Town boss Roy Keane says today’s emergency loan deadline will see no moves in or out of Portman Road. The Town manager [said speaking at lunchtime that] there [had then] been no developments on Pim Balkestein’s proposed move to Brentford.

Keane said: “We’ll stick with the group of players we have. They’ve generally done well recently in terms of getting some victories under their belts, so we’ll stick with what we’ve got and we’ll get on with it.”

The Blues boss says that there has been no progress on Balkestein’s loan with a view to a permanent deal to Brentford: “There’s no news on that and I’m quite comfortable with that.

“Our squad’s not that big and people like Pim still might play a part between now and the end of the season particularly if there are injuries because there’s a busy few weeks ahead.”

Keane will be without striker Connor Wickham for Saturday's game against Swansea as the 16-year-old is away with England's U17s: "Connor is away for a week or so and we don't begrudge not having him around.

"He will only miss the Swansea game and it will be a good experience for him to be away with England. He will be with boys of his own age, as opposed to being around and playing against 30-year-olds.

"He will have to change his mindset. It will be a different set-up with England but if you are going to play at international level you have to get used to that.

"I want him to go away and enjoy it though, because it's great for any of our players to play international football."

The England youngsters play Sweden at Northampton’s Sixfields on Saturday, Malta at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium on Monday and Slovakia, again at Northampton, three days later.

Keane is hopeful that Wickham will sign his professional deal after he returns from England duty. The striker is 17 next Wednesday which means he is able to sign a pro deal.

Photo: Action Images

kentblue added 21:27 - Mar 25 The deal to get rid of Keane would have been the best deal of the day !! He is and will continue to drag the club down both with his inept management and his continual rants and outbursts . We need someone with integrity - look how Fulham have almost overachieved with a decent manager .Look how a decent club have underachieved with Keane !
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Blueknight85 added 22:04 - Mar 25 Dalty i wouldnt care if mowbray used to play for norwich id still want him (i think lol) he is a good manager who likes proper football ...Ipswich football the fact he played for us and was a legend of a player and would be one of the clubs he holds in his heart would just be an added bonus although he might not want to ruin such feelings by manageing us incase he does poor job

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bennyblue added 22:05 - Mar 25 your not wrong kent i reckon probably75% of the current managers in 2nd would have done a better job than keane with same resources .its pretty much a clear case of any other manager will do better .keanes obviously inept and should get into something else far away from ipswich town
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naaridge1coly7 added 22:26 - Mar 25 join my petetion to get keane out on facebook (Robert Smith) Cheers all :)
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kirbs added 22:57 - Mar 25 Keano13 added 16:58 - Mar 25 Roy Keane is the greatest manager we have had for years. Hopefully, he gets us into the Premiership; he will then become the greatest Manager we've had in decades...Get behind him, and the team.... LMFAO that comment has made my night, clearly a keane fan not an ITFC fan!
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ChambersM added 22:58 - Mar 25 Keano13 added 16:58 - Mar 25 "Roy Keane is the greatest manager we have had for years. Hopefully, he gets us into the Premiership; he will then become the greatest Manager we've had in decades...Get behind him, and the team...." Can I just ask, what are you smoking and can i have some?!
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Dalty added 23:02 - Mar 25 I take your point Blueknight85, Mowbray certainly has a footballing philosophy that resonates with many Town fans (me included). I just find it short-sighted of some of our fans who seem to only put forward names of former players at the expense of many other far better qualified candidates. Besides, as long as he keeps us up comfortably I'm happy to give Keane til Christmas to show he can make us promotion contenders. Since the first 14 games our record is W-10, D-9, L-6, not amazing but not bad either. A summer for Keane and the squad to learn from the experience of this season and come back re-energised next season could make next season much better. I remember a similar disillusionment around the club after John Lyall's draw-filled first season in 90/91 and we seemed to do alright the next season!

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Blueknight85 added 23:12 - Mar 25 im sorry but i cant think of any managers better quallified anyway... unless you want to talk dream appointments that would never realisticly happen although i would accept Curbishly as such a name given that he watched 2 of our games in a row.....with no real excuse lol.......
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Lightningboy added 23:31 - Mar 25 Mowbray may have had plenty of passion on the pitch but he doesn't as a manager..try watching his reaction whenever his team score a goal - he just turns around and goes and sits down,no punching the air,no smiles - it's the same with Benitez at Liverpool and pretty much like Keane..leaves me cold. Call me odd but when Town score/win I like seeing my manager punching the air with joy ala how Burley,Royle,Magilton and Sir Bobby used to do..God how we seriously need some of that now. And as many have pointed out,Mowbray turned down the town job 4 years ago.

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Skip73 added 23:40 - Mar 25 As the main topic seems to be who we should get to replace RK, Is Steve Coppell back in work yet?
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warwickblue added 23:49 - Mar 25 What on earth makes anyone think that Celtic would be remotely interested in a Manager with Keane's record?
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jamesy_itfc_keano added 00:31 - Mar 26 so if we sack keane, what happens 2 all the players that are only here because of him. I.e. Murphy, leadbitter? and also if we want someone with more passion than keane, we're looking at the wrong 3 managers in curbs, mowbray and coppell, who are all dull. Im just very confused now, and dont know to think
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Blueknight85 added 00:37 - Mar 26 warwick blue... what makes you think celtic could get anyone with a better record than keanes...
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dirtydingusmagee added 07:57 - Mar 26 Kirbs , how on earth did you come to that conclusion ? Keane is the best manager weve had THIS YEAR ! no more than that . He has my full support now, for Celtic job, only wish i had a fragment of influence .
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hype313 added 08:22 - Mar 26 tony mowbray, hmm got rid of of the spine of the celtic team, out of all competitions before easter and lost the title race to a club who haven't bought anyone for 18 months. Shouldn't you pro mogga fans be wanting walter smith if that was the case? Coppell not for me thanks, Curbs def not for me so unless David Moyes fancies living in suffolk then we should stick with what we have and see what happens in the summer.

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roytheboy added 08:25 - Mar 26 Roy Keane will, I am absolutely sure, become one of Football's great Managers in a few seasons, I just hope for all of our sakes that he will still be with Ipswich, he is still learning that part of the trade, he is a good decent man, genuine, honest and passionate for OUR CLUB, he has a great history in the game and I regard him as a Footballing professional, he did not achieve what he has achieved by not working hard at it, he is currently working hard at trying to improve the situation at ITFC, maybe more emphasis should be made on the individual performances from the players and the current coaching staff, than continually putting the Manager down, I've seen it too many times, it actually can destroy the very club that we all support, or at least claim to.

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