Chief executive Simon Clegg has wished departing duo Gareth McAuley and David Norris well for the future and says he doesn’t regret the club not offering them new terms last summer. On Monday the pair told manager Paul Jewell that they will be leaving Town with their current deals up at the end of the season.

Clegg told TWTD that he wanted both of them to remain at Portman Road: “I think it’s clear that we would have liked Gareth and Chuck to stay here.

“We offered them new contracts but they decided their aspirations were greater than we were able to meet, and as such I wish them all the best for the future because they’ve played an important part in this club.”

Asked why the club allowed their contracts to run down, the former British Olympic Association chief said: “There are a number of factors, I don’t really want to get into the specifics of it.

“We were very clear that once we made a change of manager we didn’t want to tie the new manager’s hands and wanted to give him a completely blank sheet of paper to work from.”

Clegg says a decision not to offer new deals was taken last summer: “We took a long-term view in terms of what we were going to do and why we were going to allow their contracts to run down, and we move on and wish them well for the future. We now need to bring into the club good replacements for them.”

The Blues chief executive disagreed that looking at the situation as it developed, deals should have been offered a year ago: “I don’t think that at all. Hindsight’s a great thing. We are where we’re at.

“The decision was made then on very conscious grounds and we move on. I’m not going to get into the specifics of it. It’s the position that the club took.”

As for those replacements for Norris and McAuley and other additions to the squad, Clegg was tight-lipped: “Things are ongoing. I’m not going to comment on any speculation because to do so just puts yourself in a very difficult position.

“As soon as I have something firm to say, then I’ll let you know. Consistent with the club’s normal policy, I’m not going to comment on any speculation.”

Clegg wouldn’t be drawn into reacting to former manager Roy Keane’s comments about him over the weekend: “I enjoyed my time working with Roy, that’s now history and I’m focused on supporting the new manager and that’s going very well.”

McAuley is believed to be on his way to West Brom, while Norris is interesting a number of Championship clubs including Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Portsmouth.

Photo: Action Images

muhrensleftfoot added 14:51 - May 11 Clegg is a complete fool. They would have signed a contract extension last summer, & if they didn't then they could have been sold for a reasonable fee. Now we have two good championship players leaving the club for free, & sizeable fees will need to be paid to replace them. If I was Marcus Evans, the clueless t0sser would be picking up his P45
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JimmyJazz added 14:58 - May 11 Show me any other club who have let two of their best players leave at the end of their contracts. Other clubs are releasing dead wood, we just look like planks.
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nitroblue1970 added 15:03 - May 11 I hope last close seasons escapades are not repeated and we can get some players in that the manager wants before a ball is kicked. Clegg was critised last summer by the manager (not directly) that deals couldnt get done even though the player was in his office! This didnt seem to happen when Sheepshanks was chairman but then again Sheepshanks was a football man wasnt he! Think back....we signed Holland, Herman, Johnson, Stewert, Mcgreal, Clapham, Finidi George (yeah i know but he was quality once)and numerous others.....all targeted by the manager and deals done to get them here!..so it can be done and on a budget lower than we have now!!!

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jas0999 added 15:11 - May 11 Complete madness letting these players leave for nothing. The club got it wrong and even PJ has stated his disappointment (in a round about way) in interviews. It seems that the whole situation was managed very badly. I don't buy-in to 'letting the new manager have a blank sheet' - as surely it was in the clubs interest to retain Norris and McAuley - all it did by letting it drag was ensure that PJ had no say in it.

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WoodfordTim added 15:18 - May 11 Clegg says, "We offered them new contracts but they decided their aspirations were greater than we were able to meet". Looked at stats showing in April 2010 the average Championship footballer's wage was £250,000 per year. (Jon Walters must now be getting £1 to 1.5 Mn with Stoke!). I think Town players must be in the region of £500,00 per year, otherwise we would probably not have got the two Sunderland players to sign. I think Norris & McCauley knew exactly what they were doing, as Clegg has said recently that the Club will "not be held to ransom". There must be a level drawn on wages, otherwise we will exceed our income & go bust

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oldtimer3 added 15:28 - May 11 Marcus Evens runs the club with his money. I dont think we should worry if he has lost some of it the way he has, he didnt think Mc Auly and Norris deserved a bigger contract. good on him, THE new manager needs to find his own team and get 110% out of them. I have noticed some of Keenes signings are giving that, Edwards comes to mind straight away and young Martin also . Come on you blues!

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KindofBlue added 15:29 - May 11 All very defensive - 'I'm not going into specifics' 'It's the position that the club took' 'Hindsight's a great thing. We are where we're at' - Feeling the heat maybe?
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Bluetone added 15:31 - May 11 Has Clegg commented on the number of paperclips he counted? Did he say if there were any missing?
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dirtydingusmagee added 15:34 - May 11 sorry Cleggy ,doubt if you will get trip around town in open top bus when you go either.
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tractorboybig added 15:43 - May 11 If the club didnot reach the players in question aspirations, then what aspirations of future players are we going to meet? I accept that evans is the man putting his money up ( For reasons he has never explained to us plebs the supporters) but my worry is that the aspirations of this club are far lower than we are being told in public.
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Lightningboy added 15:44 - May 11 Let's face it,we've achieved nothing with these 2 over the last few seasons,most of the current squad needs taking apart and starting afresh. Shame we've lost them for nothing but that's what people like Clegg are here to sort out & personally I don't think he's up to the job..the sooner he moves on the better. We haven't had what I would call a really good team since the Joe Royle team which had Kuqi & Bent up front..that was around 6 years ago. If McAuley & Norris had stayed on then it would've been more of the same underachieving probably,so let's hope that PJ can bring in some of these promising sounding players that we're being linked with and look forward instead of back. I'll be glad to see the back of a few more..we need around 6 or 7 new signings to freshen ITFC up and add some much needed enthusiasm for next season.

