Sorry, am late coming to the party here but it seems that what ChambersM has posted has struck a nerve. What he has stated in this thread is emminently sensible. This is not the Chinese form of democracy. We are allowed our opinions even if they are not agreeable to everyone. He doesn't like RK. We all know he's not alone in that. Whether or not he's right is debatable particularly given our good run of form but he's entitled to his view.

What's important is that we can give a considered opinion on this forum based on facts not emotive perspectives.

I don't necessarily subscribe to his views, (I think progress is being made) but I don't belittle his contribtions because I think that proper debate enriches us all. What I am loathe to accept is the complete disregard for his arguments.

Rock on ChambersM.

I do not read too much into this and in any event I don't think Keane will sign a new deal if offered until near or at the end of this seaon. Things can change very quickly in football everyone knows that including Roy Keane. He is a sensible and honest bloke and if he thinks he has failed then I don't think he will stay anyway. Just hope he succeeds and he is certainly going about it the right way at the moment.

Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr too early to even start thinking about.
Repost this topic in january and then lets all give our opinions again.

Hi all
I've noticed on the ipswich town F.C. wikipedia page it says after team name that you pronounce it Ipsh*t, Im thinking this is thw work of a budgie. I tried to edit it but couldn't see how does anyone know how to do it???

wouldnt worry about it scowie ,as long as Town stay above em who gives a sh;t.COYB

ChambersM there is a lot more to be happy about than the fantastic start we have had but i cant be bothered to write these points as you probably would not listen or read but it seems you want keane removed, so should ITFC sack him after he has rebuilt our squad, got the new squad playing quite well, making us hard to beat, now winning and probably financially very stable compared to our old mate Jim when he was manager. I think if clegg & evans sacked keane now they surely would need the same medical treatment that you need, jesus christ boy last season was a disaster but i am sure keane was building a new squad as most managers do when they inherit a squad of over paid numbnuts (one or two players not to be tared with that brush) also was Jon Stead tearing our defence apart and did he score i ask? NO . Who did score?
i am sure you are a Narwich infiltrator and seriously you need to support your club rather than come hear talking sh*t about ITFC.
Sorry if i offend you but you really need to snap out of the doom and gloom and look at what is going on here.

ps Steve Finnan if he is fit, a good right back but also a holding midfielder with lots of experience!

I dont think we will be offering him a new contract just yet but I'm sure discussions do take place. Even if we did offer him a new one now I dont think he would look to sign it until near the end of the season anyway. I do think though that both Keane and Evans will have in their mind what it would take for him to be offered and accept a new deal, obviously it would have to be a massive improvement on last year and signs that the improvement would continue next season. That decision cannot be made after 4 league games, I do hope howver that he does get offered a new deal as this would mean we will have improved!

keano, sign him up!
keano keano sign him up!

Paper talk, thats all. Won't happen yet a whiles.

Agree that if SC and ME are wise, they will seek to extend RK's contract by at least 2 years. There is no doubt that the poor start to last season was due to instability, some players unsure of their future, others settling in, with a number of disruptive players in the background (Thatcher, Counago, etc), added to very poor form of RW and Balkestein in particular. I think RK was prepared to risk that instability and struggle last season in order to get players with the right qualities in.

As pointed out above, talk of a new contract is not a knee jerk reaction after 6 games, the points haul from the past 36 games is play off form, that is not opinion, it is fact. As Keanish points out above, what is impressive also is that the team has been rebuilt for a net outlay of £3.75m. To be contenders for the top two, a couple of experienced loan players are still required for the RB and CM positions, and possibly cover for Edwards on the right side, but there is no doubt in my mind that it going to be a successful season.

This is now very much RK's team. No one is saying he is yet the finished article as manager, or that he ever will be, but stability is vital. He has already in his short management career entirely rebuilt a Sunderland team and taken them to the Premier league and has now totally rebuilt this Ipswich side to very good effect. I expect that there will be interest in him from London clubs before the end of the season. There is also a danger that if he left he would take players with him.

pims we have a RB jamie peters you pleb

if we are up there at xmas

Keane is well deserving of a new contract and that includes last season. Keane had to change the mentality and makeup of our entire squad and that takes time. You may blame him for the start of last season and to a degree thats correct, but he also sorted it in the last half of the season and that has been the basis for this solid first month.

He comes across as being very passionate about our club, gives youth their chance, and demands 110% from everyone at the club whether they are in the starting eleven or the reserves. Thats the kind of manager I want here, so why change? His histo0ry as a player and the fact that he has played under 2 of the better managers in the english game is a very rare cv.

He is a young manager, so mistakes will happen, but dont be fooled into thinking last year was entirely keane's fault. he would have hit alot of resistence from certain players when he started asking them to leave their comfort zones and earn their money.

He needs time, and if he gets it, this club will overachieve.

Definitely not a scum infiltrator

no one can argue that the team last season had some pre-madonnas who did not work hard for the club. i for one think that Roy has shifted some deadwood. Bringing Fulop into the picture seems to have reignited Priskin- good man management from RK. We have a young team of players who look hungry and eager to please (and yes i know we are only 6 games in). Roy came into a job with a lot of players who thought they were above it all and gods gift. he has given them a kick up the arse and some of them the boot. it has taken a season but i really think we have the basis of a team we can all be proud of. i am excited for this season and really hope the current form continues. i loved keane as a player and really want him to do well as our manager and take us back to where we belong. What we need to do as supporters is sing louder, stamp harder and back our team through thick and thin. portman road needs 24000 every home game and people need to get off Roys back. We are all supposed to be supporting the same team so act like it. I now respectfully step back off my soapbox!

the club needs stability, offer him a one year rolling contract

6 games? 36 games? neither is long enough to offer someone a new contract for. Some of the re-writes of history on here are unbelievable. We were really in such a state when he arrived? The two seasons before we'd finished mid-table for christ's sake, just like we did last year. Some miracle-worker.

