Town chief executive Simon Clegg believes the result of Wednesday’s Aaron Cresswell compensation tribunal was a “not unreasonable outcome for the club” but says the process involved a great deal of work. The Professional Football Compensation Committee decided the Blues should pay Tranmere an initial £240,000 plus additional clauses which would take that figure to £520,000

Clegg, who attended the hearing with Cresswell, manager Paul Jewell and club secretary Sally Webb, said: “It’s been a very time-consuming exercise in terms of preparing our presentation for the tribunal, two long days where I’ve not done any other work or business apart from a few phones calls.

“There were four members of the panel. First, they spoke to the player without the clubs being there. Both clubs then went in and the player left.

“Tranmere got an opportunity to present their case and then Paul, Sally and myself got an opportunity to question them, then the panel cross-examined them.

“Then we presented our case and were questioned ourselves by Tranmere and then by the panel. We slipped out and 45 minutes later we were called back in for the decision.”

The Blues chief outlined the structure of the case Town put to the tribunal: “The presentation involved an introduction, then we got Sally to run through the process we’d gone through in securing the player.

“Paul spoke about the player’s ability and why we brought him to the club from his professional point of view.

“I talked about Ipswich’s track record in developing talent, also highlighting the fact that however much talent someone has at a particular age, it doesn’t necessarily come to fruition.

“I ran them through the negotiations we’d conducted with Tranmere and then finally gave a conclusion.

“There was quite a lot of work and a not unreasonable outcome for the club. It was an interesting exercise but a significant amount of work.”

Town are continuing to be linked with targets, Sheffield United’s Matt Lowton and Manchester City’s Gai Assulin the latest, but Clegg is remaining tight-lipped regarding any potential advance on the 12 signings made so far: “I’m speaking to clubs all the time, I’ve spoken to two clubs this morning about something.

“The conversations are ongoing all the time and it’s unhelpful for me to fuel speculation. My normal policy is that when I’ve got something definitive to say, I’ll say it.

“People shouldn’t be surprised to know that these conversations are going on the whole time and the vast majority of the time they don’t come to fruition.

“Deadline day was fairly quiet for us. But let’s not forget that we had done a huge amount of business over the early part of the summer break.”

The chief executive says money is still there for more signings as and when manager Jewell wants to make them: “We’ve made a lot of transfers this season, but there’s no change. No one can doubt Marcus’s commitment to the club.

“I’ve not looked into other clubs, so I don’t know how many transfers or loans other clubs have brought in over the close season, but I can’t believe that there are many, if any, who have exceeded the number of new players that have been brought into this club.”

Clegg reiterates that Jewell’s tenure is viewed as a process of building a team capable of winning promotion over time, citing Cresswell as a signing made with an eye on the future: “It’s not about the short-term, it’s the long-term, and Aaron Cresswell is certainly one for the long-term.”

Photo: Action Images

itfc1981 added 08:56 - Sep 16 Aaron Cresswell is one for the long-term, however, I would not call signing many 30 plus players as a long term policy.
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BlueGoonie added 09:36 - Sep 16 Victory - I'm sure the much maligned Clegg will appreciate your sentiment, however I'm not sure what you think fans are "entitled" to, apart from a seat in the ground having paid for a ticket. Getting prices down? Really? Did you see the recent survey that concluded ITFC had the second cheapest match day package in the champ? I love this great club of ours and have complete faith in both BFP and believe it or not Clegg as well, but the one thing that continually makes my shoulders sag is bleatings from so called fans who seem to go out of their way to find negatives in everything that happens at the club. They seem to have incredibly exaggerated expectations that we have a devine right to be in the Prem, or at least in the top 6 every year. I'm not saying we should be happy with flirting with delegation to Lg 1 and ending up mid table, but wouldn't it be a pleasant change to hear some supporters actually SUPPORT for once in a while, and to see & hear that translated to the stands with bums on seats and noise - win OR lose. Fans need to appreciate the negative impact they've had on this club over the last 3-4 years even from back in Royle & Magic's days, and realise that they can also play a huge role in helping turn this club around.

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BlueGoonie added 09:38 - Sep 16 Er, that's relegation, god damn apple's auto correct!
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BlueGoonie added 09:57 - Sep 16 Apologies for the rant! Your post was far from one of the more scathing/bitter ones that I've read on news items and the forum here, but they've formed a cumulative effect in me resulting in my head puke above. Nonetheless I stand by what I say, but alas can't see our supporters actually doing what their title suggests overnight.
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tractorboybig added 10:17 - Sep 16 BlueGoonie Unfortuantly there is not a great deal at the moment to be positive about. Unfortuantly a fact of life is that most football supporters are only intrested in the last result and to lift the gloom only a few good results will count. I have supported this club for 50 years and seen the good and worse times. at the moment it seems to be bobling up and down to stop itself drowning. ME has put a lot of money in and one cannot doubt his comitment, But it just seems to go from bad to worse. Whats the answer? perhaps as Ipswich town supporters we should accept that we are an average championship side and adjust our expectation and critisim accordinly.

