Town manager Roy Keane says his side get no ‘12th man effect’ from the Portman Road crowd to help them in their fight for promotion from the Championship. The Blues boss was unhappy with the booing and cheering of opposition passes during last week’s 3-1 home defeat to Barnsley, feeling that his younger players bore the brunt of fans’ frustrations.

Keane said: “I don’t think it’s the type of club where we’ve a 12th man dragging us to promotion. We hear other managers talking about Celtic and the great European nights, Stoke at the moment.

“For us to bring this club forward it will come from within the club, it won’t come from outside or the supporters. It will come from the players and the staff and with a bit of luck.”

During an occasionally fiery Thursday press conference, the Town boss said he was saddened rather than angered by the crowd’s reaction: “I was fine, disappointed, but nothing surprises me in football.

“You always remember these things. I remember when I played for Ireland I got booed against Iceland because one reporter, who was an idiot and was pals with the manager, did a piece saying the fans should boo me. And guess what? They all booed. Sheep. One or two boo and the rest follow.

“As I’ve said before, I remember after the Watford game [at home last season] when I thought the fans were brilliant and they cheered us off the pitch even though we drew the match and were in the difficult run. You don’t forget these things and you don’t forget the fans last weekend either.

“Having said all that, that’s not all of the supporters,” he added. “I’m not trying to tarnish all the supporters.”

Keane says it’s probably for the best that the next couple of games are away from Portman Road: “I think it will be a benefit over the next few weeks that we’re away from home and the players can go out and relax a little bit and enjoy what they’re trying to do, which is learning their trade. And they should be applauded for that, not jeered.

“I think it’s too easy now. We see it with other games, we saw it with international matches on Wednesday night. There’s this mentality of booing teams all the time.”

The Irishman has no objection to being the focus of fan dissent himself, indeed he says he thrives on it, but wants supporters to back the players: “They can boo me all they want. I never went into football to be popular, in fact it drives me on and I bloody enjoy it.

“Get behind the players, get behind the young players that we’ve got. We’re two points off the play-offs and players who are 18 or 19 years of age are getting jeered and booed.

“Young Connor Wickham’s coming on and the fans are booing because I’m taking Tamás Priskin off. We’re 2-0 or 3-0 down at that stage, they should be applauding Connor coming on.

“Two weeks ago they wanted Priskin out of the club,” he continued. “All of a sudden we shouldn’t be taking him off. I’ve nothing against Tamás, I think he’s doing well for us, but you have to make changes.”

Keane concedes that some negativity is inevitable but believes that last week’s reaction was out of all proportion: “When you lose matches, you put up with that little bit of criticism.

“But I think that the way the atmosphere has been over the last few weeks they were going to be criticising everything anyway, whether it was the referee, the pitch, me, the staff, the players, the substitutions we’re making. Way over the top.”

The Blues boss says he has no objection to supporters giving their viewpoint but doesn’t see the sense in booing: “The fans have a right to express their opinion, I have no problem with that. I’ve been at clubs before where fans do that. But there’s a certain line which has to be drawn. And I’m entitled to my opinion.

“It’s an emotional game, I understand that 100%, the ups and downs of being a supporter. What they did last weekend was wrong, that’s my opinion.

“They didn’t support the team. How can you support the team by booing? They can question all they want about taking players off. We’ve got a young 17-year-old, the future of the club, what’s he supposed to think when he’s coming on to the pitch and there’s booing?

“We can’t kid ourselves that if we’re not performing we’re going to get criticised, but there’s got to be a balance to that of what’s right and what’s wrong, and what happened last week was wrong.

“I don’t care what anyone says, "Keane continued. "I don’t care if you’ve been a supporter of this club for 50 years or you work in the media, we all know it’s wrong. You try and teach your kids that — what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong, and our players have to listen to that nonsense.

“That’s why I think it might be a benefit that we’re away from home for the next couple of weeks, and we’ve got some tough games.”

Photo: Action Images

SammyT added 12:24 - Nov 19 The anti-Keane Brigade have arrived I see! Im not for or against Keane im for ITFC! Can you fellas not conceed that he is right about our support, performace quality aside? Lets discuss that...not the same old boring Keane in/out Crap like u lot thrive on every Rubber Ducking day...
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Mark added 12:29 - Nov 19 “They can boo me all they want. I never went into football to be popular, in fact it drives me on and I bloody enjoy it." So really this is all just a misunderstanding. The fans were not booing the young players, the anger was aimed at Keane's management. So next time we just have to make sure we support the young players while chanting "Keano out!" all match. Keane "enjoys" this, Evans and Clegg will get the message clearly, and the youngsters will not feel critisised. Everyone's a winner! Okay, so the ITFC fans are not always the most vocal but then we have been downtrodden with disappointment and poor football for some time now. The team seems to change all the time and we have no "heros" to chant for. Has any current ITFC player even scored 10 goals for the club, for example?

