Bristol City boss Sean O’Driscoll has confirmed that he wants to keep winger Paul Anderson at Ashton Gate as the Robins look to return to the Championship at the first attempt. The 24-year-old is the subject of a swap deal proposed by the Blues which would see Jay Emmanuel-Thomas move in the opposite direction.

O’Driscoll told the Bristol Post that he’d like both players in his squad next season if possible but says there’s a long way to go before any deal is done: "Paul Anderson is not a player I would ideally want to let go. He fits in with what I am trying to do here next season.

"That, plus the fact Jay cost a lot of money when he moved to Ipswich from Arsenal, mean a deal is still a long way off.

"We were approached to take Jay and I had him at Doncaster and think he's a talented boy. But he is on Championship money and we are a League One club.

"Wage-wise we cannot compete and there is a lot of work to be done before something can be agreed. We are talking financial matters at the moment and that is as far as things have gone."

The Blues are believed to have paid at least an initial £1 million for Emmanuel-Thomas when he moved to Portman Road two years ago - clauses in the deal could have taken the figure to £2 million - and are said to want to recoup that fee, but the League One Robins are unlikely to be in a position to pay anything like that as they look to cut costs following their relegation.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who was yesterday charged with misconduct by the FA, did not travel to Ireland with the rest of the Town squad.

Meanwhile, youngsters David October, Amir Berkane and Kyle Hammond underwent the now traditional initiation into the first team squad at the Blues' training camp at Carton House in County Kildare last night when they were made to sing in front of their more senior team-mates.

Right-back Hammond tweeted: "Singing in front of the first team wasn't the best experience of my life!"

Photo: Action Images

King_of_Portman_Rd added 09:24 - Jul 2 If Mick wants to bring Anderson in, why don't we just put in an offer to buy him?
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JimmyJazz added 09:27 - Jul 2 King of Portman Rd - Maybe because there's no money available?
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itfcserbia added 09:44 - Jul 2 No problem - take Adomah instead. Oh, and give them Chopra too!
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Tufty added 09:48 - Jul 2 Looks like they are going shopping with an empty wallet.
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sucrePB1 added 09:54 - Jul 2 bit embarrsing really
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oldbluestu added 09:58 - Jul 2 Why would we pay money for a player who is on a free?
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geography26 added 10:01 - Jul 2 Swap for Sam Baldock instead then!
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Surco72 added 10:02 - Jul 2 We may be trying to get rid of JET to appearance clauses in his contract ? I remember pompey having same issue a few years back and not being able to afford to play a number of their players Brown ,James and others
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suffolkpunchdrunk added 10:08 - Jul 2 'We were approached to take Jay' How desperate does that sound on our part? Or is it a cunning ploy by McCarthy to get JET to finally realise that his prospects elsewhere are limited so buck your ideas up and realise how lucky you are at this club.
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Michael11 added 10:28 - Jul 2 I really can't see us having good money to buy players unless we cash in on Cresswell i'm afraid. Bristol City need to realise they're not going to get a player we spent £1.5m on for peanuts without getting one of their better players as part of the deal.
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Legend added 10:28 - Jul 2 Why don't we just buy Anderson and keep Jet? I still think that Jet will come good, he is still a young lad and has the ability to rip this league apart! Chopra on the other hand is a complete pleb!
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Keaneish added 10:53 - Jul 2 Michael 11 - no way we should sell Cresswell to raise funds, id rather we went the free transfer route as we are doing. Left back is one of the hardest positions to find real quality in. There must be plenty of left side midfielders out there at the moment. Shame we never landed Alan Judge really! Thats two options that have passed us up now so it needs to be sorted soon. Tabb and Murphy aren't the answer on the left if we're looking for a greater goal threat next season. Like the idea of going for McGugan as someone posted last night to bolster the central midfield.

