The time has come for the club to make the big decision and terminate Roy's contract. These are my reasons as to why.

Roy has completely failed in his task to get Ipswich promoted to the Premiership this season, and on current form, is compromising his chances of doing it next season by getting us into a relegation dogfight that could see us lose our Championship status. This is despite taking over the reins of a team which finished ninth last season with fans concerned that the then-manager wasn't getting the best out of his players.

Keane decided (wrongly, in hindsight) that the way forward for Ipswich was to drastically alter the team and has brought in almost a whole teams worth of players at some considerable expense. Whilst there is room for some argument as to the relative merits of the players that he has bought in (which is totally subjective and I don't want this post to descend into 'Healy is dead rubbish, innit'), it is clear that Keane has concentrated his transfer activity on players that are either Irish or ex-Sunderland players.

I feel that this has had the impact of limiting the transfer options open to us and vastly increasing the amount that Keane has had to pay for players. Steve Bruce must have been fed up with the amount of calls he received over the summer from 01473 numbers checking on Daryl Murphy's availability. His constant tracking of his ex-players surely led Sunderland to feel that they could up the price for Leadbitter and Edwards. Leadbitter is clearly a very good player at the Championship level, but I think we certainly paid more than the going rate for him.

Ex-Sunderland players' phones must have been busy leading up to the emergency loan deadline, with at least Stern John and Ian Harte contacted. With Nicky Shorey going to Nottingham Forest, casting our net away from Sunderland (or Sunderland and Ireland in Harte's case) could have been useful.

I'm not sure as to why Keane has struggled to attract players, but I think that his reputation (and our current performance) is a big factor in some players deciding to stay in Premiership reserve teams.

In terms of his player handling, I believe that I'm right in thinking that all of the players who were never going to play for the club again, have now done so. Players seem to come and go in his affections as the wind changes.

Couñago was going to be sold to Swansea, then became increasingly important as the season stumbled into ineptitude, and recently has fallen foul of Keane and can't even make the squad. The fact that he is clearly the best of our forwards as holding up the ball and bringing others into play should make him a definite on the bench, if not the team, but not at Roy Keane's Ipswich.

Owen Garvan had been totally out of the picture at a time when the team was crying out for a midfielder who could hold the ball, play some smart passes and help the team dictate a game. Selling Jordan Rhodes wasn't a masterstroke either.

All of these have been debated to death on the forum, as has the poor start and the shockingly bad return of one win in 17 games, but the most telling reason for me that he should go is the same one that did for Jim Magilton. Jim wasn't sacked because he finished ninth, he was sacked because people wouldn't buy season tickets if he was still the manager. In short, he was having a negative impact on the overall health of the club as a business.

I believe that Roy Keane is now in the same position as he is risking our continued status as a Championship club. Some fans may argue that we have too strong a team to go down, tell that to Norwich, Charlton, Southampton and Newcastle fans who all said the same things at this time last season.

Despite the fact that we have picked up points from some fellow strugglers, we have only beaten a Derby team struggling to find enough players to fill the bench, and are current form is that of a relegated team - 13 points from 17 games will see us down.

I think that we must seize the mettle and sack him now, giving his replacement time to analyse the squad and make the necessary changes in January. Norwich didn't do this last season, giving their manager's job to Bryan Gunn after the window had shut; please let us learn from their mistakes.

The transfer window dictates that we act now. There are potential replacements for Keane out there in Curbishley, Burley, Darren Ferguson etc. It is now time to put the club to the fore, and make the business decision to limit the risk of us being relegated. It'll be sad for Roy, but he will easily find another job on the strength of his name.

Remember, Keane himself told us that any mediocre manager can get to mid-table in the Championship. Let's take his advice and get one quick, before it's too late.

pelles321 added 15:30 - Nov 27 I have nothing against the author of the blog. It is well written, I just happen to disagree with most of the opinions within it. I'm bored of reading anti-manager rants, which seemed to have dominated for the past 18 months. I do agree we have a big month coming up, and I really don't see how an article which is so negative can be in any way productive. I'm sure the same kind of things have been written on the message boards of clubs like Newcastle, Leicester and Southampton who give managers 6 months to prove themselves. Let's just hope we don't end up going down this road.

0

Surco72 added 15:31 - Nov 27 Matt the blue .. what are you talking about concerning Burley ? He left us went to Derby stopped them being relegated first season and then took them to the play offs . Went to Hearts who were top when random takeover happened and was sacked . Went to Saints and took them to playoffs losing on penalties i would say apart from Scotland job he has done well wherever he has gone and knows Ipswch inside out

0

dobbie73 added 15:33 - Nov 27 I'd go further and question why Darren Ferguson is a viable option. Yes he took Posh from League 2 to the Champo, but he left them in a WORSE position than we are. I fail to see how sacking Keano and appointing him would be a step forward. Until Mourinho becomes available and wants to move to IP1, I'm happy to stick with Keano. When those draws start turning to wins, we will be OK. After all, we are not really losing many are we??