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ITFC4daprem added 15:47 - May 11 are 2 best players this season and couldt add an extra year 2 there contract was silly
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This_girl_is_blue added 15:57 - May 11 Does anyone know, is Clegg actually on a contract.... if so when is it up for renewal?
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theblueginger added 16:10 - May 11 No regrets that ME needs to spend even more money
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MadDogCal88 added 16:24 - May 11 Clegg Dont Know What He's Talking Bout!
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GreenwichBlue added 16:27 - May 11 “We offered them new contracts but they decided their aspirations were greater than we were able to meet" Ouch! Aspiration is not simply wage. It's about ambition and success. I sincerely hope our aspirations are higher than those of the clubs Norris is linked with. "Stick with us and you'll earn more in the long term once we're in the Premiership"...clearly they don't believe it'll happen in the short time they've got left in their careers.

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bedsitfc added 16:31 - May 11 everyone on cleggs back as the norm, but people seem to have forgotten he is marcus evans voice. he can not do anything without the owners concent. so as much as i agree that he isn't a football man means nothing as he has guide lines he must stick with. sheepshanks or anyone else would have the same problem.
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8ashblue added 16:41 - May 11 he's talking rubbish again! They werent offerred contracts last year because either he took a chance in getting them on reduced terms OR worse still he didnt understand that in order to secure players you want to retain its VITAL to get the contracts sorted well in advance. In other words he cocked up!! Saying that he didnt want to tie new managers hands may be relevant at the time PJ joined BUT at the time it was tooo late anyway as it should've been sorted when Keano was in charge. He's a liability so the sooner he's replaced with someone who actually understands football the better.

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VILJOEN67 added 16:52 - May 11 He did not want to criticize Roy Keane publicly. Roy beleived in players earning their contract right to the end. We are not Man utd though,that policy is ok if there are few better places to go, unfortunately we are not in that luxurious position. It just seems very poor business not to tie up your assets. We have lost our three best players this season when you include Walters also

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Blue041273 added 16:55 - May 11 You can't force people to do what they don't want to do. Give up. They've gone. Let's move on. From what I've heard we couldn't have done anything more to persuade GMac to stay. Despite his saying that this was where his future lay, it seems that this was not the case. I wish him well. Like Chuck I felt he did his best in every game and was not always appreciated. Sometimes it has to end like this. Regrets, we've had a few, but then again, too few to mention . . . . and so the song goes. Let's look forward, not back. After all we are, and will be, unbeaten until August (hopefully a lot longer than that). Have a great summer everyone.

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alfromcol added 16:58 - May 11 8ashblue OK, he probably does not understand 'football', that's why we have PJ, but I am sure he understands 'contracts'.
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blues1 added 17:29 - May 11 4 gods sake, why are there so few people on here who understand that clegg cannot negotiate above on wages or length of contract , or nething else 4 that matter, than what he is instructed to by M.E. so stop slagging him off, & get behind every1 at club. im sure that had jewell been here last summer hed have made sure the playeres he wanted had there contracts sorted. clearly keane did not. while nothing against norris hes not played well 4 last few months, or shown ne true leadership, so ,imo, no loss. am sorry 2 c mac go, as i thought he our player of the season, but lets remember, right up 2 last week of season both these p[layers insisted they wanted 2 stay here, yet, they both gone. lets b honest, they knew they had no intention of staying at that point, so, confine them 2 the history books & look 2 the future. coyb

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TheHanwoodTractor added 17:47 - May 11 “There are a number of factors, I don't really want to get into the specifics of it." Or in other words "I made a bad error but I'll try and worm my way out of it"
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Mark added 18:10 - May 11 This is very disappointing reading, as I would prefer admission of a mistake and learning from this mistake. It was clearly wrong to let key players go into the last years of their contracts, and the explanation about the manager just doesn't wash because the new manager could have SOLD these players if he didn't want them. Surely Norris and McAuley would be worth around £2M between them if properly contracted, and I seem to remember us turning down offers previously. Now the new manager has to spend much of his transfer budget replacing these two. A worrying aspect is that Clegg and Jewell appear to be disagreeing, Jewell saying this must never happen again but Clegg saying he has no regrets about it. Does anyone at all agree with Clegg?! As for Clegg having no control, well, I know Evans is the owner and ultimately decides but reactions to Clegg's comments are fair and he is the Chief Executive of the club.

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Lay added 18:20 - May 11 Tractor thats a load of bull**** Bout coppinger. Copy the link if its true
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