Town manager Roy Keane says loan striker Rory Fallon’s performances against his teams for Plymouth were what persuaded him to bring the New Zealand international to Portman Road. Fallon, who is reportedly interesting another unnamed club, impressed the Blues boss with his displays against both Town and his Sunderland side.

Keane said: “Rory’s a good lad, a good player and a good pro. He’s doing a job for us. A bit like when we brought Stern John in, people raised their eyebrows but Stern brought something to the team that we didn’t have and Rory does that in terms of a physical presence, an aerial threat. As much as Connor will give us that, he’s still learning the game.

“Every time I’ve come up against Rory he’s been a handful against us, whether that’s here or at Sunderland. He gives us something a bit different.

“I think over the last year or two we’ve had some good, nice, tidy players but that does not get you out of the Championship. We still lack a physical presence.”

Fallon's spell at Portman Road runs until January 22nd and with Plymouth in financial strife is likely to be available for a bargain fee, which is already understood to have been agreed if he impresses during his loan. However, according to reports in the South-West, another unnamed club has also made an offer for the former Swansea, Barnsley and Swindon man, who has so far made two starts and two sub appearances for the Blues without scoring.

Keane feels that having a fellow All White at the club has benefited the 28-year-old: “I think it helped that he knew Tommy Smith, Tommy’s looked after him.

“He seems a decent enough kid, he’s here on loan, he wants to do well. He would probably like to move here, although I don’t know because we’ve not had that conversation yet because he’s not our player and we have to be respectful of him and Plymouth.

“The boy’s done well but he’d probably like to hit the back of the net himself and hopefully he’ll do that soon.”

While Keane believes that Jason Scotland will double his goals tally by the end of the season, he says more of his players need to be finding the net regularly: “Even if Jason gets us 15 goals this season we can’t be dependent on one striker. We need more goals from Priskin, Rory, Connor.

“Chuck’s got six, I think Carlos can contribute more, Shane O’Connor’s got a goal in him, I think Grant’s got a goal in him, although he’s scored one or two from penalties. From set pieces I think we miss Gareth, he looked as if he could score before he got injured, Tommy’s got one or two.”

The Blues manager, who has already confirmed that he'll be targeting frontmen in January, says it's the lack of goals which has been his side’s biggest problem: “We need more goals, it’s the goals which have been holding us back ever since I’ve walked into the club.

“You can talk about the bad goals we’ve conceded but you watch the Championship every week, teams are conceding goals that leave you scratching your head that you wouldn’t see on a Sunday morning. But then they’re capable of going up the other end and lashing one in. We’ve not done that.

“Goals will change the course of our season. If we don’t score goals we’ll continue battling down there with lots of other good teams and good clubs all fighting for their lives.”

Elsewhere, one of Town’s legendary strikers, Paul Mariner, has been linked with the vacant head coach's job at MLS side Toronto FC. Mariner has previously worked extensively in North America and was assistant coach at the New England Revolution before joining his former club Plymouth last year.

After a spell as manager at Home Park last season, the former England frontman is now Argyle’s head coach working under Peter Reid.

Photo: Action Images

denhamblue added 16:11 - Dec 28 lol,hes doing a job for us,no commemt.
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h32 added 16:44 - Dec 28 Seriously - when, if ever, is this man going to say something which makes sense ? - or indeed state something other than the obvious. Unbelievable.
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h32 added 16:59 - Dec 28 As a 'target man' Fallon is certainly more than useful - secret is to play the right man off him - and who currently is that ? Once you've solved that puzzle, it's all about consistent service ...............from you know where. Simple - as Bill Shankly once said, only coaches and poor managers complicate Football.
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blueherts added 17:13 - Dec 28 Budgiepluck some good points Keano - what drivel - slow news day for us I know but please - this alongside the nonsense that our Chief Exec spouted and it is just complete rubbish He has a few goals in him , he has a few goals in him , he has afew more in him , we are moving forwards and putting things in place ...... I m tired of it - Fallon is not a solution - a tall band aid - but we need to start playing a system that matches are relative strengths - As the late great Eric Morecombe once said 'I know all the notes , just cant play them in the right order'..we have the nucleus of a decent team but the Coaches and Manager dont seem to be able to play them the right way - Happy new Year !!!.. Oh the post about having another look at Lee Martin - Good jibe man - I would prefer Lee Marvin

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Blue041273 added 17:40 - Dec 28 Budgieplucker Agree 100% but we need to use the resources we have to maximum effect. I think that is what the anti RK faction are saying. As it stands we could lose a significant number of the current squad in January returning to their host clubs on loan. What Plan B do we have to cover this situation? Fallon may or may not be at least a part of the solution. In my view the loanees we have taken this season have not been an outstanding success. Even if the option was there and they were willing to stay (and that's not a gimme) how many of them would we want back? Colback maybe! but Livermore, O'Dea, Zuiverloon and even Fallon too can go back to their host clubs as far as I am concerned. That said we are now between the devil and the deep blue sea; can we afford to keep them, and can we do without them? Time will tell but whatever happens it won't be RK's fault.

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Radlett_blue added 18:33 - Dec 28 OK Roy - we don't have a target man. Why not, when you've been manager for over 18 months? PS - Priskin & Wickham are unlikely to score if they're not on the pitch.
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Hermann_eats_puffin added 18:54 - Dec 28 Well said budgieplucker & it's nice to see an intelligent post analysing the wider situation as opposed to some of the relentless moaning.
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tractorboy2434 added 19:07 - Dec 28 So and end of year statement from our CE and manager, they read more an April Fool joke, first Clegg is excited by where this team is taking us ?, really, then RK says Fallon is a handful, oh, where exactly. These pair really are a couple of prize fools, is it really any surprise when Keane says some players decided not to come here in the summer, given these pair of prize planks I'm just surprised they managed to get anyone, probably explains why we needed to go to the bottom end of league 1 to get a forward and a 34 yr old injury prone full back !!!

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bobble added 20:12 - Dec 28 so fallons not as good as what we got rid of and keanes useless seems to be the general consensus.we sound like a club really kicking on .not . roys contract finishes soon you would have to be a complete fool to extend it .the gift of the gab before and after a match does not 3 points make.we are like a aeroplane running out of fuel in a circling position slowly losing altitude......

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rayman_10 added 00:26 - Dec 29 Well said budgieplucker, nice to see some people are realistic. COYB!!
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oldegold added 09:53 - Dec 29 Let's back him not sack him..he's our manager !
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jas0999 added 10:13 - Dec 29 Fallon has proven his worth so far. Thought he was excellent against Leicester. Set up two goals in a 3-0 win. What more do people expect? Can we not just give players a chance?
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Jesney_Havoc added 13:19 - Dec 29 Every striker is a handfull against your teams, Roy
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bluesman added 23:08 - Dec 30 Any team can play good football if that's what they are coached to do. Any team.
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BrettenhamBlue added 03:53 - Dec 31 Stern John? Good for us??!! When? Interesting to see what other club is in for Fallon. Would like to see him stay now (he is settling in well). This is another 'weird' Keane post. The most worrying thing about it all is his Stern John comments though. Can he actually judge how good a player is in the match? Maybe he was excellent in training- but its certainly not what we saw on a Saturday..... Judge a player on their performances in front of a baying crowd- not on what they do on the training pitch. Stop going on about Leadbitter slamming in freekick after freekick in training...he hasn't slammed in one for us in a LONG time...

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