Boss Roy Keane says contract talks have begun with skipper David Norris and key defender Gareth McAuley but hints that a large number of Town’s 21 out of contract players might not be kept on beyond the end of their current terms. The Blues manager says the club needs to undergo “big changes”.
Keane, whose own deal is up in June, said: "I think there have been negotiations with David Norris and Gareth McAuley, but I leave that up to Simon Clegg.
"There are other players and a lot of the younger boys but I think there need to be massive changes at the football club and hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that. Big changes. There has to be a massive rethink of the football club and how it’s run.”
TWTD revealed that talks had begun with 31-year-old McAuley on Wednesday, while Norris, 29, has confirmed that he intends to sign his new deal. We understand both players have been offered two-year extensions to their spells at Portman Road.
At last week’s AGM, chief executive Clegg said decisions had been made on who the Blues management want to remain with the club: "We know whose contracts are coming to an end and Roy, myself and the owner are agreed on who we want to keep, and those conversations are in train.”
Midfielder Carlos Edwards has revealed, in an interview with Radio Suffolk, that he is yet to be offered new terms: "I haven't heard a word. I'd love to stay on as long as possible. But with the situation maybe contract talk is on hold and until further notice my job is to concentrate on trying to get us back up the table."
Edwards, who played under Keane at Sunderland, says the Blues boss is showing no signs of the current pressure: "He's the same old Roy Keane that I knew from then until now. I've not seen any signs of him cracking.
"We were having him banter within training because he was cloaked up from head to toe. So obviously we told him he was a bit soft. It's a bit of banter between manager and player and when it comes to proper training we are professionals."
The 21 out of contract at the end of the season are Brian Murphy, Gareth McAuley, Damien Delaney, Carlos Edwards, David Norris, Arran Lee-Barrett, Ian McLoughlin, Alan Quinn, Luke Hyam, Troy Brown, Tom Eastman, Colin Healy, Billy Clark, Reggie Lambe, Ronan Murray, Jack Ainsley, David Cawley, Jamie Griffiths and Conor Hourihane, plus Pablo Couñago and Kevin Lisbie, who are out on loan for the season at Crystal Palace and Millwall respectively.
In addition, first-year pro Seb Dunbar is contracted until January, when Darren O'Dea, Jake Livermore, Jack Colback, Gianni Zuiverloon and Rory Fallon's loans come to an end, while Andros Townsend's spell from Spurs is up at the end of the season.