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Michael11 added 11:20 - Jul 2 @Keaneish I didn't say i wanted us to sell Cressy, no sane Ipswich fan would. i just think it appears that Evans has tightened his purse strings and if Mick wants money he'll have to create it from the squad. I agree that we're doing just fine with the free transfers we've brought in.
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runningout added 11:32 - Jul 2 God, I'm bored of this one
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essextractorboy93 added 12:02 - Jul 2 Wouldn't be the end of the world if we hold onto JET, good player on his day. I do like the sound of the rumours that we are in for Lewis McGugan which were on Facebook the other day. He always looked a very useful player at Forest.
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 13:18 - Jul 2 Reading between the lines, O'Driscoll wants to keep Anderson and doesn't want to pay what ITFC are demanding. He's waiting us out, because JET isn't exactly in high demand.
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RegencyBlue added 13:55 - Jul 2 O'Driscoll is not going to jump at our first offer because he knows he can negotiate a much better deal as we become more and more desperate to unload JET! At the moment we appear to be unwilling to pay money for anyone. Hopefully this is a tactic of some sort because much as I admire MM's abilities as a manager it's a big ask to get a team promoted using just free transfers!

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MitchtheITFCman added 16:42 - Jul 2 I'm afraid that's not how a swap deal works. Let me explain it simple and easy: we give you player, you give us player. P.s. why does ME give PJ loads of cash to spend but not a proven manager like MM
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maninashed added 17:01 - Jul 2 The new fair play league effectively puts a cap on expenditure, dependant upon income. So if Town spend a million on transfers they will have that much less to spend on wages, loans etc. ME can't just put money into the club anymore. That's where it's unfair as the relegated clubs have parachute payments included in their income.
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Tufty added 17:21 - Jul 2 If we do sign mcgugan that will be one less goal conceeded next season
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RetroBlue added 17:33 - Jul 2 SOD may want to keep Anderson, but does Anderson want to play for a League One club when a Championship one ( that has Mick McCarthy as manager) wants him?
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blue_moon09 added 17:47 - Jul 2 Boring, Town are in Ireland nothing will happen this week, slow news day?
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jas0999 added 17:58 - Jul 2 I really hope we didn't pay £1M for JET! I wonder who we will actually sign. Other than players who were already on loan and subsequently out of contract, we have in theory only signed one new face!
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Seasider added 18:08 - Jul 2 I am fed up with people keep quoting the FFP as the sole reason we are not spending any money on transfer fees. To start with the sanctions dont come in this season,and Championship clubs are allowed to spend £8m more than income(i.e owners input) Next season overspends are reduced to £6m and the following season(2015/16) 5m;so as to allow contracts to run down etc. Exceptions are investment in youth development ,which presumably is why ME is putting more money into upgrading the academy;and promotion related bonuses. In principle these new rules are a good thing I feel,as clubs should get their finances in better order. Spending decisions are made solely by ME I presume,and the days of spending out big sums on several players as we did in the Keane era,and to a lesser extent under Jewell who probably didnt spend quite so much on transfer fees;but under both ME gave the players generous salaries resulting in the continuing losses,with the remaining two from that era now on the transfer list. We must not forget that less than a year ago under Jewell ME forked over a million on Paul Taylor;so to restrict MM to paying out the kind of sums ITFC were doing 30 years ago seems strange;especially now we have a good manager who seems less likely to waste money as his predecessors did.

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h32 added 18:24 - Jul 2 Seasider - absolutely right - far too many posters / supporters of this Club only want half an excuse to condone whatever goes on within the Club. Granted, not all do - and rightfully see it as it is. Is it just a coincidence that ITFC seems to be affected by EVERY Rule and Regulation - but not others, who include allegedly lower status Clubs than us ?? Evidence daily RIGHT NOW. When it comes, pre season, to signing players ( especially buying) - there's always a REASON !!! - for US not being able to. Sorry but it's true. And before you knock me for this ( don't forget the minus hit as normal) - it's impossible for anyone to care more about this Club than I. FACT.

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