Columnist Karl Fuller on Gareth McAuley's likely exit and Roy Keane's transfer business in general.

News today that Gareth McAuley has been told that he can leave the club adds another curious dimension to the long-term Roy Keane plan. There is without a doubt divided opinion on what exactly McAuley brings to the team but somewhere within the man, there is a capability to perform at Championship level.

After all, he is an international player and was coveted by Jim Magilton for many months before he finally secured his signature on the back of Leicester City's relegation in May 2008. If the Foxes had stayed up, then it is very doubtful as to whether McAuley would have even made it to Portman Road.

But McAuley’s seemingly imminent departure is not the first to raise the eyebrows of a number of Town fans and probably won’t be the last. The question nagging away in the back of my mind though, is will there be a better replacement this time around?

Having yet to see Leadbitter, Edwards or Rosenior, I cannot comment on what they might bring to the party. But I remain both disappointed and confused by some other exchanges of personnel that I really do not believe have been for the better of the team (but then who am I compared to Roy Keane?).

For example, take any one of Dan Harding, Matt Richards or Ben Thatcher. Is Damien Delaney any better? Should a Macedonian international with more than 50 caps really have been sold only to be replaced with a player approaching 30 years of age and playing in the League of Ireland? Has Lee Martin proved to be worth the fee of around £1.7 million that we reportedly paid for him?

At least with the sale of Jordan Rhodes, in the middle of the disappointment of it all, we really did get good money for someone that had made only a handful of appearances.

It is all very well having scouting/coaches reports on potential new signings, but I believe you gauge a better picture of supporters from the selling/releasing club involved of the player concerned and I did not enjoy what the Queen’s Park Rangers supporters were saying when it was known that Delaney was going to be on his way to us. No manager, of course, would go on such comments when thinking about potential deals, but if anyone knows how well a certain player plays on a week-in, week-out basis, then surely the fans have a more consistent knowledge than anyone else.

I really hope that things do work out for Keane and I am fully behind him, but can't help thinking that we are a club waiting to fall with a bang simply because of the hype that surrounded the manager's appointment, which in itself is nobody's fault other than the media.

It certainly is none of our fault and it is depressing when work colleagues are quick to remind me when we have not won again that they knew/hoped Keane would fail so that they can laugh at me like the days of administration.

The new Rosenior-Edwards partnership on the right was well received on Tuesday night and I believe that partnerships all over the field need to be quickly developed to form the basis of a winning side. Older fans will reminisce and say that we have not had a centre-back pairing since the days of Beattie and Hunter and then Butcher and Osman.

As special as those pairings were, it is safe to say that we have struggled for years now in the centre-back area and really do need to find two that can play well together consistently.

In midfield, have we really replaced the Magilton-Holland partnership? And as for up front, we are still waiting for a partnership of the Darren Bent-Kuqi mould.

But down the left, we are weaker than ever before in my opinion. Certainly since the days of Taricco and Mason. We do still have Civelli to return and he showed a glimpse of why Magilton paid as much as he did for him last season. But I would like to think that we have resolved many of our problems long before he has returned to the side.

Leadbitter looks to be a good signing and I guess we might have to wait until Norris is back to get something going in the middle of the park of note. It's a pity Garvan has not developed as much as his early form promised and he like McAuley and others before him no doubt will soon be shown the exit door and it will remain to be seen if the long-term plan comes to fruition and what RK is really trying to do works out or not.

Photo: Action Images

magic added 14:31 - Sep 17 Fair and thoughtful comments. Hard to argue with the facts. Well said.
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motch2009 added 14:35 - Sep 17 very good collumn - all points well made. Im yet to decide on keane as much as time needs to be given i have doubts over his man management
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Greektractor added 14:37 - Sep 17 really can't wait for norris to come back. A really decent player in my opinion, one of Jims better signings
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SouperJim added 14:39 - Sep 17 A good read and I agree with most of the article. I'm optimistic that Priskin and Counago can start to do the business, once the side becomes more settled and overall performances improve. In the middle, I think Leadbitter and Norris are as good as anything in this division, I also like Colback who has plenty about him and Trotter can do a job. The jury is still out a bit on Lee Martin, he's certainly a useful player in my opinion but time will tell if he can be a really great player for us. I liked what I saw of Edwards and Rosenior on Saturday and I think Delaney had a decent game too. At the back, Bruce is limited but a good captain who will give 100% for the team. Like most fans I am happy for McAuley to go, so long as we bring in a quality replacement. I think your questions about some of Roy's sales are justified, but it's far too early to be looking for concrete answers.

