Town boss Roy Keane feels expectations are probably lower than they were a year ago after last season’s disappointing 15th place finish in the Championship. The Town manager is determined to avoid a repeat of the dreadful start which saw the Blues drop to the bottom of the table in the early stages of 2009/10.

Keane said: “I wouldn’t say expectations are greater than last year because we finished 15th and have lost some players. Jack Colback won our Player of the Year, both from the supporters and the players and he’s gone, we’ve not added and we’ve lost two experienced players [David Wright and Richard Wright].

“So, if anything the expectations are if anything are probably lower. But we set ourselves high standards at the club, we didn’t reach them last year and we certainly need to do better.

“We certainly need to have a better start. From October onwards our form was half-decent but we had such a bad start, not winning for the first 14 games never gave us a chance.

“The priority this year is to have a good pre-season and make sure we start the season better.”

Keane reiterated his intention that 17-year-old striker Connor Wickham will be part of his 2010/11 side: “We hope so. He’s just signed a two-year contract, but decisions like that ultimately would be taken out of my hands by the owner.

“Connor’s got the potential to be a top, top player, but that’s potential. He did very well towards the end of the season but to put pressure on a young boy of 17 to fire us into the Premiership is a big ask.

“He needs a bit of support around him and it’s up to the other players - Jon Walters, Tamás Priskin, Lee Martin, Pablo, whoever might be here - to support him. Let’s not be too dependent on one player. We’ve seen that with England with Rooney and it doesn’t work, I’m afraid.”

The Blues begin their pre-season fixtures next Tuesday when a Town XI travels to Newmarket with a more senior side in action at Southend on the following Friday.

Photo: Action Images

kerryblue added 12:15 - Jun 29 Setting high standards wont get us anywhere till we add to the squad big time .Get the finger out Roy time is ticking on and I for one dont want anouther season like last or even worse we deserve better.
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maimeetang added 12:16 - Jun 29 I reckon he's gone if we don't get a good start. The owner obviously doesn't want to spend while he's here. Worrying that we've had no defensive additions. Who's gonna start at RB? Peters? Or are we gonna go the New Zealand route and have 3 centre halves and wing backs? Interesting...........
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IvorTheEngine added 12:18 - Jun 29 look like roy s a bit p****off with the owner i bet there no money in the pot.
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superblueflude added 12:20 - Jun 29 it sounds as if, cleggs ruining the club, first he lets the wrights go, and now he's ruined two tranfers as well.
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Bergholtblue added 12:27 - Jun 29 We didn't 'lose' two experienced players, we threw them away.
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IpswichElvis added 12:29 - Jun 29 Still sounds like Keano is ready to spit out the dummy and walk the plank here....Please god I hope he does. I think when Marcus orders Cleggy to flog Connor, that will be the last straw for our messiah and he will be off !!!! The good thing is that we will then get a decent manager and because of Keane's reputation for quitting, he may not easily get another job and other fans may be spared the dross we have been served up !!!!

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Roosta added 12:33 - Jun 29 Sounds to me like Clegg and Evans are keeping their money back until January. If we make a decent start then they'll back him at Christmas for a big push, if we don't then it will go to the new manager. Crisicising the club for not getting his targets is a dangerous move - surely it's up to Keane to target players within our financial reach? Even then, you can't do much about another club offering something different. Looks like another season of excuses though.

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olimar added 12:39 - Jun 29 Can someone give me an example of when Keane criticised the club for not getting his targets? In fact, he did the complete opposite by actually saying that he wasnt blaming the club.
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irishblue added 12:43 - Jun 29 please god..let this be the end of keane.....clearly he doesn't have the know how - how to get the best out of the existing players or attract new ones. as a fella irish man and from cork as well - i was hoping hw would do well. but it has been nothing but excuses and he making stupid comments on topics that have nothing to do with him or ipswich.not a great sign if he is already playing down our chances (everyone has to have hope before the season starts) clearly he is already making excuses for his exit. (i think he will be gone by the end of september unless we make a good start) holloway and dave jones are working on tight budgets. i thought keane with all his contacts etc could at least attract players to the club...... i can the excuses already.......please please lets get him out of the club.

