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Diary - Thursday 12 June 2003

12 June 2003

Expect Danny Coyne to issue an urgent statement to the media outlining his lifelong love for all things Suffolk-related now that Ipswich have 'joined the chase' for the Welsh stopper. The Portman Road outfit have had their eye on Coyne since last summer, reports today's Grimsby Telegraph, and are now set to battle it out with Burnley - coincidentally, another club Danny has admired since early childhood - for the player's signature. With Town eager to get the high-earning custard custodian off the payroll and only a year remaining on his contract, it is not expected that a transfer fee will be involved.

The Mariners could miss out on a £100,000 'parachute payment', claims BBC Humber Sport, because of what looks like basic administrative incompetence at the Football League. The report speaks paradoxically of the relegation handout having received "unanimous agreement by the 22 First Division clubs", which makes it sound like the other two forgot about the meeting and nobody noticed. And the act of wealth redistribution is now apparently in jeopardy because "there is no agreed mechanism for the cash to be handed over", according to BBC Humber. Which sounds a bit mad, doesn't it. I really must remember that one next time I lose a bet or run up a huge bar tab.

Remaining with matters fiscal, Town's new sponsor Jarvis - which was recently handed a lucrative government contract to provide consultancy to 'failing' secondary schools despite having no prior involvement in education - has reported a 37 per cent rise in pre-tax profits. The firm's cash registers rung up a resounding £62.7m in the year ending March 2003.

And finally, today's Diary is mulling over a £30m transfer to Barcelona.