Manager Roy Keane has admitted that Town have failed to land his two of his main summer targets, despite the players being keen to join the club. The Blues boss says that he may have to rely on last year’s squad, which finished 15th in the Championship, to make a promotion challenge during 2010/11.

One of the players involved is almost certainly former Crystal Palace skipper Shaun Derry, who instead opted to join QPR, where bigger wages were probably on offer, while Cardiff striker Michael Chopra has also been amongst the players interesting the Blues.

Keane, who started pre-season training with his squad this morning, admits he is frustrated at so far having been unable to make signings: “I've spoken to two players that were keen to come here, but we couldn’t do the deals. My job is to identify the players and speak to them, which I have done, but we never managed to get the deals done.

“So, we’re disappointed, but I’m looking forward to working with the players we had last year and we just get on with it.

“All I can do is identify players I think will improve [the squad] and it’s up to the club to try and do the deals and we’ve not managed to do that. It’s frustrating and disappointing, but that’s the way it is.”

Keane says he feels no anger about the moves falling through being well aware of all the potential difficulties when signing players: “When any deal you’re involved in doesn’t work out, you’re going to be frustrated. Not angry, because you can never relax when you’re trying to negotiate with players or agents or clubs. You know that there are going to be pitfalls on the way.

“As I said, we were hopeful on one or two players who would have been very good for us. That they wanted to come to the club was a big plus for me, but the fact that these deals didn’t get done would lead to frustration, but certainly not anger because I’ve been in football long enough and know it takes a lot for these deals to get done.”

The former Ireland skipper says there may be a chance of reviving certain deals: “We hope so, but I have to look at my role in it, which is to identify the players, speak to them to try and persuade them to come to the club. I then step back and the club do the deals and we’ve not managed to do that.

“People will look at me when we don’t get results, and with the people I work with we’ve got to try and get these players in, but we have decent numbers in terms of the squad we have and we just get on with it.

“I think every manager when he comes back pre-season would like one or two new faces, but it’s not happened and, having said that, the players we brought in last year we hope will have a better start to the season than they did last year. We’ll have more of a settled squad now, so in a strange way it might help us a little bit.”

Photo: Action Images

damnmoon added 17:06 - Jun 28 Of course it's frustrating - for fans and management, but moaning is totally pointless (at this stage of the season). Patience. Wait a few weeks to see what our boys are capable of in Keane's crucial "second season". I'm remaining positive until we start losing to Southend et al in pre-season. Then I'll take it back, but for now, I'm keeping the faith. COYB!
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Vexorg added 17:16 - Jun 28 So now we know how it works. As a working example, Keane identified Lee Martin as a player he wanted. Clogg then gets to work and, in the face of no competition decides he is worth £2m. Marcus Evans, you are a true genius ....
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ipswichfrancis added 17:20 - Jun 28 RK time's up...... long over due......
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GoodLuckSmallpiece added 17:34 - Jun 28 Morning GITS (copyright G Smallpiece San Salvador). For once Keano is justified in his comments. The fact is that Evans is skint and has told Keano there's no cash for purchases. No other club wants to buy the rubbish Keano has to sell, so no money is forthcoming from that direction. General Clegg has nothing to do with this. He is a yes-man with no influence and is probably beginning to regret his association with the owner now the truth about the man is beginning to emerge. No wonder Evans walks around with a bag over his head and keeps his address quiet. There's a van load of lawyers on his tail. Prediction: Keano will resign early in the season, citing lack of resources and owner interference; the General will jump ship and the Evans character will be shown to be unfit to own a football club. More cringing for Sheepshanks, whose incompetence weakened the club and made it vulnerable to this exploitation.

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byebyesheepshanks added 17:44 - Jun 28 No money for new Keano signings. Hmmmm, I think if he doesnt have a very good start to the season, he will be history 7 the new man will be given money to spend.
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Oxblue added 18:00 - Jun 28 I must admit this does smell of Keane diverting the blame on to Clegg and Evans. Ok he may have missed out on Derry but did we really need another central midfield player? Is Chopra the answer for 4 million? yes a good scorer at this level but there maybe a gem in in the lower league that may step up for much less of ME money. Lets get behind the team when its sunny and short's wheather and lets see where we are when its cold and wet in November!!

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Pique added 18:00 - Jun 28 I hate to say this, as I have no massive appetite for Keane to be sacked, but it's starting to feel like the end might be coming for him. Reading between the lines (which is all you ever can do with football clubs), it sounds like ME may be hedging his bets and looking to see what else is out there, and that this may have resulted in a half-hearted attempt to get Chopra (ME not being keen to splash out £4 million on behalf of a manager he's lost faith in). May well be wrong, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Keane either walking or getting the boot in the next few months. I don't think ME is rash, but like all successful businessmen he will be ruthless when he needs to be, and impatient.

