Boss Roy Keane felt the Blues' third successive defeat at Nottingham Forest was similar in many ways to Tuesday’s loss at Watford. The Town manager was again disappointed to concede just before the break, even if Lewis McGugan’s freekick was a 35-yard thunderbolt.

Keane said: “It was similar to the Watford game and the match up here against Forest last year when it ended up 3-0.

“When it’s 2-0 you’re gambling. If we’d got back to 2-1 we’d have had a chance, but then again the way we were attacking at the end we could have lost by three or four because we were taking chances.”

Despite acknowledging that Lewis McGugan’s goal was a superb strike, Keane was disappointed to again concede on half-time: “People will look at it as a good goal from the boy and I wouldn’t begrudge him his bit of glory but we should have seen out the first half, the same as on Tuesday. Déjà vu.

“Forest you could say took their foot of the pedal a little bit after the break, but I’m OK with the players. Two bad goals, some generally good play from us, but you’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net and we’ve not done that again.”

The Town boss says current results have been a bit harsh on his side: “It’s just not happening for us at the moment. I don’t think we’re getting what we deserve. That’s three defeats in a row. Against Coventry I think we could have got something, at Watford I think we could have got something and I think we could have got something today.

“We had one or two half-chances, the one that hit the bar and came out and the lad blocked it on the line. At the turning points in games we’re just not getting the breaks.

“We kept getting in there, but having said that I think their keeper’s made only one or two saves. It’s not as if we’re getting their keeper man of the match, the same the other night.

“I don’t remember the opposition keepers making too many saves. As much as we’re getting in good positions, it’s just the final ball or the final touch [which is letting us down]. He made a good save from Connor, but other than that he didn’t have much to do.”

Keane said that striker Jason Scotland was always expected to play only the first 45 minutes and that the Trinidadian wasn’t injured, despite being on the end of a heavy challenge.

Forest boss Billy Davies, who revealed that goalscorer McGugan had been laid low with illness earlier in the week, was delighted with the midfielder’s stunning freekick: “It was a great strike, fantastic. If it’s not the goal of the season, it’s one of them. It was a wonderful goal.

“A lot pleased me today. I thought the back five were excellent considering they played out of position and they had to shuffle it around.

“It was nice to see David McGoldrick coming into the side and getting his goal, that will do him a lot of good and give him a lot of confidence.

“I thought that throughout the side we worked very hard and showed good quality and good fitness and great determination. It’s a pleasing three points for us.”

Photo: Action Images

arc123 added 12:40 - Oct 24 We have absolutley no experience, no leaders, no strength and no pace anywhere across the pitch. Having just one up front shows that our central midfield is not strong enough. Forest played 2 in there against our 3, and we are still outnumbered. Keane seems like he has thought, Chelsea have won the league, I know, i'll copy their formation. However, Scotland is no Drogba, Townsend & Edwards are no Anelka & Malouda etc etc etc. GET ZOLA IN!!!!!!!

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StowTractorBoy added 12:52 - Oct 24 This is not in defence of Keane but losing O'Dea has been a massivle blow and it is no coincidence that our results have been poor since his absence. We still do not have a recognised right back and many of our goals conceded come from that area as Peters continually gets lost in space as yesterday proved. Keane I am afraid has to take most of the blame for this slump as he has tinkered too much with the team selection. If we have to play 4-1-4-1 then Hyam should play every time until he is burnt out not keep saving him in case he does burn out. We were very successful with him as the holding player two wide players with flair i.e Edwards and Townsend and the workhorses of Norris and Leadbitter in midfield. True Edwards has not been at his best lately but this swapping around must unsettle all the players. Not sure why we bought Colback back - don't get me wrong he is a great little player but the money could have been spent on a right back or a striker. Why not have a punt on one of the Crewe strike force although on second thoughts if you don't get the service not even Rooney would score with our set up the moment. Very worrying times and it defies belief that we can drop like a stone so quickly. The fact that this Division is so close throughout it is difficult to predict who will drop out of it but Keane needs to sort it otherwise it could be us. Sorry but look at the form table it does not make good reading.

