Town have contacted all other Football League clubs to make them aware of the availability of eight senior players. Alex Bruce, Owen Garvan, Alan Quinn, Colin Healy, Jon Stead, Lee Martin, Kevin Lisbie and Pablo Couñago are the eight players named in a circular which was sent out earlier this week.

All eight either spent much of last season on loan or in and out of Roy Keane's first team at Portman Road.

The inclusion of Jon Stead and Alex Bruce on the 'for sale' list probably suggests their proposed moves to former loan clubs Coventry and Leicester have fallen through with both Midlands sides changing their manager since the end of the season.

Kevin Lisbie, who spent the whole of last season on loan at Colchester, is already understood to be interesting a number of sides with Millwall having made their interest known.

All the players on the list are contracted until 2011, except Lee Martin, who may prove the hardest to move on, the former Manchester United man signing a four-year contract worth £12,000-a-week a year ago, terms which are unlikely to be on offer anywhere else after last year’s disappointing showing.

It’s no surprise that Roy Keane is looking to off-load a significant number of fringe players, the Blues boss revealing that exits would need to take place to partly fund his planned summer spending back in April: “At the moment, in the reserve group, we’ve got too many experienced players on too big wages. I don’t want that at the football club.”

Keane, who plans to have a smaller squad for the 2010/11 campaign with David Wright, Richard Wright and Liam Trotter already departed, also warned that moving players on might not prove a simple task: “It’s easier said than done. The players are under contract, they don’t want to move and when it’s clear to them that I don’t see them in my plans, some players will just sit tight. It’s about trying to find them the right clubs, but that will be down to their agents.”

Owner Marcus Evans also made the intention to shift out unwanted squad members clear in his programme statement at the end of the season: "While Roy has identified four or five players he would like to bring to Portman Road, he's also aware that he has a big squad and he's looking to trim that down. It's about getting the balance right."

One name which fans may be surprised to see missing from the list is striker Tamás Priskin, who failed to live up to his £1.7 million price-tag after joining the Blues from Watford last summer. It appears the Hungarian international, who spent the second half of the season on loan at QPR, will be given another opportunity to prove himself at Portman Road next season.

Elsewhere, Town’s chances of signing long-term target Michael Chopra could be enhanced by the Bluebirds' financial problems apparently continuing, despite their recent takeover by a Malaysian consortium.

A report in Wales claims Cardiff have so far failed to pay their players this month, having cancelled their pre-season tour at short notice.

The Welsh club are also due to make a £1.5 million payment to Sunderland by the end of July, part of the deal which saw the 26-year-old return to Cardiff last summer.

Chopra’s contract also included a clause which would see him receive an improved deal if he scored 20 goals in a season, which he did during 2009/10. The ex-Newcastle trainee is still to hold much-reported talks with his club regarding his future.

Meanwhile, Town's Ticket Office are selling tickets for the pre-season game against PSV in Eindhoven on Saturday 17th July (KO 7pm), priced at £4.25 with a donation going to KWF, the Dutch Cancer Foundation.

The match is part of PSV’s fans’ day, which starts at 4pm with food, drink and PSV-related items available at booths in car park P2 and in the Stadium Square in front of PSV FANworld.

The stadium itself opens at 5.30pm when music will be played and PSV TV films will be shown on large video screens. The coaching staff and players will be introduced to the crowd from 6pm and PSV’s summer signings will be unveiled and interviewed.

Photo: Action Images

noitan added 18:21 - Jun 30 Mark. Your 1st paragraph sums up the situation perfectly. Everyone back for pre-season and it is a shambles at present.
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Bergholtblue added 18:35 - Jun 30 There are no surprises on that list. All of them were nver in Keanes reckoning and only played when he was unable to get the beast out of the others. The biggest shock was who the hell sanctioned Lee martin of 12 grand a week.
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PhoenixArizonaFan added 18:49 - Jun 30 I see so many complaints about beefing up the squad, but take a look at the core squad we have right now. Murphy, MaCauley, Delaney, Smith, Leadbitter, Civelli, Norris, O'Connor, Walters, Wickham, Priskin I personally don't think that is a bad line up at all. If we add Chopra to that list, I think we'll be doing fine. Our back end did well last season as made evident by the number of draws. Our offense struggled as made evident by the number of draws. If we get Wickham and Walters out there more and add Priskin or Chopra to the fold, I think we'll do well this season.

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WadzillaBhoy added 19:06 - Jun 30 Wow lots of comments! Only read the first two pages so far but I love the fact that the people who are upset at Garvan being put up for sale all spelt his name wrong! Priceless, obviously won't be missed that much! I must admit I do like the guy but lets be honest he looks like he doesn't care any more. If Martin was on a lower wage I'd keep him as he could turn good but 12K a week he must be laughing his way to the bank. We will probably need to sell all of these players to raise the £4M needed for Chopra! The main benefit will be the drop in wages not the money raised from the individual transfers. Still everyone is complaining about squad depth we have decent youngsters who will actually play for the shirt. Keano is doing the right thing by giving the youngsters a chance to develop and I am relishing the prospect of Peters as our RB. Keep the faith, Keano is the right man for the job. COYB Keano's Barmy (/Slightly smaller) Army!

