Town have responded to Shrewsbury chief executive Brian Caldwell’s comments claiming the Blues had made an illegal approach for Paul Hurst by insisting their conduct was within EFL guidelines.

In a statement to TWTD, a club spokesperson said: “We have total respect for Shrewsbury but feel we have conducted ourselves under EFL guidelines.

“We have also agreed a substantial compensation package with Shrewsbury should Paul become Ipswich Town manager."

Earlier, Caldwell expressed his "disappointment" in the manner of the Blues' move for Hurst, which is expected to be confirmed along with that of his assistant Chris Doig either later today or tomorrow, claiming it constituted an illegal approach.

“I got a call yesterday morning at 10 to 10 from Paul’s agent, which was a bit of a surprise to be honest with you, saying that he’s had an approach from Ipswich wanting to speak to him,” he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

“In the meantime, by 10 to 10, he’d spoken to Paul and Paul had intimated that he would like to talk to Ipswich.

“We found out after that and that’s actually, I’ve got be honest, that’s actually an illegal approach.”

Photo: TWTD

PortmanTerrorist added 15:25 - May 29 ME knows you can't always be nice to win in business and if some of that is now coming to bear on ITFC then ABOUT TIME. Hopefully ITFC can now match his successes away from football even if we have to be a little less polite than usual....a tag the annoys the **** out of me anyway. With a change of attitude by ME, a new manager and a little bit of nastiness on the pitch from the likes of Garner and think we will do just fine ! Bring it on and COYB

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itfcgene added 15:43 - May 29 Brian Caldwell should actually stop talking.
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rozeeboy added 16:01 - May 29 He will have read the press and even if there was no formal or informal approach he would have had time to think things over. Ok, he wouldn't know anything about salary or player budget (lack of) but he could have weighed up his options club for club, prospects for prospects, etc. He will have been concentrating on the playoffs but contrary to my wife's beliefs, blokes CAN multitask.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:14 - May 29 Although I don't know the full story, I don't see we have done anything terribly wrong here. Surely it is reasonable for ME to get some indication of interest in advance of making an offer. And surely Hurst needs to know what that offer might be. After all, he doesn't belong to Caldwell, like some Viking who has sworn an oath on his sword to his Lord. Caldwell is acting surprised, but there is no doubt he was well aware of the Town interest and knew the likely score. It does sound very much like sour grapes or perhaps disappointment at losing to Rotherham. Waiting until after the play-offs might have been a bit cosmetic, but at least it showed a bit of respect. I understand Shrewsbury fans' frustration (if it exists - we only know what Caldwell thinks), but that's the business world of football these days. Get over it and enjoy Holloway (oh, sorry!)

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karls_dad added 16:20 - May 29 Maybe its an age thing on my part? but was not Hurst interviewed twice by Evans some time ago? if thats the case? and i,m not sure how this works, surely that is going behind the Shrews backs or not,it has been common knowledge that Paul Hurst was a Town target, does the media not reach as far as Shropshire then?
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TrueBlueRich added 16:30 - May 29 Feeling excited and more positive than I have been for the past 3years. Let's all unite and feel proud to " wear the badge" , that's everyone from ME through the ranks to the local community.coyb
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Monkey_Blue added 17:01 - May 29 I think few clubs today would have been as respectful as we were given they had the play-offs. I think he's trying to deflect for his own fans benefit. If they think Hurst and is were being sneaky they might be more “good riddance” than “this Is a disaster”
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senduntd added 17:08 - May 29 Can understand their frustration at losing a good manager. I can well remember my feelings when first we lost dear old Alf Ramsey and again when Bobby Robson left us. Suppose we had the consolation knowing that they were going on to manage England.
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reva added 17:13 - May 29 Shrewsbury's chairman expresses surprise at Ipswich approach - where has he been hiding? it's been in every paper - news-shot - then to say it's an illegal approach - so what about the news reports that Shrewsbury are looking at poaching Livingstones Manager?? Cant have it both ways - suspect this is about money and nothing else - oh and maybe a bit of green cheese - just get the job done Marcus - you don't need to defend Ipswich actions which have been well withing the guidlines