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KenDubZ added 10:28 - Sep 16 Didn't go to bad to be fair to ya Mr Clegg
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sonian_blue added 10:32 - Sep 16 We are an average Championship club TBB and I dont think all the money spent since ME arrived has really improved us. League positions back that theory anyway. Under Royle and Jims first year we had bargain buys and youth products who had the hunger and determination. Sadly 'financially comfortable' has beens the wrong side of thirty dont.
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Pessimistic added 10:34 - Sep 16 Well said tractorboyblue. Our expectation levels have been far too high for far too long and now it is finally time to put things into perspective. We are doomed!
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itfc1981 added 10:41 - Sep 16 BlueGoonie, ITFC gave, if not false, misleading information for that ticket survey, there are only a very few tickets at that cheap price, on avearage we have one of the highest matchday ticket prices in the country.
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h32 added 10:54 - Sep 16 ................ Clegg - he wouldn't know any better anyway.
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legoman added 10:56 - Sep 16 Bluegoonie. Supporters are fans who pay to be entertained. They will only support in small numbers if dished up garbage. It is not down to the fans to lift players it is down to players to create an atmosphere. Sir Bob turned it around despite constant booing and calls for his head or sacking at the very least. So please all you moaners out there, keep it up!
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DiamondGezzer added 11:29 - Sep 16 BlueGoonie :- Couldn't agree more ! Sorry guys.
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Garv added 11:50 - Sep 16 Seems Clegg's had some homework to do, rather interesting.
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Lennyboy added 11:51 - Sep 16 Regarding ticket prices, they are all too high accross the whole of the football industry. I think most would agree the whole money business in football has got to extremes and has seen us with elite leagues and overpaid footballers. A prospective new supporter will have to pay in the region of £26 to £30 for a decent seat per game, not including refreshments which are a joke; £2.20 for a cup of tea in the Britania Stand. You are looking at £45 min if you include a programme and thats if they go on their own, what about if they want to take someone with them? Prices should be more realistic to attract more people so that we can have capacity grounds and enormous support for the boys, then you would see the increase in confidence. Before anyone comments on buying a season ticket, a prospective supporter wants to see if he likes it before committing £400 to £700.

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Mark added 12:28 - Sep 16 A tribunal is a strange process, as the buying club has to talk the player down while the selling club talks him up. What the player himself has to add, I am not sure! The ticket price survey said £15 is our cheapest ticket, which I believe only applies to early round Carling Cup matches. For league games it is £26+, making us one of the most expensive in the league. Come on Mr Clegg, let's have some ticket price promotions! There are three home matches in October, so how about a 3-for-2 promotion?! The Portsmouth and Palace games are four days apart, so a couple seeing those two have to shell out £104+

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StowTractorBoy added 12:40 - Sep 16 I think we should count ourselves very lucky that for over 50 years we have played our football only in the top two divisions of English football. Much bigger Clubs than us have found themselves in the bottom two divisions during that period i.e. Man City, Wolves, Villa, Birmingham, Sheff U, Sheff W, Forest the list goes on. Expectations are high at this Club because of what Mr. Ramsey and more notably what Sir Bobby achieved and supporters continue to believe that we under achieve. This is nonsense as compared to many we are a small Town Club who have without doubt magnificently over achieved hence our wonderful history. I am very grateful that we are in the second tier of English football and last season we could have been in the third tier - it was very worrying at one stage. The Championship is now becoming Premier 2 and every season it will be harder and harder to achieve promotion. In our league every team is capable of beating the other and no doubt another big name Club will be relegated this season. I say be grateful for what you have and yes I have been negative and worried in the past but will always go to watch my team home and away whatever the circumstances. Finally well done to all including the much maligned Mr. Clegg for the Cresswell negotiations - £500K is what I predicted and thank you Marcus Evans for continuing to back this great football Club of ours.

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UsualSuspect added 13:01 - Sep 16 That's very pragmatic StowTractorBoy, I'd be happy too if I were Mr Clegg, very good value for money, the lad has a great future ahead of him.
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jas0999 added 17:30 - Sep 16 Yep decent enough deal. Cresswell is one of only a few high points during PJ's tenure to date.
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mal1978 added 18:23 - Sep 16 not unreasonable outcome for the club... translation Steal, more than happy with that. However to be fair, when bought, we would not have known how well he would have faired, these are subjective decisions, but so far, this kid has been superb as far as I can work out, against Bristol City, he took one for the team in the nether regions, got up and still tried to tackle... the ipswich fans who were at that end saw that just like I did...

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