Grant Ward, Dean Gerken, Jonas Knudsen, Jordan Spence, James Collins, Tom Adeyemi and Simon Dawkins have all been released by the Blues.

Town confirmed their retained list this morning with all seven of the out-of-contract senior players set to move on.

The club had options to keep Ward, Gerken, Adeyemi, Spence and Dawkins but, despite having held talks with a number of those players, decided not to take them up.

Gerken, 33, joined Town on a free transfer after a trial having left Bristol City in the summer of 2013.

The Rochford-born keeper went on to make 113 starts for the Blues, including the recent defeats to Swansea and Sheffield United.

We understand Gerken had made it clear to Town that he was keen to look for another club where he was more likely to start regularly having been a sub for much of his time with the Blues. His former club Colchester are believed to be interested.

Gerken’s exit means the Blues will be looking for another keeper this summer with Gillingham’s out-of-contract Czech glovesman Tomas Holy in talks, while we understand QPR’s Matt Ingram - who has a year left on his deal at Loftus Road but is set to move on this summer - and Exeter’s Christy Pym have also been spoken to regarding a move to Town.

Spence, 28, joined the club in January 2018 having been on trial earlier in the season following his departure from the MK Dons after their relegation the previous summer.

The former West Ham trainee and ex-England U21 international made 69 starts and seven sub appearances, scoring four goals.

Knudsen, 26, move to the Blues from hometown club Esbjerg fB in July 2015 for a fee of £300,000.

The Danish international went on to make 153 starts and two sub appearances for the Blues, scoring four times, two against Norwich.

He also appeared at last summer’s World Cup with Denmark, making his only appearance in their round of 16 defeat to eventual finalists Croatia. In January he told the club he was keen to move on but no one came in for him. We understand Knudsen is still to find a new side despite links with clubs in Denmark and Germany.

Ward, 24, signed from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee understood to be £500,000 in the summer of 2016 and made a dramatic impact when he scored a debut hat-trick which included a goal with his first touch for the Blues.

First day back running on the Alter G, feeling stronger everyday, road to recovery continues, also big up to everyone for the messages today will check them later 💙🙏#itfc #acl #rehab #comebackseason #wardback pic.twitter.com/AhhEf8VmlY– Grant Ward (@GrantWard_) May 20, 2019

The Londoner made 75 starts and 23 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring eight goals. His 2019/20 was cut short when he suffered an ACL injury at QPR on Boxing Day. Town are obliged to get injured players fit before they depart the club.

Adeyemi, 27, missed most of last season with a hamstring problem and then all of this season after picking up an achilles injury which required surgery in pre-season.

The former Norwich youngster only made a total of four starts and one sub appearance for the Blues.

Collins and Dawkins joined Town on short-term deals in January. Former West Ham man Collins, 35, impressed in his six starts for the Blues but was unavailable for much of his time at Portman Road due to injury.

Ex-San Jose Earthquakes and Derby County winger Dawkins, 31, made little impression in his months at the club, making just two sub appearances.

As previously reported, youngsters Conor McKendry, Chris Smith and Ryley Scott, who had a trial with Colchester in March, are also moving on.

We understand the club has taken up the option for a further year on defender Pat Webber, 20, despite the former Worthing youngster having been allowed to go out on trial at Wigan and Millwall in January with both clubs having shown interest in signing him.