0

jpr_23 added 15:42 - Nov 27 I don;t wantr us to get a reputation for sacking our managers, or for doing it too often. I would have given Jim Magilton another season to prove his worth, as I feel his job changed markedly once Marcus Evans took over. I would never advocate sacking someone who had us in the top half of the table. However, the situation with Keane is that he has significantly under-performed to the extent that his sacking is a sensible and rotally justified action. Can anyone remember a time when we were this low in the second tier of English football this far through a season? Getting rid of Roy wouldn't suddenly throw away years of Ipswich tradition, it would just be a valid reaction to an unusual and one-off situation for the club. No-one could have predicted that this would happen when Roy took over, but sticking your head in the sand and thinking it'll all come good if we keep the faith is childish, hugely risky in terms of relegation and not a sensible analysis of the facts of our season.

0

ChambersM added 15:45 - Nov 27 all true, i agree.
0

brogansnose added 16:03 - Nov 27 A well argued blog which of late makes a change from what comes out from bot h sides. A lot of us were expecting results to pick up from the recent 'easier' fixtures but that just hasnt happened and there is now an awful lot of work to do.If you look at past couple of seasons out of the relegated sides two have been rubbish and the third team has been too good to go down but not good enough to stay up like Southhampton and Leicester. At the moment i feel that we fit that profile. Now of course that may change for the better and for ME that is the problem,does he stick or twist? If some of those draws had gone either way his decision would be a lot clearer. ME though really doesnt have that much time because if he sacks Keane too late then Mr New Manager doesnt have that much leeway or with a couple of signings in January does Roy turn it around? What a gamble and im glad its not my money. Lets face it we are all living on our nerves right now which is why its got a bit personnel on here at times. I would hazard a guess and say that Roy has the next four games to make an appreciable improvement or he will be on his way. Certainly failure to dispatch Peterborough will ,in my book, make his position clearly untenable and shift those on the fence , ie me, to the out side. For those arguing on here everyday its best to bear in mind that it is not our decision who stays or goes. Its not like its a political party where if you are unhappy with the leader you get together and oust him and then vote for a new one. It has never been that way ever whether under the Cobbolds or Sheepy. Our position has always, and should always been one of getting behind the team irrespective of anything else and keep the criticism on this site and not at the matches. Now dont take that as a criticism of the Keane outers as proper support isnt pure criticism or blind head in the sand loyalty. I hated it last season when there was the pathetic Jim Out protest and the silly Jim out banners. I wasnt happy with Jim but i was appalled by the behaviour of some 'fans' and i wont accept that it didnt effect performances on the pitch. Its not what we need especially right now. Like i said its not a pop at the Keane Outers. For my own part i shall keep on supporting the team because relegation just aint an option.

0

oldmantractor added 16:52 - Nov 27 couldnt agree more with this post - spot on.
0

noitan added 16:59 - Nov 27 Well constucted blog,but disagree with most of it. We need to see what transpires over next few weeks and to sack RK now would be just ridiculous. We have new coach coming in and Stern John signed till end of December. To sack him now would be stupid.
0

TractorRoyNo1 added 17:02 - Nov 27 Same old, same old. Put another record on! We have a new 1st team coach and a new striker, so having sanctioned these yesterday Clegg / Evans are less likley to sack Keano 'now' than if they hadn't supported him. Perhaps, I should write a blog...... Roy Keane is our manager and has only been in the job a few months, therefore I will continue to support him, blah blah ...........

0

TractorRoyNo1 added 17:04 - Nov 27 umm, i wonder how much Kenwyn Jones is worth now......... naa added 13:47 - Nov 27 When he was manager at Sunderland football365.com wrote a piece about how limited his player scouting network appeared to be.
0

chelmofan added 17:27 - Nov 27 It wouldnt surprise me if ur the sort of fan that chanted Jim Out just months ago, of course no fan will be happy at where we are but there will be plenty of good times ahead im sure with or without keano, were the blue army support them dont start booing and jeering when were 6 games unbeaten our as for It'll be sad for Roy, but he will easily find another job on the strength of his name what utter rubbish if he goes now its the end in all likely hood of his managerial career

0

kirbs added 18:12 - Nov 27 spot on blog, this blog is going to be justified at christmas because we are going to be in the bottom 3 in january likely! Keane has'nt got a clue what he is doing and that is showing now! we are running out of games and any other manager at another club would of been axed by now! lets hope cardiff, bristol city and peter'boro will be his last games.
0

pickles110564 added 18:35 - Nov 27 More rubbish, Keano is the right manager to move us forward. The club has never been in the news as it has since Keano took over. When Keano took over the club was in such a state, loads of players with contracts up and full of the old managers mates. We were going nowhere, Big Joe did a much better job that Jim and gave him a good squad to build on.
0

julesbda added 18:39 - Nov 27 Isn't it interesting that so many people feel that Stern John will be our saviour ...i wonder what they would have thought if this was the case back in August ?? i think somepeoples expectations have really changed !! Results and the table don't lie ..whatever anyone wants to say about RK .. My question is simple ....fine if we keep him this year and he keeps us in the championship...is he developing a squad for next year as clearly he has to win promotion next year ...i must admit i'm struggling to see that with the players he has brought in ...

