From the day as a kid when I watched Ipswich for the first time I’ve been hopelessly hooked as a Town supporter. There have been days when I wish I could take off my ITFC supporter's ‘coat’ and give up the agony-ecstasy existence of following the Blues. It would be so nice to have a weekend untarnished by yet another heart-breaking defeat. But no, as any true supporter knows, once it’s in your blood it’s there for good.

From the moment I stood on my crate in 1973, marvelled at the lush Portman Road pitch and thrilled to the magic of Beattie, Viljoen and Whymark, I knew there would never be another team.

I’ve followed Ipswich through thick and thin, watching the team under a variety of managers, some good, some bad, some plain unlucky. The glory days of Robson, the fall that followed with the ill-fated Bobby Ferguson, the comical John Duncan era, the recovery through Lyall and Burley, and the ups and downs of Royle and Magilton.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride but nothing that has gone before has made me so sad to be an Ipswich supporter as what is going on now at Portman Road. A change is badly needed, the Roy Keane reign must be brought to an end and quickly.

From the start I have been a Roy Keane sceptic. Though I was intrigued by the appointment and enjoyed basking in the resulting media glow on our club, in reality it was only going to be a matter of time before this gamble was going to fail. Exceptional players rarely make good managers, probably because they no longer have the ability to influence games through what they do on the pitch.

Good managers are successful through their players. They need to understand, motivate, cajole and cuddle in equal measures. For all the talk about tactics football is a simple team game played by human beings. Understanding what makes people tick and knowing how to build team spirit are the most important attributes of a successful manager.

Sure, a good knowledge of the game and its tactics are important too – as of course is having a squad of high-quality players – but knowing how to get the best out of a team is what really counts.

This is why the current charade must be brought to an end. The manager’s comments and behaviour come across as provocative, contrary, intolerant, even spiteful. It’s difficult to see how someone with these characteristics would have the stability to inspire and motivate a group of individuals. We need to hear our manager talk up his players, boost their egos, put an arm around their shoulders, have the confidence to select the same player in the same position more than once. We need someone to do what's right, not what suits a desire to defy.

After the Swansea game why not blame the defeat on the referee? It would have been justified and would have made the players feel better (even if their performance wasn’t the finest). Maybe to our manager it was too obvious a thing to say and instead he chose a more ‘honest’ focus on the players’ mistakes and shortcomings.

Any sportsman knows that the fuel of sporting success is confidence but honesty is not a confidence booster. Our players are doing their work in fear, fear leads to mistakes (a simple truth completely missed by the management), mistakes lose you games and then you have a negative spiral on your hands.

I’ve heard so often in the media that Roy Keane is a winner, that somehow this will guarantee the team success. Well he may be a winner but he’s not in our team. As one of the finest midfielders of his generation he could inspire and chastise his teams to glory, but off the pitch it isn’t so easy.

I hope he will have the courage to walk away but I fear he would just see that as giving people what they wanted – so we have to hope that Marcus Evans will act. Time for someone who knows something about the game to step in, time for a quiet word Mr Sheepshanks?

PimsNumber1 added 09:15 - Dec 15 Very good blog/post. Agree with all of it.
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hogster1970 added 09:18 - Dec 15 that is spot on dude well said, keane doesnt tick any of the boxes above does he, some come on curbs get your back side up here
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Surco72 added 09:29 - Dec 15 Great Blog spot on many points .. the main thing is whether people are pro keane or anti keane the simple fact is its not working for him or Ipswich so it needs to end . He may go on to be the legend manager he claims he will be ,but sometimes you have to know when to walk away ,now in his career is that time
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Bluestu added 09:41 - Dec 15 Good Blog, a couple of interesting points, one being about team spirit - take our friends up the road, very few of their players would we want in our team, but whenever you see them play they all play for each other with spirit, which gains them a greater sum than the consistant parts. Secondly the issue of confidence, it is a good point that RK could of blamed the ref rather than the players after Swansea, give the players belief that they were hard done by, get them out and fighting next game and show you believe in them, i remember the Sheff U game where pablo got sent off, we won that game against all odds because the team got fired up at the injustice. Winners never accept any disbelief, Michael Schumacher in his prime was a fine example

