JOE Royle has been rebuffed in an attempt to settle a long-standing dispute with Manchester City over a £750,000 compensation claim, writes Derek Davis.

JOE Royle has been rebuffed in an attempt to settle a long-standing dispute with Manchester City over a £750,000 compensation claim, writes Derek Davis.

Royle, who took over at Ipswich Town in October last year, has been fighting through the courts for three years to get money he claims he is owed by the Premiership side.

I understand he recently offered City an out-of-court settlement, which would allow them to vet his autobiography, which he has written along with journalist Bill Thornton.

The offer was made through Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, to Manchester City lawyer Bryan Bodek.

In the deal City would have the final say in Royle's book while paying up £150,000.

The original claim by Royle was for £750,000 which centred on whether he was still a Premiership manager when he was sacked by City in May 2001 or, as they claim, a Division One manager.

Ironically, City were mathematically relegated at Portman Road when they went down 2-1 to Town. The Manchester club paid him £150,000, plus a car, which is what they claimed to be his entitlement as their First Division manager.

But Royle's legal team have argued that City did not technically become a First Division club until officially accepted as members of the Nationwide League.