And what players are going to sign new contracts when the manager who is negotiating them's future is uncertain jayessess!?

Maybe you didn't read my post properly!? For all the reasons stated are why another club would move in for Keane and don't belittle the start to the season either.

Point taken legoman but i don't think the senior players will be rotated. The spine of the team will play every game providing they remain fit i'm sure.

sometimes I wonder if half the people on this board are actually real town supporters, given how much they sound like Keane groupies from Cork. Your post above contained not one serious argument as to why we NEED to offer RK a new contract, and potentially expose ourselves to a big loss. Make no mistake at the moment the jury is still out on our current boss, regardless of how much you personally like him.

the reality of the situation is this. No one currently wants RK. He's got a bad reputation as a football manager outside of Suffolk, largely because of the debacle that was his first season. That's unlikely to change in the immediate future. If it does, it's unlikely that having a contract extension is going to keep him here if he wants to go. Why expose ourselves to that kind of liability for no good reason? It's like all of you regard the club's bank account as bottomless.

As to "who's going to sign new contracts" nonsense, that just shows how little you know about football and the reality of contract negotiations. A desperate attempt to justify something you want to happen for no good reason.

Give me one reason why a footballer would commit to signing a contract for a club if the manager who picks them and plays them every week might not be there in 6 months? Players don't sign for clubs, players sign for managers who want them to play for clubs. Lets not start throwing our own football credentials at this one either and how much we do or don't know about football.

I never said we NEED to offer Keane a contract, i said i wanted him to be offered a new contract as i like his style of management, i like the direction our club is going and the way we're doing it. Keane committed to a 2 year deal in which he would get us to the premiership. Based on this alone will decide whether he is successful or not. I for one, being a 'groupie' would like him to stay regardless for the simple reason that success comes with stability. Our most successful period in the last 25 years has come with our longest serving manager in that time. The only manager in that period to be given longer than 3 or 4 years. It took him 4 or 5 years to get us up to the Premier so if we do it in half that time, two thirds of that time or the same amount of time i will be happy. Although, i think there is a current wave of optimism given recent performances that would indicate this may well be done quicker.

RK is already a very rich man. He is not doing the job for the money. Being brought up under the influence of Sir Alex and Brian Clough I'm sure that contracts mean precious little to him. If he does the job right everyone will want him to stay; if not most will want him to go. The crucial point is that he won't need telling. He knows we need him more than he needs us. Hence his outspoken views with more than a hint of irritation towards his bosses.

It is clear from a personal viewpoint that he desperately wants to succeed and I get the feeling that he has developed a genuine liking for ITFC and its supporters and it's now a matter of record that he likes the area as well.

To be truly loved though, an ITFC manager has to be successful and while in many ways the measurement of success is relative (ie finishing above Norwich) in ME's eyes its Premiership or bust. We are 4 games into the season; still 42 to go. I'm sure no-one's getting carried away. Not least RK who has to deal with all the expectations which have erupted volcannically with our unexpectedly good start.

Given our shambolic transfer policy over the pre-season some might have said that RK would not hang around but to his credit he has. He may not be everyone's cup of tea but so far this season he is doing what, we the supporters, want; ie put a team on the field that wants to perform and delivers the results we crave.

While this feeling of wellbeing may have prompted ME/SC to review their long term plans and perhaps look to tie RK down for a longer term I don't believe RK is particularly interested from the perspective of his own job security and he may well act the reluctant bride in order to secure a buy-in to his own managerial ambitions.

Well summarised Blue041273.

Keane's long term managerial ambition has to be two things: Managing Manchester United and Ireland (although this is unlikely to happen give the Irish FA's and his current disdain for each other). To achieve either of these he has to succeed at Ipswich, no question. For this reason, given Keane's motivation, drive and pedigree in the game so far i foresee it being a success. There are many other factors to why i think it will succeed but rather than write little rants i'll hold my breath until i have a few beers at Pompey!

players sign for clubs, they sign for the quality of the offer on the table. QPR change managers seemingly every few months, do they have any problems signing players? Less than stable Ipswich apparently. Your assertion just isn't born out by the behaviour of actual footballers. Find me one occasion of a footballer signing for one club rather than another because of the length of the manager's contract? It's just some unfounded nonsense you've made up because you've got a hard-on for hard man Keane.

As to the credentials of Burley: he, despite having to sell his better players, consistently had us finishing in the top 6. He kept his job because he consistently had us competing at the top of this division. If, IF, RK does the same, he'll keep his job too. This historical rewrite that he's already made it because he needed a season to get rid of the deadwood is just stupid - he was the one who suggested his squad was pretty decent the summer before last, and he was the one who couldn't get the best out of any of those players.

Blue041273: Like RK said, any half-decent manager can finish mid-table in the championship, especially when most of the division is made up of sides with less cash to spend than us. So, no, I think RK needs us considerably more than we need him. If he screws this up, he's unlikely ever to get a shot at the real big-time as a manager.

Keane has done well so far this season and I wouldnt go blaming him totally for last seasons shambles,they did say it would be looked at ,at a later date so I would expect that to mean January and hopefully we will still be going as strong as we are now and with a few additions to the squad then I would say its time to give him an extension and this would also work in Keanes favour as he would have a stronger case to argue.

I don't expect talks to start until January. I think Keane's drive to succeed and achieve prmotion or at least a play-off position will be sufficient to keep him focused on the job regardless of the status of contract negotiations. Obviously if he, hopefully, succeeds in getting us promotion his asking price would be higher!