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TOWNNNNNN added 12:30 - Nov 19 I notice that Johnscales admitted to booing, you sir are a moron! Doosch bag, Let's all boo these c0cks that boo the team at our next home game,point them out and hurl abuse at them, they boo the team/manager for not doing well, so lets boo them for not doing there jobs as supporters well! let them no what it feels like, I guarantee they won't continue to do it after that, ............... If postman road is rocking and keane still can't get a performance then he will have no excuses........

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Umros added 12:38 - Nov 19 I pay £500 a season and have mainly watched absolute dross, most certainly last week. Keane is paid christ knows how much to produce this dross, so I will voice my opinion if I wish to.
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Daleyitfc added 12:38 - Nov 19 So Keane thinks that we need to set an example to our kids : what's right is right etc. This from the man who deliberately set out to break another player's leg and end his career, out of spite ; and went into every game with the intention of injuring someone : he had to, as he had no discernible footballing talent. He has transferred this lack of knowledge and understanding of the game to his managerial role. Go, and go now.

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Lightningboy added 12:42 - Nov 19 I'm afraid it works both ways Roy..the fans pay lots of hard earned cash to be entertained..when they've had 19,20 months of what you've been serving up then they're entitled to show their displeasure. As someone said last week..if I was crap at my job i'd get sacked..I wouldn't expect applause. I'm sure 99% of the booing was aimed at your good self Roy. Now Go...there's a good chap.

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keebs_itfc added 12:46 - Nov 19 absolutely spot on, no atmosphere at PR, theres the occasional day where the north stand sing but theres no singing from ANYBODY else, ever! i remember when i was a kid chills from the crowd noise but sadly no more! cant fault the away support, always a gd noise without fail. jst wish there was a section where everybody could get together and try and sing, oh wait...

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keebs_itfc added 12:49 - Nov 19 also, people say it works both ways, but the team has been playing the last 5 or so years, practically without a '12th man', im most defintely not saying this makes a team play well but it most definitely has an effect. maybe it is up to the fans to start trying to give the team a lift instead of gettin on their back?!? if you want to pay your money to the club then try and hav a positive input into the way our boys play and that way is by SINGING YOUR HEARTS OUT FOR THE LADS!!

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obliquewordsmith added 12:54 - Nov 19 Hmm. There is a certain comedy value in the way (some) supporters switch from joy to despair in seconds, where Bruce was the life of the club, or Priskin not good enough for the Blue Square etc. However, booing has always been there, at half time, full time, after the game sometimes, when the performance deserves it. Think back to McGiven's day, or John Duncan. We pay our money, we support our team, and have a right to express our feelings. I'd love to have an in depth discussion with Keane for an hour or two about tactics, that's not going to happen. How can 18,000 people make their feelings known? Cheer. Boo. Sit in unimpressed silence. Yell, "you don't know what you're doing". On the cheering Barnsley passes, surely that was ironic? When was it last that we managed to pass the ball to feet, player to player, fifteen or twenty times at Portman Road? When did we find space on the flanks consistently? If we'd have been able to pass, find space, pass... we'd have cheered, been that 12th man. But how can we cheer and encourage misplaced passes, lack of movement, no width and lack of momentum? What this feels like is the reign of John Duncan reprised. There's another issue about atmosphere, which doesn't just affect Portman Road, which comes from the lack of standing. Even under Duncan, in front of an 8000 crowd in the Simod Cup there'd be more atmosphere - even from Churchmans. But there's no will to challenge the stupid all seater rules.

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simonsays added 13:05 - Nov 19 Keano is right. There is no atmosphere. Last Saturday was an absolute disgrace. It takes one goal conceded for the 'fans' to turn on the team. I use the term 'fans' very loosely as well!
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BoredWithThisNow added 13:10 - Nov 19 Keane may be an ignorant tw@t but he's right - the support at Portman Road is awful and has been for as long as I've been going there. Watch highlights of the UEFA Cup final if you don't believe - a major European cup final at our home ground and the silence is deafening at times. I, like many others, don't live in Ipswich anymore. The attitude of the people in the town is so insular and depressing - constant moaning and carping and this is reflected in the support that we get at home games. Go to other grounds and you see and hear real support. Pains me to say it but our erstwhile Norfolk neighbours know how to get behind their team far more than we do. The quality of the football on offer doesn't inspire a large amount of vocal support but then, as someone said earlier, Stoke play crap football and their fans are brilliant. No wonder Jonny Walters (wages aside) preferred them to us.......

