QPR midfielder Shaun Derry has confirmed that he was close to joining the Blues in the summer. The 33-year-old, who was out of contract at Crystal Palace at the end of last season, says Town boss Roy Keane made a “huge impression” on him but that he was unable to agree terms at Portman Road.

Derry, who has been a key man for the league leaders this season, said: “I was close to joining Ipswich. I met Roy Keane and he made a huge impression on me.”

The club’s failure to sign Derry has been a source of frustration for Keane throughout the season, the Irishman outlining the situation in August: “Ten weeks ago, I had a player in my office who would have signed that afternoon, but we couldn’t do a deal for him. He’s now playing for a good team and doing well,” said Keane, who later confirmed that Derry was the player involved.

The former Sheffield United and Leeds man similarly says that the move broke down after unsuccessful contract negotiations with Town’s money men before he was reunited with one of his former bosses in West London: “You’ve hit the nail on the head there.

“Fate took me to Loftus Road and I couldn’t be happier. I also have the utmost respect for Neil Warnock. He’s the one who gave me a chance when I was in the wilderness at Leeds and I felt I owed him. It was a tough decision to make but I am satisfied that I made the right one.”

Photo: Action Images

ITFC_Essex added 09:32 - Jan 5 Our "money men" are pretty damn clueless when it comes to running a football team, firstly bringing in Keane giving him loads to spend and then when that did not work out, cut him off and let the team drop down the league. Clegg-Evans you are both true legends. Makes Sheepshanks decision not to sign Kevin Phillips look clever now.
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BLUEBEAT added 09:39 - Jan 5 See? Players do want to play for Keane. It's Clegg/Evans who are out of depth in the football world.
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legoman added 09:42 - Jan 5 CLEGG OUT
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Back_The_Boss added 09:50 - Jan 5 Probably demanded high wages, which we were not prepared to pay!
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Blue92 added 09:51 - Jan 5 I've always believed that our problems in the transfer market are more the fault of the board than Keane. Despite his poor record in the transfer market, I think the fact that he's gone after the likes of Derry, Chopra, etc shows that he's got the right ideas about who to bring in. Having said that though, he's still the one who picks the players we have got and sends them out onto the pitch out of position, etc..

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buryblue77 added 09:53 - Jan 5 Although I've become disillusioned with things as they are and I feel it's time for Keane to go, he's been hinting at the lack of signings are the fault of the men in charge. Clegg: a football club needs to sign good quality players in order to succeed, not Premiership kids and has beens (or never weres in the case if some of our loanees) Evans: give Clegg one last job, tell him to sack Keane then tell him he can go to the slopes and find the next Eddie the Eagle, as far as I can see that's all he's good for!!!!!

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Surco72 added 09:53 - Jan 5 Another holding midfield player that would have really brightened up Portman Road ,its the likes of Taarabat we need not Derry
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hadleighboyblue added 09:53 - Jan 5 this just backs up the feeling that Keane is being frustrated by Clegg's inability to seal deals for players the manager wants ...........what a shambles . if we had got the our targets of a midfielder and striker at the beginning of the season , we wouldn't be in the mess we are now. Worryingly , we seem to be making the same mistake in this transfer window too .

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buryblue77 added 09:54 - Jan 5 Although I've become disillusioned with things as they are and I feel it's time for Keane to go, he's been hinting at the lack of signings are the fault of the men in charge. Clegg: a football club needs to sign good quality players in order to succeed, not Premiership kids and has beens (or never weres in the case if some of our loanees) Evans: give Clegg one last job, tell him to sack Keane then tell him he can go to the slopes and find the next Eddie the Eagle, as far as I can see that's all he's good for!!!!!

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bluelady added 09:58 - Jan 5 why Clegg, please tell me why? what value does he add? What world of football experience does he have? I am not a massive keane fan but imagine how frustrating it must be working with someone who has absolutely no football experience? Clegg the olympics need you, we dont, goodbye!
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sonian_blue added 10:08 - Jan 5 Word is Wickham is Arsenal bound for Carlos Vella plus cash. That will finance the arrival of Charlie Austin. Sounds good to me, bite their arm off Keano.
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osborne1nil added 10:11 - Jan 5 Agree with Surco, good player as Derry is and would most likely (like Leadbitter) been a regular starter if fitness allowed (as no spring chicken) it would have possibly meant we didn't need Colback back or the Livermore on loan? He would probably been played out of position anyway and so his effectiveness would have been limited! Although we are pointing the finger at Clegg and M.E. money men, we don't know what his financial demands were. Every club needs a wage structure and if Derry felt that he was worth more than we could pay him then good luck to him elsewhere. If he was so impressed with Keane and the Town he would of signed as I am sure he was offered a competitive level of income for kicking a football! When is the press conference at PR arranged for???????