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hype313 added 09:50 - Dec 15 Top Top Blog, I wholeheartedly agree.
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sonian_blue added 10:00 - Dec 15 Excellent piece and as a real supporter of Keane when he arrived, someone who was determined to see him succeed for our club, I agree. It is time but I fear ME will go for the publicity again and want someone high profile. Dont know why everybody on here seems to want Curbs, I certainly would not be happy to see him arrive, although I would support him. He has on more than one occasion stated that he considers himself to be a Premier manager so I doubt he would lower himself to gour level. Suits me. I would like to see Sean Odriscoll, Eddie Howe or maybe Mark Robbins - all managers who have cut their teeth and are ready to move up a level (their current clubs would dispute that statement no doubt). Either way it is time to move on.

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tractored added 10:31 - Dec 15 Nice to see a blog so well written. It does seem to me strange, however, that you list the glory days and otherwise that made you so smitten with the club yet you say from the start you were a Roy Keane sceptic and that his tenure was doomed to failure. It is even curiouser that you say "exceptional players rarely make good managers" as this is blatantly incorrect: Cruyff, Klinsmann, Guardiola, Beckenbauer. He is an abrasive character but so was Clough. He has bought badly and if he is forced out it will be for this reason he could have little complaint. In mitigation he was trying to achieve promotion in a very short time scale and it appears that he had the funding pulled out from beneath him for the second year. Win the next two home games and things will look very different. Either way it is time to stick it out.

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TractorRoyNo1 added 10:50 - Dec 15 interesting comments, but you let yourself down with this bit "I hope he will have the courage to walk away"; in war time people who desert are shot not aclaimed for the their "courage" - if ME wants him out, it is HIS and HIS ALONE responsibility.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 10:54 - Dec 15 come on sell 'curbs' to me! IMHO, he peaked at charlton several years ago, was a failure at west ham, and now has been out of work for what 3 (?) years - if he isas good as some people believe he would have been snapped up - he's passed his sell by date, if Keane is sacked we should look for an up and coming manager not a past-it one.
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owdboy1 added 11:36 - Dec 15 Agree with your blog. Don't think he will walk as it would finish any future managerial career he may have - nobody would employ a "double quitter". With ME probably limiting future spending it is important to get a Manager with knowledge of the lower divisions , as that is where we need to recruit players from. I think Curbishley has been out of the scene for too long. Like the look of Sean O'Driscoll and his style of play and Eddie Howe is doing a great job with limited money ; plus these type of managers are still "hungry " for success. My heart says it would be nice to see Tarricco back with his mate Poyet.

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CalneBlue added 11:47 - Dec 15 Fair points tractored. I think it's possible to be in love with your club but still believe an almighty blunder has been made. Football is a highly unpredictable thing and I'm sure many sceptics like me hoped that RK's drive would be enought to see the club return to the premiership. But clearly this hasn't happened for many reasons, some fundamental ones I highlighted in my piece. I acknowledge that there have been some top players who have coached successfully but I think they're in the minority and the examples you cited were at big clubs with stronger management teams. I think most successful managers tend to have been decent players who gained solid experience at a higher level but were not world class. Perhaps as such they have a greater appreciation of the value of motivation and teamwork? Still, I wouldn't say no to Klinsmann in our current predicament.

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naa added 12:17 - Dec 15 Good blog. Just going onto the good players, poor managers debate: Cruyff didn't succeed anywhere after his spell at Barca, Klinsmann has failed at club management. So out of all the great players ever you really only cam eup with two options, so hardly disproving the rule really. But obviously there will be exceptions and Keane may yet prove to be one. He does seem to be learning lessons while he's been hear, but sadly it's too little too late, and he's still to learn the lesson that setting out for a 1-0 is not a good way to play football in this country. Not with two central defenders less than 21 it isn't anyway! But really, regardless of what we think Keane may yet acheive I think he will have to move on to acheive it, we're in too much of a rut to get anywhere now I believe. I may yet be proved wrong, but unless we go on a run the like of which has never been seen I don't think I will believe Keane can do it here for us.

