Chief executive Derek Bowden says the recent off-field redundancies at Portman Road should not be seen as a sign that the club's finances have once again become a problem. Bowden is happy with Town's current financial position and says that the reduction in staff numbers was aimed at increasing efficiency.

Bowden, who joined Town in the summer of 2002 after relegation from the Premiership, is confident that the club is in a stable position: "Financially the club is fine. We have produced a budget for 2005/06 and an outline for 2006/07, and we are absolutely OK."

Although boss Joe Royle has been given little of the £3.5 million raised from the sales of Darren Bent and Kelvin Davis - the only cash spent being the £450,000 paid to Swindon for Sam Parkin - Bowden says that the money will allow the Blues to exceed the planned wage bill of £5 million for the season.

The recent redundancies, which saw a number of employees who had been with the club for some years leave Portman Road, were aimed at making the off-field operations leaner: "Part of the thinking is to focus on what is essential rather than what is nice to have. Staring at year four, and maybe year five [in the Championship], we feel we do need to be more efficient.

"It is a relatively small number of people who are going - awful for those people who are affected and we feel for them - but it is a case of good housekeeping on our part."

Fans have a chance to put their questions to the club's chief executive at a meeting arranged by Ipswich Town Ist on Monday, September 5th. More details on the Trust site.

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