Town boss Roy Keane says he will have an idea about where the club is heading in the next few days after holding talks with owner Marcus Evans and chief executive Simon Clegg. The Blues manager says he has identified his January targets but has dampened down expectations of imminent signings.

Keane says the recent injuries to Brian Murphy and Shane O’Connor plus Gianni Zuiverloon’s return to West Brom have caused him to have a rethink regarding January: “The plan was maybe for one or two players, we’re now probably after three or four players that we might to look to get into the club. Some of those would have to be permanent deals, whether we can do that - whether we get the money - we’ll know in the next few days.

“We’ll find out a lot about the club in the next few days — where we’re heading, whether we’re going to invest in these players or keep looking to duck and dive and getting loan players in which short-term can help you out, but we can’t be dependent on players who aren’t contracted to Ipswich. It catches up with you and I think it’s caught up with us now and will over the next few weeks."

The Town manager is due to continue discussions with the men in charge of the Portman Road purse strings in the next few days: “There are talks going on and telephone calls are due to take place with the owner and the chief executive, so we’ll have an idea.

“They’ll obviously digest things and we’re due more conversations today [Thursday]. The Gianni situation maybe changes the dynamics of the numbers of players we’re after, but we’re not talking about six or seven players.

“It might be loan deals and that might involve one or two of our lads going out on loan to release funds. Let’s see, without getting into the nitty-gritty of it, we’ll see over the next few weeks.”

Keane feels that his own contract situation - his two-year deal is up in the summer - may have some bearing on what cash is made available: “Will the club invest in players when the manager’s contract expires in about four or five months’ time? Who knows? There are lots of question marks that we need to look at over the next few days.”

As things stand, Keane doesn’t want fans to get too carried away with thoughts of immediate signings: “Only time will tell, it’s not good getting my hopes up, it’s up to the club to go and get these players. We tried that in the summer and it didn’t quite happen.

“Talk is cheap, you need to be judged by your actions, whether as a player, as a manager or as a chief executive — you’ve got to go out and do the business.

“I’m not here to give the supporters too much expectation, if anything I’m trying to dampen down their hopes so they don’t believe what they hear and read and think there’s X-amount to be spent or two or three players on the way in. There’s certainly not, there are no players due to drive in through that gate in the next few days.

“If anything I suppose I’m coming across as a bit of a Scrooge, but that’s the way things are looking over the next few weeks.”

But the former Ireland skipper believes his targets shouldn’t be beyond the club and says he will push to get the funds he feels he needs: “Basically you all want the same thing and that’s success for the club. We’ve got realistic targets, we’ve not got a list of Rooneys or Ronaldos or even Bellamys. We appreciate where we’re at.

“I’ve got to fight my corner because ultimately if things don’t go right the manager pays the price and people stay in their offices.”

Keane believes that if he gets the players he wants Town will be in a better position to push up the table: “We’re not far away from being a decent team, I’d say we are three or four players away but that’s nearly half a team. So, we’ll keep battling away and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Photo: Action Images

bobble added 11:06 - Dec 31 and hes an idiot who mouths off at the wrong time too......
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bluberry added 11:10 - Dec 31 Simple as if keano dosent get money in jan then he has no future here and walks
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Crazee added 11:27 - Dec 31 What the hell is wrong with you load of whining gits? The lad Fallon has done nothing wrong since he arrived, and at least he looks as if he wants to fight for the cause. Yet some of you idiots have done nothing but take cheap swipes at him from day one. Or is it just another chance to have a go at Keano (after all, it was all his fault that the pitch was too frosty to play on etc etc etc) We are striving to rebuild a team here, it won't happen over night however much some of you would like that to happen, so get over it. And yes, I really do believe Keano is the man to get us up - eventually. Patience please. I remember clearly the good days under Robson - and the crap he had to take before he got us there!! Get behind the team or go support that side at the northern end of the A140! COYB

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StowTractorBoy added 11:33 - Dec 31 One of the biggest mistakes the hierarchy at ITFC made was not allowing Keane to sign Derry and Chopra. When you add up all the loan player fees and salaries we would have been no worse off splashing the cash on those two players. Keane has made some hopeless signings Martin being the worst of all time time (Almost as bad as Jim and Lisbie) but he should have been allowed to sign these two key players permanently. Too many loan signings will always lead to problems and we are certainly finding that out now. The hype after the Leicester game seems to have disappeared and I fear the worse over the next two games - hope I'm wrong.

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bobble added 11:33 - Dec 31 rebuilding a team ! other clubs can do it in 6 months these fools have had damn near 2 years and we are going backwards your the git
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Crazee added 11:37 - Dec 31 Bobble, like too many others you talk like an idiot. Sorry ... as supporters we shouldn't be at each other's throats but I am getting so fed up with the dross that make up the comments on here. Maybe Keano was right when he said supporters know nothing? Oh, and by the way, I believe you mean "you're the git" rather than "your the git". Perhaps I am the git, but at least I can speak the Queen's English!

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ChurchmanBlue added 11:41 - Dec 31 Crazee - you are spot on. It seams that all the negative comments on this site are personal attacks against RK. If this is the way that "fans" are going to react to managers they don't like then I can't really see much future in forums such as this. As they say, "opinions are like @rseholes - everyone's got one." would be nice if people took a second thought before baring their backsides on this forum so regularly. With the exception of Lee Martin, who else has RK signed that has been a disaster? Maybe some haven't lived up to their reputations, but I can't think of one who has been totally cr@p.

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bobble added 11:48 - Dec 31 im a republican so i talk like i please..... but your right we shouldn't be at each others throats why cant we all agree to get rid of keane ? the evidence is there he is not any good at managing unless he spends outrageous sums of money and even then he is mediocre at best ....hopefully you will get sense in the new year and dump the queen and her wierdo family if you continue too believe that in a democracy one family should have the right too rule the rest off us then you my friend are the idiot.....

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Frankley_Blue added 11:48 - Dec 31 I'm not a Keane fan but I do feel for him when it comes to the transfer market. It's not the first time he's had a swipe at Clegg and Evans about getting players to sign the dotted line. The club needs to be selling Ipswich, as a great place to be and not just a great club to play for. Once players come they seldom seem to want to leave....
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bobble added 11:54 - Dec 31 once managers come they seldom seem to want to leave either no matter how very shi-te they are
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Garv added 12:10 - Dec 31 Makes for excellent reading this, in the sense that when Evans and Clegg read it they won't be happy, disrespecting the men above you wouldn't usually be tolerated in a business. Otherwise its more tripe from master manager Roy Keane, who played under clough and Ferguson (therefore he must be just what we want). All he ever talks about is signing new players, and moaning that we didn't sign them in the last transfer window- its never 'lets try and play the right football and get it right on the field' it's always 'a few more players and we'll be a good team etc., and yet he said all this a year and a half ago? It's all a big joke to him, rediculous and utter rubbish.

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Lightningboy added 12:14 - Dec 31 What p1sses me off about Keane is that he always makes it sound like all the problems are down to Marcus Evans...it's whether he can have the funds for this and that or whether "the club" is "heading" in the right direction!? Don't worry Keano,i'm not getting carried away by any immediate signings..i've worn myself out getting carried away with the thought of you getting the push over the last few weeks and that's come to nothing..so i've absolutely zero expectations with what's left under your reign. ..you've squandered £10M of our clubs precious money over the last 20 months and what have we got to show for it?..a team which is languishing near the bottom of the table (again!) and a squad full of crocks and loanees that aren't doing the business. It's your squad Keane,you're responsible now,nobody else chum..you've had more than enough time to shape them into a "half-decent" team but you've failed miserably over and over.. ..the only reason you're still here is because you're far too expensive to sack apparently. ..hopefully 2011 will bring in a decent manager with it.

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Lightningboy added 12:22 - Dec 31 Lightningboy : Next few days will show how mad our owner is.
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bobble added 12:29 - Dec 31 says it like it is always has well done lightening
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lunatic38 added 12:37 - Dec 31 I read anything from Ipswich at the moment with a very big pinch of salt ! Jesus this Club is in serious sh.t for many reasons if what i read is true and if i read it correctly, for me Keane seems to be plotting his course out of Portman Road by setting up the blame game, for example "i would have won the champions league in a month if clegg had signed the players i wanted" (sorry couldnt add the idiot accent), he has mentioned the "lack of investment" and "too much ducking and diving". Has this lack of confidence and investment been created by Keane by completely wasting the money he has had (l.martin etc)in previous months gone by? or worse scenario, that complete NUMPTY Clegg has been employed by Evans because he reckons through his vast business experience that a solid title winning team can be built upon loaness and two bob lower league players? and is Evans really a greedy profitering scumbag that thinks he is gonna own a 60 millions pounds a year premier league club by underwriting a 30 million pound debt for 2 years? lets face it, Evans has kept the financial doom and gloom at bay but he has not cleared the debt. Some money has been spent but it has not been Chelsea here has it? the headline is "Next Few Days Will Show Where the Club is Heading" that just sums up the whole crew running this Club at the moment because we all know where the Club is heading and we have got such an inept manager that spending 60 million on that little argie fellow from Barca would probably garuantee him the reserves and i am afraid when Keane has gone and the next manager fails because Clegg might sign a few loanees and lower league players Evans might realise Clegg is also deadwood and he needs to go and one thing i have always said and i mean it "IF THIS SCENARIO IS GONNA COST EVANS ANY MONEY HE WILL DROP ITFC" AND WE CAN BUT PRAY THAT SOMEONE WHO IS WILLING TO SPEND A FEW QUID WILL COME IN FOR US. I just hope i wake up in the morning to a buyout from Evans with Evans loosing complete control of this Club and Keane and Clegg are sacked with immediate effect including all the back room numpties, and those that have been sacked by Keane are reinstated by a football loving consortium ... oh cr.p father christmas does not exist does he?

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WeWereZombies added 12:42 - Dec 31 "or even Bellamys"?!?!?!?! Well, it would be an eventful loan signing but would it work out?
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Bluetone added 13:13 - Dec 31 Keane: Next Few Days Will Show Where the Club is Heading. If Keane stays the Knackers Yard seems most likely
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Suffolk_n_Good added 13:38 - Dec 31 Very interesting interview, reading between the lines, I believe Keane's giving ME/SC a bit of an ultimatum, back me with the funds for the players I need or i'm off, I know he's not said that directly, but it's clear to me he blames ME/SC for not "doing THEIR business" ME/SC don't seem as if they are willing to give RK much more money, but at the same time don't want to sack him, because of the amount it will cost to get shot of him, RK feels he's not able to do anymore at ITFC without more investment, but can't walk away from another club, or he will severely tarnish his employability. He won't walk away from his lucrative contract. (And in fairness to him, why should he? ME/SC were foolish enough to offer such a heavy salary, their problem!) somethings gotta give sooner rather than later, who will crack first.....

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Ipswich24 added 13:53 - Dec 31 Keane has had enough money and has wasted it. We have made some poor decisions getting rid of Stead, Rhodes and David Wright without replacing him. We have wasted money on Martin, Keane has also not given Civelli a try we have brought too many loans in. All he keeps going on about is need three or four flipping players, we have biggest squad in division and the bloke keeps wanting to add. Out of all the players out of contract keep Mcaualy, Hyam, Norris and Lambe the rest get shot of and bring some lower league players who really want it in and watch the improvement.

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RYITFC added 14:01 - Dec 31 What worries me about this interview, Is not the fact there's no money to bring in fresh blood, But the fact he says it may be loan signings which may mean players will have to leave. We will end up with pretty much a whole team of loanees, And from previous experience the players we bring in are no better (often a lot worse) than the players we let go. It's not the answer if this is the case that there will be no money to spend i would sooner stick with the squad we have rather than brining in yet more loan signings.

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Johnny_Boy added 14:06 - Dec 31 Don't worry Roy, the expectations were already sodden before you arrived.
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stinkiusminkius added 14:26 - Dec 31 We can't trust keane with more money because his record is fairly woeful. And even if your opinion is that he has made some good signings, he clearly can't get them playing well as a team, as our league position, form and general entertainment levels do not lie. Let's hope that this interview indicates that he may leave if not backed. That would be the perfect start to the new year, and give cause for some optimism.

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Vic added 14:30 - Dec 31 I'm not anti or pro Keane(though I do think think he's had enought time to get a settled team) but my first reaction on reading this is that he's paving the way for him to walk away if the club don't deliver what he wants in terms of players.
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Upbeat~ added 14:54 - Dec 31 This is what infuriates me more than anything. 3 or 4 players! We were only a couple away when we started! Keane points out the obvious when he says that loan signings are of no help to us - their use is to bide a soon-to-be-out-of-contract manager more time and temporarily pave over the very evident cracks. They are emergency measures to prop up an ailing club until the summer. They were necessary last year but the problem should have been sorted by now. Evans must be able to see that loan signings only drain money and are destructive in the long run. I still refuse to believe that we have a bad squad. The lack of a proper RB is both ridiculous and a major concern. I doubt there are many sides in the entire country, including pub teams, that don't have at least one RB in their side. If Keane fails to buy one in January than there he should resign afterwards - if he's not trusted to buy any players I guess we'll all just have to wait until the summer and hope for the best. We've been needing a creative midfielder (a Hammil, Taraabt etc) for years now but I can't see Keane ever looking for one - he'd find a fault in such a player's personality I'm sure (not enough of a character etc). Personally I'm happy with our striking options - everyone wants a 20-goal a season superstar but that's an unrealistic target. What we need is for th midfielders to contribute far more. Norris has done well but the strikers need far more backup than our midfield is currently offering. Also McAuley urgently needs to come back to fitness. As it stands though this team should still be capable of sitting around mid-table: 10th should be the aim with the current squad. Add a RB, a CREATIVE midfielder and hopefully another quality CB and this season could still have an excellent conclusion.

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tractorboy2434 added 16:15 - Dec 31 Why the hell do we need to sell just to get in more loans, most of which have been pretty woeful, just keep what you've got, scrape together enough points to stay up, and then rid us of the cause of this malaise at the club, Roy Keane, nothing will improve in the long term whilst this virus infects the club.
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