Town manager Roy Keane says he doesn’t see any “negative energy” amongst his squad these days after the summer’s numerous exits. The Blues boss says he has moved on players who he felt had a less than enthusiastic attitude towards training.
Keane said: "I don’t see any negative energy, I don’t see any players coming in feeling like it’s a chore to train or play for Ipswich Town. I think every player on our books at the moment is coming in and having a right go, and that gives you a chance.
"If you’ve got players moaning all the time, thinking the world’s against them and not even able get in for a quarter-to-ten, get them out the door, I say.”
The Blues boss says some but not all of those that moved on didn’t approach training in the right way: "I think the difference from last year would be that there were players whose attitude to training I wasn’t particularly comfortable with. Deep down they knew that and that if I had half the chance I’d get shot of them. Maybe that’s the difference now with the players we’ve got at the club.
"I’m not including everyone in that, don’t think Garvs, Steady or Jon Walters are amongst them, don’t tar everyone with the same brush. But there are one or two players who have left the club because when they were out of the team they weren’t really good for the club.
"I don’t expect my players to be happy when they’re not playing, but you still have to set an example, particularly if you’ve got a bit of experience behind you. You’ve got to set an example for the younger players, like Colin Healy did at training this morning.”
Keane is pleased with Town’s first few games of the season, but isn’t getting carried away: "It’s been a decent start. We had a lot of games last year where we were unbeaten, but, of course, there were too many draws in there. We’re pleased with the start, we’ve had some tough games and we’ve got some tough games to come.
"We’re pleased with the spirit of the players, the attitude and we look forward to another tough game on Saturday.
"We’re pleased so far, but it’s only August. If we’re having this discussion in March and April, I’ll be quite happy.”