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Clegg Pays Tribute to Town's Travelling Army
Clegg Pays Tribute to Town's Travelling Army
Wednesday, 26th Jan 2011 14:56

Chief executive Simon Clegg paid tribute to Town’s 9,000-strong following at the Emirates Stadium for last night’s Carling Cup semi-final second leg and said it was a proud night for the club, despite the Blues falling to a 3-0 defeat and losing the tie 3-1 on aggregate.

Clegg was impressed with Town's largest travelling army since the trip to the San Siro to face Inter Milan in 2001: “I thought the fans were fantastic today and the players appreciated the support they were getting from the fans.

“It was disappointing in some regards because we came here with a one-goal lead and I thought the team did incredibly well to hold on for another hour. There was some good defensive play, but it wasn’t to be and two goals in quick succession like that hurts you badly.

“But the players were there in their own right and should be very proud of their achievement. I think it says a lot about the football club, they showed a lot of passion and they made the club proud and I hope they made the fans proud.

“It was a proud day for everyone at the club, the owner, myself and everyone. It was a great occasion. It’s an awesome stadium to play in and I think the boys raised their game, certainly for the first hour. They had a couple of chances, but it wasn’t to be.”

The Town chief says everyone at Portman Road now needs to concentrate on climbing the Championship: “We need to focus on the day job. Wembley was a fantastic dream and we were nearly there, but not on this occasion. Onwards and upwards and we’ll get back to the business of moving us up the league.”

Clegg flat-batted questions regarding the Blues’ transfer dealings, although he confirmed that two deals, understood to be the loan move for Jimmy Bullard and the £150,000 signing of Andy Drury from Luton, are close: “I think that we are near on a couple of situations and I would expect people to be hearing some movement on what our intentions are over the next couple of days.”

The chief executive says Town are conscious of Portsmouth target David Norris’s position — the midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and can talk to other clubs having turned down his initial two-year offer from the Blues — with the 29-year-old’s wages appearing to be the sticking point, Town having been keen to reduce costs over the last year and with attendances down this season.

Clegg hopes the matter will be resolved in the near future with manager Paul Jewell set to meet with Norris and Gareth McAuley, who is also one of the 21 players whose terms are up in the summer, later this week: “We will talk responsibly with all the parties involved and get the situation sorted out sensibly. When the time is right, a statement will be made.”


Photo: Action Images



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uppersirbob added 15:03 - Jan 26
Norris needs to be signed up by us

If bullard does come he will be on mega bucks even if we pay half his wages plus hull will want a loan fee.
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timo_blue added 15:07 - Jan 26
9,000 fans but they were so quiet, more noise needed at all our games. Norris and McAuley need to be signed sooner rather than later.
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bluelady added 15:07 - Jan 26
the article re: Norris also said Clegg talked of falling gates meaning wages had to be kept down.... hmm whose fault is it the gates are low eh? Appointing the wrong manager didnt help but nor does having very high prices, cut ticket costs, have more offers and your numbers will vastly increase and make up for any reductions three fold. its called good business..... If we cannot afford to pay decent wages we will not attract decent players and crowds will not increase, feel we maybe on a bit of a treadmill here, the same view over and over again and no chance of getting off! That said if Norris wants to go to Portsmouth for an increased wage packet that is far from guaranteed each month, then so be it, i actually thought better of him so i guess it depends on how big the gulf is.
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Big_Foot_Blue added 15:07 - Jan 26
According to latest reports Clegg is saying Norris is asking for wages the club cant afford! I seriously doubt that, Bullard is quality and will be on higher wages than Norris will be asking for. Norris is our captain, inspiration and top goal scorer so for god sake get off your high horse and offer him the little extra he wants because you know what he has bloody deserved it!
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Big_Foot_Blue added 15:10 - Jan 26
Timo blue...
Were you at the game or listening over the TV? I can assure you that Arsenal were very quiet but us 9000 sang our bloody hearts out and I reckon there are about 8999 like me who have lost their voices this morning!
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barmyarmy13 added 15:13 - Jan 26
@timo_blue were you at the game?

the atmosphere from the town fans inside the stadium was immense. sung their hearts out through out the whole game.

Bullard would be an awesome signing if he stays fit, he still has the ability to play in the prem and would be a great character to have round the changing room.
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BwoodBlue added 15:14 - Jan 26
timo_blue - what the hell are you talking about? I can only assume that you didn't go to the game. The away support was outstanding - noisy all game except for brief periods after Arsenal got their first two goals
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clive_baker added 15:16 - Jan 26
It was a proud day to beat Arsenal at Portman Road, and the effort yesterday was there for all to see. I do however find it a bit patronising to say we're proud of a 3-0 defeat. We're not minnows. Arsenal or not we play to win and if Keane had have achieved what was expected of us then this would be a league fixture this season or next. Proud of the effort on and off the pitch yes but ultimately disappointed.

