Town manager Roy Keane was understandably disappointed with his side's 3-1 home defeat to Barnsley. In addition to the loss, Mark Kennedy and Luke Hyam damaged their hamstrings and are out of next week’s trip to Hull.

Keane said the game typified how things are at the present time: “Poor result, poor performance, not a great day and a couple more injuries. That’s the way it’s going for us. No sympathy, we’ll look to bounce back next weekend.”

The Portman Road crowd booed their team off and were vocally critical of the substitution of Tamás Priskin, something the Blues boss feels is inevitable when a team is doing poorly: “When you don’t win matches every decision is going to be analysed and criticised, that’s the nature of football.

“They were pretty supportive last year when we went 14 games without a victory - the Watford game I’ll never forget - they were very, very good to us. But at this moment in time, you’re still hoping that fans would understand where we’re at.

“Don’t underestimate the loss of Gareth McAuley, David Norris and Grant Leadbitter. I don’t want to use that as an excuse but they are important players for us. We just have to get on with it.”

Keane explained the thinking behind his substitutions: “We thought we’d get a bit more from Jack and Jake getting a bit more forward. They’re two young players and it’s a big responsibility doing a job in the middle of the park, so with the extra support from Luke we thought we might get back into it.

“But, of course, the next goal changed things and we tried to mix it up again. We tried a few different things and it just didn’t work.”

Keane's controversial decision to withdraw Priskin was amongst those alternative options: “When we took Tamás off we changed it with Connor going up with Ronan and actually I thought they did OK in the last 20 minutes. OK, they’re young players and you could say the game was over.

“Obviously there were a few people disappointed and they probably thought we were going to stick with the one up front, but of course we changed that with Jack coming over to the left and I thought Ronan did quite well and was perhaps unlucky not to score. It was a straight swap in that sense."

Tykes manager Mark Robins was delighted with his players’ display: “It was without doubt the best performance since I became Barnsley manager and it was a continuation of what we saw on Tuesday night against Preston.

“The players took the confidence they gleaned from that game into today. We passed it well, the movement was fantastic and what we added today was our finishing. It's a step in the right direction and pleasing.”

Photo: Action Images

Surco72 added 14:07 - Nov 15 Blueisthecolour..you are obviously very young or very stupid .You have even argued against me and backed up my point .Scotland and Priskin have done no better than Stead as you say so why did Keane waste £2.7 million ? Garvan has done personally better than any of our midfielders in a struggling side who Burley has only just taken over and is doing a lot better than Keane was in his first season at this stage . And just agreeing with every decision that the manager makes and being happy when they lose does not make you a better or more loyal supporter ,it is people who do stand up and voice an opinion when things are wrong that leads to change .If everyone on here that is unhappy did as you say the crowds would be even less and the club would fold ,so think about it before you make your childish comments

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dubblue added 14:59 - Nov 15 176 posts - is that a record? A couple of comments - what financial benefit is there to ME in keeping Keane - other than having to avoid any compensation. attendances are clearly down on last year and this must have a knock-on impact on shop sales. While some of this might be due to the recession, I wonder is the current performance of the team (both the style of play and inconsistent results) a large factor? Not to mention the price of tickets - would a reduction get more bums on seats? I doubt if O'Neill is a runner as a replacement, Curbs probably more realistic. but why has he been out of the game for so long? The Poyet/Tarrico combination sounds attractive. If we are looking for a manager who will have us play attractive football how about Paul Harte. Finally...a number of posts have suggested that Keane might turn out to be a good manager in the future. You can't deny that Keane was a big success in his first season as manager in Sunderland, for whatever reason it just has not worked out at ITFC. His recent failures are obvious - lack of an RB, poor tactical substitutions and in general a poor record in the transfer market - although it is nice to see Priskin get MoM for the last few games.

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BlueistheColor added 16:17 - Nov 15 Surco72 I suppose you were one of the fans that cheered when Barnsley kicked the ball......enough said!!
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Ryorry added 00:32 - Nov 16 Peaky69 - sometimes supporting your club means not being a yes-person but standing up to protest at it being eaten away from inside out. The Club is bigger than any single manager (or owner come to that) and people are protesting for one reason only - because they CARE - passionately. Well said Dobbie!
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whippet added 08:59 - Nov 16 blueisthecolour- Fulop is one of the few players who NEARLY every fan has said is exceptional so far. Changing him would not be a wise move and it would be a very naive decision to make.
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Surco72 added 09:12 - Nov 16 Blueisthecolour... a picture of Roy Keane in a Man Utd top .... starstruck little boy ...enough said
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warwickblue added 16:40 - Nov 16 “Two games ago we were all great, but now the supporters want me out and are questioning substitutions." “We've just got to stick at it and we will.” Keane in the East Anglian. Doesn't look like he's going anywhere fast does it? And where did he get the idea that it was all great two games ago?
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tom_the_blue added 16:15 - Nov 18 We were sh!te
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h32 added 19:30 - Nov 18 Blueisthecolor - pathetic comments.
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