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devontractorboy added 14:43 - Sep 17 Before I go out to milk the cows, it's not just about signings or who we release, it's about the managers ability to gel the team and get THEM playing for HIM. If you look at Keanes history with regards to management and as a player the omens are not good. His behaviour is that of a petulant child, remember Mc Carthy & the Ireland squad, the reports that he 'lost' the dressing room at Sunderland etc etc. Walking away when he cannot get his own way, feel sorry for the dogs!! In order to get the best out of any 'team' in any walk of life you have to have a leader that the 'team' will follow and believe in. Keane unfortunately has come to us with a reputation, not a good one sadly, the players obviously fear him & many potential signings don't want to play for him. Add to this we are bottom of the league, who the hell wants to come to Portman Road at the moment??? Sadly i do not believe Keane will pull this around, I just hope Marcus Evans realises before it's too late, but most of all I hope I'm wrong about Keane...... but I don't think so!!!!

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olimar added 14:50 - Sep 17 One thing about considering the thoughts of other fans- If a Coventry fan, for want of an example, were to venture onto our messageboard and ask what we thought of McAuley, they would leave thinking he was the sole reason why we are so bad and is, to quote a comment from the other day, "as bad as Linighan" (yes, exactly). It doesnt take much for one of their wierdos to come to our board, meet some of ours and suddenly the story is that McAuley is our worst ever centreback. When, as you say, in reality many dont think so.

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Marshalls_Mullet added 14:51 - Sep 17 I agree with the comment that McAuley has the ability to play at Championship level, as shown last season. I think he has been mis-managed by Keane, and I think he has been made into a nervous player by Keane, leading to a loss of form. As Sir Bobby said, some players need an arm around their shoulder.
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byronitfc added 14:54 - Sep 17 Why don't we try an do a swap deal with Wood and McCauley? Would suit both clubs as McCauley is no longer wanted here and Wood obviously want to leave Sheff Wed????
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Marshalls_Mullet added 14:55 - Sep 17 Bryon... maybe Shef dont want McAuley!
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MarcFowler added 14:56 - Sep 17 Thatcher is the only LB you mentioned other than Delaney who isn't horrific. Every time Harding had the ball he looked petrified! I completely think Delaney is better - he was very good Tuesday night. Great in the air and a pretty decent cross too. He's getting better every game. Lee Martin? Hmm. Tricky player, certainly. Like his pace and skill. But not seen much of an end-product at the moment. I'm sure he'll come into it though. Keane's building a team, remember, who have the winning mentality. There's no room for uncertainty. No use having good players - like Garvan, for instance - who fade in and out for weeks at a time.