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Mark added 19:18 - Jun 30 > Personaly i'm not too bothered about morale. Well, the teams that do best nearly always have good morale. Take Blackpool last year, they all really wanted to play for Holloway and for each other. We have the opposite of that. > Murphy, MaCauley, Delaney, Smith, Leadbitter, Civelli, Norris, O'Connor, Walters, Wickham, Priskin That list has no right back. Smith had a good World Cup, but hasn't yet shown he is a starting 11 player for Ipswich. Civelli has been out such a long time that we can't rely on him being as good as his promising start. Wickham is still very young and we shouldn't rely on him every week. Priskin has looked terrible for Ipswich. To me our squad looks very thin indeed!

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noitan added 19:30 - Jun 30 If the chosen 8 leave the club then I would say that 5 players who are significantly better than those will be needed to give us a squad that has a chance of competing for a top 6 place. We have lost both Colback and Murphy, who were very influential last season and they will not be easy to replace. Better players than we are letting go are also going to cost money and their wages eg. for Chopra will be significant. RK and SC have a massive task in sorting this lot out before the season starts.

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fatuncle added 19:39 - Jun 30 Roy after the last game of the season "straight off to start his work preparing for the new season" Ha!
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brian_a_mul added 19:44 - Jun 30 I cant wait to cee Civelli back in action, he is like a new signing. He will provide greater balance. Smith and Wickham will be stronger this season following good performances during the summer. I too cant wait to see Peters in action. He came on leaps and bounds last season. Delaney/MacAuley have formed a good partnership at the back with Murphy. A very solid foundation. O'Connor looks a fine prospect. Leadbitter, Norris & Walters give an energetic and tough midfield. Wickham up front is a beast. Throw in the forementioned Smith, Peters & Cevilli, The core of the team is very good and Keane at least knows this. Its developing a quality squad around this core is important. We can see what Keane is doing. These key players are all hard working, energetic and at a good age to last a plenty of years yet. The players on the transfer list are either pushing on (Lesbie/Counago/Quinn/Healy), have poor attitudes (Stead/Garvan) or just cost a lot in wages (Bruce/Martin). Im not a big Keane fan but I see what he is trying to do. I think if we have a good start we will see a different Town from what we suffered last season. Winning some early games will breed confidence and help the players relax. I think we will do well this season!

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noitan added 19:45 - Jun 30 Fatuncle. Perhaps he did but forgot that he had to get rid of players before signing new ones. ME said as much in the program notes for last match of season. ME, SC and RK need to be singing from same hymn sheet, they don't appear to be doing so.
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SurreyITFC added 19:59 - Jun 30 Keep The Faith! Now that some of the players have had a 1st season to settle both on & off the pitch, I'm sure we will hit the ground running & have a much better season. When you look at the team sheet we have I believe as strong a team as any and the players need a good start to breed confidence! COYB - Keano Keano Keano
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Mark added 20:23 - Jun 30 > have poor attitudes (Stead/Garvan) Stead has a poor attitude? Can you back this up? I accept his limitations, but I thought he always worked hard and gave his all.
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kentblue added 21:04 - Jun 30 Complete madness ! Stead , Garvan and Counago should be kept . Please put Keane on the transfer list NOW ! He has NO idea how to manage players . These players could serve the club well under a decent manager. Keane is allowing the club to slide into oblivion .
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apm_77 added 21:04 - Jun 30 To put it bluntly, what madman decided to pay Martin 12k a week?! I know he looks a decent player and clearly nobody can work out his best posistion, but that's crazy money for a lad Man U kept farming out on loan for years before we picked him up. On that sort of money we'd best find him a place in the side and get him playing, sharpish! As for the others, to be frank it's no surprise, I'd love to see Pablo running things but his face clearly doesn't fit. Stead's career will never recover from that red card at Palace, he might have got 15 goals last term if not for that, As for the rest, it's a mixed back of bits and pieces players, a kid (Garvan) who just needs a fresh start, and a greedy journeyman striker only with us for money.

