 Friday, 5th Nov 2010 08:28 Town coach Tony Loughlan and chief executive Simon Clegg have dismissed a newspaper claim of a row between manager Roy Keane and striker Connor Wickham as “nonsense”. The pair were speaking after attending last night’s Supporters’ Club AGM in the Legends Bar. Clegg said: “Some of the stuff I read is quite extraordinary. If something like that happened it would be in the local press, it wouldn’t be in the national press. You guys would have heard about it sooner than them and I thought you killed the story brilliantly locally. There was no substance to it.” Loughlan, making his first public appearance since joining the club as Keane’s right-hand man 18 months ago, added: “There’s nothing at all in that, it’s total nonsense.” The Blues chief executive reiterated that the club has no intention of selling Wickham — unless they receive a very substantial offer: “We don’t want to lose Connor, we’ve made it clear. Roy’s made it clear time and time again. “But if someone comes in with an offer that Marcus, Roy and I believe is good for Connor and good for the club, then perhaps we’ll consider it seriously. But we’re a long way from that position at the moment.” Clegg says that as yet no talks have taken place regarding Keane’s contract, which is up at the end of the season: “We’re all incredibly relaxed about it, most of all Roy. Roy’s focused on doing one thing, which is getting the club promoted. If that happens - and so far we’ve had a good start to the season - then that discussion becomes a bit of a no-brainer. “There’s no line in the sand in terms of ‘on that day’. It will be a natural evolution and conversation. We’re very relaxed about it and Roy’s very relaxed about it. We’ll get to that point further down the line.” Talks with players are beginning with 21 having deals which are up at the end of the season: “We’re starting that process but it’s very early days. I’m not going to name individuals but we’re aware of those that are out of contract, we’re aware of those we aspire to keep, but that is work in progress. “Consistent with my usual approach, I’m not going to say anything until we’ve got to a point that I’m in a definitive position to say to you that player X is staying.” Clegg says Wickham, who was only able to sign a two-year deal when he turned 17 in March, is also amongst those who may get new terms: “It’s something that is being given due consideration but we’re not into any detailed negotiations yet. “We’re very conscious of the timelines and we will act accordingly to protect the interests of the club as and when we need to.” The Town chief executive, who joined the Blues two days before Keane and Loughlan in April 2009, has visited various Supporters’ Club branches in addition to last night’s AGM and says it’s a key part of his role: “It’s important that we are seen to be accountable to the fans. “Without the fans the club’s nothing and we need to ensure that, particularly in these challenging times, fans feel that the club cares about them and are prepared to take on board constructive points that they want to bring to the table. “Recently I’ve been to Haverhill, I was in Manningtree last night, Leiston a couple of weeks ago. I’m seeing a lot of dark unlit roads late at night!” he joked. Clegg, who admitted he was more comfortable in his role than he had been at the same event a year ago, both due to his additional experience in the job and the club’s much better league position, was also joined at the top table by PC Marc Norman, Suffolk Constabulary’s football liaison officer. After the formal business of the evening, which amongst other things saw chair Elizabeth Edwards re-elected, it was Norman who fielded many of the earlier questions from the 70 supporters in attendance with some less than happy with the way the Leeds and Millwall games were policed. The failure to hold back Millwall supporters for a period after Saturday’s game was criticised, Norman explaining that tactics used on a specific occasion are based on intelligence and taking each particular event on its own merits, adding that since the death of a protester at last year’s G20 demonstration the guidelines on holding crowds back have changed. Police also weigh up whether holding opposition supporters back inside the ground might potentially lead to damage to the stadium. Norman felt that the media coverage of trouble outside the ground after the Leeds match was exaggerated. The number of Leeds fans in home sections at that game was also criticised, with some supporters particularly unhappy with a group in corporate seats in front of the Galleria. Simon Clegg said that Town are aware of the issues and that in future “further guidance would be taken” when it came to offering this type of ticket to opposition clubs, as had been the case in this instance. With fans pointing out that there were Leeds supporters in various areas of the ground, he added: “I’ve had more complaints about that than anything else. I’ve even had a complaint from a Leeds fan about the behaviour of his own supporters. “Stewards could perhaps have taken more action than they did but fans are often reticent to make complaints.” Given his unfamiliarity despite his 18 months at the club, Loughlan was asked to talk about his background. The one-time striker, whose playing career was cut short by injury, explained that he’d started as a player at Leicester before moving on to Nottingham Forest where he became friends with Roy Keane. While the Blues boss went on to fame and fortune with Manchester United, after a spell in non-league Loughlan went into coaching back at Leicester with their academy. He was reunited with Keane at Sunderland and then Town, forming what Simon Clegg described as a “seamless partnership”. Loughlan responded to a question regarding Luciano Civelli’s future, saying that progress is being made after the Argentinian’s lengthy spell out after a knee injury: “What he needs is games in the reserves. Hopefully Luciano will be back soon.” Later he said that there were no plans to send Civelli out on loan to play matches with the lack of a decent reserve league having been criticised by supporters. Loughlan said that reserves coach Chris Kiwomya had organised a number of friendlies against better quality opposition. Clegg explained that it was important not to play too many reserve games at Portman Road with the pitch starting to show its age despite Alan Ferguson’s excellent work. It needs to be replaced, work which is financially beyond the Blues at the present time. The former British Olympic Association chief said there are no plans to introduce concessions to the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. He pointed to Town’s run of four years without increasing season ticket prices despite costs having risen in that time. He said that the club was “privileged” to receive Marcus Evans’s ongoing investment. Regarding pricing for the West Brom Carling Cup quarter-final, Clegg said that it’s not just a case of Town setting a price but both clubs agreeing. Without giving the prices, he revealed that season ticket holders would get a discount. Loughlan admitted that Town’s set pieces hadn’t been up to scratch recently but said that a lot of work was put in on the training ground: “Three or four corners hit the first defender , which isn’t good enough.” The Town coach said that he and Roy Keane are comfortable with the current right-back situation. He feels that Jaime Peters is a utility player, while Tommy Smith and Tom Eastman are centre-halves/full-backs as opposed to just central defenders. Loughlan dismissed suggestions that the club was making do at right-back: “Jaime Peters, Tom Eastman and Troy Brown have done well. “Jaime Peters has done a very good man-marking job on players such as Reading’s Jimmy Kebe, he’s one of the best in the Championship at that. They’re good players who acquit themselves well.” Loughlan said that the side’s system of utilising three central midfielders and a single central striker was developed due to the tendency to concede goals during the last campaign and Luke Hyam’s emergence in the holding role. After it worked in pre-season it was taken into the season proper and helped the Blues get off to a winning start at Middlesbrough. Speaking about the use of one striker, Loughlan said that a flat two-man strike force is a thing of the past with one frontman always likely to be withdrawn when utilising this system these days. The 40-year-old felt that at the beginning of the season most fans would have been happy to find the Blues a point off the play-offs at this stage, despite the recent poorer run. Clegg was confident that next summer there would be no repeat of the situation which occurred with the Spurs friendly, which in the end was to all intents and purposes a reserve team game costing fans £15 a ticket. One supporter commented on the lack of width in the side at present, Loughlan pointing to Andros Townsend’s performance at Millwall in the Carling Cup in particular and also Carlos Edwards and Jaime Peters’s abilities in wide positions. April’s Portman Road derby will be played in the evening for the first time in more than a decade and some fans were keen that the game shouldn’t be “over-policed”. PC Marc Norman said it was a decision which would be made by more senior officers. A call for a continuation of fixtures at more ‘normal’ times received applause. Suffolk Constabulary’s usual policy of moving derbies to Sunday lunchtimes when similar matches elsewhere are regularly played at 3pm was criticised with Norman pointing out that Suffolk and Norfolk have relatively small police forces compared with many other parts of the country. Clegg admitted the club could have done better regarding the pre-season tour, which ended up as the single game at PSV: “We accept responsibility that the Holland tour was only one game with the other game falling through. We will do our best to do things earlier this time around.” Loughlan admitted that he’d like the squad to be stronger, mentioning the additional depth of the likes of QPR, Cardiff and Forest, but added that the emergence of the latest crop of youngsters has been a big positive. Clegg says manager Keane is constantly thinking of ways he can improve his squad and who he might want to bring in, adding that he believes the team is better than it was a year ago and that Marcus Evans has been very supportive when it comes to bringing in players. Promotion to the Premier League at the earliest opportunity would mean that there is a lot that could be done both on the field and off it, Clegg said, citing the work required to improve the pitch. The chief executive was responding to one fan’s belief that the club needed to spend up to five years building in order to go up and stay up. However, Clegg agreed with the supporter that managers need to be given time: “There is no better example of that than here last year.” Loughlan felt that it was difficult for any Championship club to get themselves truly ready for the Premier League. Clegg confirmed that funds are available for additional members of the squad, describing the situation as “fluid” with regular conversations taking place between himself, Evans and Keane. He added that Keane was “not unrealistic” with the players he has been targeting. The meeting ended with praise for Tamás Priskin, Loughlan agreeing with a fan’s view that the Hungarian was starting to impress and adding that he hopes it will continue. Clegg said he was hopeful that having made a good start, it’s going to be a memorable campaign: “I’m confident like Tony and Roy that we’ve got a good team and we can do something special this season. I’m very excited about what we can do this season.”
Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 298 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
