Town and Leicester City are reported to be ready to offer Cardiff City £350,000 for central defender Anthony Gerrard. Elsewhere in today’s tabloids, the Blues are again mentioned in connection with Peterborough midfielder George Boyd.

Gerrard, 26, is set to leave the Welsh club after apparently falling out of favour with manager Malky Mackay. The cousin of Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, he came through the ranks at Everton and while with the Toffeemen spent time on loan with Accrington Stanley and Walsall before joining the Saddlers on a permanent basis in May 2005.

Four years later, the 6ft 2in tall defender moved to Cardiff for a fee believed to be in the region of £200,000.

Liverpool-born Gerrard spent the whole of 2010/11 on loan at Hull City before returning to the Bluebirds for the 2011/12 campaign.

The former Republic of Ireland U18 international came on as an injury time sub in this year’s Carling Cup final and missed the decisive spotkick during the penalty shoot-out, his cousin having already missed for Liverpool, who took the trophy.

Gerrard made 22 starts and three sub appearances for Cardiff during 2011/12, scoring two goals.

Meanwhile, the Blues, Burnley, Middlesbrough and Derby are all reported to be showing interest in Posh midfielder Boyd, who is up for sale having refused to sign an extension to his contract which has a year to run.

Peterborough are said to have put a price of more than £1 million on the 26-year-old former Stevenage man.

In April, Blues boss Paul Jewell played down the chances of Town signing either Boyd or team-mate Paul Taylor.

Photo: Action Images

Photo: Action Images

StowTractorBoy added 17:09 - May 13 Gerrard a very ordinary player in my opinion and rarely been outstanding when he have played Cardiff. What we have is better than him. Need to aim higher than this kind of player if we want to progress. Keogh looks the best option so far but no doubt many more names will be thrown into the hat. Can't see Boyd coming Posh will want far more than he is worth and we won't pay it thats for sure.

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TimmyH added 17:22 - May 13 @Taylor15: too many changes for me, at very most 4 new faces in the starting line up or we'll be back to where we were at August last year.
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RegencyBlue added 17:30 - May 13 Dont know much about him but given the fee quoted Cardiff clearly do not rate him. I've heard good and bad about Boyd but in view of whats been coming out of PR lately are we likely to pay £1 million for anyone? Even if we do Clegg will screw up the personal negotiations!
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Lightningboy added 18:02 - May 13 Gerrard not one i'd go for..we need a centre half with a captain's head/brain on him in the Devos/Mowbray/Butcher mould..imho Gerrard's no better than Smith/Delaney/Sonko.
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Superfrans added 18:03 - May 13 We should be aiming to bring in two CHs, and if Gerrard is one of them, that's fine. Yes, he's out of favour at Crdiff - but plenty of players revive their careers at new clubs. Let's hope Gerrard can be one of them.
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ericgates added 18:28 - May 13 I think he is decent enough, but perhaps we should bring Alex Bruce back for nothing if this is the standard of defender Jewell is going for. Keogh for me sounds the best link and I agree with keanish about chambers, although sounds like he hasn't had the best of seasons at forest. I think kane ferdinand looked good for southend yesterday as well. He fits the profile of the type of player we should go for.

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yorksblue added 18:41 - May 13 Westwood/Harper/Weale/Alexander/Gordon/or most likely, the one from Wigan who's just been released. Lowton Keogh Maguire Cresswell Jet Drury Stevenson Boyd Chopra Murray/ Ched in 5yrs on a free
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BrandonsBlues added 18:45 - May 13 mr Evans we would probably end up buying the dog
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Blue041273 added 18:53 - May 13 Yes, could be a good signing. A no nonsense kind of defender who could galvanise our back four. However this is what we were thinking about Alex Bruce five years ago. Whatever, this and most of the other player links do not inspire any confidence for an immediate promotion push but if we are looking to make steady progress, however slow, I will be happy provided that any players brought in are not on extended fat contracts so that in the unhappy circumstance of things not turning out right, we are left with more deadwood to get rid of. PJ needs to satisfy himself that any player he brings in will improve in the Ipswich environment. Finding good potential signings is not enough. We need clear evidence of the effectiveness of the Ipswich player development programme before we can have any faith that linked players can be a success with us.

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hairbear added 19:03 - May 13 I agree wrightyblue. PJ out. Ps you look fine! Maybe we could hook up? X
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hairbear added 19:04 - May 13 I agree wrightyblue. PJ out. Ps you look fine! Maybe we could hook up? X
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wrightyblue added 19:10 - May 13 Hairbear I didn't realise this was a dating site!?! PJ OUT Where's righty gone!!! :(
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TimmyH added 19:35 - May 13 6 new faces in a starting line up!! -yorksblue, it took PJ at least half of last season sussing out who was the right player playing in the right position last season (especially the midfield). PJ slowly got to grip with the midfield in the New Year but if your thinking he's going to put 6 new faces in the starting line-up and suceed your sadly deluded.
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s6blue added 19:46 - May 13 anything got to be better than delboy
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Keaneish added 19:58 - May 13 I always prefer a centre back or centre mid as a skipper Mightytown, someone who's always in the thick of it. I agree Edwards has done well this season and has looked better with the armband on but for me i want someone like who Lightningboy suggets, someone in the mould of a DeVos, Butcher, Mowbray... Has anyone heard any more on Luke Chambers? LAst i heard he hadn't signed for Forest and that Cardiff were interested!? Jas i think you're right about Boyd being a statement of intent but i'd rather we made that statement by signing recognised quality at the back first.