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noitan added 12:44 - Jun 29 " we've not added and have lost two experienced players at the club ", doesn't sound as though we are going to replace them either, at least not with experienced players. The whole situation does not look good to me.
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bluepirate added 13:01 - Jun 29 But Keane, I thought you didnt have to be a genius to win the Championship.
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stiffshorts added 13:01 - Jun 29 Waasup with you lot?? Keane's explored adding to the squad and it's clear; a) our owner is not too ambitious b) player's for whatever their reasons, don't want to come here c) sunderland have run out of players for us to use Look, last season if we'd have picked up points in the first 14 or so games (let's be honest, only losing by the odd goal and drawing when we should have won easily) we'd have reached the play offs. The fact's are as RK states, we'll be there if we come out of the blocks running. HAVE FAITH!

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finidigeorge88 added 13:06 - Jun 29 No one wants to play for RK relegation candidates..
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positivity added 13:08 - Jun 29 interesting that he mentions pablo, instead of omitting him like stead and lisbie, maybe he's still in his plans after all?
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HampshireBlue added 13:08 - Jun 29 ^^^^ most of the above is bollox ^^^^
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Brogansconk added 13:14 - Jun 29 The expectations are not lower, they are the same - Promotion within 2 years. We are now one year into the two years. Simples.
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SouperJim added 13:16 - Jun 29 I'm behind Keane and hope he can turn it around, but it seems to me that the writing is on the wall.
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Roosta added 13:34 - Jun 29 @olimar - Keanes comments were to the effect of "I've found decent players, done my bit and stepped back. It was the club that didn't seal the deal, not me" If he's not crticising the club, then who is he criticising, or more to the point why say anything at all? Why not trot out the usual "we couldn't agree personal terms" or whatever? No instead he was specifically distancing himself from any blame. This is a team game - it smacks of getting excuses in early. Working at Ipswich Town is going to involve working to constraints - fact of life. It will make his job difficult, and will bring disappointments for us fans. But it's like Keane thinks he's working for a Man U or a Sunderland. Like it or not, we're neither of those clubs, and he has to manage us appropriately.

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WeWereZombies added 13:42 - Jun 29 I think my expectations for the new season are now a bit higher than they were this morning......because it sounds like we will soon have a new manager
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gypo added 13:45 - Jun 29 players on free transfers http://www.givemefootball.com/pfa-transfer-list A couple on there would be worth a try if our owner wont give keano any funds !! ( most probably lost to much money at world cup )
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BeattiesBeerGut added 14:02 - Jun 29 Koren, Aliadiere, Ballack, Aurelio, all on the PFA list - get em in. Some guy called Jamie Clapham, let go by Notts Co, might be wortha punt....
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StowTractorBoy added 14:12 - Jun 29 I thought Keane looked very down in the dumps when interviewed on TV last night. His body language expressed negativity and frustration and his comments were most certainly aimed at the Club regarding the potential deals falling through if only to clear himself of the blame for not signing the two players who according to Keane wanted to come to the Club. At the moment I am looking at bottom six - now there is low expectancy Roy. All very sad at ITFC at the moment and our neighbours certainly are showing us the way with 20000 season tickets - what has gone wrong with our marketing.

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naa added 14:12 - Jun 29 I've got to say, even the most pro-Keaner can't be happy with the things being said here. I'm not saying this is good or bad for Keane, but clearly he thinks something is going on behind the scenes as he's not so subtly implying that he's being hampered by those above him. Personally, I think the truth may lie somewhere in between. I mean, we did supposedly make large offers for Chopra, which showed intent, but there have to be limits too. Maybe Keane just needs to lower his sights a bit with his targets. But this is where his complete lack of knowledge of the market comes into play. He just doesn't seem to have the contacts, or scouting network. I mean, who on this board didn't know about Derry and Chopra? Any of us could have spotted them and said 'buy them' (though can't say I'm sad we didn't get Derry). We need a manager with links to the lower leagues and into europe. And, I've got to say, I'm surprised that Keane isn't that man, but he doesn't seem to be.

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Lightningboy added 14:23 - Jun 29 It's a mess...a bloody big mess. As for the free transfer list , maybe you should email it to Keane & tell him to look through it properly: Jon Harley, Robert Koren, Danny Butterfield, Stephen Caldwell, Jay DeMerit, Kerrea Gilbert, Marlon Harewood, Richard Kingson, Clinton Morrison, Carlo Nash, Frank Quedrue, Liam Rosenior (!), ..even Daniel O'Donnell's on there but we've got enough irish.

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yorksblue added 14:25 - Jun 29 Gypo Agree with that. Some interesting names there, who could do a decent job for us. See R Wright is now linked to C Palace today!
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