsibility for their own development. losing garvan would most definitely be a sad thing but a big loss to the side? i would say not.

Now, I dont want to be accused of defending Lee Martin, cos he has had a shocker this season, no doubt. However, I have friends who support Plymouth and Sheff United who have both had Martin on loan spells and have both spoken highly of his contributions. I think he deserves another chance, not because he's 'from united and must be amazing' but because ipswich is his first permanent club having not made the cut at united, having gained valuable experience under SAF and from loan spells at Plymouth, Sheff United, Forest and Royal Antwerp. Injuries havent helped him and I know, I know, I know, we have ALL been very patient with the disappointment that was last season but surely if people are willing to give garvan more time considering he has failed to live up to his potential, then Lee Martin should deserve another chance too.