CEO Mark Ashton says he expects Town to make two or three more signings at least during this transfer window with a few “down the line”.

Town have made four signings so far, Jack Taylor from Peterborough, Cieran Slicker from Manchester City, George Hirst from Leicester and loanee Omari Hutchinson from Chelsea.

Quizzed on the work which is currently going on regarding adding to the squad, Ashton told TownTV following the 1-0 victory over RB Leipzig in Austria: “There’s still a month left of the window. I actually don’t think the transfer window’s really come alight in the EFL as of yet.

“I think people are still waiting to see what some of the relegated and parachute clubs do but for us, we’re just getting on with our business.

“I think there’ll be two or three more at least coming in, but they have to be the right ones. [Manager] Kieran [McKenna] won’t just take anyone, we’re very selective.

“You’ve seen us spend a little bit of time getting George Hirst done, that was a challenging deal to get done, as we expected it to be.

“But you’ve seen George score here again today, I think he adds quality to the team. And what we’ve got to do is, whilst we add quality to the squad, we’ve got to really add quality now to the starting XI.

“More competition for places can only be a good thing, but there are irons in fires and I’m sure there will be more players coming in.

“Which positions? Right across the board, to be fair. Without giving too much away, right across the board.

“Kieran is very specific in his specification of what he wants. That means we recruit from quite a small pond, but we’re down the line on a few and I hope we get them across the line fairly shortly.”

Regarding exits as the Blues seen to strengthen while staying within the Championship 25-man squad limit, Ashton continued: “We’re very aware of the 25-player limit. Kieran and I are looking at that all the time and I think at the moment there’s no urgency, we’ve moved quite a few out on loan.

“Difficult decisions, but I think the right decisions to get people game time. We can recall in January should we need, we’ve made sure we’re protected there.

“But we will assess that as each individual player comes in. Kieran is very keen on making sure the balance of the team and the balance of the squad is right, so you may see one or two go out late, but I don’t see that being imminent.”

Photo: TWTD

TimmyH added 15:31 - Jul 28 Real solid central defender please...we'll have less possession than in league one and hence being more emphasis on how we defend. But good news on more coming in...
9

ElephantintheRoom added 15:36 - Jul 28 Glad to see Kieran is specific in his specifications..Right across the board sounds a bit like getting bodies in to those whose memories stretch back to the Big Mick era
-7

the_toff added 15:42 - Jul 28 ElephantintheRoom it's the opposite of that.
8

LancsBlue added 15:42 - Jul 28 "we've got to really add quality now to the starting XI" Sounds very exciting - and possibly quite expensive. May include a top quality Premier League loan too. Given the squad restrictions I also fear for the futures of Jackson, Evans and one of Edwards or Harness.
6

Suffolkboy added 16:06 - Jul 28 LB , I’m not sure ‘fear ‘ is the right word to factor into considerations about strengthening the squad across the board ! KM and M A have been refining the future of ITFC and the playing side since day one together . Nothing is going to change which isn’t for the good or the better prospects of ITFC ,but in business this always means taking some ‘objective’ , maybe even ‘hard ‘ or difficult decisions ; we won’t shy away from that . As supporters ,loyal though we are and attached as we grow to individuals and their strengths and talents , we must accept progress means selectivity ! The way ahead looks very bright at ITFC ! COYB

12

chepstowblue added 16:20 - Jul 28 I'd be very angry if Edwards was pushed down the pecking order or sent out on loan. One of the few 'bums off seats' players in the squad. Whilst KJ works his socks off and Harness contributes occasionally,when they're bad they're very bad. I'd not lose sleep about losing either. If we had to sacrifice two to bring in new faces I wouldn't look beyond this pair.
6