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Keaneish added 13:00 - Oct 24 Kent Blue and Chambers - i'm not saying i'm entirely happy with Keane at the moment so there's no blind faith or Messiah hailing from this corner. I'm giving him until the Norwich game and in that time i want a minimum of 12 points and a quarter final slot in the league cup. My patience is wearing just as thin. Tommy Smith a fullback? Never. Yes we need more height in the team but not to the detriment of that position! With that midfield we should be dominating teams, which we did second half yesterday but all too late. So Kent Blue and Chambers, we're all equally as frustrated that we're now 13th from 3rd in the space of a few weeks but rather than jump on here and delight in the fact we've lost with a 'Keane Out' post how about talking about football!? Here's one for you to contemplate. Why did we lose yesterday? Lets chat about that rather than, Keane has no creativity, Keane has no man management or social skills garbage!! Says who? You or the Sun and Mirror Newspapers!? You both seem to think football is a little kiss, a cuddle and an arm around the shoulder of players pre and post match. Get real. Something tells me neither of you have been in a changing room.

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bluearmy4life added 13:01 - Oct 24 The recent formation of 4-1-4-1 did work at the start of the season but not at all now the results and league table don't lie. In the press interviews Keane still looks quite relaxed the way he words everything is as if he is trying to keep his job. Big week for keane and the blues nothing less than 2 victorys and really good performances will do anything less Evans has got to make changes Keane will have to go.

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bobble added 13:05 - Oct 24 What a disaster this mr keane has been' i cannot for the life of me understand why he was not removed early last year. he clearly has been out of his depth and despite bringing some personal fans with him from cork or manchester or wherever' he just does not seem to have the slightest clue how to get this club playing good football and in a promotion position.his public relations and player relations are awful he chops and changes the team constantly for no net benefit' he makes public statements which surely must undermine team morale and gee up the opposition. all in all the man has set us back 2-3 years in our promotion challenge and now its clear we have to start all over again.the sooner we see he back of him and his rent-a-crowd fanatics the better for our great football team"just not at the moment " please please go mr keane

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dirtydingusmagee added 13:26 - Oct 24 not being deluded enough to believe we would last long in Prem if we did make it [and i would love to see us up,] i always look forward to a good cup run and the possibility we could get to a final, the only consolation for me if we blow it against Northampton would be to see Keane sent packing.The bitter pill at present is seeing us going downward and Deliahs Darlings being above us .

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BlueArmy01 added 14:32 - Oct 24 The couple of bad results then people calling for Keanes head comment does my head in, we are going nowhere under Keane and worse still we are going nowhere playing dull Football please all the KEANO KEANO Blinkered brigade wake up and smell the coffee while there is a season left to salvage.
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ChambersM added 14:47 - Oct 24 Ok keaneish: 1. We play two full backs who are not full backs (evident with peters being caught out, who I think should be in attacking midfield not right back) 2. We play 3 central midfielders who are all the same player. 3. Following on from point no.2 because we play those three midfielders we then have to play 1 upfront (scotland: 5"8"!!) 4. Fair enough we had already lost but we take off townsend when we are chasing the game? Our only bit of pace in the team. 5. We use players for set pieces who cannot for the life of them take set pieces (leadbitter, colback). 6. We have players with no brain (leadbitter) who deliberately trip players up, and give away free kicks that get put away like no one has done at Portman road for years (partly because we have 2 men in the wall, a third man would have been right behind it and would have prevented the goal) 7. Similar to point no.6 we have in general no one who ever looks like actually scoring a genuinely quality goal, someone suggested Norris' goal the other night for that category (that is NOT what I mean) most people with a head and a little bit of awareness would have scored that. 8. I'm getting a little bit bored now so I'm going to leave it there. So that's why we lost at forest keaneish. It is the managers job to get the players playing well, and to bring in players for cover (striker, right back, maybe now left back) and the FACT is keane is not doing either of these things. And what make it worse is the fact he got rid of the perfect cover we did have! (stead, Pablo, rosenior could have been offered a contract, wright.....and in going to include garvan because I believe he could have been that bit of quality in central midfield we are crying out for!) And what makes it EVEN worse is that the permenant departures went for peanuts! (bout 500k for stead AND garvan). I'm done.

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These_arent_the_days added 15:14 - Oct 24 Spot on ChambersM. Unfortunately it became obvious from the outset that Keane dislikes ball-players.That's why us long-term supporters who 'don't know what we're on about' cannot support what's happening - it's not just about lack of results - that would be acceptable if we played decent football. While we sign the likes of Leadbitter (who I always said was over-rated even when I was in the minority) and sell our best player Owen Garvan (a great goal yesterday) things will not change.

