Town boss Paul Jewell has confirmed that skipper David Norris and key defender Gareth McAuley are leaving the club with their contracts up at the end of June. The Blues offered the duo new terms before Christmas which were turned down, and despite talks continuing in recent weeks, the pair have decided to move on.

Jewell said: "It's unfortunate because we would have liked to have kept them. The club made them fair offers but the players are entitled to do what's best for them and their families.

"We offered Gareth the deal he wanted but in the meantime he had been contacted by other clubs and it looks like he may be joining a Premier League side.

"It was an offer that was too good for him to turn down and we wish him well. Chuck has other offers on the table as well and they are worth him taking.

"We are sorry to see them go but life goes on and we are already down the line in looking at players to replace them."

Captain Norris, this season’s top scorer on 11, joined the Blues from Plymouth after a protracted transfer saga in January 2008 for a fee of £2.2 million. The 30-year-old made 114 starts and four substitute appearances while at Portman Road, netting 16 times.

Portsmouth are believed to be the favourites for the Peterborough-born midfielder’s signature, although Wigan, Crystal Palace, Leeds and Nottingham Forest are all thought to be interested. Norris is understood to have been offered a three-year contract elsewhere, while only two seasons were on the table at Town.

McAuley, like Norris a Jim Magilton recruit after being chased for some months, signed for £1.1 million in the summer of 2008. The Northern Irish international, who was Town’s skipper for a spell, made 126 starts and one appearance from the bench, scoring eight goals.

The 31-year-old had previously been tipped for a switch to SPL giants Rangers.

Photo: Action Images

loyalblue1994 added 17:07 - May 9 the fact that they can leave for nothing is down to clegg and they were both good players but neither are irreplaceable
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aib1991 added 17:08 - May 9 well this is poor.
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dirtyboy added 17:16 - May 9 Dissapointed to see McAuley go, he and Delaney did relatively well together (given they were never particularly well protected). Norris not overly fussed about, yes he got a few goals this season, but i'm sure that he can be improved upon, allowing our strikers to do that job. Thanks for the service though, good professionals, good luck to both of them.
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Bill_Hicks added 17:25 - May 9 Good, clear out much needed and thats the team, not my bowels... Mac is a good old fashioned no nonsense, row z type of defender. Waayyy to slow for the prem though and will get found out pretty damn quick. Norris never got him - average, ordinary, dull player with little to no finesse. the arrival of Bullard shows just how far off he is. Wouldnt surprise me if he is moving cause he cant handle the pressure, too much expectation next season without the necessary skills and attributes; ITFC Club Captain, do me a favour...

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jas0999 added 17:30 - May 9 Very disappointing news - albeit not a surprise. Perhaps both are not convinced with the ambition of the club. Either way, Bullard aside, Norris and McAuley have been our best two players this season, so allowing £4M worth (based on their transfer fees) of talent to leave for nothing is shocking. This is not PJ's fault, but the CEO should have had this sorted last summer (even if it meant selling them). I simply can't understand why some people think Clegg is blameless in all of this. If I were ME I would be really annoyed! Best of luck to both players. So far and IMO the best out of contract players have left the club. PJ now needs to sign 8 or 9 players in the summer. Bitterly disappointing!

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Fatboy added 17:38 - May 9 Disappointed to see Norris leave, but my main concern is that we'll be starting next season with a new centreback pairing, a new left-back, possibly a new right-back and even a new goalie (depending on whether Fulop stays). However good the players that fill those roles will be, it could take them a while to settle in and form a solid defence, something that is vital if we are to be challenging at the right end of the table.

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Jim added 17:48 - May 9 Disappointed to loose Mcauley as felt that him alongside a decent pacy centre half would have been very good. Not so sorry about Norris as although he scored a good number of goals this season he has nowhere near the quality on the ball required for a centre midfielder, just seems to run around a lot. Annoyed that we loose him for nothing though as we didn't get anything like decent value for money out of the 2.5m we paid for him. I honestly don't think we will miss him as much as some people seem to think we will.