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Johnny_Boy added 18:02 - Jun 28 Phew - that's good Roy found a replacement for David Wright before releasing him..... oh...... no wait. He didn't.
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ChambersM added 18:13 - Jun 28 Seems some people have changed their tune, I could have and pretty much did predict this, the three of them (keane and clegg espesh) seemed to have lost their way, although keane has never been any good from the start
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denhamblue added 18:22 - Jun 28 lol,um im so stunned,its a incredible shock!Town,cant attract players its a major scoop surely.
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denhamblue added 18:26 - Jun 28 souper jim,your a to--pot,mate.
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bluearmy4life added 18:34 - Jun 28 It feels like are club are in crissis and we haven't even kicked a ball for the new season yet. Very worrying times at the moment. Its difficult to find any positives yet. ME,RK, AND SG SORT OUT ARE CLUB PLEASE!
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asamink added 18:36 - Jun 28 Winge Moan Winge Moan Moan Moan Winge etc. Yawn. Change the record.
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Suffolk_n_Good added 18:58 - Jun 28 Lets get this clear right now, I'm no Keane hater! & I'm not blaming Keane for not securing the signature of his 2 inteneded targets, However, those of you that seem to worship every step Keane takes, need a reality check! Our manager has spent MILLIONS on mostly useless players, who have just given us our worst season in years, not only in league position but in a complete inept performance level. Why do some of you Keane lovers feel so loyal to him? what has he actually done in a positive light for our club? I want Keane to succeed, because if he succeeds then ITFC do, but at the same time my love is ITFC, not Roy Keane!! Keane has a habbit of shooting himself in the foot, he made the statement telling us he had already identified 5 targets & those he was going to let go before the season finished, this was a bad decision because it builds hope amongst fans, only for us to be let down again. Keane needs to stop opening his "lose" mouth before the action has taken place. For now I back the manager, but if the months of August/ September bring anything other than a flying start to the season then for the sake of ITFC Keane most go......

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Zico added 19:00 - Jun 28 WTF? Top six finish my ...
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Suffolk_n_Good added 19:06 - Jun 28 Sorry! Keane MUST go.....
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Lightningboy added 19:27 - Jun 28 It's all very well fans saying "yawn" and "boring" because some of us aren't happy with the situation but that's all some of you ever say,isn't it?..which is why we're stuck with an incompitent misery guts of a manager who can't attract a single player to the club whilst giving the elbow to most of his squad in the process..me thinks Mr Keane may be eating some humble pie b4 long and pleading with players to stay. Most of you were so starstruck last season, you fear booing the drivel that was served up because you're afraid that Mr Keane'll get the sack and we'll lose our big name manager. I have no worries re Keane - he'll be gone probably as early as september...it's our elusive owner and "chief executive" that i'm more worried about...have they the footballing nouse between them to appoint a decent replacement sooner rather than later or are they going to continue to dither while all the good managers available take their places at other clubs. Roy Keane = massive publicity stunt that's gone horribly wrong...could've told you that a year ago when he started shipping players in and out willy nilly. And for my next prediction..Marcus Evans will be on his way out within the next year.......?!

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IpswichElvis added 19:31 - Jun 28 Lightningboy - very well put and I agree completely.
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ShropshireBluenago09 added 19:37 - Jun 28 Truely Blue - youre a mug. Keane is a big name in football. He was bought to the club to manage and to attract players.He should be able to bring in quality and not moan as soon as 2 players turn down the move. Surely he has other targets in mind and should be concentrating on getting them or shall we all give up now and resgn ourselves to league 1!
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Mungo added 19:39 - Jun 28 Again, I think RK has said too much. What would be wrong with saying "Disappointed not to bring anyone in yet, but we're working hard on it and will hopefully have someone in soon..." instead of "Disappointed not to bring anyone in yet, its because ME and Clegg aren't doing their bit and backing me." This sort of thing just makes a rod for his own back and it's starting to look like the relationship between RK and ME is becoming unworkable. Also, these two targets can't have been that keen to come here. I would imagine that our wage structure is fairly competitive at this level, so it can't all be about money. Either way, nobody wants to see excuses being made at this stage (pre season training day 1!) Still plenty of time to correct the situation if the desire is there!

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Eireannach_gorm added 19:41 - Jun 28 I'm a bit concerned about this arrangement where Roy decides to get rid of a player and their gone but he decides to bring in a player and has no involvement in getting them other than seeing if they would like to come ( squad could get very small! ).
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legoman added 20:14 - Jun 28 Simple. Evans is skint.
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petersongoal added 20:25 - Jun 28 bye bye keano. what did i say since the day he was appointed? oh yeah...thats right...bad idea. Evans should stick around i think, hes got money all over the show from what i've heard. I personally just think that players dont want to play for Keane. We'll see though, we'll see.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:36 - Jun 28 nail on the head there mungo, Keanes statement, hardly going to endear himself to M E , sounds like the mutterings of someone as they start packing their bags to sod off.This and the report on M E 's affairs will no doubt be dismissed by some as paper talk,lazy journalism, ect. What will it take to wake those people up ? .
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bluechick added 20:41 - Jun 28 Lets be honest Roy, who wants to work for a bad tempered paddy whose whole motivational strategy is shouting how useless the players are. Before I get shot down, I have this on first hand information from two players on separate occasions.
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