Town manager Paul Jewell has confirmed that the Blues made a bid for Doncaster defender George Friend, whose move to Middlesbrough is set to be confirmed on Monday.

Jewell said: “There was a lot of talk about George Friend. I don’t believe what I read in the papers.

“[Doncaster manager] Dean Saunders rang me and told me that Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest had made bids for him. We did enquire after him, in fact we made a bid for him but he decided to go to Middlesbrough.”

The Blues boss says he is continuing his search for new recruits: “We need some players that’s for sure, we need some physicality in the team. We need some strength and some power.

“I’ve been frustrated with a number of attempts to try and bring in players over the summer, but I’ll continue to try and improve the squad.”

Photo: Action Images

jert16 added 18:09 - Jul 28 ffs
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jas0999 added 18:09 - Jul 28 Yet another player who chose another team over us. Disappointing.
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mrmorisato added 18:12 - Jul 28 So he wasn't a potential replacement for AC after all....oh well, Geographically Town are not really a desirable destination for footballers is it!?
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legoman added 18:20 - Jul 28 Mr Morisato. Nothing to do with geography. Its about clubs that will abide by the new austerity rules (or have the guts to). Marcus is gambling that common sense will prevail.
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casanovacrow added 18:21 - Jul 28 sounds like he's tempted to throw in the towel ...or is that wishful thinking? lol
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bluearmy4life added 18:24 - Jul 28 Not good enough.
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bluey360 added 18:54 - Jul 28 Someone tell me where G.Friend was going 2 play then we need a right-sided defender in terms of cover n competition we have Delaney n Smith at Left centre back. Clearly the club don't want too spent 1m on Davies who since been at Derby has had a few injury problems I'd still prefer Baldock on loan I'd still Luke us too sign L.Freeman from Stevenage be interesting who we were scouting at London Rd you would think Boyd or Taylor

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Mark added 19:02 - Jul 28 It may have boiled down to first team football, as Friend was unlikely to get a regular place in our side with Cresswell, Delaney and Smith already competing for his favoured positions. We do need some cover at left-back and centre-back, ideally a free transfer or loan.
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blueandwhitebadger added 19:30 - Jul 28 We win some and we lose some (more) that's life. Perhaps we will get the next one. I think to compete though we will need to stretch the austerity measures to the max.
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mrmorisato added 19:57 - Jul 28 @legoman: I'm not going to disagree with you regarding the amount we pay for players and their wages I'm just saying that Ipswich has a track record of not being able to offer lots of amenities which has proved to be off putting to players.
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bigolconnor added 20:04 - Jul 28 I've worked as bar manager of the boxes at Portman road and been to the training facilities and I can assure readers that compared to other grounds in our league and even the premier ours are excellent. It's all down to money and maybe a little about ambition (but they go hand in hand dont they)
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ChrisMakin2012 added 20:44 - Jul 28 Cleggy's done it again.
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JewellintheTown added 21:16 - Jul 28 Some Friend he turned out to be.
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Ipswich24 added 21:26 - Jul 28 Maybe we bid because we thought Cressy was off but hopefully now he is staying fingers crossed we pulled out
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MattinLondon added 21:59 - Jul 28 Even Man U don't get every player they want...just move on to someone else
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Taricco_Fan added 22:29 - Jul 28 This idea that Ipswich cannot attract players because we are a footballing outpost is a complete fallacy. We are only one hour from London. It's all down to money. The club is presumably making sensible contract offers to players, which can be seen as lacking ambition or prudent, depending on your outlook. I think it's the latter.
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Edmunds5 added 23:44 - Jul 28 We need quality not quantity, yes the Championship is a tough league and you need cover and a decent sized squad but at the same time if we just sign players as good as each other then the team is not nessecarily going to improve. This is why i think Davies would be good because he has an eye for goal and is a creative player. Yes Friend would have been good but with Cressy staying and Smith, Chambers and Delaney centre halfs then i'm not sure if we need him if he was quick maybe he would be worth it but he's slow. I know we've got alot of them but i still think we need a quality central midfield player because we have to many workhorses in there, a striker to helps Chops and Davies or another left sided player. Time for you to be clever with the cash Jewell and pretty quickly.

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Len_Brennan added 01:20 - Jul 29 I agree with Mark above, no guarantee of first team football was probably a factor for Friend. Chambers will definitely start on the right side of the centre half pairing & then it's likely to be Delaney on the left as we kick off the season. The idea of playing left back should Cresswell leave or fighting it out with Smith when Delaney has a mare would not have impressed Friend or encouraged him to sign. The idea of 3 left footed centre halves out of 4 sounds wrong & yet if we had 3 right footers out of 4 centre halves, as is often the case, there wouldn't be a word about it - funny that.

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