Pompey boss Michael Appleton says Town’s trio of targets Jason Pearce, Joel Ward and Stephen Henderson never wanted to leave his club during the transfer window, despite their ongoing crisis. The Blues had several offers rebuffed for central defender Pearce, while keeper Henderson and midfielder or defender Ward were unable to agree personal terms.

Appleton said: “You can talk about Ipswich and the three boys but as far as I’m concerned — and I’m probably exaggerating — you could have Manchester United interested in your players but if they don’t want to leave, they have the final say.

“You can’t literally gag them, put them in the boot of your car, drive them to the club and make them sign.

“I’ve not made a big deal of it but I’m sure they will want to show that they have made the right choice. You could tell they had a sigh of relief on their faces once the window was shut.

"We take it as a massive compliment as a club that, even under everything that’s going on and all the circumstances that have arisen over the past few months, that they want to hang around. We must be doing something OK.”

But Appleton admits that with Pompey set to enter administration, the closing of the window might not be an end to the matter: “It may come up again if they try to make another offer or try to get them on some kind of loan agreement, but as soon as the window was shut we moved on.”

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

MaySixth added 09:48 - Feb 14 Portsmouth 3-1 Ipswich Town
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WoodfordTim added 10:09 - Feb 14 Portsmouth 1 - 3 Ipswich Town Not sure what to think about the players wanting to stay where they are. Suppose we have to be gracious and just move on to other prospective targets.
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AppysBWA added 10:24 - Feb 14 Portsmouth 9 - Ipswich Town 0
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Jack27 added 10:30 - Feb 14 I hope we can go out there tonight and show Jason Pearce, Joel Ward and Stephen Henderson why they should have joined our club. COYB
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PauloJulio added 10:44 - Feb 14 Pompey haven't paid the leccy bill so good chance we will be playing in the dark tonite!
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Sindre94 added 10:49 - Feb 14 prove pearce/ward/henderson wrong tonight, COYB
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heady added 10:58 - Feb 14 wonder who will play on the right side of defence... i've never seen either smith or delaney use there right foot...
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Southamptonblue added 11:00 - Feb 14 Couldn't agree personal terms? Portsmouth can't actually afford to pay its players at the moment, so what were they offered by Clegg? First dibs on leftover paint?
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DiamondGezzer added 11:42 - Feb 14 I read somewhere that the two who couldn't agree terms wanted triple their wages. Don't we all ?
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muhrensleftfoot added 11:48 - Feb 14 They didn't want to leave Portsmouth (or join ITFC), therefore they demanded unrealistic personal terms, knowing that we wouldn't or couldn't agree to them.
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BlueBoots added 11:49 - Feb 14 heady added 10:58 - Feb 14 wonder who will play on the right side of defence... i've never seen either smith or delaney use there right foot... Smith will play on the right side of defence (he did on Saturday) I recall Keano saying that he was considering playing Smith at right-back before one game - that was the precise moment I finally knew that he'd lost the plot...

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MVBlue added 12:16 - Feb 14 I think its clear to all that Portsmouth have been paying their players too much. They can't hardly afford to pay their electricity bill to prevent them from getting cut off. That sounds like the finances of a student house. It could be that we were offering them standard Championship wages but there was a reduction in bonuses or overall financial renumeration. Either way its comical that they don't take the fees, it seems to me they can't afford to refuse offers and the loss of the fees for these players will not help their financial cause.

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AppysBWA added 12:25 - Feb 14 Its got nowt to do with bonuses THEY DID AND DO NOT WANT TO PLAY FOR YOUR CLUB THEY WANTED TO STAY AND FIGHT its called loyalty.
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Stato added 12:39 - Feb 14 @ appysBWA you must be aged 12 coz anyone who has been around much longer than that knows that loyalty is often short lived and easily tested. Ipswich may not get these boys but someone will and then let's see you come back here with your tail between your legs. Chopra & JET to show your bunch of mercenaries what they missed out on
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Stato added 12:41 - Feb 14 pay up pompey !! pay up pompey !!
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kingy4978 added 12:43 - Feb 14 @appysBWA they may be showing loyalty and fair play to them if it is the case or are they just waiting for portsmouth to close down and then they can demand a big signing on fee when moving onto the next club? IF they were true portsmouth fans maybe they would have signed to get th revenue into your club to buy a bit more time.
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bedsitfc added 12:46 - Feb 14 they never wanted to leave????? they came to talk about a deal and realised we were not going to pay stupid money they decided to call our bluff but it back fired. now they are stuck at pompey wondering if and when they will get paid. can't wait to see how happy norris is with his extra year contract lol.
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irishtim added 12:55 - Feb 14 Lets move on & leave them regret their decisions when its league footie for pompey next season.
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Warkys_Tash added 13:07 - Feb 14 well Said BossMan
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AppysBWA added 13:09 - Feb 14 @ Bedsitfc perhaps but they didn't choose themselves to come and discuss a deal, that was forced upon them by whichever morally bankrupt corrupt ex or current 'owner' or administrator was calling the shots that day. Players didn't want to go, manager didn't want them to go, fans didn't want them to go, chief executive (david lampitt) didn't want them to go. Was never going to happen is my point

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Warkys_Tash added 13:11 - Feb 14 and if you all remember matty Holland was very loyal to Ipswich when Villa were reported to have offered 10M for him, he stayed, we never went back up and the follwoing season we went into administration and then we gave him away. In the end his loyal (although we all loved him for it) didn't help the club - through no fault of his own. AppysBWA & RuffCider you may chant against our club and manager tonight, but it will mostly likely come back to bite you all. I personally hope we forget all 3 players and move on. I would certainly never go back if for those Mecenaries Henderson & Ward, they tried it on and it failed. As for Appleton's laughable comments about Man Utd, all 3 players would go there for half of what they are on now!! Joker.

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appysbluenwhitearmy added 13:16 - Feb 14 @ Bedsitfc, think you are mis-informed they didnt even come to discuss a deal, as soon as bid accepted they refused. Henderson even posted on twitter that he wasnt leaving before you're bid was accepted, never wanted to play for you, think a few of you lot need to realise you are not or anywhere near being a big attractive club to pay for. anyway good luck tonight you're going to need it, have no idea what you lot are in for!!

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bluehayes added 13:20 - Feb 14 We may need a bit of luck, but not as much as you will need in league 1 after a 10 point deduction
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AppysBWA added 13:22 - Feb 14 How can 3 players choosing to stay and fight at a club in the deepest of deep s**t financially who can't even pay their wages be described as mercenaries?
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appysbluenwhitearmy added 13:23 - Feb 14 @bluehayes look at the table you numpty we dont even go into the bottom 3 after the 10 point deduction and be even further away after a nice convincing 3 points tonight
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