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John added 15:21 - Oct 24 Before I start this post I'd like to say at the time of his appointment it was one of the most bold and exciting moves ITFC have ever made to appoint RK as manager and I was hopeful it would lead to fulfilling the dreams/ambitions we all have for the club. However, I think it's time for his tenure to end. Judging by comments on this site and also within PR on matchday he is rapidly losing the faith of the supporters, culminating in has comments last week, whether or not they were taken out of context by the media it was still an insulting and arrogant attack. His perplexing tactics and selections have been well covered on this site already, so I won't dwell on those, suffice to say I have yet to read or hear a coherent defence of them by even the most pro RK supporter. The question that needs to be asked is who would replace him. It's obvious to me that ME is committed to getting ITFC into the PL and is not satisifed with mid-table Championship. The appointment of RK would be enough to confirm this. ME also wants high profile (ruling out the likes of O'Driscoll), a big name to raise the status of the club and to sit in front of all the ME signs at press conferences. My choice would be Martin O'Neill, it would take a lot of convincing to get him, however, I think the core of the squad is strong enough to compete within the top six of what is a mediocre division. With the right tactics and motivation (both of which O'Neill possesses in abundance) I believe the squad is just short of a striker and a creative midfielder. I would agree we are light on FB's but at this level I think what we have would be strong enough if they maintained discipline, something an experienced manager would be able to instil . It may be that in the January window you would have to sacrifice one of Norris/Leadbitter in order to purchase/accommodate a better ball playing CM. A striker and creator is a must! With ME's business history and 'persuasive powers' he would, hopefully, be able to convince O'Neill that ITFC was the right club for him. I'm sure O'Neill would want the usual assurances that money would be available and he would be free from meddling chief exec's and owners, hopefully ME could provide this! Oh well, I can dream!!!!!!!!!!

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ChambersM added 15:21 - Oct 24 Bring in a new manager NOW (not at Christmas) and let him 'build' for a season and hopefully he will be absolutely ready for the new season as we're clearly not going anywhere this season.
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SeanAnnah added 16:57 - Oct 24 My first post on the site, town fan for 14 years, but only been to portman road the once so not a hardcore supporter! Why so many loan midfielders is my concern. Why aren't we pushing through our own youth, this club has a great history of doing that. Or buying permenant additions to the squad for the long term. Hyam holding, norris and leadbitter infront, walters and edwards supproting priskin. Thats how we started the season. I was looking back at the old posts, and everyone seemed to agree after the first few games an attacking 4-3-3 was good football and getting results. Then we got in livermore and colback, both good players, but there's nothing to build on there, isn't colback only here till christmas? Keane said before the first game, sigings hadn't gone the way he wanted, but we had good honest youngsters at the club he had faith in. I know the boo boys always surface after a couple of bad results, and whatever happens I think keane should be here till the end of the season, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I'd rather see the players we have here already given a chance. Hyam, smith, and obviously wickham, can any club boast so much talent coming through this year. I mean Wickham is actually consdiered the best english prospect alongside rodwell to be in a 3 lions shirt in a few years. I like keane, I hope he turns it round, but even if he doesn't, keep pushing through the youth and bring in the odd permenant player, forget the loans unless its genuine star quality like gio. We've got the foundations, I think the loans are trying to rush things a bit, Evans has the money to keep players like Wickham etc at the club, so why aren't we going back to basics and giving it some time to work out. Rome wasn't built in a day and all

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moomoosereni added 17:06 - Oct 24 ChambersM I agree with your points made but I do understand what others are saying on here. I don't think anyone is asking for people to continue to wear rose tinted glasses all season and pretend that October hasn't been a bad month for us. It's been nothing short of shocking. And Chambers you couldn't be more right about some of Keanes tactical choices (the corner taking from Leadbitter almost makes me blood boil!) I think that the best posters on this website are the ones that provide their opinion but back it up with plenty of substance. I can safely say Chambers that if you provide posts with evidence, then I for one won't be skipping past your comments like I always have done. I have never been one for wanting the managers head, but I agree with Keaneish that it needs to be sorted out, and FAST. I just don't think many true fans will accept another disappointing month, and if I'm honest I don't think the board would either. Doesn't matter who's in charge of this club though, they need to sort out how ITFC comes across in the transfer market because we've clearly been missing a trick there since ME took over I think.

