Chief executive Simon Clegg says he is increasingly taking a leading role in Town’s transfer dealings having spent the summer learning the ropes from club owner and chairman Marcus Evans. Clegg says he was somewhat “thrown in at the deep end” during the summer with the transfer window coming so soon after he joined the club in April

Clegg said: “Marcus is increasingly hands off on transfers, very much allowing me to lead on them. Roy will identify if he’s got a hole in a particular part of the field. He and [chief scout] Steve McCall will look at people who they think can fill those holes and come to me.

“Roy and I will then go to Marcus to talk about the strategy for bringing in the right sort of people, then we’ll negotiate with the club and then negotiate with the agent.

“He’s become increasingly confident in my ability to manage those affairs on his behalf.”

Clegg admits that the summer transfer window was a steep learning curve: “I think it’s fair to say that I got thrown in at the deep end with a lot of help and support from other people.

“The summer holiday period when I was away with my family was quite interesting, particularly as my wife had found a cottage which was about three miles from the nearest telephone contact point. So I spent a lot of my holiday in my car in some remote car park in Cornwall at the top of a hill trying to do transfer deals, which was rather amusing.

“It was a massive area that I’ve not dealt with before and the process is relatively unique. There are a few transfers which take place in rugby but really it is a quite unique part of this job which isn’t replicated in other industries.”

Clegg says the Blues have no immediate plans to replace international scout Simon Hunt, who left the club in the summer: “Not at this moment in time. We’re very comfortable with what Steve McCall is doing, he’s doing a really good job.

“The problem with international scouts is that it is a very, very expensive business. Having someone on the full-time payroll and out there on the international circuit is massively expensive, for not necessarily the greatest return.

“We’ve got people approaching us the whole time with international opportunities and we will continue to be active in the international arena, we had a couple of people from the academy out in Scandinavia only last week.

“The fact that we haven’t got an international scout, doesn’t mean we’re not active in the international transfer market.”

Clegg says that instead of employing a dedicated international scout, a combination of various approaches to recruiting abroad is being used: “It’s Roy’s contacts that he’s got internationally, it’s Steve McCall, it’s people from the academy getting out and going to Scandinavia, it’s contacts with agents.

“It was decided that there was a more cost-effective way of securing what we needed to secure than employing someone full time as an international scout.”

The chief executive says that as well as recruiting players from elsewhere, the club’s youth set-up will continue to play an important role: “The academy has to be judged solely on the number of first team conversions they get as well as the sales that we can generate from players coming through the academy system and going on elsewhere. That allows us to justify the ongoing investment that we’re making into the academy.”

Clegg says his first eight months at Portman Road have gone well, despite the poor start to the season on the field: “I’m thoroughly enjoying it, I’m having a great time. I haven’t necessarily enjoyed all the football on the pitch, but I’m greatly enjoying being here in Suffolk, being here in Ipswich and confident that the disappointing start that we had to the season is now behind us and we can look forward to better things in the second half of the season.

“The biggest change [from his previous job as chief executive of the British Olympic Association] is having the event against which you are judged happening every Saturday afternoon rather than every four years. It’s similar pressures but exerted on a weekly basis as opposed to on a quadrennial basis.

“The other thing which I’ve found quite heartening is getting back to grassroots sports. I was involved in that way when I was skiing before I joined the British Olympic Association and I enjoy the connectivity on a day-in, day-out basis, whether it’s me going up to the training ground or whether it’s me looking out from my office window on the practice pitch and seeing people of all abilities and disabilities enjoying the game of football here at Portman Road.”

Photo: Action Images

Wallingford_Boy added 09:38 - Dec 23 Top man, doing a great job Cleggo!!
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Vic added 10:06 - Dec 23 The 'Steep learning curve' probably explains why we didn't get/weren't able to get the sort of players we thought we might last summer. Lets hope things are different in January.
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naa added 10:18 - Dec 23 Wallingford_boy: not entirely sure why you say that. He certainly comes across well in interviews and I've no reason to doubt his commitment etc but what about his job is he doing so well? Our transfer dealings have been disappointing on the whole (though I suspect that could be more to do with Keane's choice of player than Clegg's skills) and our finances are going further into the red. I accept that Clegg's role is to help us get into the Prem and keeping finances under control isn't necessarily high on the agenda as yet. But still, why the need to say he's doing a 'great job'? Sorry, don't mean to sound too negative, I like what I hear from Clegg, but I just find random positive, or negative postings with no reasoning to explain them a bit pointless. Anyway, here's to a good set of Christmas results, a continuation of the excellent performance against Blackpool and one or two quality signings in January.

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Wallingford_Boy added 11:53 - Dec 23 That's the spirit!!
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peakyboy added 13:03 - Dec 23 darren campbell is signing!
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tractordamage added 13:49 - Dec 23 I reckon Simon Hunt was deemed 'surplus to requirements' because the club bought a copy of Football Manager 2010 this year....
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rockstar1981 added 13:53 - Dec 23 please please please make our Jan signing Gio!!!
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onlybluesandhorses added 15:47 - Dec 23 "having spent the summer learning the ropes from club owner and chairman Marcus Evans" - the blind leading the blind? Bearing in mind that ME has no previous experience in football why did he recruit a CE with even less? Add this to a manager with also little experience of management and seemingly less idea how to judge a player no wonder it has been a complete mess so far this season. And at a crucial time for transfers Clegg was on holiday! what sort of planning was that? Doing transfers while he is a car in Cornwall is not "amusing" it is shambolic. “It was a massive area that I've not dealt with before and the process is relatively unique. There are a few transfers which take place in rugby but really it is a quite unique part of this job which isn't replicated in other industries.” So Clegg's "business model" and experience in "elite sport" was not enough? Quelle suprise! So why was he hired then? And ME entrusted his millions to this process. So much for getting rich businessmen into football. Has ME more money than sense? And how much is the Club's debt now? Over £40m? And the fans are supposed to turn up and pay money when the Club is run in this totally amateur way. Pathetic.

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Vexorg added 16:39 - Dec 23 Totally agree.
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moomoosereni added 21:56 - Dec 23 onlybluesandhorses your very right! Whilst an ever optimist it is a worry to hear that the club doesn't allow either the manager or scouts have more of a hold on transfer dealings so to speak. Just wrapped my xmas present to Mr Clegg none the less. A copy of the complete idiots guide to football transfers. And I've had Mr Evans sign it, he's a lot shorter than I thought he would be! Only Kidding town fans, boom boom. I'm here all week.

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