Roy Keane’s tenure as Town manager is close to coming to an end, according to widespread reports this morning. Alan Curbishley, spotted at Town’s recent games against Cardiff and at Watford, is said to be the man being lined up as his replacement.

According to one report, Keane’s relationship with owner Marcus Evans has broken down and they only communicate through chief executive Simon Clegg, a claim which may stem from the Town manager himself saying that he rarely talks to Evans last week: “We don’t speak on a week to week basis, which suits me, I’m not a great one for talking. It suits the owner, obviously I know he goes to the games and we have a chief executive here.”

The Town boss is also said to have fallen out with his squad, about whom he has been highly critical in recent weeks with a major turnaround in playing staff likely in the summer if Keane remains at Portman Road.

Regardless of the truth of today’s claim regarding Evans, the owner is unlikely to be happy with the current situation having given Keane significant funds to make a promotion push and with Town still far nearer the relegation places than the top six and currently showing few signs of pushing on.

Last season, Evans waited until Jim Magilton’s side had no chance of the play-offs before dismissing the Northern Irishman, giving Keane the final couple of games to access the existing squad. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Town owner and chairman chose to make a similar move this time around once the Blues’ Championship status was assured. One paper today claims he could make the decision even before that is the case.

Curbishley and his Charlton and West Ham assistant Mervyn Day were spotted watching the home win against Cardiff and the away defeat to Watford. Day was reportedly on scouting duty for Fulham, but the pair are now available for work after Curbishley won his case for constructive dismissal by West Ham and were strongly linked with Town this time last year.

Meanwhile, Keane's name continues to be linked with the Celtic manager's job vacated by Tony Mowbray on Thursday.

Elsewhere, reports in Ireland are linking the Blues with 21-year-old striker Ciarán Kilduff, who currently plays in the League of Ireland with UCD. The 6ft 3in tall former Shamrock Rovers trainee is rated as one of the top youngsters playing in Ireland at present.

Photo: Action Images

dirtydingusmagee added 09:40 - Mar 27 Havnt seen any paper reports yet, so only going by the thread here,its content reflects what many of us have been saying for a while . As always,media has to be taken with a generous amount of salt .However, no smoke without a fire ,M E can hardly be impressed by either results nor publicity,the latter shouldnt surprise anyone,had results been better, people including M E may have accepted that aspect,but its been a double whammy ,poor on and off field .I think a decision either way will come this weekend , the team need to be focussed ,not caught up in the speculation .IF Keane is going,i for one will be glad,though i cant get too excited about Curbs.But he has experience and respect,and he will hopefully freshen things up, George Burley would still get my vote, but i sometimes think we tend to rely too much on the fact he and Mowbray for that matter, are ex Town ,that was underlined by some people suddenly suggesting Paul Mariner as soon as he returned to Portman Rd and put a team out that beat us ,i really dont think they would have said that had we won as we expected .Anyway its all up in the air at moment ,rumours,murmers,guessing,hoping, Lets hope we can get a few more vital points to keep us safe , whilst i think we will lose today, i think it s sods law Keano will pull one out of the bag to get everyone wondering again , COYB .

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bugblatter added 09:41 - Mar 27 "speculation". This isn't a story, just heresay that doensn't really help the situation...
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Bluetone added 09:50 - Mar 27 No style, no flair, no panache. Keane no stay.
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brogansnose added 10:00 - Mar 27 It does seem strange that Curbishly has been hanging around for at least a couple of games. Lets face it ,if he or his mate were scouting who the hell would they buy from any of the clubs involved in the games, for the Premier league were he is on record as saying is the only place he would manage again. Given the fact that Keane has recieved financial backing and this coupled with the fact that we have been so dire can only lead to speculation even if it is media generated. Lets face it ME cant be happy because most of us are struggling to see any shoots of future success at at the minute and he has coughed up a big wodge of cash wasted by Magilton and Keane.

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wiggy71 added 10:01 - Mar 27 Burley and Mariner would do it for me if we lost keane. the glory of my childhood to bring back the glory
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pinablue added 10:11 - Mar 27 Headlines state Speculation; hope this is the case. Curbishley, as I understand, lives locally; as for his track record and style of play his former teams have bored the fans with cannot say that I would find that inspiring. So if we change the manager we would be in another transition period don't feel that is good for ITFC. Not a perfect start true maybe good things take time; lets support our team and manager and see what happens. C'mon U Blues.

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owdboy1 added 10:12 - Mar 27 Change would be good, but Curbishley has not worked for a year & is mid fifties - would he still have the drive to almost start again. Same could be said for George Burley. Don't fancy Mowbray ; he failed as defence coach here & has been uninspiring at Celtic - however he would bring more fluid football than we have seen for the last three years.
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Hanwood added 10:21 - Mar 27 It's not often I post a comment here but I really hope RK is given a full 3 years before any change is even considered. I appreciate this season has been a disappointment but changing managers after one season isn't any sort of answer. I'm relying on story being nonsense. RK has my full support until summer 2012. I know his contract doesn't run that long but he'll still be here.

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These_arent_the_days added 10:32 - Mar 27 Never in Championship history has a manager wasted so much of a club's relatively limited resources. Come on you Swans!
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Roosta added 10:36 - Mar 27 I think Keane's now doing more harm than good. He hasn't solved our problem of continual inconsistency, and sacrificed too much (playing style, "the Ipswich name" etc) in his efforts. The season has been a failure, and the 'recent progress' he was taking about last week will - at best - bring us back to where we were when he arrived (an underachieving mid-table side). The speculation and media circus will just continue until either we have a major upsurge in form (unlikely if Keane stays and we have another summer of mass changes) and will continue to disrupt and distract, or until he goes. In the long term Keane might prove to be a successful manager, but so much of what he's done this season has been a failure, and we - as fans - deserve better. I for one just don't want to sit and watch him learn his trade at our club. If he does then he should do it the Ipswich way - sorry but we can blend steel with a positive approach - and not risk our club while he learns his trade. Lets get a new manager in now, give him time to evaluate the squad, plan his pre season etc etc, to give US some hope for next year. The longer we leave it, the more that (already slim and diminishing) hope fades.

