Town boss Paul Jewell says the Blues have received no bid for skipper Grant Leadbitter and says the club are set to speak to the midfielder regarding a new contract. Chief executive Simon Clegg has revealed that talks have already begun with some of the players who, like Leadbitter, have terms which are up next summer.

Jewell says there has been no offer for Leadbitter, who we linked with Portsmouth earlier in the week, and says that talks regarding a new deal will begin soon: “There has been no bid for Grant and the owner and I are planning to sit down with him next week and offer a new deal.”

In addition to Leadbitter, a number of other players have deals which are up next summer, including Josh Carson, Carlos Edwards, Ronan Murray, Tommy Smith, Colin Healy, Tamás Priskin, Jason Scotland, Ívar Ingimarsson, Shane O’Connor, Mark Kennedy and Luke Hyam amongst others.

Several of those are unlikely to get new terms and some of the older and younger players are likely to be looked at further along the line.

However, chief executive Simon Clegg says some discussions have already begun: “I don’t want to talk about individuals but some of them have been spoken to and those that haven’t been spoken to, we’ll be getting round to speaking to them as soon as the window closes. There have been discussions between myself and Paul.”

Clegg and Jewell are desperate to avoid the situation which saw the likes of David Norris and Gareth McAuley run their contracts down this summer and admits that the club will do things differently this year, even if there were some benefits as well as the negatives: “It gave Paul Jewell a much freer hand than it might otherwise have done had they been tied into contracts.

“The bottom line is that with the benefit of hindsight it wasn’t an ideal situation, even though it would have tied his hands, but it was a decision that the owner and I reached where we were at at that particular moment in time. It was very much Roy Keane, Marcus and I in terms of making those decisions.

“We didn’t do it then and with the benefit of hindsight, we will be drilling down a little bit deeper with Paul’s involvement on those players who are out of contract at the end of this year.”

Photo: Action Images

ipswich_is_the_best added 09:00 - Aug 13 PLeased with this
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Lanky added 09:02 - Aug 13 Yes! Good to see them trying to sort it out NOW rather than in a years time.
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RYITFC added 09:09 - Aug 13 Great news, I was so angry yesterday that we were letting our captain go at the start of the season to a lower championship side. I know he get's a bit of criticism but i think Grant will be a key player this year, After all we have sold our star striker for 8 Million there's no need to sell anyone else unless they are simply surplus to requirements.
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MickMillsTash added 09:10 - Aug 13 Is it too late? if he says no or ponders it will be difficult to get a good fee in this transfer window, and by the next he will be in the David Norris, Gareth McCauley situation we say we want to avoid. Better player than we have seen at portman Road and someone would definitely pay good money for him
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broomfield123 added 09:10 - Aug 13 Pleased with thisHope he signs.With the correct kind of manegment aswell as players he could be a real good player.
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bluelady added 09:16 - Aug 13 Has looked sharper this season, come close to scoring a number of times and seems to thrive as captain so I'm pleased, poor last season but def a quality player on there and with his best years to come, loosing another captain so soon surely not good for stability? Also replacing a young player with a defensive midfielder several years older made no sense at all and would leave us very short on quality in the centre... btw what does clegg actually do now, with keane he was hands on an we struggled to attract players, jewell appears to do most of the chasing of players etc and we r getting some quality in........

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bluelady added 09:18 - Aug 13 Mick mills tash I would assume pre contract talks have taken place i.e grant are you looking to stay on past next year........
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EarshamBlue added 09:19 - Aug 13 Wow! This makes a change from the old regime where players contracts were up before we discussed new ones. Attending my first game today since the Newcastle drubbing two years ago due to playing football every Saturday, I hope im not disappointed! COYB!
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jas0999 added 09:26 - Aug 13 Good - I don't think we have sufficient cover if Leadbitter was to leave. Andrews is only a loanee, whilst Healy and Drury are at best, fringe players. Great to see Clegg has finally learnt his lesson and is already thinking about contracts.
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bluearmy78 added 09:30 - Aug 13 This is good news. Now that PJ is manager the club are doing thigs in the right way. Grant on his day is quality, he was disappointing last season but I think that had a lot to do with Keane and he was under pressure to impress. Now with the captains armband he has a new lease life and a great deal to prove. Just because Andrews has arrived doesn't mean that he will be away, PJ has stressed that he wants good competition for places. To get promotion to the Prem you need strength and depth, by offering him a new contract at this stage is only a good thing. COYB & 3 points today against Hull!!!