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:20 - Jul 28 I'm sure Kieran knows what he is doing, and there is not much room for sentiment in football, but I hope that too many more additions don't affect the very obvious togetherness and team spirit he has built up. Judging by our displays against Luton and Leipzig, I'd say we already have a very good side, more than capable of holding its own in the Championship.
1

dirtydingusmagee added 16:28 - Jul 28 relax ,leave it to KM and MA , Too many ''managers'' on here think they no more, OR better We are in the best shape weve been in for a decade, .
18

terryf added 17:02 - Jul 28 Agree with DDM I'm sure McKenna and Ashton have a number of permutations in mind to improve both the 1st Eleven and the Squad and are well on the way to bringing them into the Club. Exciting times but the core of the side has been in place for sometime now.
9

USA added 17:23 - Jul 28 Edwards yet to really produce any meaningful end product though. Maybe he will be afforded more space in the Championship and show his worth more than he has to date. Looks exciting but flatters to deceive in my book. I think Hutchinson has already pushed Him down the pecking order to be honest. If you disagree, let me know why.
3

Bazza8564 added 17:35 - Jul 28 I’ve been following the club since the 70s and I think we are in the best position in my lifetime, no debt, capable generous backers and fans struggling for tickets. In the boardroom we have the best CEO in the history of the club and the foundations are solid. Remember the cock up in the Burlwy era when DS took us into administration? No danger of that now
9

BeattiesBackPocket added 17:39 - Jul 28 Well said Bazza8564
0

Europablue added 18:24 - Jul 28 USA I thought Edwards was a very good squad player. He looks like he has improved. Hutchinson seemed to be really raw and error prone. I'd say that they are both on a very similar level right now in terms of the pecking order.
1

Billericay12 added 18:30 - Jul 28 Exciting times. We’ve waited a long time for some realistic hope. Watched both the games today and it was interesting to see how we coped with not being the dominant team. And the answer is very well against serious opposition of which you could see their quality. The second game we would have also won but for a dropped cross by Slicker. If we add another 3-4 players that enhance our squad further we will be in a really good place. COYB

4

OliveR16 added 18:42 - Jul 28 Edwards is an exciting player but for this season he will, I think, be completely eclipsed in that respect by Hutchinson. I'm not sure Edwards will survive the upgrading of the squad.
-1

Len_Brennan added 19:00 - Jul 28 Bazza - we are certainly in a very good position at the moment, with how the club is being structured financially & administratively, but I think you are being harsh on David Sheepshanks here. Defining him solely as 'cocking up & taking us into administration' does not speak to anything of his part in the achievements of the club - including promotion, a top 5 finish in the Premier League & qualification for Europe - or how he represented us publicly. We can debate the reasons behind our relegation & subsequent administration, and yes of course mistakes were made; but I would say in his defence, injuries to key players, having overachieved the previous season, made buying in expensive replacements, & squad additions, something of a necessity, which ultimately didn't work; but he backed the manager, which is what nearly all of us wanted at the time. The real unfortunate factor for him, & us all, is that we happened to get relegated just as ITV Digital collapsed, thus making the lucrative tv deal for the Championship null & void. This is not something that would have been expected by any of his peers, & certainly all risk analysis for our spending would have included that money when planning for a worst case scenario - how many Premier League clubs would be in massive trouble this season if Sky went bust tomorrow & renaged on their financial commitment to those clubs. Look, as I say, he was not perfect, & ultimately was in charge when we went down & into administration, so the buck stops with him. I just think he deserves a bit more context than presiding over "a cock up" when we look back at his time here..

24

d77sgw added 19:17 - Jul 28 Len Brennan - 100% this. That relegation could NOT have been worse timed. And they brought in parachute payments straight after we went down, thus making a bad situation far worse. Indeed I often think that getting promoted at Wembley, despite being the happiest day of my life bar none (sorry wife and kids), was a sliding-doors moment, but also a double-edged sword - getting promoted a year or two later would have avoided that administration and got us at least 4 years of Prem money, instead of 1....