0

jas0999 added 18:56 - Nov 27 Some good points, but on the whole flawed. Why is TRYING to sell Pablo a sacking offence? Anyone would think he has scored 10 goals this season. Reality check - he has been getting chances in the side but has scored only one and not looked like scoring any others. Why is buying Sunderland players wrong? Leadbetter and Edwards are quality championship players and both have consistently performed well. Both are in my opinion better than some of Jim's inept signings. In fact only Healy looks a terrible signing. Priskin has much to do to show his worth, but Delaney looks solid at centre half (better than Pim - another Jim choice), Rosenior is a quality player, whilst Begovic was also a decent signing (better than Wright - another Jim signing). Roy hasn't ripped apart the team as much as people think! Equally I am fed up with 'we had a decent team'. Did we? Did we finish in the play-offs last year or were we 9th - with nothing to play for with 5 games left. Also, the majority of the errors at the back have come from R. Wright, Pim, Bruce and McAuley - Roy's signings?? NO - JIM'S!!!!!

0

tommyblue added 19:17 - Nov 27 i agree 100% with this blog, lost faith, cant see nothing to be optimistic about, although macpharland (cant spell) seems a good move..
0

Blueknight85 added 19:22 - Nov 27 "I'm not sure that Roy can save the season, and it's certainly not worth the risk of finding out. As I mentioned, Curbishly, Burley and Darren Ferguson " dont make me chuckle the first one would never be interested... the last two are worthless
0

superaltown added 20:21 - Nov 27 I can see why the person who wrote the blog thinks that way and I am not in total disagreement, in fact I can't make my mind up about Keano. But what I do know is that it takes time to get things right and that at Ipswich we do live in the past and hanker for ex players as managers. So lets see what Keano is doing in a monhts or so's time and in the meantime get behind the boys who put on that blue shirt. You can't expect anyone, Roy Keane or otherwise, to do it overnight... and the thing with Keane is that clearly he knows his own mind and the kind of players he wants, its just whether he has enough time or not i.e. if results don't improve, then he (and we) won't have the chance to see what happens and make the changes in culture and staff that could make a difference.

0

UEFA81 added 21:15 - Nov 27 It's good news to realise that Keane is now in his death-throws at Portman Road; I just hope that during this period no further damage is done to Town. With all the news lately, if you read between the lines, it is blatantly obvious that Keane is almost finished at our club. Just a matter of time now.
0

UEFA81 added 21:20 - Nov 27 If you are capable of reading between the lines that is...
0

DrJeckyll added 22:00 - Nov 27 Rubbish blog. Boring, same old crap being regurgitated again, most of which is supposition, (unless of course he is privvy to everything that is going on in the club). To present supposition as fact is deceitful even if you are dumb enough to think you know it all
0

DrJeckyll added 22:05 - Nov 27 Remember the darkest hour is before the dawn
0

Swampy added 07:32 - Nov 28 I agree with almost everything in the original blog. I would like to add that I am not an RK fan because i think the way he conducted himself on the field as a player and in walking out on both Eire & Sunderland showed himself to lack both professionalism and self control. I was surprised at his appointment at ITFC and am sure in the days of Mr John he would not even made it to the short list of candidates. But he is here and Manager until Mr Evens or one of his go-fers sacks him so I support him as well as I can . Having said that I do feel that the fare being dished up by RK's selected team is the worst I have ever seen from a Town team, it is bad to the point of being embarrassing e.g the Newcastle game when Town looked like a non league team. There is a way tog & RK promised to take Town up NEXT year not this. I can accept that but find it hard to accept that he can turn things round with the current team OR what he is likely to be able to persuade to come to PR. It is a long and winding road , I have come to the conclusion RK should NOT be taking us along it.

0

BYRNE_16 added 08:44 - Nov 28 bad blog-simple. Keannnooo!
0

hype313 added 09:19 - Nov 28 jas0999 - "Also, the majority of the errors at the back have come from R. Wright, Pim, Bruce and McAuley - Roy's signings?? NO - JIM'S!!!!!" One question to you, if all these players are so great and man for man better than Jim's buys then why are we languishing in the bottom three with one win in 17? Your logic doesn't make sense i'm afraid.
0

Blogs 298 bloggers