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clive_baker added 09:34 - Aug 13 Well happy with this. I really rate Leadbitter (especially when he has a midfield around him who can do more than run). Sign him up long term, he's a good age and at this level especially a real asset. Not really fussed about any of the others except Carson. Obviously the older lot like Bowyer an Ingimarrson will need to prove that they're good for another season but the Peters, Hyam, Healy, Scotland., Priskins of this worldjust aren't up to it in my opinion.

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Barhamblue added 09:42 - Aug 13 It seems very much to me that Paul Jewell is leading Simon Clegg (our chief executive) as apposed to the chief executive leading the manager. This just shows want a great assets in PJ we have who is more than just a football manager. On the plus side I think we'll see the best out of Grant for the next few years.
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rosseden added 09:47 - Aug 13 Don't get too excited. Could be a ploy to get more money. I.e. we want him, so up your offer to buy him if you want him more than we do. Still wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't here come September
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earlsgreenblue added 09:49 - Aug 13 Clive baker, You are spot on with one omission, Carlos Edwards has been a great performer for the club hardly missed a game & puts his heart & soul into every 90 minutes, without doubt warrants another extension!
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ITFC4daprem added 09:49 - Aug 13 exelent probably go like this Josh Carson 3 years Carlos Edwards 1 year Ronan Murray 2 years Tommy Smith depending on performances up to 3 years Colin Healy 2 years Tamás Priskin depending on performances up to 2 years Jason Scotland released Ívar Ingimarsson 1 year Shane O'Connor released Mark Kennedy 1 year Luke Hyam 2 years Grant Leadbitter 2 years
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ncharles added 09:54 - Aug 13 With the club showing more focussed ambition and the kind of players we are now getting in why wouldn't Leadbitter want to stay? I agree he didn't look so good last year but he has an opportunity now to play with better team around him and PJ has shown confidence by making him captain. In the same way why make him captain if you were really looking to move him on? Doesn't help team morale if your captain is looking to move on!

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essexblues added 10:08 - Aug 13 so gav that story about leadbitter going to pompey wasn't true then,I wish it was true because leadbitter was poor last season.
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StochesStotasBlewe added 10:10 - Aug 13 Thrilled with this news. Grant is a quality player, now we have a really solid midfield with some depth, just perhaps need the Bullard type to complement the others.
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sonian_blue added 10:20 - Aug 13 Excellent news to start the day. And now for 3 big points this afternoon.
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Frase1987 added 10:22 - Aug 13 Does everyone on here have 2 personalities? Opposite reactions the other day! Good news thougth.
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edent added 10:59 - Aug 13 Always knew that story wasn't true, it made absolutely no sense to me....What we need is strength in depth to give ourselves a good chance. I really believe Grant will up his game this season, he has extra responsibility which he will relish and I also think our midfield options compliment his style of play far better than last years. Come on Grant!!!
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Bluetone added 11:17 - Aug 13 How things change now we've got a proper Manager.
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Mark added 11:20 - Aug 13 I would be happy if he signs or happy if he is sold, just so long as we don't let the £2.7M man leave for free next summer. We must get Carson on a good contract too. All the others are pretty much worthless in the transfer market, except Priskin who may be worth, what, £300K? Rather tragic when Keane paid £4M for Priskin, Edwards, Healy, Scotland and Kennedy combined.
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fussysnake added 12:16 - Aug 13 in my opinion the only players there that we should let go of are priskin, scotland peters and maybe healy!
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Upbeat~ added 12:52 - Aug 13 That's more like it! BLUE ARMY COYB
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