Moving forward, sign up Norris, Delaney and MacAuley. Bullard and a punt on this lad from Luton would also find favour.
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Eddiemendez added 15:18 - Jan 26
Timo - clearly you didn't hear us out-singing the Gooners on regular occassions including an awesome rendition of "swing low, sweet chariot" and "one-nil to the rugby boys".....?
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bluelady added 15:20 - Jan 26
i was there and can confirm both before duing and after the game we were awesome :-)
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Tenpin added 15:21 - Jan 26
Timo, I lost my voice and I was sitting in with the gooners. The gooners around me said we were best away support they seen this season.
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bluelady added 15:25 - Jan 26
loved the Walcott v Lennon song, pure genious!
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bedsitfc added 15:29 - Jan 26
Big-foot-blue
how can you say pay the extra norris wants do you know what has been offered?? What he wants??
Bullard would be on more money but we wont be paying all of it.
If we just give in every over player would expect the same, meaning unsettled squad and then administration. We would be in same situation as portsmouth.
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PimsOclock added 15:38 - Jan 26
Timo blue- Do one you plastic moron!
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TJS added 15:39 - Jan 26
Spot on Clive Baker. Will everyone please stop behaving like this was the biggest game in our history as if we were some League 2 side. Yes it was a good effort for 60 minutes but a 3-0 defeat is a 3-0 defeat and the only thing to do is move on.
I personally didn't think the atmosphere was great from either set of supporters but have to say I pretty much expected it.
Really couldn't care less about their stadium either - pretty soulless place if you ask me - a bit like a smaller version of Wembley.
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itfc1981 added 15:42 - Jan 26
Lets get this right.

Since Norris has been here he has been poor and not worth the 2million we paid for him.

Only this season has he been good in a poor team. I find it funny how in the year his contract comes to an end he starts to plays well!
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ArnieM added 15:49 - Jan 26
So, lets get this straight Mr Clegg.

Town can afford Norris' wage deamnds - yet Bullard on a reported 40k a week , we could run to paying some those wages (even if we agreed to pay up to 50%, that's 20k a week!!). Would Norris' wage demands be as much as that ? I doubt it .

The point about Town looking to reduce the overall wage bill at the Club, merely confiorms to me that the number of players "out of contract", sumounts to a deliberate contractual "situation" being contrived by the owner and Clegg - and would that be known as constructive dismissal in another industry ?
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loyalblue1994 added 16:08 - Jan 26
timo blue aint got a clue was great support last night
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ITFCed added 16:13 - Jan 26
Clegg out!
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kipper added 16:25 - Jan 26
timo blue

I can only assume you watched the game on tv and others who did not go have also told me that we sounded quite. The reason for this I am guessing is that the tv people would have turned the mics down that were near us which, given the level of abuse been aimed quite rightly at Fabregas, was probably a good thing. I can confirm that I also have no voice today and I for one was proud of both the team and the level of support we gave them last night.
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brogansnose added 16:31 - Jan 26
Thats better Mr Clegg, you are actually doing that pr role that ME put you in place to do. Now sort the contracts out.
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lunatic38 added 16:46 - Jan 26
Well said Mr Clegg, i thought the Town support was magnificent, the only time the Gooners "out noised" us was when they scored!! To loose 3-0 was dissapointing but many Premier league teams get torn to shreds at the Emirates and we was not torn to shreds.

As for Norris; i have posted before that he is lightwieght in the middle and playing on the right was his better position (as he did last night) the club have made inquiries about Drury who looks like replacing Norris because i feel the Club/Manager have decided he is not worth a mega pay deal! All these people saying he is "great" and "club captain top scorer" well if he was that great then he would sign but no he wants more and he probably is not going to get it here, he is not worth it!!!
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jas0999 added 17:16 - Jan 26
Well done to all of those who proudly represented our club last night. It's now up to Jewell and the players to reward the fans with some outstanding results and performances in the coming weeks.
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Upbeat~ added 17:21 - Jan 26
barmyarmy13 I agree, I thought the atmosphere was terrific - I'm still feeling my voice today. We hardly stopped singing throughout the match and the atmosphere (block 26) we created was tremendous. A slight problem was, because we had so many fans there, it was difficult to get all of us singing in unison (chants seemed to be split into three parts). However, that's a credit to the number of us that were there and timo I think you're either stirring or you weren't there. Arsenal fans a joke as expected but it didn't bother us - we had the better time that's for sure. COYB BLUE ARMY
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RevAdrian added 17:23 - Jan 26
About the noise - I was at home watching TV and it was obvious that the Town support was superb!
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