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tractorboyholmes added 13:18 - Nov 19 Clegg/ME, please take note of this; There's NEVER going to be a 12th man at PR with pathetic attendances of under 20k. Granted there are other issues at the moment as to why some fans aren't fully behind their team. However surely it's in everyone's best interests to pack the stadium out to full capacity and get that 12th man generated. Personally (basic example I know but you'll see my point) if i was ME i'd rather have 30k fans there having paid £15 a ticket than 15k fans having paid £30 a ticket which would bring in exactly the same revenue. £30 is just too much for the common support (especially when there's 2 home games in a week) and I for one can't visit PR nowhere near as much as i'd like because of this. Packing out the stadium would not only giving our players the 12th man but also give the club so many other benefits as opposed to it only being half full. Ipswich has a massive catchment area, a great tradition and MASSIVE potential. It worries me our attendances are so poor and there seems to be little encouragement or recognition of this from the club. The odd offer of a £20 ticket isn't bad but I feel ITFC should be doing more to try and get the 30k fans packed into PR week in week out. I know for sure if we got promoted we'll have no trouble filling the ground so the fans are clearly there to try and win over. I'll stop there before I sound like some drunk silly old mare from up the road but you catch my drift!

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BlueistheColor added 13:29 - Nov 19 Lightningboy!! I don't know what position you hold in your work place but if you were a manager you would know that if you inherit a team that is doing a top job then your life as a manager is much easier. If you have to build your team then it's much different, not only do you have to recruit but you have to try and recruit the best staff for the money you have, then there is time for staff to settle into the company,position,systems......the story goes on! We have improved on last year so Keane is going the right way, is it fast enough, for most no but for me yes! Give this man time to sort this team or keep changing the manager and we will never get anywhere!!!

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budgieplucker added 13:36 - Nov 19 Football can be a passionate game and its a shame that the passion cannot be more directed to supporting the team rather than at times venting frustrations which may well be understandable. However, the reality is this game is bankrupt, it contains many ludicrously overpaid players and prima donas. Manchester City have spent 162 million on trying to compete in the premiership. Yes Blackpool are doing well at the moment on a shoestring budget, but so did Hull shortly after they went up. We are all to blame. Many of us spend 50 on replica shirts for the kids (and sometimes on ourselves - multiply that with away strips etc) these probably cost less than a fiver to produce. In addition to our season tickets we shell out further for cup matches and away trips. And then of course there is Mr Murdoch's TV who has pumped obscene amounts of money into the game. Entertainment is NOT guaranteed, and many players earn in a year what would take an average person a decade or two to earn. Football is a business (a badly run one) and it exploits its fans in such a way that very few other companies would dare to do with their customers. It is driven by greed and we continue to put up with it and sponsor it. I therefore have to defend the right of anybody expressing an opinion when they don't feel they are getting value for the hard earned money they are shelling out. I watch my daughter play for a girls football team and surprisingly enough I probably get far more satisfaction than watching Ipswich Town. Having said all that though I personally still think it is wrong to boo during the match and feel very sad that many fans reacted in the way that they did at the Barnsley game. Whether this was aimed at RK or was just a frustrated reaction it still wouldn't have helped the young players and probably squashed any remote possibility of a fightback. I do feel we have a proud reputation over the years as fans and the away support has been terrific. So comments have to be balanced on both sides. Roy Keane doesn't need the money and I truly believe he is here for the challenge. If he feels he can't take this club any further then I am sure he will walk away. This to me is a better position than somebody just hanging on waiting to be sacked like the previous incumbant who had three years. Burley took six years to get Ipswich back in to the Premiership. So I am more than happy to give RK two years and then let ME be judge of the success. This club recovered from administration and ME has given us a platform to build for the future. We shouldn't forgot that before blindly criticising the man. For me we have made progress, we have got rid of a lot of dead wood. We still have prospects for a good season, we are in touching distance of the play-off's and have reached the quarter final of the Carling cup. Yes the opposition (excluding Millwall) was from lower leagues but with three away matches this is still a credible performance, who can honestly say that in recent years we would have the bottle to have got this far. More importantly the young players are getting opportunities. For once I do see parallels with the Robson era and I think the club is setting standards and disciplines which will only help provide a solid foundation to allow this club to grow again. As the understanding builds and some of the younger players improve and mature then the football will improve as well. As a youth I stood on the terraces 40 years ago and shouted Robson out. If my wishes had have come true at that time I would have been robbed of seeing some of the best ever football of the time and watching Ipswich compete with some of the greatest teams around (Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc) and putting 6 goals past Manchester United. I will never ever shout for a manager to be removed again.

