Donacien Expected to Sign Tuesday
Monday, 30th Jul 2018 18:03

Accrington Stanley central defender Janoi Donacien has been at Portman Road today, TWTD understands, however the move isn’t expected to be completed until tomorrow.

The Blues have agreed a fee with the League One club and Donacien is at the club to agree personal terms, undergo a medical and complete the other formalities relating to his switch.

This morning the 24-year-old St Lucian, who also plays at right-back, was absent from Accrington’s media day and when quizzed by the Lancashire Telegraph Accrington manager John Coleman revealed that the 6ft tall defender is close to joining the Blues.

“I think it’s getting finalised today, not done yet, but I’d be surprised if he’s not an Ipswich player by tonight,” he said.

Donacien, who moved to the UK with has family in 2001, was an academy youngster with Luton, Tottenham and Aston Villa before spending time out on loan with Tranmere, Wycombe and Newport while a Villans player.

Having failed to break into the first team at Villa Park, Donacien moved to Accrington on a free transfer in the summer of 2016. Since then he has made 85 starts and seven sub appearances, scoring once. Last season he helped Stanley to the League Two title.

Town are desperately in need of additions at centre-half with skipper Luke Chambers currently the only out-and-out senior central defender on the books following Adam Webster's departure to Bristol City.

Donacien could be one of two central defensive signings the Blues make before Saturday's opening game against Blackburn with manager Paul Hurst implying that Curtis Tilt being rested by Blackpool on Saturday could be good news in his long-standing pursuit of the 26-year-old.

Once Donacien completes his move to the Blues he will become the second St Lucian to represent Town following striker Earl Jean, who made one sub appearance in December 1996.

Town are also keen on Accrington Stanley striker Kayden Jackson. However, Accrington are yet to accept an offer for Jackson, 24, who was training with the League One club this morning, although it is expected he will move on before the transfer window closes on August 9th with a number of clubs interested.

Don’t know tbh. All bids have been resisted to date. https://t.co/rueQ1Gpxx5

— Andyh (@AndyhHolt) July 30, 2018

Town have been linked with the former Barnsley man on a number of occasions in recent weeks and we understand have firm interest in the Bradford-born frontman even if a deal is yet to be agreed.

Photo: Action Images

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Lord_Mac added 23:14 - Jul 30 We've had managers who recruit players with “Championshio experience” and many have been fading players on the way down and depreciating in value. We need to recruit players on the way up who appreciate in value while here. It's the only way for this club to progress.
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ArnieMsBigToe added 08:38 - Jul 31 Is Janoi the player on the left or the right of the picture?
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brittaniaman added 09:02 - Jul 31 IT seems to me that Rangers are waiting for there £800,000 Bonus from us before they put in there million pound bid for Tilt ?? so in reality they only need to lay out £200,000.
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Barty added 09:45 - Jul 31 We need to up the offer to £1m and get Tilt ASAP.
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Surco72 added 10:27 - Jul 31 Whenever we played lower league opposition under MM there didn't look much of a jump in standard ? Lets give these players a chance to prove themselves at this level rather than ferried around old boys like Douglas ,Varney , Hunts ,Gleeson etc that we have been signing or even Huws and Adeymi who have championship experience but never play !!
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FabianMalyon added 12:17 - Jul 31 Who are this team he's signing from? Never heard of them..
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whosroundisitanyway added 13:15 - Jul 31 I'm not "Exactly" gonna fall for that one Fabian!
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ITFCOYB added 13:51 - Jul 31

I think Hurst is all about his system. He's buying players he can afford who will fit into his culture of football. The power of having a squad that buys into a way of playing is greater than a more talented squad that doesn't fit a system. There are countless examples of it over the years - Leicester's still recent Premiership title an obvious one. Who would have thought Vardy had that season in him? Or that that squad were potential winners of the league, bar, perhaps, Mahrez. The point is that they all played their roles in that system and they ended up waltzing to the title using Vardy's pace, shifting the ball to Mahrez really quickly, pulling teams onto them and working really hard to win the ball back in their own third. Our style under Hurst appears to be more akin to LIverpool under Klopp - a much higher press. So we need ball playing centre-backs, and all out energy everywhere else on the pitch, allied with confidence to pass through teams on the deck, and win the ball back very quickly when we break down.

We all (almost) wanted something different and to get back to the Ipswich way, or a version of it. The players who will deliver this are either too young to have shown their full value yet, or playing in a system that doesn't suit them at the moment. The ones who already do it well are already at Liverpool or similar. So our only option is to get youngsters in from unfashionable clubs. It doesn't matter where they come from though, it's all about whether they can do the job.

Bring on the weekend - i can't wait to see how we get on!

whosroundisitanyway added 14:00 - Jul 31 Need to brush up on your kits BigToe Janoi is on the left, the other lad is Cambridge United.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 14:48 - Jul 31 http://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswich-town/paul-hurst-the-big-interview-1-5631473 Great interview. I like PH a lot so far, I like the attitude, he's honest, humble, proud to be Ipswich manager. Some don't understand the psychology but he's got more between the ears than your average Joe Footballer.
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