Town boss Paul Jewell says skipper Grant Leadbitter’s agent has told him that the 25-year-old is happy to take his time before deciding on his future. Leadbitter, who was targeted by new Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cotterill when he was at Portsmouth in the summer, is out of contract at the end of the season and able to talk to other clubs from January.

Jewell, perhaps hinting that the Blues might consider selling the £2.65 million September 2009 signing from Sunderland if a deal can’t be done, says that ideally he’d like to see the midfielder agree a new deal, having turned down Town's initial offer: “I spoke to his agent at the back end of last week and he said Grant is happy just to see how it goes.

“Fair play to Grant, he’s not banging on the door, he’s not sulking, he’s just trying his best and seeing what happens.

“I spoke with his agent and Marcus has spoken to him. We’d like to sign Grant but we’ll have to see what happens in January - whether we can come to some arrangement or what.

“Grant has never indicated to me that it’s a big issue to him. We’ve got a lot of players whose contracts are up this year.

“It’s a difficult time for a manager to try to balance it up [with things] in the air but no one’s knocked on my door and agents haven’t been ringing me up asking me what’s going on.”

Town have 18 players whose terms are up this season. In addition to Leadbitter, Mark Kennedy, Tommy Smith, Shane O’Connor, Carlos Edwards, Ibrahima Sonko, Ívar Ingimarsson, Lee Bowyer, Josh Carson, Colin Healy, Luke Hyam, Jason Scotland, Tamás Priskin, Ronan Murray, Cody Cropper and Cormac Burke all have deals which end on June 30th next year, although some of those contracts include options for a further season.

Jack Ainsley and Jamie Griffiths, who recently returned from his loan at Plymouth, have six-month contracts, which are up at the end of December.

While the Blues boss admits that the longer the season goes on the harder it can be to tie soon-to-be-out-of-contract players down, he says the situation can work to everyone’s advantage with players who want to remain at the club having to prove themselves: “If the players want to stay here, then it’s up to them to prove they deserve it with their performances.

“The better they play, the better it is for everybody. It makes it more difficult for us if they want to go somewhere else, but if they want to stay here, it makes it easier for us to sign them.”

Meanwhile, Jewell says discussions continue regarding Josh Carson's new contract: “We’re trying to sort out a new deal with Josh, we have been for a while.

“When he came back from pre-season he didn’t come back in the greatest of shapes. He was told and he’s knuckled down, has worked hard, he’s got himself back in the fold and he came on the other day and scored a goal.

“He’s a young player, 18, and we can’t expect him to play week-in, week-out, but we think he’s an outstanding prospect for the future.”

Photo: Action Images

pazelle added 08:35 - Nov 18 I know Jewell likes players to earn their big contracts, but being stingy with contracts will see our young players go elsewhere - they're only human! Carson deserves a first team squad size wage, hopefully he plays Saturday as well - he didn't do much wrong against Donny innit. If Leadbitter's not going to commit then maybe we should look to someone more committed as skipper? I can't think of a worse player to be skipper in our recent history! I'd give it to Bullard, or Andrews if he signs permanently. What happened to players loving football and not caring about the contracts... More playing going on off the field these days. Leadbitter hasn't earned a bigger contract, he should rip our arms off is he's being offered the same terms imo

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suffolkpoker added 08:38 - Nov 18 We dont have time with leadbitter, i want him to stay, but if he hasnt signed his contract by Jan 1st i say we boot him out. Thats plenty of time imo
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RYITFC added 08:52 - Nov 18 Anyone feeling a bit of deja vu? Its quite clear what is going to happen we will get a story like this every month or so and before you know it he will leave on a free. I personally feel Grant has a debt to the Ipswich supporters as we have not seen reflected on the pitch the £2.5 Mil odd we paid for him. Both Keane and Jewell have always stuck with him and he really should pay them back for the faith they've shown in him. He's our captain, if our captain's not going to commit his future to the club what sort of example does this set to the other lads, If Grant doesn't sign soon captaincy should be stripped and he should be dropped, give a chance to someone who is proud to where the shirt.

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Marshalls_Mullet added 08:58 - Nov 18 RIP football.
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Kingston added 09:07 - Nov 18 Why can't we expect Carson to play week in week out?! Wickham did!
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JewellintheTown added 09:30 - Nov 18 "Play It Nice And Cool Trig, Nice And Cool"
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Jewell_do added 09:31 - Nov 18 After 2 years of shiite, why the hell are we looking to sign Leadbitter? Massive wages could be spent elsewhere. Accept £250,000 and sell him in Jan.
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OldClactonBlue added 09:53 - Nov 18 With any luck Cotterill will still want him and he can go in January. What sort of contract does he want, if we offered him what he is worth he'd be paying us back for the last two seasons! I would not offer him anything. Annoying to make another loss on a Keane decision but Evans can afford it.
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village_blue added 10:00 - Nov 18 Agree that if Leadbitter has not signed by Jan 1st that we should look to cash in on him.RYITFC your comment about being stripped of the captaincy will not happen just think back a year and who was our captain and what happened to him . As for making Bullard captain thats a complete joke as on current form he should not be in our starting 11,but there again neither should Leadbitter.But i doubt PJ has the bottle to drop them.

