Town chief executive Simon Clegg says owner Marcus Evans will continue to provide manager Roy Keane with funds for new players. Clegg refused to comment on any progress regarding the two signings Keane has been hoping to add to his squad by the end of the week.
Speaking to the press yesterday afternoon, Clegg said that Keane still has the backing of owner Marcus Evans: "The manager continues to enjoy the full support of Marcus and myself and if he identifies the right players in the price range that is acceptable to us then we’ll look to bring new people in.
"Any issues to do with new players are jointly agreed between Marcus, Roy and myself and we work as a team to bring those players in at the right price. The issue to do with identifying new players quite rightly sits with the manager, it’s not my job or the owner’s job to identify players that the manager needs to bring in.
"If we get the right player at the right price and he fills a gap in the team, I have every confidence that the owner will be sympathetic and we’ll bring somebody in.
"Marcus is in it for the long term. He’s very clear in where he wants to take this club and will make investment appropriately.”
But Clegg was unwilling to be drawn on any ongoing deals: "I’m going to continue my policy of not talking about any speculation on players until we’re in a position to formally announce someone.”
Clegg says the subject of a change of manager hasn’t been broached, despite Keane’s comments earlier in the week regarding his probable loss of job if Town’s position doesn’t improve: "There have been absolutely no discussions along those lines. I think probably what he was saying was that he recognises that the responsibility for football results rests on the shoulders of the manager and that the current position is not sustainable forever and a day.
"But he’s not under any time constraints or any time pressures to turn it around. I’m confident that he will do it and believe that he will do it.
”I’ve made it very clear that it’s about putting in place the building blocks which will take us back to the Premier League at the earliest opportunity.”
Clegg says he has forged a good working relationship with Keane: "Roy is a man who is very focused very determined, passionate about winning and has set himself a high hurdle.
"He’s entirely professional, very focused and someone who I am enjoying working with and supporting.
"He is a very honest and open person and he tells it as he sees it and that’s quite refreshing.
"Roy and I have regular conversations, we’re looking forwards at this moment in time, not backwards. He’s looking to fine tune things and we’re seeing the evidence of that on the pitch.”
The chief executive says he feels the majority of supporters are also backing the manager: "I went up on the train to Sheffield and spoke to a number of fans and in the main they were hugely supportive.
"The fans that I spoke to were confident that it’s going to turn and after the performance on Tuesday there’s a lot to be encouraged by. I’m not sure many other clubs are going to take a point at Bramall Lane, let alone score three goals there, this season.”
Clegg says that he still sees the play-offs as a realistic target: "I will always remain optimistic as long as continues to be mathematical hope. We’re not even a quarter of the way into the season yet. We’ve played 10 games out of 46, so let’s not be writing this team off yet.
"Out of those 10 games we’ve played five matches against the top six clubs in the Championship at the moment, so we’ve had some fairly tough games and I think there have been some really encouraging signs, at Sheffield in particular.
"I’m not trying to get away from it, we’re bottom of the league. I travelled back from the Sheffield United game on the team coach with Roy and it was in fairly sombre mood, people were disappointed.
"But they’ve got to pick themselves up and make sure we’re in top condition for the match on Saturday.
"We’re looking at the long term. It’s far from ideal, it’s not where we wanted to be, but Marcus and I look at the big picture here in terms of where we want to take this club in the long term. Sometimes these things take time to settle down and gel in.”
Clegg also revealed that owner Evans, who he says has no intention of changing his policy of remaining very much in the background, met with Sir Bobby Robson’s widow before Saturday’s game against Newcastle: "He had a private meeting with Lady Elsie and the two sons that were here, Mark and Paul.
"He personally handed over the seven volumes of the books of remembrance that the club have put together with over 3,000 names in them, signed an entry himself and also the cover sheet.”