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ChambersM added 17:10 - Oct 24 No offence 'seanannah' but seeing as you havnt been to that many games is just have to disagree with your wickham comment. I think it will take a very very good manager to get him to level everyone thinks he will get too. If we were to get offered ten million in January I think we would be idiots not to accept. At the moment especially he is highly overated
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SeanAnnah added 18:23 - Oct 24 Surely if "everyone thinks he will get to" interntional level, then they're maybe something in that don't you think
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ChambersM added 18:49 - Oct 24 Well what I mean in he's not progressing like we all thought he would this season (at the moment). And assuming he will go in the next three years anyway id be tempted to get big money for him sooner rather than later plus he will only drop in price in time.
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grumpyoldman added 18:52 - Oct 24 After reading ChambersM's comments again, I realised he has never put in match report, does this mean:- 1 he can't be bothered, unlikely as he likes voice his opinion. 2 only follows town on the radio, ditto the above comment. 3 or more likely only goes by what he reads in the paper or online
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Blue041273 added 18:52 - Oct 24 Roy's credibility shrinks by the day. His assessment of the performances during the last week has been at odds with many other observers. His team selections and tactics are now openly criticised. His thinly veiled criticism of the club for not signing Shaun Derry, an aging journeyman who left Leeds under a cloud will win him no support from anyone who wants to see an improvement in style and general playing standards. His assertion that supporters who challenge tactics, team selection and transfer policy don't know what they're talking about are manna from heaven for the anti-Keaneites. It's no use stating the obvious that a) we're not scoring enough goals; b) we're making two many defensive errors; c) we're not consistent enough. It's up to the management to resolve these problems. RK's tenure is looking like it will be remembered for its failure to deal with basic football flaws leading to a degradation in playing style and ultimately results. We've been riding our luck this year and it was always bound to catch up with us. However this is not the end of the world we are only 3 points off the play offs. But we can write them off if we continue with the current thinking. What is required is a completely new approach. We have good players; they just need to be deployed in a more positive way. You only have to look at the way so-called inferior teams (Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Millwall, even Crystal Palace) have played this weekend to see the standard of play we need to match if we are to do anything in this league. I'm not saying RK is finished here and that he can't ultimately be successful but he needs to change things for the very better if he is looking for an extended contract. Most of all he needs to stop treating the paying public as idiots as in the story of the Emperor's new clothes. When there's nothing to say, say nothing.

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ChambersM added 19:10 - Oct 24 Grumpyoldman I cant stand people who make assumptions about people who go to games and who don't. I've got a season ticket in the upper bobby robson stand and have managed to get to Watford and forest away so far this year (YES I WENT YESTERDAY), idiot.
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grumpyoldman added 19:27 - Oct 24 I was just making an observation with the evidence in front of me and just wondered why you don't put match reports in, as you can see from my limited number of match reports I can't always be bothered, but as you are somebody who likes to comment it just got me thinking. Apologies for upsetting you so much
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ChambersM added 19:40 - Oct 24 I'd have magilton back here in a shot over this clown
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ChambersM added 20:38 - Oct 24 Funnily enough I don't have the time to write a match report on every game!
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bluedragon added 20:52 - Oct 24 If some one on here can give me 5 GOOD reasons why ROY the bully boy KEANE should stay then show me
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moomoosereni added 21:12 - Oct 24 bluedragon as much as I have tried to stick up for Roy Keane since he was appointed I'm now really REALLY struggling to come up with reasons for him to stay at the moment. I really hope we are proved wrong and its turned round because I never like seeing Town go through a s41t time. I hate feeling this way. You always want what is best for your club and obviously that is results / promotion etc. But you also want a consistent leader of your team, much like your captain. Lets face it if Norris' performances were as up and down as Keanes, we'd be wondering why he was captain would we not? I just hope we turn this round. I have faith, sort of.

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whoppit added 21:27 - Oct 24 Keane is NOT going to turn things around. End of story. Get rid of him now and appoingt someone who has time to salvage a season that is going downhill fast. Keane has been given enough time to prove to us all that great players do not always become great managers. So Marcus, send out that P45 before it's too late !!! Defeat to the Budgies possibly playing 4-5-1 under our witless manager would be the last straw. Do it now Marcus !!!!!

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