Photo: TWTD

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 13:53 - May 20 Looks as if my first post disappeared, which is why "Oh and by the way" doesn't make much sense. Take 2: Good luck to all concerned, but I see this as a very positive move. After all, none of those released is going to end up begging on the street. We needed a fresh start, and it looks as if we're going to get one. COYN(new)B!
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Warkys_Tash added 13:59 - May 20 With Ward gone thats reportedly 0.5M off the yearly wage bill.. Money for old rope imo
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Dolphinblue added 14:04 - May 20 Rugbytom.....REALLY! I will down mark whomever l please pal and l dont have to justify myself to you....get over yourself SNOWFLAKE and if theres a mirror in yr house go look in it 🤔
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 14:44 - May 20 Hurst's buys might come good in the lower division and if we start to win a few games. All of them need to regain their confidence. Their ability will then become clear. Only one a slight shame for me is Collins, but even then I understand why. I hope these decisions free up some wages.
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 14:44 - May 20 Hurst's buys might come good in the lower division and if we start to win a few games. All of them need to regain their confidence. Their ability will then become clear. Only one a slight shame for me is Collins, but even then I understand why. I hope these decisions free up some wages.
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ernie added 15:03 - May 20 the right decision for once. they are ALL useless
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Bildestoned added 15:15 - May 20 Very much a work in progress methinks. Several more need to be offloaded one way or another to get us to a sensible-sized squad. By the way, can we not call each other names on here? It's a pointless exercise and just makes you look a chump.
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Kingfisher49 added 15:34 - May 20 I expect we will have a comment from MM telling us how some of his men are being dumped and what the savings to the club will be. Rather tittle tattle about ITFC than concentrate on his Irish job.
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Dolphinblue added 15:54 - May 20 Nice one bildestoned......advise people not to name call.....by name calling 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗😋😋😋😋🤔
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Kirbmeister added 16:10 - May 20 Collins aside, as he was a very good player but now over the hill, the rest are not very good and I'm therefore not sorry to see the back of any of them.
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boysof1981 added 16:25 - May 20 Well down Town on getting rid of that lot. Most are injury prone and the others haven't exactly been prolific whilst on the pitch.
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smellmycheese added 16:38 - May 20 Did we keep McGoldrick, Waghorn, Webster and Garner ?
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Barty added 16:56 - May 20 As expected and I wish them all well
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jas0999 added 16:58 - May 20 Not at all surprised by this and all good decisions. Glad to hear that Gerken wants to move on and play as first choice keeper. Good luck to all of those released, but time for a new chapter for the club as well as them.
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therein61 added 17:30 - May 20 Swn98 used the "snowflake" name calling on this site dolphinblue and he had no idea what it mean't do you!!??
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therein61 added 17:36 - May 20 I still cannot get my head round why we have had no offers for what was described "the premiership class no/8" mind boggling!!! looks like we are stuck with his strolling around pretending to be a footballer in what will be a fast moving 2 games a week season that he is clearly not up to.
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armchaircritic59 added 17:46 - May 20 For the record, the term "snowflake" when applied to a person, implies someone who is overly emotional, easily offended and unable to deal with opposing opinions, amongst others! Let's hope we don't get a blizzard!
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Dolphinblue added 18:10 - May 20 therein......how do u know Swn98 didnt know what 'snowflake' meant 🤔. I was responding to rugby calling people idiots for down marking and not explaining why......thought it would obvious that it meant someone didnt agree with yr post...get off yr high horse 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
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Dolphinblue added 18:11 - May 20 NOBODY PUTS DOLPHIN IN THE CORNER 😋
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Dolphinblue added 18:16 - May 20 And thanks armchaircritic for yr excellent explanation of the term 'snowflake' which l think illustrates perfectly rugbys over sensitivity in moaning about being down marked without an 'essay' as to why to follow 😥
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meekreech added 18:23 - May 20 Put all of the Hurst signings on the transfer list and see if there are any signs of interest. It is doubtful there would be any takers! That would show the level to which we have fallen.
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Wooly74 added 18:45 - May 20 No real surprises for me, maybe Ward deserved better, but the financial side starts to bite us now we simply have to live within our means and we can't carry people who are at the end of their contracts with us. I expect Gerks to go back to Colchester to play out his remaining career before probably coming a keeper coach for them. Adeyemi will find it hard to get a club to take a punt on him given his injury record and my prediction for him is that he will retire before he turns 30. Collins will become part of the West Ham or Cardiff coaching set up and be very successful in his own right and as for the rest League 1 sides that will probably mean that they come back to bite us in the arse soon!!! Ward to Charlton or another lower league London side. Spence somewhere like back to MK Dons. As for Dawkins, 😳😳😳 Kings Lynn second girls 11 maybe, blimey even I've felt like getting my boots back on watching him trying to play the game and I'm 45!!!

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Saxonblue74 added 19:05 - May 20 Good news. Paul Lamberts reign has now officially begun and I like it! All that have judged him through just 1 Jan window will now (hopefully) see what he's all about. Please now prove me right! I'm sure there will be further departures which will disappoint me but not these. A few fresh faces and an empty treatment room and next season will be the most enjoyable for many years.

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Lord_Mac added 20:24 - May 20 Totally agree with Lambert in his assessment. However, I would not have hung on to Chambers and Skuse - vastly overrated in my opinion. They seem to be undroppable, yet past their best and a clanger is always only around the corner.
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TonyHumesIpswich added 20:28 - May 20 Had to happen and think most of those on this list would still have been released regardless of whether or not we had been relegated. Can see a few players being sold also to make up for the 9 million of lost revenue.
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