Colchester manager Aidy Boothroyd says his club can't afford the fee the Blues are asking for striker Kevin Lisbie or match his Championship wages. Town have recalled the frontman at the halfway stage of his season-long loan with the U’s.

Boothroyd says he would love Lisbie to stay but says that may not be possible: “I like him a lot and I would really like to keep him but he is Ipswich Town’s player.

“It’s up to Roy Keane and Ipswich what they do with him. But we’ll monitor the situation.

“I don’t think we can afford the fee they are asking or the wages Championship clubs can afford. But we may be able to come up with something at the end of January.”

That suggests Colchester may look for a further loan deal if the ex-Charlton man hasn't already been sold to another club.

Blues boss Keane has said Town received interest in Lisbie from a number of other interested parties during the striker’s spell at Colchester, which yielded 10 goals.

Lisbie himself wants to stay at Colchester and admits that his refusal to move closer to Town is part of the reason for his lack of involvement since Keane took over as manager: “The gaffer has not lost any hope in signing me and hopefully they can sort something out.

“I’ve not had a call from Ipswich yet and I’ll wait for them to contact me. I can’t see myself playing there. I’ll not move down and that was the reason why I wasn’t playing before.”

Lisbie is contracted to the Blues until June 2011, having signed from Colchester for £750,000 in the summer of 2008.

Photo: Action Images

jas0999 added 10:45 - Dec 30 Interesting how Lisbie has changed his tune. Previously he was slating Roy for 'not even giving him a chance to play' - when of course Lisbie played (albeit very poorly) in both games at the end of last season. Bottom line is Lisbie was not very good for us and I don't blame, Roy, Marcus or Simon trying to cash in on him. We need to recoup some of the 750K we wasted.
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Happy2bBlue added 10:51 - Dec 30 If Colchester want him that much I'm sure a fee of around 300-400k in instalments could be aranged, it is probably more about Lisbie not being prepared to take a drop in wages.
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nobrain added 10:53 - Dec 30 Hard to believe that location was the real issue, given that Colchester is so close to Ipswich. "I can't see myself playing there." Well, there are about 20,00 people who wouldn't want you to anyway mate.
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BrianTablet added 10:56 - Dec 30 Hello people, surely he is worth every penny of the 'free' we should give him as long as he is banging in the goals that may keep Budgies in Div 1!
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taximan added 10:57 - Dec 30 oh dear, are things so hard for you to understand. keano insists on his players living close to the training ground, obviously boothroyd allows lisbie to commute from london. simples
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bleedblue added 11:02 - Dec 30 taximan - nail on the head Lets be honest, ME is no fool, we obviously have clubs offering us half decent money for him already so by contract he must not on a temp loan deal running, he will be sold within week one of January.
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backinbeige added 11:02 - Dec 30 It shouldn't matter where a player lives as long as he arrives for training and matches on time and unaffected. Not sure why Keane thinks an extra half/hour's drive is going to have such an adverse effect - is it more an issue of discipline?
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nobrain added 11:03 - Dec 30 The only thing that I find hard to understand is why anyone would want the lazy git back here.
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taximan added 11:06 - Dec 30 ffs, sitting in a car is proven to have adverse effects on calfs, hamstrings etc. keane makes the rules, i would suggest he knows more about these things than you. he used to commute to celtic, and he suffered more injuries in that period than ever before.
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taximan added 11:08 - Dec 30 no-one wants lisbie here, i am merely attempting to explain to the un-educated amongst you.
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xrayspecs added 11:11 - Dec 30 I expect Lisbie to sign another loan deal with Col U at the end of the Jan. He clearly wants to stay at Col U and unless a more attractive option materialises closer to his London base, he can simply sit on his hands and refuse to sign for anyone else.
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taximan added 11:15 - Dec 30 tell col who to shove any loan deal up their ar$e. it is obvious we are still paying a % of his wages. i would rather he stayed at PR than went out on loan with us still paying him.
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matt_the_blue added 11:15 - Dec 30 taximan - Spot on, if he's going to commute and put his fitness at risk then I'd rather he did that for Col U than us. I say Roy should drop the asking price and get rid - some more cash towards finding a target man in the transfer window.
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jas0999 added 11:16 - Dec 30 taximan - totally agree with all of your comments.
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jas0999 added 11:17 - Dec 30 p.s. the commuting issue is a reason why Thatcher is unlikely to play for us again!
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nobrain added 11:18 - Dec 30 taximan - I agree with you. My earlier point was that it was not really about location for Lisbie - I just think that he doesn't want to play for ITFC/RK. He wants to stay in his 'comfort zone' at Colchester.
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Johnny_Boy added 11:20 - Dec 30 Aidy Blubroyd. We'll sell him to someone else then... preferably up north so he'll have to commute 6hrs a day.
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taximan added 11:21 - Dec 30 sorry nobrain but, the main issue between keano and lisbie is his reluctance to move to ipswich. lisbie has a family home in london and refuses to move. col utd obviously allow him to commute, keane will not allow this.
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xrayspecs added 11:22 - Dec 30 JB We can not sell him to a club he does not want to join. Unless an attractive option materialises - football wise and financially, he will simply sit on his existing contract for next eighteen months.
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Tractorog added 11:24 - Dec 30 I notice that Shumi has not set the world alight at Preston. People (me included) go on about Rhodes, but few other of RK's releases would cause doubts about his judgement. Lisbie may be banging them in for the Col - but his attitude stinks.
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halliday05 added 11:25 - Dec 30 if he dosent want to play champinship football and he wants to play in league one football sell him the money could go to a new striker to partner stead.
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Blue_Fred added 11:41 - Dec 30 i agree with the general points of view here. we don't want him and he doesn't want to be here - so go then!! the intersting point in this story is regarding wages, sounds like even if we let the little mercenary go on a free his egotistic demands for salary would prevent his beloved Col U from signing him anyway.
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HighSeasBlue added 11:42 - Dec 30 Might as well let him go for a minimal fee, it get's him off our wage bill and if he loves Col U that much then he will be prepared to take a wage drop!
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SomershamBlue added 11:44 - Dec 30 Location, location, location. I wonder if Lisbie would relocate if Man Utd wanted him?
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imalwayswrong added 11:50 - Dec 30 I can see Lisbie going to Leeds once Beckford is sold in the Jan window.
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