On the drive home from Tuesday night's match, with the same voices on the Radio Suffolk phone-in making their post-match points as every week, I found myself having to admit that my personal pre- season optimism was ever so quickly beginning to be replaced by an impending sense of doom.

After a 0-0 draw with a woeful Peterborough side, who looked every bit the relegation certainties that I had suspected they would be, I had to ask myself how much more time can we afford to give Roy Keane. While undeafeated since Barnsley's late winner on October 3rd, I am struggling to see any real progress. Yes, we are defending better, but results like Tuesday's will soon become the best we can hope for if our problems at the other end of the pitch are not soon dealt with.

While Stern John has been a useful addition, bringing some composure and experience to our attack, Keane's reluctance to settle on a front pair and allow them to gel would seem to be widely agreed to be the root of our problems.

In the same way that many of us have been saying Keane needs time, surely a front pair need the same thing to work out an understanding. Priskin looks not only a young man being weighed down by his over-inflated price tag (not his fault) but one devoid of all confidence in the ability that saw him bought to the club in the first place.

Stead looks the same as he was last season, in that he's hot and cold, brilliant one game, anonymous the next. Walters gives 100% every game but was never the 20-goal-a-year man everyone wants to see, and poor old Pablo Couñago, arguably our best footballer, seems to be further down the pecking order with each game, having looked back to his best when returning to the side in October. The return of David Norris cannot come soon enough, and sitting him at the top of the midfield with the excellent Leadbitter behind him should see us become more of a threat. Add to that Luca Civelli's return, to give us the balance on the left side that the disappointing Lee Martin has not (and in all probability will not) been able to provide, and things begin to look a little more positive. These problems being solved should see us claw our way away from the relegation trapdoor and give the fans something to cheer, but the question is, does Keane have the time to solve these issues? How long will Evans and Clegg allow gradually growing apathy, falling attendances and the very real threat of a visit to League One to cast a shadow over Portman Road?

I for one hope Keane finds the solution very soon, before we become another victim of the desperate desire to be a member of the elite, yet falling short and joining a very different group of fans wondering where it all went wrong.

UEFA81 added 21:02 - Dec 11 Is Keane's time running out? I sincerely hope so.
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xrayspecs added 21:17 - Dec 11 Progress is being made - slowly but surely. Roy inherited a squad a lot weaker than many fans would acknowledge - how many of our players would be transfer targets for the better sides in our division, let alone Prem sides? Preciely none, excluding the exciting potential of Connor Wickham. Over the last couple of months we can now see a greater discipline, organisation and work rate across the team. A settled defence, which is proving difficult to break down - how many goals have NUFC conceded this season? The midfield is competeitive. maybe not as pretty or expansive as we would like to see at times but a significant improvement on earlier in the season. We are now also creating lots of chances and - and this is a big if, if we had two Prem standard forwards, would be much higher up the league and arguably challenging the top 2. Are we progressing under RK? Yes, albeit from a lower base than many fans realised. How many players do we need to become real challengers in this division (outside chance of play-offs this season but challenging next)? aybe as few as three. Two forwards - Wickham will not be a serious consideration for a couple of seasons, Priskin may yet settle but jury remains out; and one central midfielder to complement Leadbitter. Steady progress, yes. Matching ambition of fans, clearly not. Happy with Roy to date, absolutely.

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prozach added 21:32 - Dec 11 Not going to slate anybody's opinions, as we are all entitled to one. I would think at the moment, Keane is buying himself more time with this run of results. For the first time since the Burley era, we seemingly have a sturdy defence. We most definately have a problem up front though, but with January approaching, we have time to address this. I think Portman Road is a far more positive place than it was 2 months ago.

