Columnist John Dickerson says Town and fans need to take the longer term view.
Everyone has had a pet one time in their life, haven’t they? Well, a childhood friend of mine once had a monster of a tortoise that lived free-range and carte blanch in the family back garden. Not being content with having the whole outside grass and shrubs at his disposal, he often decided to do a Steve McQueen and pull off daring escapes. OK, there were no motorbikes or wooden vaulting horses involved, he simply burrowed under the panel fences and (in some cases) made it four houses down.
Upon the third ‘prison break’, the family decided drastic action was needed to avoid losing him forever. They took a brush to his shell and painted their full home address for all to see on his back. Now, that might sound cruel to some people, or like myself you could find it very amusing, but upon personalising that tortoise, they made an oath that it was theirs for life - for all to see.
In April, Roy Keane rode into Portman Road with a swagger and a steely stare. Now, whilst not totally enamoured with the abrasive reputation he had built-up for himself, who couldn’t be impressed with his press conference? Amidst the camera shutters and bright flashes was this articulate, softly spoken Irishman. A man only seen by the most of us on Match of the Day, now the manager of ITFC. Surreal.
So, a two-year contract was drawn up. It suited both parties involved. For Roy, a time-scaled challenge too good to turn down. For the board, a high profile, natural winner in tow and the lure of emulating Sunderland’s quick return to grace in ultra-fast time. Marvellous, till the early season results started coming in.
A 2-1 opening day defeat on the telly. A painfully dire 0-0 draw at home, where we really should have lost. Then the 3-1 defeat to Palace, I won’t depress you with reeling off any more.
This wasn’t what we were expecting and it’s puzzling to see what on earth is going on behind the scenes to mark our worst start in more than 40 years. The natives are getting restless. The same mob that fervently hounded out the previous manager demand results now. Daft boasts of walking the league seem ridiculous and further off than ever at the time of writing this. The clever two-year contract that suited both manager and club five months previously, has had a detrimental effect on Roy Keane, the fans and the board (if scurrilous newspaper reports are to be believed).
Instead of buying and reinforcing the current squad with the odd one or two signings, Roy Keane decided to take a wrecking-ball to the team that Jim built. A risky plan, but due to the time-constraints of his contract, he felt he needed to bring eight players in and ship seven out to free up funds. The selling policy of a man rushing headlong, without sensibly assessing the squad thoroughly.
Now, compare that to the work Mick McCarthy did at Wolves, he didn’t just pick up Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Richard Stearman, Michael Kightly or Chris Iwelumo at the same time, they were all brought in gradually to avoid mass disruption to the Wolves team being patiently built around them.
Ipswich fans can see that Roy went for the high-risk, hit the ground running tactic that seems to have spectacularly backfired - but was it really that surprising? Did everyone think Keano could wave his magic wand and suddenly muster up results he had no divine right to get in the first place? Placing all his eggs in one basket was a brave decision. The likes of Colin Healy, Damien Delaney and Lee Martin were never meant to be those marquee summer signings, perhaps that's why the Ipswich faithful felt slightly disappointed and underwhelmed when those players came in.
In those three he's clearly bought squad players, with the view to adding the missing gems in certain areas, either obtaining that quality on loan or waiting patiently for the likes of Grant Leadbitter and Carlos Edwards. These are signings of the calibre we so desperately craved, along with the seemingly inspired capture of kiddy Colback and Liam Rosenior. Positive signs, goals from a striker, injured players coming back, the rumours of Old Trafford loanees, are things finally turning the corner?
Goodness knows what Messrs Evans and Clegg must be thinking at this current moment in time. Is it too early to write off this season? Will Keane be faced with the same ‘time to gel’ problem next season if he spends another £8 million in the summer recruiting? Will the cheque writer even give him anywhere near that wealth to splurge? A businessman needs to be ruthless sometimes, but how can you compare running a football club to an everyday business? We saw the chairman's desire in Roy's appointment, but we know of his other side when things aren't exactly going to plan in the league.
In simple words, we cannot change the manager now. This will only lead us to League One. But I am very worried about the shortness of Roy’s contract. OK, a contract means nothing if a manager simply walks out due to mounting pressure, but maybe a small minority of our fans need re-educating with their short-sighted mentality.
I honestly believe this can be resolved (at least halfway) by showing them Mr Roy Keane is here for the long haul. Quit the bitching, sniping and booing, because he is going nowhere. Let’s share that long-term vision of the future. It won't always be blue skies, but it equally won't always be grey clouds either, sharing the ups with the downs. Natural transgression, compared to wholesale genetic modification.
The future? Now that's a tough one to predict. With the season still under 10 matches played only an idiot could think the entire Championship campaign is dead in the water. Would we be in the same position had Jim Magilton been granted a stay of execution? Possibly not. Would we have cared what brand of football was being played as long as we were 'winning ugly'? Maybe.
The thing about being right down the bottom, is there are very few places to go again apart from up. Roy Keane will make mistakes, we’ve already heard him admit to a few already, but as the bronze statues outside Portman Road remind us every time we walk past there, time is something that’s a very precious and valuable commodity to have.
Let’s get that brush, find some white paint and write ‘PROPERTY OF PORTMAN ROAD’ on Roy Keane’s back. We’re in no rush and neither should he be. He's proved to us in bricks and mortar he's staying in Suffolk, let’s give him the respect and time to prove his worth to the club. Five years Marcus, get that new contract written and give it to the man for heaven's sake, then we can start properly building for the future. Unified. All for the cause.