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Talbs77 added 20:06 - May 13 As long as he doesnt take the penalties I would say sign him up. Ok he's not his cousin (who is?) but he's still relatively young and is big and strong and what we need at the centre of defence which is in terrible state at the moment. George Boyd, good player but £1M?! Not for me.
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Sindre94 added 20:08 - May 13 The skipper thing is not important Keaneish, I know for a fact. Im 18 and it was just when we were kids people cared about who was the captain, its not that important! Its just something that is over-exaggerated in england, and played up massively... Its not that important!! :P COYB
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Keaneish added 20:21 - May 13 I have to disagree Sindre, the captaincy of our club is important for me. A role model for younger kids and youth players in the club, a spokesman and ambassador for the club on live television, an ambassador of the club in the community, a person who commands respect in the changing room, a leader to pull players together and rally players when the chips are down and it's backs against the walls time. In all these instances i want a leader and a talisman like we've had from days gone by. I know PJ stated it wasn't important but with that list i've out down, how can it not be? All great Ipswich sides in the past have had leaders and those leaders have been integral to that success. They're not easy to find but i think we suffered last season from not having a regular skipper or anyone of that ilk to really lead us and for other players to look to. Take the point that we 'should' have 11 captains out there, but all players need leadership at some point during the season no matter how much money they are on or what level of ability they are in my opinion.

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camposlocks added 20:59 - May 13 Sindre OUT Keanish IN!
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Langdon_Blue added 21:24 - May 13 I agree Sindre...I don't think it matters who wears the captains armband. I have never heard a player say that he / the team didn't play well because the captain failed in his job to motivate the players....players should be self-motivated as proffesional sportsmen with the hunger / desire to win, if not by that then by the 20,000 plus supporters watching. If any player looks for motivation from another player wearing an armband, then I hope they don't play for Ipswich!

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Keaneish added 22:05 - May 13 Totally agree langdonblue but everyone in every walk of life needs leadership or a chain of command. The team needs structure and stability. Last season we had Leadbitter, Andrews, Sonko, Edwards and I think even Smith at one point wore it! 4 or 5 skippers plus in one season!? I can't recall any great side winning silverware having shared responsibility of the armband or mutes like Leadbitter taking leadership!

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TownOnTheUp added 22:09 - May 13 The captain is vital. Why? Because who do you make the captain - the best leader, who pulls the squad together, who motivates them, who organises, who has a will to win, who's the lieutenant of the manager on the pitch. If you do not have a recognised captain, a regular captain, and just throw the armband about, then it follows that this character is absent from your team. And that is a massive problem. I mean, look at City, and Kompany. He's a leader through and through. Sure, it doesn't matter if he's captain, because he'll still lead. But he's the best leader and so he's the captain. Ipswich, on the other hand, work with Jewell's assertion that everyone should be a leader, but the lack of a clear captain shows that we haven't got any leaders, or they would be the captain. Not knocking Edwards here really, because he's a good player, I just don't think he leads.

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Sindre94 added 22:27 - May 13 Yes ofcourse, the ambassador thing youre mentioning. But on the pitch it doesnt matter, everyone should lead and stand out as a good example, you dont need an armband to do that. Why is England the only country you actually care about that thing? We dont even mention it in Norway! We need the dominant guy at the back, I agree there but were not in desperate hunt for a captain, its not that important

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Sindre94 added 22:31 - May 13 camposlocks: Thanks for your excellent backing of me!
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mightytown added 00:43 - May 14 keaneish, it seems we are in agreement on edwards, he is the right choice for captain . . . for now. i also think sindre makes a good point about the over emphasis of importance of the captain. i dont think the captain has to be that inspirational leader all the time, unless of course, you possess in your team a player that thrives on being captain. terry, gerrard, kompany are all made to lead because they are the ones that will grab a game by the scruff of the neck, we currently do not have a player to do that for us. players like rooney, aguero and drogba will also grab a game by the scruff of the neck, but as attackers are better off left scoring goals then worrying about leading their team. in the absence of that captain figure, you pick someone who is reliable, consistent and perhaps leads by example. this is what i think we have in edwards, why evra captains united in the absence of vidic and why fabregas was captain at arsenal. HOWEVER, would i swap mr dependable, leads by example for captain fantastic, double, no, triple hard barsteward??? EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!!!

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