Ipswich's Irish try to sort out futuresEMMET MALONE, Soccer Correspondent SOCCER: NEWS: WHILE
THERE are certain to be many British-based Irish footballers hoping the
recent speculation linking Roy Keane to Australian club Melbourne
Victory is true – viewing it as an opportunity to spend some time plying
their trade Down Under – those left behind at Ipswich Town after his
departure a couple of months ago have been busy this week trying to
resolve their own futures. The Corkman left 22 players at Portman
Road on course to be out of contract at the end of the season and,
having taken a while to assess what he has inherited, his successor Paul
Jewell has been frantically dishing out contract offers and bad news to
various squad members over the past few days. Quite a few of the
players involved are Irish and Jewell has confirmed at this stage that
Brian Murphy, Damien Delaney and Colin Healy have all had the terms for
new deals put to them. Alan Quinn said last week, after a season
ravaged by a groin injury, that he does not expect to be given the
option of staying on at the club. The position of young striker
Ronan Murray, meanwhile, remains unclear with the well -regarded
under-21 international currently on loan at Torquay United. “It’s
lunacy, to be honest,” observed Delaney who has attracted interest from
other Championship clubs, including Crystal Palace. “It’s crazy
that it’s been allowed to come to this at a club at this level, but
there are many different factors behind why it has,” added Delaney. “Roy
Keane did the job the way he felt was best and this is what we’re left
with. Paul Jewell came in and picked up the pieces, but these contracts
really should have been sorted out 12 months ago. “Paul Jewell has
been pretty good to me. He told me from early on that he wanted me to
stay, but I think the delay in offering contracts was because the club
wanted to hold off until they felt we were safe from relegation. “I’ll
take my time, though, make sure I’m happy with everything in the
contract and then I’ll sign it. I wouldn’t expect there to be any
issues, but you still have to be careful because this is an important
contract for me. “I’m realistic enough to know that this is going to be my last decent contract. “As you move into your 30s you obviously can’t expect the same contracts you got when you were a lot younger.” Asked about Healy and Murphy, Jewell was enthusiastic. “Colin
is a terrific lad and a good player. I know he wasn’t in the picture
much before I came here, but he’s done well and I’d like to keep him,”
he said. “Brian has been injured and it’s always tricky when a new manager comes in and a player has been injured. “There
will be a deal on the table for the both of them and we’d like them to
stay but whether they are here next season is down to the players.” In
the absence of a firm denial by the club, meanwhile, Keane was still
being linked with the Melbourne Victory job last night, although he had
earlier told reporters he was in the country on a family holiday and
that the visit to a Sydney FC Asian Champions League game with his son
was purely recreational.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0408/1224294223536.html
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