Key defender Gareth McAuley has revealed that he has rejected the new contract offered by the Blues and says his future should have been sorted last summer. The Northern Irishman, who is amongst 21 players out of contract at the end of the season, also confirmed that the Blues turned down offers for him in the close season.

McAuley said: “It’s a funny one. And it should have been sorted out last summer. Ipswich turned down a couple of offers for me and if they were keen to keep me they should have offered me a new deal then instead of letting it drag on for months.”

SPL giants Rangers were believed to have made offers for the former Leicester and Lincoln man during the summer and may well renew their interest with the 31-year-old able to talk to other clubs now he has fewer than six months remaining on his current contract. Premier League Bolton were also linked.

The former skipper confirmed TWTD’s earlier reports that he, along with current captain David Norris, had been offered a two-year deal by the Blues but says it doesn't match his expectations: “I was eventually offered a two-year contract four weeks ago, but it was not right for me and I told the club with the ball now back in their court.

“There have been further discussions, but we don’t seem any further forward. I’m happy here, but I have got to look after number one at this stage of my career.

“There is no way I look at the grass being greener on the other side of the fence and I’m not after silly money. The contract offer is not right at the moment.”

Prior to his sacking, former manager Roy Keane had targeted signing veteran Irish international centre-half Andy O’Brien - who has subsequently moved from Bolton to Leeds - which may have indicated that he expected McAuley to leave Portman Road at some point in the months to come.

Photo: Action Images

whoppit added 16:10 - Jan 11 Jewell will make him stay. He will tie him up and spank him until he signs !!!
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blue added 16:10 - Jan 11 Good clearout needed fight for survival and evans pop a few quid to pj and rebuild , if nobody wants to renew its money they want but pride playing for us comes FIRST !!!!!
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depressed added 16:13 - Jan 11 What on earth is going on at PR. Mac's contract should have been sorted months ago. If he see's out his contract and leaves it will cost town £750,000+ to find a good enough replacement. Clegg, sit down with him now and sort it out.
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Seasonticketsteve added 16:13 - Jan 11 Sorry Macauley but if you dont want to stay then you know where the door is, dont let it hit you on the way out. Like the manager, one man does not make a team and I would rather we built a team around players who want to be here, Troy Brown and Tommy Smith are the future for me anyway. Things like this really jar me off! Hopefully Jewell will sort this mess out and get rid of any players who arent going to play for the shirt and who as others have said arent putting in the effort. I think the summer is going to be a big one with lots of outgoings!

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mark1969 added 16:14 - Jan 11 Met Mac earlier this year i thought he was a good player , but he didnt come across as being to interested in Ipswich Town .His timimg of this announcement when we are rock bottom and before a cup semi -final stinks and does not help team morale at all .Clegg and the player are jointly to blame for not sorting this out before and behind closed doors , sell him in the window he is no longer passionate about ITFC , we have paid his wages and he repays us like this !!! Terrible , terrible timing just out for want he wants , good riddance !!!

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naa added 16:18 - Jan 11 All those saying that MacAuley is showing no respsect etc. He was offered a contract just a few days before he was allowed to talk to other clubs. It comes across as a very belated, token effort to keep him from our point of view. Hardly makes him feel wanted does it? I can understand totally why he wouldn't be feeling any desperate urge to stay.
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Lion added 16:20 - Jan 11 bye then Gareth- next please!
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svendust added 16:21 - Jan 11 He's our best centre back by far, we need to hold on to him but how can he expect to be offered more than 2 years at the age of 31. He's already showing signs of being injury prone at 31. Brown and Eastman are okay but nowhere near the standard of McAuley. In any case it should have been sorted ages ago, completely farcicle from Keane / Clegg (whoever decided not to renew contracts) Thank god we have a proper manager at this club now.

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naa added 16:21 - Jan 11 mark1969: what has the fact that we've paid his wages got to do with anything. If your employer showed you little respect but then just expected you to stay on when you could go somewhere better, with more money would you feel that you really owed your current employer anything at all. Get real.
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Lion added 16:25 - Jan 11 Obviously Clegg thought somewhat arrogantly that we would be Premier league by the time his contract run out so hedged his bets - and got it wrong. No player is bigger than the club though, so 2 years, ten per cent increase in terms with a rise if we get promoted is fair, he perhaps is not playing as many games as he use to do or sia later, simples
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Lightningboy added 16:26 - Jan 11 Won't be a great loss..at best he's good not excellent..problem is he spends too much time in the treatment room...let's face it,we haven't had a decent centre back since DeVos retired.
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hadleighboyblue added 16:28 - Jan 11 Very bad timing , should have been sorted months ago . what a shambles we are these days . surely this was Clegg's job to sort it out in good time , now we have an unhappy player .........not good for morale . a problem PJ could do without
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CleverTrevor added 16:28 - Jan 11 Bobby_Petta - this doesn't just happen at PR, it happens everywhere. McA hasn't said he wont sign, just that its back in our court. The offer was only four weeks ago too - if the club thought the manager might be on his way, it makes sense to not commit too much cash. It might also have been Keane who thought we could do better and cheaper. Now Jewell is in, he can start sorting some of these things out. No biggie...

