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Town Exodus - Ipswich Town News

This week sees a rather empty Town training field as six players join up with international squads. Titus Bramble is with the England U21s, Jim Magilton and Sean Friars are with the Northern Ireland full and U21 sides respectively and Matt Holland is with the Irish squad and wasn't one of the players involved in a car bonnet jumping incident last night they were Phil Babb and Mark Kennedy surprise, surprise.

Dutch youngsters Nabil Abidallah and Guillermo Graaven are with their U18 squad for a tournament in Yugoslavia.

Yesterday's report of Town interest in Steve Guppy look to be without foundation. The Leicester winger is out of favour at Filbert Street and is likely to leave the club, but Town appear not to be interested. The only name that looks vaguely like a real interest of George Burley is that of Mauricio Taricco. The former Town man is out in the cold at Spurs after George Graham signed Ben Thatcher in the summer. He has said he would be happy to join Town if he was getting no first team football at Spurs. It seems all that really stands in the way of a move is George Graham's willingness to let the player go. I suspect we will hear more on the matter over the next few weeks.

Town reserves play their first home match of the season tomorrow night against Leicester (KO 7pm). John Scales hopes his thigh strain will be OK for him to start.

The FA are holding a course for Groundsmen at Town's Bent Lane training ground on September 28th. Town's hero with the lawnmower Alan Ferguson will be the main tutor instructing club or school groundsmen (and presumably women) on the finer points of turf management. The course is run jointly be the FA and the Institute of Groundsmen. The course costs £50 (£40 for Institute of Groundsmen members). Call Bill Steward of the Suffolk FA on 01449 673481 if you are interested.

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