3

micky_1560 added 21:12 - Jul 28 It was the collapse of ITV Digital and the splashing of cash on foreign players that put us into administration. The purchase of the foreign players also destroyed the team spirit that took us to 5th in the Premier league. We also have to be careful with balancing the current squad spirit with upping the quality of the current squad.
2

RobsonWark added 21:19 - Jul 28 Lee we had a great first season, as you know, back in the Premier League in 2000/01 finishing 5th. DS did not splash the cash in the summer after on new players. We signed a great goal keeper for free in Andy Marshall and then for some unknown reason we signed Matteo Sereni from Sampdoria (I think it was) for £5 million. The keeper who refused to play in FA Cup games because the better players in Italy are rested for cup games or so he said. We also signed Finidi George for £3 million who was fantastic in his first game against 10 man Derby (if my memory serves me right). and then after that, for some reason, was totally useless. He couldn't pass to a team mate, couldn't trap a ball, couldn't beat his man, couldn't do anything. We got relegated and Sereni fled the sinking ship. And we never got the preseason friendly with Sampdoria that was part of the deal when signing him.

4

Len_Brennan added 22:04 - Jul 28 Andy Marshall got injured at the start of the season & we were forced into the transfer market, when nearly all the business had been done. Sereni was a great shot stopper, but never learned how to tip the ball around the post, which cost us some tap ins - I'd like to see Ashton & co follow up on that outstanding friendly we're still owed by Lazio! I have often thought what would have happened had Richard Wright stayed with us for another season; the goalkeeper issue was certainly a big contribution to our poor season. It was a bad move for him too, apart from the wages. As for Finidi - well we needed some real quality & experience going into Europe, so I understood the signing. Anyone who saw him v Derby will know what he was capable of; but again we were unlucky (I know good teams make their own luck), as he fractured his face/cheek bone early on, missed a number of games & never really got stuck into a game when he came back. In truth, he didn't look to leave Mallorca to come to Suffolk, he was sold by his club, so when that happened & then we were struggling, he was found wanting in the character department. Some people break their face, get a million screws into it & come back in a mask better than ever, others long to return to the warm sunny beaches of the Spanish islands. Amazingly, Marcus Stewart then broke his cheek & missed several key games, while Ulrich LePen, who was brought in to provide quality ball to Marcus from the left, broke his leg in his first game & never came back. (parallel with Civelli) We were blessed with very few key injuries in our first season back, but we were really punished in the following relegation season.

4

RobsonWark added 23:03 - Jul 28 Lee you have a better memory than me :) . I bumped into Richard Wright in Parrot Records (remember when there were record shops were in Ipswich?). I wished him all the best. He had a great season with us and helped to get us promoted. He was never going to replace David Seamon as the Arsenal No.1 goalkeeper but I guess he got a great pay rise to sit on the bench.
1

Bazza8564 added 06:56 - Jul 29 Well, relegation without contracts that adjusted wages, huge projects off the field that were funded 100% by debt, a contract for our captain that guaranteed his wages would always be the highest so that every time we bought a player his went up, and absolutely no contingency for even One season of failure. Sorry, but i stick with my view. Our creditors recovered a mere 5p in the pound and our financial failure became the blueprint under which the EFL punished financial mismanagement on that scale with 12 point deductions. I think anyone who views the instability of that era with anything other than horror is looking through rose tinted glasses. But the point of my post wasn’t to dwell on that, it was to stress that the people we have at the helm now are proper 100% football people who know how to run the club without mortgaging is to the hilt, without gambling on success without cash injections from owners up front to fund it all and with the patience and contingencies to sustain that

0

ImAbeliever added 16:01 - Jul 29 Bazza, that era was definitely a false dawn before the darkness that inevitably followed.
0

troyparrotsleftear added 17:47 - Jul 29 hmm. i like Ashton but he needs to think before he opens his gob........anyone else getting that?
0

Karlosfandangal added 18:19 - Jul 29 With the Sheepshanks debate I all ways felt we let Burley go too early that season but we will never know, I think the relegation and then the string of managers was the start of the slide. With the parachute payments Town may have been able to invest in some players and make a push for the Premiership that season
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls