Boss Roy Keane has confirmed that QPR midfielder Shaun Derry was close to joining the Blues in the summer. TWTD was first to reveal that Town were targeting the 32-year-old then-Crystal Palace captain when he was about to become a free agent back in May.

Keane revealed that Derry was at Portman Road and the move was all but done, a scenario he alluded to earlier in the season. The Blues boss says Derry is the sort of player you need in the Championship: “He was here, we wanted to sign him, he wanted to sign, but we never did the deal.

“They are the type of players that I think you need to try and get out of this league, even though our younger players are doing well. The John Eustaces, the Lee Carsleys, you need them.

“I’m not surprised when I see where QPR are with people like Shaun Derry in their team. He knows I’m a fan of his anyway. I had a good chat with him in the summer and I was disappointed we didn’t get the deal done. He’s knows the Championship very well, he knows the game.”

Derry’s not the greatest passer of the ball but Keane says he does a lot of the hard midfield graft and knows the ins and outs of the division: “The Championship isn’t necessarily about passing, it’s about being streetwise with your team-mates, the opposition, with the officials. Shaun’s good like that.

“But you miss out sometimes and there’s no point in crying over spilt milk. He wasn’t the only one we missed out on, he wasn’t the only one who wanted to sign. The club weren’t prepared to do a deal but, as they say, that’s life.”

The Town manager says he’s not too upset by the failure to add experienced players in the close season: “I’m not frustrated. There was a decision made over the summer that we wouldn’t be bringing in these experienced boys and again we’re a little bit dependent on the loan market with Jack coming in, Jake, Andros and Darren O’Dea. They’re all good players and we should be grateful we’ve got them into the club.

“There’s always that little bit of doubt when you lack players who are streetwise and know the Championship inside out.

“Frustration would be too strong. I was disappointed at the time when we missed out on Shaun, but I think any manager is when you’ve missed out on a player you think you’re getting who will help the club, whether it’s a Derry or a Carsley or a Kilbane, whoever it might be.”

Keane says the squad also lacks a bit of know-how due to the number of summer departures: “For Steady we got a decent offer and the club accepted it. I was fine with that, but we lost a bit of experience.

“Having said that, we brought in Márton Fülöp and Mark Kennedy, although obviously Sparky’s injured so we’ve not had that run of games with him.

“It’s not just about their footballing talent but their experience. Even the likes of Garvs and Alex Bruce, as much as you can say it was good business for the club, we’re missing players who have played 200 or 300 games.

“Jon Walters, David and Richard Wright too, even though ultimately we didn’t want to hold onto them. We got good offers and some of their contracts were up and we wanted to change the dynamics of the squad, but I wouldn’t have predicted that we’d have lost that many players.

“However, I’d still make the same changes tomorrow, but we didn’t get the one or two experienced players we were after in the summer for one reason or another.”

The Town manager is pleased with his youngsters but says that the volume of games can take its toll: “The likes of young Luke Hyam have done well over the last few weeks but I keep saying that these young boys will have to be taken out.

“Not due to the physical side, they can run all day, but the mental side of playing Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday. It’s difficult for top players, let alone young boys learning their trade.”

Keane was pleased with another of his youngsters at Watford in midweek: “Ronan Murray did well the other night but that was as a substitute. We can’t start young Ronan up against two big, strong centre-halves for Forest who have played a lot of games.

“You saw Murray when we played Tottenham down here and he’s got the heart the size of a lion, but at this moment in time he’s more of a substitute, physically he still has to do a bit more.

“That said, the other night he looked more likely to score than anybody and credit to the boy for that. Same when he came on at Exeter. We can talk about what he lacks, but he gets in the right areas and he’s tenacious.”

Keane, who says he hopes owner Marcus Evans and chief executive Simon Clegg understand why he wanted players such as Derry, believes all bosses appreciate what these seasoned campaigners can bring to the table: “Every manager would like one or two experienced players, not necessarily for what they do on the pitch but in a dressing room situation before a game or at half-time.

“We’re depending on one or two of the younger players but that’s the way it’s panned out and maybe our role here is to help these younger boys become better players. Whether that can get us out of this league is a big ask.

“Saying that, the kids might surprise us. The kids are capable of bouncing back after the disappointment of the last few games. People like Luke, who has been given a rest in the last week, Tom Eastman’s played four games for us and done reasonably well, young Troy, Murray, Wickham, Reggie.

“We might look back and say this has been the making of them, even with the disappointments. As I keep saying, as much as we had a decent start, there will be blips along the way and it’s how you deal with the blips.”

Photo: Action Images

bobble added 07:07 - Oct 22 mr keane seems to have great wisdom and insight into the championship considering he never spent much time playing or managing in it
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Back_The_Boss added 07:08 - Oct 22 He would have been a decent player but it's no big deal.
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PSGBlue added 07:30 - Oct 22 Keane is already making his excuses why his team is not good enough to get out of this league. He is making a subtle hint that it is not his fault that players he wanted want to go elsewhere and not to Ipswich. We have the players to get us up, especially in midfeld, what we haven't got is another desent striker or a manager who has the tatically ability to win games.
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BasingstokeBranch added 07:33 - Oct 22 "There's no point in crying over spilt milk". I suggest you shut up and get on with it then.
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Surco72 added 07:40 - Oct 22 Yesterday it was that we didnt have enough quality in the final pass today its not all about passing ? I think we have more than enough working midfielders what we are painfully missing is creativity and the final ball .I think Roy should stop blaming the fans for moaning ,stop blaming the board for not spending more money and get on with his job of making his players and his team better at what they do .Get some shape ,width ,pace a steady side like other managers have to with no money . After all it was his choice to transfer list Stead and Garvan etc and to release the Wrights with no cover he could have got rid of Priskin,Martin ,Healy to get some money in

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hampstead_blue added 08:02 - Oct 22 Seems as if Clegg and Evans clipped his wings in the summer. A shame. I'd leave the football decisions to RK and let them count the beans. Kennedy has shown that experience is key in this league. RK got that bit right. The boys (Hyam especially) are not ready for the Championship. We need to get an experienced player in January or I fear we may fade.
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Dissblue added 08:30 - Oct 22 Does the whole world revolve around the midfield? How about a striker or two?
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Clanky added 08:50 - Oct 22 Agreed we have a lot of younsters coming through, but the likes of Leadbitter, Norris, McAuley, Delaney, Fulop, Scotland, Murphy, Edwards,, Kennedy, Peters and Priskin have all been knocking around for years now and with the exception of Leadbitter and Edwards all have predominantly been at Championship level for most of their careers!
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Doctor_Albran added 08:57 - Oct 22 Diss the world does revolve around the midfield: Defence defence defence defence Wing Midfield Midfield Wing Striker Striker Unless you're Sam Allerdyce - he has no need for a midfield!! Pardon my humour - I was up very early this morning...
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Blue92 added 09:07 - Oct 22 Bloody hell people. We're outside of the top 6 and suddenly all of the Keane haters crawl out of the woodwork. Keane was right to have a go at fans. Get behind the team and leave keane to it. In reports like this he's simply answering questions, it's part of his job.
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stinkiusminkius added 09:08 - Oct 22 "we can't start ronan against 2 big strong centre halves" Well, not if our tactic is hoofing the ball up. But maybe keeping the ball on the ground with some quick movement would be a good thing - get these centre halves out of their comfort zone. But anyway, the gist of this story seems to be lots of excuses. Inspiring.
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Karlosfandangal added 09:14 - Oct 22 I would say Norris is our Derry my fear now is the fact we have so many midfield that we change the formation just to fit them in the team we started the season well with a settled team and now we have 6 changes between sat and Tuesday and I am guessing more changes for this sat in the 80's you could name the side Mariner Mills Wark etc they were young players at the time and played week in and week out Wickham is a big strong lad surly he can play 3 games in a week when are you old enough Rooney is 24 and been at Man U for 6 years playing top football

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PlymptonBlue added 09:17 - Oct 22 I'm sorry Mr Keane but again it sounds like excuses. Just when we hit a blip in form and are heading downwards he has to hint that it's not his fault. Disappointing. Nevertheless i shall be doing the 500 mile round trip tomorrow to give the Blues my full support. PS my first time in Nottingham - anyone got any suggestions where to go for a few beers?...
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E3Blue added 09:22 - Oct 22 Having a Derry like player only works when there is a creative midfielder alongside him, i.e Taarabt.
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jas0999 added 09:30 - Oct 22 Shame about Derry - but this is old news. Time to move on.
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cornishblu added 09:37 - Oct 22 ....Leadbitter and Norris....each of them better palyers than Derry......its a dangerous game to play to keep saying we are short in certain areas as what is the impact on those we have already got......time to dig deep and make what we have got work......saw games at start of season and thought we were excellent so lets recapture some of that......Norris scoring seemed the key to it all......perhaps we should be playing 41311 with Norris being given a roving roll behind Scotland/Wickham.....Priskin (?)......lets be positive....if we have had the seasons blip much better to get it over woth now than in March!! COYB

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Bergholtblue added 09:37 - Oct 22 "......and maybe our role here is to help these younger boys become better players....." No maybe about it Roy. It is exactly what your role is all about. Perhaps if you hadn't wasted so much money on Priskin, Martin and Healy, there would be some left to attract these experienced players, ot even have the luxury of holding on to one or two of the players we let go.

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Superfrans added 09:41 - Oct 22 I'm ashamed to be a Town fan, based on some of the comments above. An honest, straightforward appraisal from our manager, who talks a lot of sense - and the response is idiotic, myopic point-scoring nonsense. We're 8th in the table, having blooded almost an entire time of under-20 ex-youth players. I'm proud of that. Murray, Brown, Wickham, Smith all did us proud the other night, as Hyam, Lambe and Eastman already have done this season. Some of you guys need to find a bit of patience and perspective.

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Moisha added 09:48 - Oct 22 Superfranz - couldn't have put it better myself..... COYB
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sonian_blue added 10:12 - Oct 22 Well put Superfranz. The last few seasons this site has been full of moaners, the 'Ipswich way' of bringing through the youngsters has gone. When we do (and an exciting crop they are) people whinge when the inevitable blip occurs. Give it time, success doesnt come overnight. We are just outside the top 6 and a winnable last 16 cup tie next week. Life is good COYB Boys!

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Calmingwind added 10:33 - Oct 22 aye better to have the bad run now then in april/may There has been no young player that has shamed himself so far this season and as Sonian says... were still in the League cup with good chance of the quarters and are just outside the playoffs near end of october. How many of us would of taken this position before kick-off at the riverside in august??? Yes as fans we always want more, and the slip from the way we have started has been very annoying and disapointing but the great thing in football is theres always another game where it could turn around. I just hope it happens soon :)

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svendust added 10:34 - Oct 22 We might have players technically better than Derry, Carsley and Kilbane but we don't have any leaders like them, players that know what it takes to win in this league, that is what we are missing. BUt as Keane said this season will do our youngsters the world of good and hopefully Keane can bring in the experienced leader we are lacking in January or even in time for next season should we not make it.

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TractorRoyNo1 added 11:00 - Oct 22 shame we missed out on a midfielder we are short in that department - not! Cardiff have umpteen goal-scorers we have one, recipe for not getting promotion.
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bobble added 11:58 - Oct 22 mr keane seems to be all at sea at the moment.contradicting the previous days observations and giving no clear solutions to how we will leave this division.
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whoppit added 12:12 - Oct 22 Passing the buck to ME & Cleggy again?? Keane has done a lot of that this year to cover up for HIS failures !!!
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