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PimsNumber1 added 10:37 - Mar 27 If this report isnt true , it must be almost libellous . http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Roy-Keane-poised-to-be-axed-as-Ipswich-Town
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SpunkTrumpet added 10:38 - Mar 27 A Burley and Mariner double act would get my vote. Both legends and love the club and both proven internationals in their time, one a defender and one a striker. Maybe get Warkie involved as well, oh how I can dream....
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fifeblue added 10:40 - Mar 27 If you chop and change managers all the time simply for short term gain you always end up with long term loss. Norwich City anybody? Keane MUST STAY!
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Lightningboy added 10:43 - Mar 27 As long as we stay up i'd reluctantly take a defeat today so long as it means waving bye bye to Roy asap..and if todays press story's are true regarding his relationship with Marcus Evans you have to ask yourself - is there anyone he doesn't fall out with? - who in their right mind would appoint the guy?..he's like a timebomb waitng to go off. As for his replacement,my first and only choice would be George Burley..tho i'd be pretty happy with Curbs - can't wait to see the back of Keane and this appalling season.

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blues1 added 10:50 - Mar 27 while i wldnt normally b for sacking a manager so soon, im afraid that if, like us fans, ME wants this club 2 progress then Keane has 2 go. tuesday jst proved comprehensively that he hasd no tactical nous wotsoever, cant motivate his players, & again cant make correct substitutions. The difference between the 2 benches was so clear, our bench sitting down arms folded, mariner on his feet frm start 2 end, bouncing ideas off his number 2, encouraging 7 giving instructions 2 his players. where does ne1` on here get the idea that curbs teams play negative fdootball btw? Wst ham & charlton have always played good attacking football.

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devontractorboy added 10:55 - Mar 27 YES GET IN!!!!!!
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Singing_The_Blues added 11:09 - Mar 27 tony mowbury plz !!!!!! not curbs. mowbury plays rly gd football and a ipswich ledgend
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tractorboybig added 11:12 - Mar 27 Evans off loaded Jim before the end of the last campaign. He will wait till he is sure that we wont be relegated and then off load keen. His reign has been a failure, his man management poor, his dealings with the press a joke, his team selection selling and buying all wrong. If evans does not rid of him then he has no ambition for this club .
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Mark added 11:31 - Mar 27 Roy Keane has clearly turned into a disaster and should be replaced ASAP. Knowing our luck we will have to pay him off, as I doubt Celtic will take him off our hands to remove that obligation. On Betfair the prices for the new Celtic manager are currently 3.85 Neil Lennon, 5.2 Mark Hughes, 11 Paul Lambert, 15 Roy Keane... As for who replaces Keane, I would be happy with Curbishley, Mowbray, Burley and probably others. Anyone who can manage with a cool head, make the players believe in themselves, buy sensibly, keep a settled team and not keep shooting their mouths off. Keane's pop at Mariner yesterday was totally unneccesary and embarassing.

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g0ddard added 11:33 - Mar 27 The main thing im worried about is the amount of change keane brought to this club and the amount of players/staff that came here becuase of him being here... the amount of change could have help to have led to the extremely bad start to the season, if you take away everyones first 10 games from the season we would be right up there. now if we bring in a new manager how much more change would we expect? - i just don't see it happening yes, ne has failed so far but if we get rid of him in my opinion we may be pretty f*cked

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blues1 added 11:38 - Mar 27 Mark, while im not gonna slag u off lyk sum on here wld, u say ne1 who cin buy sensibly, yet u wld b happy 2 have burley bck. have u 4gotten sereni & finidi george. those signings went a long way 2 putting us in2 administration. sumthing he also managed 2 do at derby 2. plus , we shld remember whazt position we were in last time he was sacked. not disimilar 2 where we r now

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BenITFCMAD added 11:44 - Mar 27 What about Phil Brown he is not in a job at the moment!
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PimsNumber1 added 11:52 - Mar 27 Brown has not left hull yet--- he is on gardening leave---and for some reason its not just the normal sacking, they might bring him back ! Not sure i would want him over curbs not that Im a curbs lover anyway. This o driscoll bloke has come from no where , plays decent footy on a budget and has consolidated doncaster in the CCC very well. he might be cheap compo wise aswell as Its likely he isnt paid alot there.

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Mark added 11:53 - Mar 27 blues1 - yes,I remember the huge mistakes of Burley's signings in 2001/2. They seemed panic buys as we couldn't get in Verheyen and Poom (the players we really wanted) and it had terrible consequences. However, I also remember many happy years of football under Burley before that. We played a nice passing game and slowly improved year on year despite having to sell key players for financial reasons. Look, nearly every manager has had failings somewhere. It is a difficult job. All we can do is appoint someone we think is best for the club, back him and stick with him (unless he is a disaster like Keane has been, taking us backwards). I am quite open to the choice of new manager really. Another one never mentioned is Mark Hughes, albeit I guess he is a bit out of our reach.

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dirtydingusmagee added 11:58 - Mar 27 Pim i think you are right, that statement is quite clear !.I reckon Keane is on way out, but cant see Celtic wanting him ,.The only person seemingly linked to come in at Portman Rd is Curbs, BUT when Jim was sacked plenty of names were chucked in the ring, and out of the blue Keane arrived ! so wouldnt jump to any conclusions.
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