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ChambersM added 21:17 - Jun 30 What a joke how can someone say garvan and stead have bad attitudes that's just an excuse to get rid of them. Garv is our biggest creative force and yet keane refuses to play him? Bruce always gave 100 per cent and this time last year everyone loved him.stead isn't prolific but has always scored goals for us and is a good finisher and considering we havn got a replacement lined up it would be worth keeping him. Tell you what let's get keane out and mogga will make the right decision

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shaunest1 added 21:26 - Jun 30 at last the pro keanoes are seeing wat we hav seen, and been saying for a long long time, get rid of him b4 he wastes r transfer budget, curbs in, or ipswich elvis
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Lightningboy added 21:28 - Jun 30 I'd rather keep Garvan,Counago,Stead & Bruce and offload Keane. This shambles just gets bigger by the day..why weren't they made available for transfer 2 months ago when the season ended?..what the hell has Roy been doing since then?...oh yeah,digging his garden over...div.
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Monkey_Blue added 21:34 - Jun 30 ChambersM...keane has criticised the attitude of every team mate and pretty much evey player he has ever managed...some of you should read the rubbish he put in his book. He is not honest, he has no integrity and whats clear is he hasn't a clue how to manage players or create a football team.
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Lightningboy added 21:36 - Jun 30 ..and to be honest,I don't think i've ever felt so disillusioned in my time as a town fan..cannot wait for Keane to leave.
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MyBlueHeaven added 21:43 - Jun 30 as some people have said... putting them on the transfer list doesn't mean all 8 will go. but if they do, then not necessarily a bad thing - clears out some deadwood, frees up funds and creates (hopefully) a tighter unit by making the first team squad smaller. i can see Bruce, Stead, Quinn, Lisbie and possibly Counago being signed by other clubs. But Martin on £12k a week? And not sure Garvan will have many suitors - not in Championship anyway. Real shame that - the guys got talent but he's drifted not just under Keane but under Magilton too. You have to wonder why Keane not oinly signed Martin but offered him a 4 year contract. OK, so not him doing the contracts but he would've had a say in it surely? And he must've had confidence in the player to offer a contract of that length. So that has to go down as poor judgement - and use of money - by Keane. As for Healy... again, another poor signing by Keane but at least you can say it was a cheap gamble. Or if we want to be cynical, perhaps Keane just bought to help out a financially stricken Irish club?

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bluearmy4life added 21:48 - Jun 30 The script is written for next season already. I would of personally kept bruce, garvan, and stead. All three are good enough to play for town at championship level without a doubt. The rest of the players is wise to get rid though iam sad to see pabs going and has been very much a fans favourite but we do need goals and consitency. As for lee martin and healy just adding to keane's mistakes in the transfer market. I think if we are having a clear out we may as well see keane leave too, start a fresh new manager, new ideas, new players, not the same old problems week in week out and the same comments and excuses.

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WREXHAM_BLUE added 21:50 - Jun 30 Whilst I never like to see players leave, I'm not wholly surprised by this. I would imagine the chances of all moving on during the summer however are slim; though there may be a few loans amongst them I guess. Having said that, as we've read lately that we're struggling to get players in, I would have thought we'd be looking to keep more than we release until we actually sign someone!! All in all, pretty depressing at the moment.

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punch_bowl added 21:54 - Jun 30 i've been going to Portman Road for 34 years.....apart from a 3 players I've never seen such a weak squad!
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itfc1981 added 21:56 - Jun 30 we're doomed, doomed. send Keaneo to the wild and lonely Isle of Barra!
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Mungo added 22:11 - Jun 30 Can't disagree with wanting to move these players on. Keane clearly has issue with them or they have demonstrated that they aren't really up to scratch at some point. Unfortunately they won't bring much in in the way of transfer fees (We'll be lucky to get £1m for the lot I reckon) but there should be a big saving in terms of wages as a result. If RK can shift this lot, then he might not have to sell one of the players he wants to keep. The puzzling thing for me is the timing. Why not do this at the end of last season? Trying to move on a third of the squad just three days into pre seaason training is bound to have a serious effect on morale? Hopefully things can be turned around quickly... The more I hear about it the more unbelievable/infuriating it is! To spend so much money on the back of two mediocre loan spells and and the label of being a Man Utd youth player is absolutely criminal. Comparable to the Finidi George deal in terms of relative expense/lack of impact (at least we got a few goals out of Finidi!). The moral of the story is to properly scout players before investing heavily...

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WashbrookBlue added 22:30 - Jun 30 Could be a more depressing start to pre season than this? No progress on desired signings ( if that included Derry is that god or bad??!), 8 players hanging around like a bad smell, obvious disharmony between manager & chief exec puppet. Dear God, if there's a strategy in all of this then I'm b***ered if I can see it. And to think that w*nkers like Priskin and Edwards aren't even in the 8 just makes it worse. One is left with the distinct impression that ME is not prepared to seriously fund Keane's choices (which persist in being crap , Derry, I ask you!!) but can't afford to sack him either - which is just about the worst of both worlds. Any objective analysis (which has always eluded those who bought into the Keano myth) would conclude that we are in a horrible mess that just keeps getting worse with every twist. Stuck with who we don't want and unable to attract even any more Sunderland old lags. When all's said and done , the name Lee Martin will be writ large on Keane's managerial epitaph just as Finidi's was on GB's Ipswich headstone.

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