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UrbanAchiever added 13:29 - Dec 15 Interesting blog. Someone else mentioned the great players who've become great managers, so couple that with Keane's experiences as a player, particularly under Fergie and Clough and surely, surely there's a great manager in him waiting to come out. I think Keane's blasé attitude is down to his unshakeable confidence in his own abilities. He seems convinved he's going to be the next Guardiola and I assume ME thinks (or thought) the same. I guess it's now a question of does ME give Keane a sustained crack at the whip or are we going to uhser in yet another manager to help us achieve mid-table mediocrity? Because, with the squad in the state it is at the moment, and still no 20 goal a season stiker on our books, I really can't see us getting promotion. Rumour has it Guardiola's going to leave Barca at the end of this season, come what may. That'd be nice!

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ray66 added 13:34 - Dec 15 Excellent blog well said absolutely spot on. My only fear is that ME and his company thrive on the oxygen of publicity hence Keanes appointment and the longer this drags on the more publicity is received by the ME group. Albeit slightly adverse who was who said all publicity is good publicity.
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UrbanAchiever added 13:35 - Dec 15 On the other hand, how much success do we want? I know it's a daft thing to say, but my old man always said the best thing about being a Town fan in the Championship is knowing that every game you go to could be a win (well, not on current form but the seniment is correct). Look at our last efforts in the Prem...I'm still praying to a god I don't believe in for someone to beat someone else 10-0, thus erasing our record. Imagine Sheikh Mansour [sp.] had bought Town, and we were now the love of the nation that Citeh have become. No thanks. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent now. As long as Keane doesn't get us relegated let him get on with it. I know that's a catch 22 as we could find ourselves down the Orwell with only Keane's paddle to get us out again before we can save ourselves, but...hmmm...I've lost my train of thought. Another coffee I think and I'll try to come up with a pithier statement.

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UrbanAchiever added 13:42 - Dec 15 Just a thought, where's Mogga at the moment? He worked wonders with West Brom.
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WarkonWater added 13:55 - Dec 15 To say we need a change is to state the obvious. I agree with the main point of the blog that Keane’s character flaws have let him down as a manager. A manager needs to be able to instil confidence in his players and Keane just doesn’t have the qualities to do that. I cannot see him walking away because another walkout on his record would finish his career.
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O2BITFC added 16:52 - Dec 15 I think the trouble with world class players becoming managers is that they invariably start management with a top team and top class players which makes it very difficult to ascertain whether a teams plays well because of them or because they are a group of class players who know what they are doing. I feel it is much better to focus on someone like Mourinho who has no history as a player and relies mainly on his man management skills to motivate players to play well.

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RRanger added 17:22 - Dec 15 UrbanAchiever - Mogga is at Middlesboro and after a dodgy start are starting to pick up a few points.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 18:38 - Dec 15 umm, that's a bit like saying 'Sir Alf didn't do anything after gettign the sack from England' and ignoring his achievements, just look at Cruyf's record in Spain. naa added 12:17 - Dec 15 Just going onto the good players, poor managers debate: Cruyff didn't succeed anywhere after his spell at Barca
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alfromcol added 19:44 - Dec 15 CalneBlue - Good blog. I am with you, there is sadness and a powerlessness (I think that is a word) in being a part (a supporter) of ITFC during 2010. We can only hope for a change of some sort and a happier 2011
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bluelady added 23:11 - Dec 15 fantastic article......
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naa added 10:29 - Dec 16 TractorRoy: no it isn't. Because Sir Alf proved himself as a manager over several years at club and country. Cryuff did well at Barca. But anyway, I haven't checked all my facts so not willing to go on about it. My point being is that there are about 20 truly world class players playing at any one time. Over the years that must have translated to at least 200 truly great players. Of those we've come up with 3 or so that have made great managers, that's not a lot really is it? And all of those have done it at big clubs with players of the quality they are used to. So it isn't a good analogy to use with Roy Keane.

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Back_The_Boss added 12:11 - Dec 18 Bring in Curbishley, he is a well respected gaffer. COYB!
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