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ChateauWines added 17:24 - May 29 I didn't realise how perfect all our fans are. We've publicalky kept quiet and waited until after the play offs to make our move. There has clearly been some sort of contact before hand. But for fans to state we must take a holier than thou stance as we are Ipswich Town are a little deluded. Can we all honestly say we have never cut a corner or bent the odd rule to our advantage in life? We've hopefully got our man. Let's look forward to exciting times ahead

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Fat_Boy_Tim added 17:51 - May 29 Bookies have stopped taking bets, not normally a bad sign.
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siebdykstra added 18:33 - May 29 Illegal approach is just to do with his agent. PH was always going to be interviewed and be one of the front runners if Shrewsbury allowed him to, which they have. The agent has probably tried to make himself more money, and at league two that won't be that much anyway. I'm just delighted that he looks like he's going to be our manager. There's an interview with Shrews fans asking why they were in the top two in January somewhere on Sky Sports. All of them answered, Paul Hurst. When it was obvious MM was off he was by far my first choice. So the target next year should be top ten, then go from there, along with some entertaining football.

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siebdykstra added 18:36 - May 29 http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11719/11095976/paul-hurst-interview-shrew Here it is!
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Seasider added 20:16 - May 29 I am pleased the club have issued this rebuttal,which should conclude the matter. Club has been approached by ME, albeit a bit later than Paul Hursts agent;but the same day.By waiting this long Marcus was taking a risk of somebody making an illegal approach. All we wait for now is the announcement that he is coming
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dannysigma added 21:35 - May 29 davidsc1971 - bit disappointed with the racist overtones of your post. We are Ipswich. We don't do that. And as a Welshman, I'm a bit sick of defending the idea that anti-Welsh humour isn't racist. It is.
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1RWR added 21:57 - May 29 Oh come on dannysigma, davidsc1971 was just been comical & nothing to do with racism, that accusation is well over the top! I found it amusing as it was meant to be. A little over reaction dear boy.🤪
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dannysigma added 22:26 - May 29 1RWR I'm afraid that the 'get a sense of humour' defence against racism is as old as racism itself. Regardless of what the guy meant by it, it is a racist comment and I, for one, believe that racism in any form is unacceptable. I thought Ipswich by and large were better than that, I really did.
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Tractorog added 22:48 - May 29 If I were Shrews chairman I might also distract my fan base by claiming an illegal move for the manager. As for the anti Welsh racism ... just remember sea levels don't have to rise too much for East Anglians to deeply regret casual racism about the Welsh ;-)
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davidsc1971 added 23:35 - May 29 Thank you 1RWR, marked you down by mistake. I appreciate your words, they were accurate. Dannysigma, where do I start. Racism is extremely strong terminology here in context and if you knew me at all you wouldn't have levelled it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion of course and if you or anyone else were in any way offended by my attempt at light hearted humour then I can only wholeheartedly apologise. But I think you're being completely dramatic - that's my opinion on your commentary and I'm entitled to that too. This forum sure isn't what it used to be. I would have thought that a sense of humour would be mandatory for any Town fan given recent performances on the pitch, plainly on this I am mistaken.

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itfcgene added 03:34 - May 30 This is noise.
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dannysigma added 04:44 - May 30 Davidsc1971 I do appreciate that your joke was meant to be lighthearted and that you had no racist intentions in posting it. Nevertheless, if you make a joke that denigrates another race, particularly a smaller, subject race, that is ipso facto racist humour. And if a member of that race gets offended, to tell them they are being 'completely dramatic' is also suspect - it isn't your call whether the subject of the racist joke gets to be offended or not. As for the forum not being what it used to be, I've been a member pretty much since the start, having attended my first game at Portman Road back in the 1970s, and I've never found racist humour either funny or acceptable.

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GatesofDelirium added 17:27 - May 30 dannysigma you're quite wrong. You appear to have a chip on your shoulder about being Welsh but that doesn't mean you get to decide whether davidc1971's joke is racist or not. By all means you can object but you don't get to determine it's acceptability as that is subjective - eg. I showed it to my best mate who's from deepest, darkest Powys and he thought it was funny and reckoned you need to get over yourself. No offence intended, I'm sure we can agree on many other things Ipswich-related but throwing around accusations of racism is not on.

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