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byronitfc added 15:01 - Sep 17 marhsallsmullet - maybe they don't. Just a thought!!!
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Ryorry added 15:25 - Sep 17 marshallsmullet - I saw both McCauley and Thatcher play on their first starts for us, ie under Jim - at Burnley I think it was. Both were truly awful - clumsy, inept and slow both mentally and physically - and nothing about either has changed since then imho. Good riddance. Good article,excellent points. But we still shouldn't have sold Rhodes.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 16:08 - Sep 17 Ryorry - Did you see any matches since then? It is accepted that McAuley had a bad start to his Town career, but it is also a fact that he had a strong second half to the season, so the quality is there under the correct management.
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HateDerekDavis added 16:25 - Sep 17 MarcFowler- can't agree with your comments about Delaney. He did look a bit better coming forward on Tuesday night and put in a couple of decent crosses, but his defending wasn't great (just ask Mr. Earnshaw) Getting better every game is not so hard when you were completely pants to begin with!
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SouperJim added 16:31 - Sep 17 HateDerekDavis, as much as I like your username, no blame can be put at Delaney's door for Earnshaw's goal, it was Bruce who got done. Delaney had a good game and barely put a foot wrong.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 17:13 - Sep 17 May I suggest you re-write your column when you have seen these as they make up nearly half of his signings! If that sounds harsh, well in the first half we were good on Tuesday, in the 2nd half when they went off injured we were rubbish. "Having yet to see Leadbitter, Edwards or Rosenior"
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TractorRoyNo1 added 17:16 - Sep 17 "If you look at Keanes history with regards to management and as a player the omens are not good." - what! !!! He got Sunderland promotion in his 1st season starting with them nearly bottom of the league. He was captain of Ireland and Man Utd where he won every trophy going - I should stick to milking cows in Deveon my friend.
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legoman added 17:16 - Sep 17 He is repeating all the things we talk about on the forum. A sort of summary of the forum really.
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jerutter added 17:34 - Sep 17 "Having yet to see Leadbitter, Edwards or Rosenior" - how can you write a column on transfer dealings and partnerships without seeing our three newest players? I also disagree that McAwful brings anything to the table and agree with Keane to let him go, he seems to be doing all the right things yet with no result! Silly column as legoman has stated, you literally summed up what is being discussed on the forum, without a personal opinion at all...

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devontractorboy added 17:57 - Sep 17 tractorRoy1 you have completely missed my point, I'm talking about his inability to get on with people, I much admired Keane as a player, except when he was fighting or trying to end another players career on purpose, yes he got Sunderland promoted, but was taking them nowhere in the Prem, he's inexperienced as a manager, walks away whenever the going gets tough & will ruin our club!!. I think I will stick to milking cows, they talk more sense than some people on here!! Incidently which trophies did I miss Ireland winning????

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GarvanIsGod added 18:47 - Sep 17 I don't understand why he persisted with McAuley for so long. He tried dropping him at West Brom but then he just went back into the starting line up..
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jas0999 added 19:10 - Sep 17 Totally disagree re your comments about McAuley. Just because Jim chased him for a while is irrelevant - on the whole most of Jim's signings were poor and McAuley is no exception. The word 'liability' comes to mind and for the money we paid for him - a reported £1.1M - a total waste. The column however does raise some interesting points about some players - Healy, Delaney and Martin. Few could disagree about them. But also interesting you 'haven't seen Ronenior, Leadbitter and Edwards' play. For me three excellent signings - so reads as though you are only looking to comment on the negatives. We need to give RK time and for his players to gel. In actual fact, Delaney had a half decent game on Tuesday, although saying that, still not good enough.

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WickedBlue added 19:20 - Sep 17 Mixed feelings on this really over all a good essay. The statement ' No manager, of course, would go on such comments when thinking about potential deals, but if anyone knows how well a certain player plays on a week-in, week-out basis, then surely the fans have a more consistent knowledge than anyone else.' made me laugh. I take it that most clubs have their fair share of morons and we seem to have more than our fair share and I would not trust their judgement of a player no matter what. Just see the diverse statements made about differant players in our side. RK will trust the judgement of his backroom staff, his scouts and of course himself. Not some wannabe CM or FM manager who wouldn't know a real footballer if one fell on them.

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DMFHI added 19:56 - Sep 17 The thing I think is worrying is that Keane had the last few games of last season; the whole of the pre-season and the strat of this season - and yet still seems to be "finding out" whether he likes / knows players or not. Its all a bit strange and worrying to me. The whole "There's players that will never play for me again" comment was silly and has rebounded as either no-one know who he was talking about or everyone involved in 'that game' has played or "proved their worth in training". Rough-tough words that now sound hollow. I hope that it all comes good - but it is starting to feel like is being made up week to wekk - I fakking hope I'm wrong ...but we'll see.... We REALLY need a win - Doncaster's a good place to start

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dirtydingusmagee added 20:27 - Sep 17 SKY BET 9/4 to see season out .
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