Blues boss Roy Keane says there’s no panic at Portman Road despite the Blues losing three successive league games. The Town manager feels that the press has been harsher on him in the wake of those losses than it might have been on other managers.
Keane says the recent run was merely a poor week: ”I think we had a poor seven days. If we all going to start panicking after seven days, then we’ve got no chance of making progress. We’ve got to keep our heads, try and understand where we’re at, where the squad is going, how the young lads are doing. It’s nice to be in the cup quarter-final but our bread and butter is the league.
"if we lose the next two or three league games I’m sure we’ll sit looking at ourselves, but there’s no need to panic after a couple of poor performances.”
The Irishman says he was more frustrated about the results against Coventry and Watford than against his old side Nottingham Forest a week ago: "Forest was always going to be a hard game. To me Forest will be in the top six, although that doesn’t mean we can’t beat them on our day. I think the disappointing results were the Watford and Coventry ones.
"It’s about stepping back and taking it as it was. The first half against Coventry and the goals at Watford weren’t up to it but generally speaking we’re doing OK.”
Keane says some managers tend to be given a harder time by the media than others after similar runs: "I didn’t come here with my own PR people, I don’t have pals in the media. When I or certain other managers lose certain matches it’s ‘pressure’, it’s ‘jobs at stake’, you’ve ‘got to turn things around’ blah, blah, blah. Let’s see how things turn out.
"Other managers can go through spells where they don’t win for two or three months and nothing’s ever written, but that’s the name of the game. As I’ve said before, our intelligent supporters understand where we’re at.
"All of a sudden a couple of weeks ago when we lose one or two games, people’s jobs are at stake for some reason. It’s cheap headlines and lazy journalism from my point of view, but I don’t expect that to change, I have to say. I live in the real world.”
Similarly he feels some bosses receive more praise than others when they are successful: "Maybe I should have got more credit for getting Sunderland promoted. I see other managers getting an unbelievable amount of credit for getting promoted and other managers getting new contracts when they keep a team up.
"I did that and the following season we had a difficult few weeks, but we were still averaging a point a game when the players had lots of injuries. I don’t think that’s bad when you’re just starting out. I see other managers getting pats on the back for doing it.”
Keane says that with Town, as at Sunderland, a few bad results don’t make him a poor manager, just as one win won’t make him a great one: "I don’t all of a sudden think that because we lost one or two games I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing. But if we have a bad performance like we did at Coventry in the first half, I’ll have a good look at myself and think ‘maybe I got that wrong’.
"It doesn’t mean that I went home the other night [after the Northampton win] thinking that I’m the new Bobby Robson. I’m 39 years of age, I’ve got a lot to learn.”
The Blues boss says he has clear aims at Portman Road: "I know where I’m at, I know what I want to do, I know where I want to bring the club. But I suppose the issue with every manager is how much time you’re going to get, but I try not to live in next week.
"I try and live in today, which is about trying to get the squad ready for the Millwall game and have a good go and then what will be, will be.
"Don’t worry, I’ll be OK for work. Staying here will be down to me and getting results because we live in the results business.
"If we can get in the top six and the quarter or semi-finals of the cup with the players we have, I’d say that’s progress. But let’s see how the next few weeks and months pan out.”