Roy Keane says his Town team have shown a tendency to be naïve during the latter stages of games this season. The Blues boss was clarifying his comment last week when he said that the club is too nice.

Keane says he wasn’t referring to the club, its staff or the fans but to the team when he said that Town are “too nicey nicey”: “There’s nothing wrong with being nice, my dad always said it’s nice to be nice, but you’ve got to have that nasty streak. The nasty streak I meant was at certain times of the game.

“I don’t mean the club or the area or the supporters, because they’ve been brilliant, but in terms of concentration [on the pitch], we’ve conceded a lot of late goals and that’s when you need a nasty streak.

“Knowing when to foul somebody, time waste, we see clubs doing it all day, but I think we’re generally a naïve team. That’s why I say the team’s probably lacked one or two characters.

“I’ve seen it with other teams and other clubs, it gets to injury time, I wouldn’t say [it's] cheating, but there are times when you can take your time with the throw-in. We’ve had it here a couple of times when clubs have come here and players have been down for four or five minutes and they get up and there’s nothing wrong with them.

“There’s a cuteness to it, that’s what I meant. I didn’t mean the people at the club, but I mean the players need to be more streetwise.”

The Town boss hasn’t spoken with owner and chairman Marcus Evans recently but says this is entirely normal with his day-to-day relationship with chief executive Simon Clegg: “Any talk of a breakdown [with Evans] is nonsense. I speak to the chief executive as normal twice a week and we were all discussing possible players to come in recently.”

Keane reiterated that he’s happy in Suffolk and suggested he would keep on living here even if he were to lose his job with the Blues: “I love it here, I'm very happy. I took my five kids out of their school in Manchester to be here. I bought the house, so I've made a commitment to the area anyway, whether I'm in a job or not.

“But I've made a commitment to the club as well. I want to see out the job for the two years of my contract and hopefully that will continue.”

Photo: Action Images

kentblue added 17:49 - Apr 3 There is a difference between seeing a game out by outwitting your oponents ! which is to be applauded but advocating fouling etc sums Keane up .THUG . It would be a shame if the club were to sink to this level of football !
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buryblue77 added 18:24 - Apr 3 If we have to get on a level playing field (footballers cliche there!!) then so be it. It's not the Ipswich way I hear people saying. I want my club to be killing these games off and if other clubs are coming here, or doing it at their home grounds in order to win a game then so be it. We need to not be so nicey nicey and finish these games off when we're in a wining position. We need that killer instinct and I feel Keane is the man to do that. I want to see Ipswich pushing for (and hopefully achieving) promotion next year and if we have to be nasty to do it that's fine by me!

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ChambersM added 18:29 - Apr 3 mark - talks a lot of sense, i agree
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alfromcol added 22:17 - Apr 3 Scunthorpe started wasting time from the first kick of the game. Keane is specifically talking about the last few minutes of the game. Just goes to show how his words can easily be taken out of context. Its about time the ITFC management told the ball boys and girls not to throw the ball back quickly to the opposition when it goes out of play!!!
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bennyblue added 23:26 - Apr 3 keane wasted 1 fullyear of are time and because he cant get decent results managing the team he wants to cheat is this the correct reading of his statements.......what a man
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rosseden added 00:48 - Apr 4 Bennyblue and Kentblue you really need to find a time machine and head back to the 70's when football had low wages and wasnt the money machine it is now, when people could afford to be nicey nicey and play things 'the ipswich way'. In my few years on the planet i was on the understanding 'the ipswich way' was about giving managers time, support, and backing our club, it seems my interpretation of 'the ipwsich way' is different to yours though?! This sort of gamesmanship happens, in every league, itll happen in the world cup, just because RK speaks up about it he is a thug?! Its whats known as evolution, if you dont like it, then you probably ought to try locking yourself in a darkened room and wasting away the rest of your days in denial. It happens in every aspect of life, and football is no exception. Just accept it and move on. For once i can see a long term vision at ITFC and ME / SC seem to have an eye on that too, the business aspects are starting to stack up, the frailties are being dealt with, much like you would in any other business. For me, thats far more important that anything else, in the next couple of years alot of clubs are really going to fight not being wound up, and, i think we currently have the best chance of not being one of them that we've had for a long long time.......

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bennyblue added 07:23 - Apr 4 rubbish
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sereneblue added 13:47 - Apr 4 Well said Rosseden. Unfortunately these words are wasted on people like bennyblue who live in the past. To many supporters should start living in the here and now and get on with things.Well done Roy,carry on the good work next season.
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blue_shoes added 16:38 - Apr 4 bugger off bennyblue
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kentblue added 18:58 - Apr 4 Rossenden - I'd like to respond to your misguided ideas and beliefs . First of all it is NOT dated to promote " nice " football . It is called progress ! Look what Arsene Wenger has done at Arsenal ! "NICE " football has EVOLVED from his forward thinking and his ability to promote attractive play . Keane is taking football backwards by suggesting these tactics- perhaps you need to reflect upon this ! I do believe in giving managers time as this makes sense- Keane , in my mind, has caused disruption on and off the pitch and if anything has taken the club backwards ! As for my comments about "thuggery " I am referring to him as a player- his lack of respect to Mick Mc Carthy when representing his country - his comments about wishing he could hit out at players but can't - and his general behaviour. I suggest football has moved on -this does NOT mean it has gone soft but has changed for the better !!

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rosseden added 19:19 - Apr 4 fair play kentblue, thats certainly not how your posts come across as they often seem very negative, but you have good points, i personally think EVERY team do the time wasting thing, even Arsenal, i recall there being a bunch of press a few years back when Wenger criticised someone else for doing it, only to have the statto types tell them they do it just as much. Keane as a player was the most successful captain in united history, ok, so he was a bit rough at times, but, do you think any of the worlds other top club sides would have taken him, of course they would. Hes a winner, he doesnt want to know how to lose, and thats what you need as a leader..... do i think Keane was right about McCarthy, yes, i do, i think the IFA and MM both needed their heads banging together over the World Cup debarcle, RK wasnt prepared to accept it, things within their control that were simply overlooked isnt acceptable in his eyes, and i think thats the way you have to be to get to the top at anything. Id rather have a Mourinho, a Keane, a Clough, someone who says it how it is and believes in what they say, than a pussy cat of a manager who rolls over and submits at the first opportunity. I have faith that RK is building a fairly deep legacy at ITFC and in a few years alot of people will look back and wonder how they doubted him. If we go up, get the money, get in a few really solid skillful flowing player, then of course the quailty of football will improve, Keane never played in a poor footballing side, Forest were bang on, so were Man U, and i dont think hes about to go to up and under for the rest of his days unless he feels it needed to do a job, and, if he feels its needed, then so be it. At least he isnt like Gary Megson who believes its the way the game SHOULD be played......

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kentblue added 20:57 - Apr 4 We seem to have some common ground now ! Agree time wasting is done by all teams to see out the final minutes of a game and is harmless but just frustrating for the other team and their fans. I also would like a manager who has strength of mind but also commands respect of both his team and supporters. We shall see who is right on this one - there are different ways of achieving this - Roy Hodgson seems to have succeeded using a different approach. I too would not like to see the Megson- Stoke/ Bolton - "style " of football being advocated as a way forward !

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naa added 10:39 - Apr 6 The way to stop conceding late goals is to play possession football and not sit deep panicing wildly against a team who hasn't had a shot in the previous 90 mins. The answer is not to keep commiting niggly fouls and time-wasting. It's exactly this kind of comment that makes me think I don't want RK.
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