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h32 added 17:53 - May 9 To all you on here who are slagging these players off, saying McAuley will be found out, Norris won't be missed etc; etc;- FACT is that other Clubs want them, and are prepared to put there money where there mouth is to get them. GET REAL IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS GAME - you are probably the same people who were adamant that Walters would not be a success elsewhere AND YOU WERE WRONG. This club has a very serious problem is as much that it is absurd to allow a situation like this to develop where these players want to leave the Club - it should tell you something, that this is happening. The reason is because we have people owning / running this Club who haven't a clue - and yes, we are becoming a laughing stock within the game I'm sure. If you think these player's will not be missed, or successful elsewhere - stay in your preferred dreamland. I can assure you this Club has a mountain to climb - in many, many ways. DIABOLICAL.

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h32 added 17:58 - May 9 ....... and where are all these so called adequate replacements coming from ? - what's gone on here will have been more than noticed within the game - and will that make the Club an attraction to adequate replacements ?????????
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robdaful added 17:59 - May 9 Expected but at least PJ knows which postions he needs. Sean St. Ledger to replace G-Mac, please.
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Ryorry added 18:05 - May 9 h32 - esp re your 2nd post - just cool down, wise up, and get a grip. We're plenty attractive enough to get better replacements, and if you can't think why, you ain't got much of a brain.
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adamisablue added 18:12 - May 9 dont think this is a big loss to be honest. think they were key memebers in a pretty avrege squad. like the old magicans trick, make em look one way...
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dannyhegan added 18:17 - May 9 Two of our best players who will be missed. It will be difficult to replace them with better.
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h32 added 18:18 - May 9 .... yes, I used an 's' when it should have been an 'n' - word should have been 'in'. So annoyed couldn't be bothered to check spelling until afterwards. Just cast your minds back over the events of the last few seasons - and digest in real terms what has happened to our beloved Club. Thinking about the good players, that have been allowed to leave for absolutely nothing, or at best peanuts, makes my blood boil - not saying anything about the scouting / coaching set up we once had and has gone also. Please don't tell me we have one now that can be mentioned in the same breath. I would like to think that things cannot get worse - but I really am, not at all sure about that. Rant over - season over - GOOD.

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h32 added 18:21 - May 9 Ryorry - don't question my brain - 'proof of the pudding is always in the eating' as the saying goes. We will see.
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My_TFC added 18:35 - May 9 I think that we are all disappointed at the way these players have left rather than the players actually leaving. Yes, there is now a massive re-building job to do, but we have a new manager and should have renewed hope. Got battered by Norwich and Swansea, but other than that we surely have to be happy with where we finished this season. Think a line needs to be drawn, we're in the situation we're in now, and lets hope we can do some serious business in the summer and have a competitive team for mid-August.

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tractorboybig added 19:11 - May 9 RYORRY You need to calm down. reality is, on our past recent record we are NOT attractive to anyone. Sigh,cry,sigh.
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Bobby_Petta added 19:24 - May 9 Makes me laugh how so many clubs are linked to Norris, is he really that good!? Ok he tries hard and gives 110%, scored a few goals but most the time he does nothing slow and can't pass, big waste of money spend, never worth 2 mill. As for Mac will be missed, been solid this season. Like everyone annoyed that they will leave for nothing, Clegg and Keane to blame for this.

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denhamblue added 19:33 - May 9 in with the frees,loanees,has beens,third choice crap.
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nearly50yearsblue added 19:34 - May 9 The grapevine has it that Jewell will have £3 million to spend,wheel and deal for the rest,what a joke. That includes selling Wickham. Where is our season ticket money going,to fund Evans and Clegg I presume.
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tractorboy2434 added 19:40 - May 9 McAuley - good servant but the wrong age for a long contract Norris, paid a good fee, achieved very little and very much average midfielder Not sorry to see him go but what a lot of money wasted, typical ITFC.
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IITFC1948 added 19:44 - May 9 £3 million thats a joke that won"t buy the strikers we need
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stinkiusminkius added 19:47 - May 9 As many have said, they were good players but not great players. however they were 2 of our better players which kind of says it all about our squad. Much for PJ to do.
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kerryblue added 19:51 - May 9 Norris is only an ok player to be honest and hopefully we will bring in anouther Mattie Holland on the cheap.I never rated Mc Auley so to be honest glad to see the back of the pair of them NEXT PLEASE
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runaround added 19:57 - May 9 If they don't want to be at ITFC then I'm glad they're going. They have given good service and I wish them well but both are replaceable and perhaps the squad needs a number of departures and new additions to take the club to the next level as its clear that the squad is not currently good enough. I believe PJ has the ability to get us promoted by time will tell how long if ever it takes. I do feel that the transfer activity will be very interesting over the next 3 months!

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