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BlueMeAway added 10:59 - Nov 18 Let him go. Accept any fee. He will leave in the summer anyway. It has been said many a times on here, but why on earth is our captain someone who won't commit? Basically, every game we loose now, many fans will question how much our own captain actually cares, and whether he is just counting down the days until he can leave. Andrews is a good shout for skipper. I love Jimmy but he shouldnt have the starting 11 so easily handed to him on a plate.

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itfc1981 added 11:26 - Nov 18 Perhaps he could "help" Norwich?
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algarvefan added 11:31 - Nov 18 I love these cocky little sh**es, they think they can demand what they like without putting in the performances to warrant it. Payment on results might make a few of these overpaid idiots put in a bit more effort marshalls mullet is right RIP Football!!! How I long for the 70's back again, real men, real footballers.
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Mark added 12:15 - Nov 18 Perhaps we should have a whip round outside the stadium to collect some money for Grant or email the club to ask them to put up ticket prices to fund a new deal for him? Anyone agree? I thought not! We should have sold Leadbitter in the summer if anyone would buy him, which I doubt as he is a mediocre performer who doesn't score goals (other than penalties), who can't take decent corners or free kicks, and who doesn't seem to show any leadership qualities at all. How on earth is he captain?! Strip him of that, withdraw his contract offer, transfer list him and spend the money on a younger defensive midfielder I say.

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broomfield123 added 12:30 - Nov 18 The more I hear about hanging out for more money and all the more I lose intreast in the game. Watched my 1st game aged 8 on boxing day 83 when we beat. Wolves 3 1. I loved every bit of in that era with the players actually intreasted in playing the game . Happy days
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Lightningboy added 12:42 - Nov 18 Get rid asap..won't be missed.
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Keaneish added 12:49 - Nov 18 ...and during this your value decreases. C**k.
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Blue041273 added 13:00 - Nov 18 This is another dog's breakfast. PJ may well want GL to sign another contract but with ME holding the purse strings and hopefully looking for better value from the cash he's putting in PJ is likely to be disappointed. Given GL has rejected the contract offered to him I feel that there is nothing to be gained by taking this saga very much further. Unless he is prepared to commit now GL should be stripped of the captaincy and put up for sale in the January transfer window. As PJ is fond of saying 'we move on'.

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PSGBlue added 13:01 - Nov 18 As already said, give him till Jan 1st then put him up for sale. Use the money raised to invest in both Andrews and Collins, making Collins the Capt.
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saffronblue added 13:07 - Nov 18 Not too worried this time round as none of those listed are part of the spine of the team. Suspect Leadbitter will leave on a free in eth summer which is a shame as we paid a lot of money for him and in Salary with no return. Would be good to keep a couple of the youngsters, Carson, Murray and possibly Hyam and Scotland is probably worth another year.
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ipswich1992 added 13:22 - Nov 18 Get rid. Not great anyway would rather see hyam given a go. He wouldnt make my starting 11 anyway. Id take anything over 250k in january give collims captancy omce he has signed permanantly or andrews the same. The worrying thing for me is our team now reminds me if the norwich team that got relegated made up of has beens and loans this doesnt work as these players arnt willing to play for the club. Why does it matter to them if we go down they dont support the club we are just giving them there last pay cheque. U see it time and time again we really do need hungry young players who are willimg to play for each other put in the effort and wear the shirt with pride. Install pace into our team freshen up the squad a bit with young signings, get attacking at teams and playing football the ipswich way, the noise from the crowd will follow and letd just see where it takes us. I want to start enjoying going to watch ipswich play on saturday again. COYBs

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PimsNumber1 added 14:13 - Nov 18 i THINK PORTSMOUTH OFFERED 1.5 mill for him in the summer. i really dont know why we didnt take it !!!??? Could he be worth only 250k now ? Actually i dont rate him so 250k is really his worth unfortunately. i can never understand the maths with players running their contracts down and clubs not selling well before that happens
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alfromcol added 15:29 - Nov 18 Sounds like the Norris saga all over again!!
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DiamondGezzer added 15:46 - Nov 18 If he were outstanding every Saturday, scoring, passing, laying his body on the line for the team [ and club ] I could understand the fuss about re-signing him. I'm not trying to find a scapegoat, but I honestly can't think of a thing he brings to the table except ineffectual back passes and duff set plays. Sell while he at least has some value [ financially speaking ] !

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yorksblue added 16:52 - Nov 18 Drop him now, strip him of captaincy now and sell for whatever we can get in Jan. He's the worst captain in over 30yrs of watching town (Williams and Linighan included)
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h32 added 17:53 - Nov 18 ........... after all this, our so called Manager still has him as Team Captain - speechless. How can he ever justify that ???? - but then the only thing he himself does well is talk, talk and talk - yet more rubbish.
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