Town chief executive Simon Clegg has confirmed that manager Paul Jewell will be given money to spend during the transfer window as he looks to add around six additions to his squad, but says there is no hard and fast set budget. Clegg hints that on-loan Celtic man Daryl Murphy could still return to Portman Road for 2012/13.

The Blues chief says that as in previous windows each deal will be taken on its own merits rather than Jewell being handed a pre-agreed sum to spend: “There’s not a figure on it. Exactly the same as last season, for the right players, the right money will be available.”

Last week Jewell said he expected signing loanee Daryl Murphy on a permanent basis to be beyond Town’s means, however, Clegg isn’t quite so negative about the possibility of doing a deal with Celtic: “Let’s see where we get to. It’s fairly early days. I think Celtic will be taking a view on it and see where they go.”

The SPL champions currently want a fee for the Irishman, who has a year remaining on his lucrative contract at Parkhead.

Jewell believes that big fees will be rare in the Championship this summer but says money will be there as and when he wants to spend it: “We are looking for bargains. There definitely won’t be any £3 million signings.

“If I went to Marcus and said a player of that price would make the difference I am sure he would back me, but there won’t be too many big money moves in the Championship. Not when I hear there are 13 clubs in this league on the brink of administration.”

Clegg says owner Evans remains as committed to the club and taking the Blues back into the Premier League as he was when he took over in December 2007: “His enthusiasm hasn’t waned one iota since he bought the club.”

The Town chief says that unlike former chairman David Sheepshanks, who famously worked to a five-year plan, he’s not keen on putting a timescale on returning to the top flight: “I think it’s a very dangerous situation to put a timetable on achieving the goal that we’re after.

“There are 23 other clubs in the Championship who all aspire to the same goal with differing degrees of financial robustness and owners with different depths of pockets and different ambitions.

“What other clubs do you can’t control. What we’re trying to do is find that winning model for this football club. I don’t think you’ve ever heard me put any time frame on reaching that aspirational goal, apart from that we want to do it at the earliest opportunity.”

Elsewhere, former Blue Ed Upson has signed a new two-year deal with Yeovil Town. Upson, 22, was the scorer of the winning goal in Ipswich’s 2005 FA Youth Cup final victory over Southampton.

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

itfc1981 added 15:29 - May 7 Sanctions are not brought in for two years, Cleggy you know Evans has just had enough of spending big.
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itfc1981 added 15:31 - May 7 If I went to Marcus and said a player of that price would make the difference If only you said Billy Sharp was worth it Jewell. We should have paifd the 3 million.
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ipswichtillidie added 15:59 - May 7 Sounds more like Murphy is being kept as an option but certainly not a preference. Personally I don't rate him. He is an average player at championship level and we need players who are gonna make a defference/impact in this league next season to improve on the mediocricy that we have been use to over the last 10 years.
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bluey123 added 16:10 - May 7 If they allow Jewell to get 6 more players how many will that be he has bought to the club 20 odd and how many successes from that the mans the worst manager ever to come to this once great club
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Karlosfandangal added 16:20 - May 7 Dont think Lewis will be the answer as he was dropped for Jones, and would say no better than ALB Think we need the type of keeper that has a huge presence in the area
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WickedBlue added 16:25 - May 7 @casanovacrow you got big cohonas I'll give you that. You accuse the owner of our club of shady business practices and then go on to suggest that he can cheat and go around the new rules. Better hope he doesn't read this board because he could sue you into the dark ages.
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 17:02 - May 7 Itfc1981 - we bid 3.25 million for sharp and it was rejected. They then sold him for less to soton.
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SheffieldBlue1 added 17:17 - May 7 Interesting to note that Clegg said the transfer policy/budget will be 'exactly the same as last season', when if I was Chief Executive i'd be desperately trying to distance myself from a season that was so tediously mediocre it made watching the Sex and the City boxset seem preferable. I would personally be interested to know the sort of players that Clegg believes we should be going for, as that would indicate what he believes the future of the club to be, either pushing for promotion with maybe some ambitious financial risks, or mid table mediocrity with reasonable financial stability. In my mind this is the difference between signings such as Billy Sharp, Charlie Austin et al and Paul Green, Dean Marney etc. Ambition vs Stability.

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Ipswichbusiness added 17:47 - May 7 Actually, I thought that Murphy was a decent player. Whether we sign him up depends on price (fee/wages) and that is a straight business negotiation. My big concern is the defence; we desperately need a 'keeper and a centre-half and all efforts should go there rather than the front players.
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StowTractorBoy added 19:07 - May 7 Goalkeeper Doyle (he has a huge presence )and Ward will be good for starters and should not break the bank fees wise. We have offloaded quite a chunk off the wage bill so there is room for more players but we have just trust PJ to get the right ones which is easier said than done.
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casanovacrow added 19:20 - May 7 Wickedblue - I am in no way suggesting he is doing anything illegal. He's just a clever bugger, he knows his way around red tape legally. Shady dealings don't have to be illegal, just hidden to mask the potential lack of ethics to those in the moral high ground. What with his Olympic tickets sales and his relocation of assets to Dublin he could easily find ways around the new rules.

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Garv added 20:00 - May 7 Dozzells_Bobblehat added 17:02 - May 7 Itfc1981 - we bid 3.25 million for sharp and it was rejected. They then sold him for less to soton. Don't think so. Didn't we bid £2.6m for him and Coppinger?
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RegencyBlue added 20:10 - May 7 So Jewell is saying Murphy is out of our price range and Clegg is saying it's not necessarily so! Is it me or shouldnt they actually be talking to each other and come up with a common transfer strategy?
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walberswick added 21:17 - May 7 Simon Clegg has confirmed that manager Paul Jewell will be given money to spend during the transfer window. Shame he's only allowed to shop at Poundland.
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itfc1981 added 21:20 - May 7 Yep Garv 2.6 for both, they wanted 3 million just for Sharp, Cleggy wanted to save our club from the joy of getting promoted.
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KenDubZ added 22:39 - May 7 Sign Rhodes simple. Get Coventrys craine. And get another decent center half out of league 1 or 2 .... Just need to think mate. Norris back! Garvan maybe? And we need Ambrose!!
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denhamblue added 11:04 - May 8 yes money on loanees wages,freebies and over the hill no one wants players.
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sonian_blue added 11:23 - May 8 I am the only one worried by this headline? I wouldnt trust him with someones else money, let alone me own...apart from the taxi fare(one way) home. He has wasted too much already and as for Murphy, send him back too. Not good enough, too expensive and how many times have we seen loanees throw the towel in once they have a permanent deal. As was pointed out by an earlier post, first stop should be league one teams who miss out in the play offs and we could do a lot worse than the Dons current manager....a very talented rising manager.

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Pessimistic added 11:29 - May 8 Clegg is less generous than Scrooge so we can expect monopoly money again I suppose.
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