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brogansnose added 10:12 - Jan 5 This is old news but the point still remains would he have made any difference to our season playing under Keane. If the money men are not prepared to pay players like Derry what they want then the manager needs to look in the lower divisions for those that are up and coming and nurture own youngsters. What we do have needs moulding into a cohesive unit and while Keane can talk a good one and make " impressions", this is some thing he has drastically failed to do. Get O'Driscoll in and lets watch some football again. Mind you Clegg can go too because i have no idea what the point of him is, apart from his olympic connections, in which case why employ him at PR.

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raycrawfordswig added 10:14 - Jan 5 Charlie Austin going to Hull
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brogansnose added 10:18 - Jan 5 Final point, if Norris and McCauley go into the office and say they want more money are they going to be released at the end of the season as they are not going to be short of offers from other clubs.
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brian_a_mul added 10:22 - Jan 5 Vella would be looking for huge wages and I dont think he would drop to a struggling championship team. I also dont think he would be too effective with our long ball game. Vella likes quick ball in to feet or running on to passes behind opposition defense. Keane doesnt like playing football on the ground.
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MickMillsTash added 10:23 - Jan 5 The question for me is even if we had signed Derry Chopra etc would they have played well- it is all well and good moaning about Clegg - for my money we need a football man in place with a phone loaded with football contacts, not Seb Coes- but we have enough good players at Portman road to be in a play off position if not challenging the top 2. I like Keane but it is him AND his coaching staff that have to get these players to perform and play in a system that can create and defend.

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bobble added 10:32 - Jan 5 clegg and evans obviously havent got a lot between the ears when it comes to football thats why keane manages the team .he took over an above average team missing a few players to make it a promotion team spent 10 million and now has a terrible team fighting relegation again whilst creating records all along the way for not winning /not scoring /playing boring football etc you can blame the money men all you like but the fact of the matter is its keanes teams with the players he purchased who are a bloody disgrace. keane is the man doing the damage to our club. there is many a manager out there who with lesser funds has achieved more.keane is out of his depth and makes bad decision after bad decision he is the person at fault.................

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buryblue77 added 10:32 - Jan 5 Vela is a good player, maybe not good enough for Arsenal though and if he leaves he's likely to end up at a mid to lower prem side (or similar Spanish team more likely) good shout and would love to see someone like him here (if we played a suitable game for his style) but really can't see that one happening to be honest
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oldbluestu added 10:34 - Jan 5 If he was asking for too much money than the club can afford why should we pay it? This club is bigger than any individual so why should we put the club at risk by spending too much money. It's Keane's fault for not finding players on a level we can afford. Yes QPR have spent a lot of money but Warnock also spent only a few £'s on Mackie, why isn't Keane capable of finding players like that who only cost a few £'s ?

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ldnj added 10:34 - Jan 5 It's interesting that he signed for the club not long ago called the richest in the world. Evans seems to runs ITFC as a business therefore it would be a huge surprise if he paid up a lot for a (33yr old) player. My guess would be that Evans would look to sell the club if the Premiership were ever seen again
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Karlosfandangal added 11:19 - Jan 5 I get the feeling that Keane see targets that he wants ie Chopra, Derry etc but is being told get rid first then buy. He has hinted at that for this Window Counago and Stead had to go first and then its too late for Chopra so then ended up with Scotland
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Blue_Showboat added 11:23 - Jan 5 For all of Keane's faults I do sometimes feel he has been given a rough deal, he has clearly identified his targets in every transfer window but Clegg and co cant seem to put the deals together. Although a holding midfielder wouldnt set the world alight, having a player of Derry's experience in the middle of the park would have made a massive difference this season, especially taking pressure off our defence when Big Mac, Delaney and Kennedy have picked up knocks, his experience would have been invaluable to our inexperienced players. Keane has always said at the end of the day the buck has to stop with the manager, and I respect his honesty in interviews, but I feel his hands are tied, he was told to cut the wage bill and did so by losing a lot of experienced players but Clegg couldnt get his targets to put pen to paper and I feel he really needs to take responsibility for his role as well. Our season could have been massively different with a Derry and Chopra etc in the squad, ifs and buts I know but looking at this story Keane did his part in attracting the player, Clegg failed in his role to get the contract signed.

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Garv added 11:43 - Jan 5 Quite glad we didn't seal the deal. Obviously he was demanding high wages (as one poster said 'for kicking a football'). Would only have reinforced keane's cloggers 100% effort football as well anyway.
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BYRNE_16 added 11:48 - Jan 5 Why has this story become relevant now? My guess its been plucked out to full the fire of the haters at the moment. But it does prove that Keane is not all that bad. And that Keane is being held back by the money men. But hey is not David Beckham and we shouldn't be too worried, I will put my wages on the fact that if QPR get promoted he will be sold and League 1 player next season!

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