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.

itfc1981 added 13:41 - Nov 27 I think you posted this a day to late, I think theres a more positive air after the new coach and John coming in
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SouperJim added 13:42 - Nov 27 Some fair points, however, all managers stick to what they know, especially when they are struggling to attract players. The reality is players who Keane has managed before are more likely to sign for him as they know what he is about and are able to make an informed choice as to whether they want to play for him again or not. Keane is a legend in Ireland, he knows something about Irish football and Irish players are going to want to play for him. These things are positives not negatives. See all the usual arguements about Wenger signing French players etc.

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naa added 13:47 - Nov 27 I agree with a lot of this. When he was manager at Sunderland football365.com wrote a piece about how limited his player scouting network appeared to be. At least he now has Sunderland to add to that!
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Godzilla added 13:53 - Nov 27 Moan moan moan, please cheer up fella. I sit near someone like you and it's doing my head in. Lets wait until after the Christmas fixtures and see if your treasonous headline is justified.
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jpr_23 added 13:55 - Nov 27 itfc1981, fair shout... I wrote it and submitted yesterday in the gap between the end of the deadline and the confirmation of the signing of Stern John... Still think a lot of the points stand though. Godzilla, the whole point of the article is that waiting until Christmas is too late. The decision needs to be made now.
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hype313 added 13:57 - Nov 27 Good Blog, Nice to see that it is not Anti-Keane but making some very good judgments about him as a person and his managerial prowess. I have seen managers been sacked for a lot less than one win in 17. Im undecided to be honest, my heart says keep him my head is saying get rid. Either way i do feel that marcus has cocked his pistol and it is only a matter of time whether he shoots or not...

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pelles321 added 14:00 - Nov 27 Worst blog ever.
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Godzilla added 14:11 - Nov 27 jpr 3 - over 20 games is plenty to save a season - and who do you have in mind as our mystery saviour anyway? I don't agree that your article is not anti Keane -if you question a man's judgement it will feel like critisism to him.
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hype313 added 14:13 - Nov 27 Can someone honestly tell me from what they have seen that Roy Keane is a fantastic manager that gets the best out of his players, because im afriad i cant. Either that or there are a lot of fans that have their head in the sand.
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SeriouslyDelusional added 14:15 - Nov 27 Couldn't agree less with this. The only point I do agree with is about selling Jordan Rhodes ('wasn't a masterstroke' is an understatement though). Attendances are holding up, the players are putting in 100% effort for him, and the window doesn't open til January, so he's got a bit longer to turn it round, and I have no doubt he will.
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lilian3415 added 14:15 - Nov 27 Of course he should go now - in fact he should have gone already for all the reasons highlighted in the blog. Not sure why Godzilla & pelles are so happy with the current situation. Some of us are very concerned about it - we are not moaners , just ardent fans
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JammyDodgerrr added 14:17 - Nov 27 Oh just go be quiet with your 'I want it now' attitude.
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tractorboybig added 14:18 - Nov 27 Godzilla I agree 20 games left this season would be enough to save us. Unfortuantly this manager and team are not going to win any of them.
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jpr_23 added 14:18 - Nov 27 Godzilla, 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 are all available and could do well. There are many more out of work managers who could do the job as well. I've not said that the article is not anti-keane, how could I with that title?
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MarkVenus added 14:24 - Nov 27 Well written blog with some well-put points. Communicated clearly and effectively.
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ITFC1985 added 14:28 - Nov 27 im thinking positive - 28 games to go, win 16 draw 6 lose 6 and we'll finish 9th same points as last season!!!! COYB!!!
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Blueknight85 added 14:31 - Nov 27 who cares how well its written he isnt applying for a writers job.... iv never read so much trash in my life we arent going to get relegated. we have just started moving up the table. he should only be sacked if we are in this position next year. the earliest i would let him go is early january if we have lost most of our games and really are in a relegatin battle

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BeattiesBeerGut added 14:33 - Nov 27 It certainly isn't the worst blog ever (as one poster said earlier) ....its actually a very reasonably argued piece. I agree about Counago (although that is a topic in itself that could take up 3 pages on the forum in about an hour) but disagree about the timing. We have to consider (a) whether we could really attract a new manager who would do better (right now) and (b) if RK has a 2 season plan (you can argue about whether there is evidence of this or not) is it constructive to let him go midway through season 1 ? Personally I would say 'no' to both. I would add that in the last month or so we seem to have hit on a pretty solid defence, something we haven't enjoyed for years. If getting old now, but if we can somehow add goals to the equation we'll be a force again. There is also the fact that stats show that we haven't had the rub of the green ... check out our shots on target, and total shots numbers and we are 2nd and 3rd in the league to Newcastle ..... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rankings/4949060/Championship-Statisti The time to look at a new manager (if at all) would be next summer.

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UEFA81 added 14:46 - Nov 27 Keane should have been sacked before we appointed him.
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yorksblue added 14:54 - Nov 27 Pelles321 Worst blog ever. Why? For writing a well-balanced, sensible and truthful blog. You obviously haven't read too many crap blogs in your time.
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Surco72 added 14:56 - Nov 27 Agree with a lot of the points and mistakes made by Keane but believe he should stay until he has his full squad back a settled side which the back four and midfield is starting to look like .We are in a transitional period and a new coach might bring a bit more calm and stability to proceedings? Do think we are in a relegation fight already though lets not kid ourselves Cardiff and Bristol away are hard games .

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ldnj added 15:12 - Nov 27 Blueknight85 - good job Ipswich are "moving up the table", then again there wasn't any other direction ... sadly one place and still only one win is not yet a major figthback
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rootmay added 15:16 - Nov 27 cant believe this site allows such rubbish, what an awful awful blog. divot
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matt_the_blue added 15:19 - Nov 27 UEFA81 - Once again a point that contributes nothing to the conversation. Shush. jpr_23 - A well balanced piece even if I don't agree with the sentiment. However I don't agree with your examples of who could replace Keane if he does get the boot. Curbishley has stated that he wants to go back in at Prem level meaning we'd have a hard time attracting him if we were at the top of the table, so the chances of him coming to us being in the position we're actually in is slim to none. While I can understand the nostalgia of bringing Burley back, the fact that he's not replicated the same kind of success at any of the clubs he has managed since he left us plus that success was now nearly 10 years ago would make me slightly nervous about appointing him. This to me leaves us with Darren Ferguson as the only viable option out of the 3, or McParland getting bumped up should Mr Evans give Keane the boot.

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jpr_23 added 15:25 - Nov 27 Other options (accordning to the LMA) include : Steve Coppell, Ruud Hullit, John Gregory, John Hollins Peter Jackson, Paul Jewell, Gary McAllister, David O'Leary, Gareth Southgate, Gianluca Vialli and loads of others, plus any other league manager that you think we could poach!
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