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mark1969 added 16:33 - Jan 11 Naa , you must be blind do you think at £10000 or whatever a week he is worried about respect the poor baby !! Respect is when you dont go announcing things behind your employers back , remember he is an employee of ITFC and it is one day before our cup semi-final how do you think his fellow players think now ! He could have waited , he has put himself before the team to try and gain an advantage .

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byebyesheepshanks added 16:37 - Jan 11 Don't panic. It's football. Our slow, limited championship defender wants a fat signing on fee because he can go for a free so he looks round all the clubs trying to get a bigger offer. We'll end up taking on the same aged kind of player off someone else in the same position in the close season. There like busses - they come along every day. Actually same for Norris. At least PJ will get to choose his own. The biggest problem we have is that the whole squad think they are far better than they are as individuals but are just playing for a crap team. They can't all be right - in fact I can't think of any of them who are prem level or even championship standard given that there all still here. Just lazy, overpaid with a big ego. Need a big big clearout, get some hungry grafters to support our decent kids & we may have a chance.

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naa added 16:45 - Jan 11 mark1969: agree timing is poor and I'm not condoning that. And I wasn't suggesting that he's upset about not getting respect, all I was suggesting was that why should he show the club any respect when they haven't shown him any - other than pay the wages they contractually agreed to do so a few years ago?
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depressed added 16:47 - Jan 11 mark1969....You question Mac's timing regarding his new contract, but he was asked about ITFC offer and gave an answer. Don't see that its got anything to do with respect or going behind your employees back.
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JayITFC added 16:50 - Jan 11 As Gareth says should have been sorted in the summer. Clegg/Evans/Keane at fault.
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byebyesheepshanks added 16:51 - Jan 11 He's in his thirties, injury & calamity prone, never played top level or for a top team ( NI are a budgie managed pub side before anyone mentions full international), looking to cash in with a longer, better contract plus fee to recognise he's on a free. Don't blame him because that's the game, but there are hundreds of old mercaneries out there who can do a similar job. Why not buy someone decent, who wants to play for us, with potential & later value & move him along. He'll be at Shef U or Doncaster & will no chance get a prem team.

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KesgraveBlue added 16:52 - Jan 11 I really don't know why everyone rates McAuley and Norris (especially) so highly. OK, McAuley has been one of our better players and my only question is why they didn't acept an offer in the summer if they were not going to offer him a better deal then. Norris does nothing but run around making late tackles. Utter rubbish. Let the highly paid mercenaries go and start afresh.

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nobrain added 16:59 - Jan 11 I'm just surprised that nobody has blamed Paul Jewell for this (yet).....
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mark1969 added 17:03 - Jan 11 i agree bye bye sheepshanks let him go and get his big contract but do not effect morale here .Depressed he should have passed on the question until thursday , the club have shown him respect they have offered him a new contract 4 months before his old one is due up . I do agree Cleggy is somewhat to blame as well he should have made the offer sooner thats because they have worked in the real world and are not used to babyminding overrated footballers who need new contracts at least 1 year in advance. I am only angry about this as i am totally and passionately a supporter of this club and have been for 42 years and have never known us be in such a state .

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byebyesheepshanks added 17:10 - Jan 11 Where Clegg is green as grass & a total mug, is that he should have sold or sorted any contract of any player in the summer that they may have wanted to keep. The 'offers' they received for Mac were probably derisory (or free) given that they have let everyone else go either on loan or for free. It was bad business not to sell him if they didn't intend on keeping him. The sad fact is we don't have any players worth anything. CW perhaps, but watching him on Saturday, he's definitely not the next Wayne Rooney. Let's hope he ain't the next Dean Bowditch.

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bluelady added 17:15 - Jan 11 maybe he is after a 3 year deal, after 2 yrs he may not get a decent offer anywhere else?
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Johnny_Boy added 17:19 - Jan 11 Well done Roy.
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