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blrmy added 13:51 - Nov 19 Like him or loath him, without these press statements we wouldn't be discussing it. And maybe, just maybe, a few more positive voices will be heard at the next home game at Portman Road.....
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Mungo added 13:53 - Nov 19 Good post Suffolk_n_good I think this is delusional. RK genuinely thinks the supporters were booing Connor Wickham? All this talk about thriving on the boos etc is clearly nonsense because he doesn't seem to be able to accept when the criticism is directed at him - it's always someone else! (Booing Connor Wickham, the board wouldn't sign the players he wanted, not the right characters in the dressing room, etc) If there is no atmosphere at PR, why might this be Mr Keane? At the start of last season, the fans were 'brilliant.' Perhaps they have grown tired of the nonsense on the pitch that you are supposed to be improving? (poor passing, set pieces that don't get past the first defender etc). I think you will find the fans have a lot of patience for the young players and enjoy watching them come through, but they do expect them to learn and improve...

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Martus added 13:58 - Nov 19 I cant get excited about the football i see at Portman Road at the moment, i want to get behind the team and will them to win, but i just sit there looking up as the ball is punted as high and long as possible every time we get the ball. If i go to see a comedian i only laugh if i like the joke, and only cheer if i see good football. There were so many fans last year that kept the faith in Keane only to be told this year that the fans know nothing about football. So i think Keane has lost the love from Portman road, as seen from the dreadfull attendances. KEANE OUT!!! I WANT MY BURLEY BACK!!! or someone like the Docaster manager or Royle again.

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JimBaxter added 14:05 - Nov 19 Keano is spot on about the fans - I am a Glaswegian who has lived in the area for about 20 years and am an adopted Town fan being a season ticket holder for most of that time and agree on how fickle the fans are. In my view it's got worse in the past 5 years or so and it's quite embarrasing how quiet the PR crowd and can be and there is a tendency to moan almost from the start if things go wrong. Not good to cheer the opposition and just undermines the team. Maybe PR has got the team it's fans deserve...

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alfromcol added 14:10 - Nov 19 Barnsley did not have a 12th man and they won!! We are paying customers and want to be entertained and over recent games we haven't been. There was no booing of Connor and Keane should be telling him so. The booing was at RK's tactics, the ironic Ole's for Barnsley's passes were a release from the frustration of ITFC poor passing. Nothing more. On the issue of Priskin, if he had been given more of a run last season and earlier this, it may have taken him less time to gain a bit of confidence. All RK's chopping and changing of the team doesn't build anyone's confidence, including the paying customers. Anyone know where Shane O'Connor is??

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svendust added 14:17 - Nov 19 I love the fact people moan about moaning, almost as ironic as those who cheered Barnsley's ability to pass the ball! As for all these people saying we've not made any noise for the past five years, it's because we've had nothing to make noise about! We are obviously capable of making noise as we have, most recently against Leeds and also in derbies over the years. Give us something to sing about, some entertainment and you will hear some noise at PR.

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WickedBlue added 14:28 - Nov 19 Love or hate him, love what he says or hates what he says, he is 100% correct. You so called fans can throw your toys out of your prams all you want. You sit there and cry it is your right to boo and criticize or cheer the opposition. Well it's his right to tell you what he thinks of you,and the damage you are doing to the younger players. All I can say is well said Roy Keane about time someone told these morons. If I had to choose one thing I like about you is it you don't pull your punches and you tell them how it is.

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Crock added 14:44 - Nov 19 "No 12th Man at Portman Road." True but shouldn't the manager be that 12th Man?
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old_and_blue added 14:49 - Nov 19 Have to put my support behind the Keane critics.. I would have thought he should be spending his time fixing the problems in the team rather than having a go at the fans..That's what he's paid for and even if the fans are awful, they have not caused the problems on the pitch, Keane has He would be well advised not to play the condescending city sophisticate over us country bumpkins, such attitudes do not go down well in these parts..

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Garv added 14:50 - Nov 19 Obviously a man utd supporter in 'keanoisgod'. If not you're just a joke.
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Surco72 added 16:17 - Nov 19 Blueistehcolour..ask the Norwich and Qpr fans if they are happy they changed their manager when things werent working
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