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Jonnosdreadlocks added 21:41 - Dec 11 Mariner to take over when Plymouth oust him as they havaent had the decency to give him the job on a fulltime basis. Saw him on ssn last night looks like hes been told porkies by the Plymouth board. Keane out, Mariner In!
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HighSeasBlue added 21:42 - Dec 11 We need goals, none of our strikers look like they have 15-20 goals in them. I grant the jury is still out on Priskin, but if you are low on confidence, which happens a lot as a CF then at least you can throw yourself around putting the defence under pressure. Tues night Priskin did little chasing. What we need up front is pace, when we break we are slow. Mackail-Smith for Posh on Tues would pretty much fit the bill in the short term. But we missed the boat with Leroy Lita in the Summer who would have been ideal. Still, three points tomorrow and it will all look so much better!!!!!

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el_nino added 21:44 - Dec 11 good post xrayspecs- i totally agree.
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PutYaBootsOnKeano added 21:51 - Dec 11 pah, v myopic blog. U need XRAYSPECS my friend.
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WREXHAM_BLUE added 21:52 - Dec 11 UEFA81, if you're hoping Keane's time is running out, by implication you're hoping our form doesn't improve. Call yourself a fan? Try following signs for Carrot Road in future and take your negativity with you. Decent blog but for my money, although we're still in the mire somewhat, our form is certanly improving and our shape looks better game by game. Personally, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking this, I think the play-offs are achievable this year and I'm certainly not giving up hope. It goes without saying that we need to put a consistent run of wins together, and very soon, but I believe we are well capable of it. Let's get out of the bottom three first though and then start building from there.

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Tractorog added 22:01 - Dec 11 A good blog. Xray specs ?? A bit rose tinted for me, but UEFA81 no sane town fan wants to see Roy fail and your posts are predictable and childish. The squad Roy inherrited were used to being treated a certain way and have not taken well to the new regime, but that is not that the squad were all that bad, the management made them unsettled. I am sure Roy has a formula that with the right players will work and some of his signings have been excellent (and some woeful). Will Roy get time? He has had more time than I expected. I hope Roy doesn't need any more time... because we start winning. Two months ago we looked like we were going backwards, but since then a lot has sorted itself out. The positives are that the defence is sorted and the midfield much better. We only have one area in crisis. Logically, Roy should be given more time... but since when has logic had anything to do with it? And does Roy know how he will sort out our strikers?

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UEFA81 added 22:32 - Dec 11 We're still in the relegation zone and Christmas is only 2 weeks away. If that is progress...well. Sooner or later folks on here (and at PR) will realise Keane is not the right man for the club. I want to see Keane fail - but I don't want to see Town fail. That's a paradox. Let Keane fail elsewhere and leave our club alone. Jonnosdreadlocks - it would be great if we could get Mariner here. Somebody form the glory years, who lives and breathes ITFC instead of a thug who breaks legs (and is proud of it) and has a foul mouth.

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I_ONCE_WAS added 22:34 - Dec 11 We seem to have attracted some real numpty,moaning glory hunting "fans" lately. Keane is a winner,give him time to sort it out and he will deliver.
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dubblue added 22:51 - Dec 11 I hope that Keane succeeds, because that obviously means we will move up the table. The question is if we are still in the bottom three come say March will we ask ourselves would another manager have done better? I've no time for anyone who jumps on a poor performance as proof they were right about Keane but I don't think that means we cannot be critical about his performance to date. As things stand he has turned around the defence but there remain problems up front. I hope Priskin starts to score because I think we all know Pablo is never going to be prolific and Stead is inconsistent.

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lozklein added 22:53 - Dec 11 Keano's out if Town lose to Blackpool tomorrow - simple as that
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xrayspecs added 22:55 - Dec 11 Have followed Town for 30+ years. V. excited by what RK is (although not as quick as most of us would like) slowly but surely turning the team/squad into winners and potential challengers for the Prem. Rome was not built in a day - and some of his signings have not delivered - but direction of travel is very encouraging.
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UEFA81 added 23:09 - Dec 11 lozklein: "Keano's out if Town lose to Blackpool tomorrow - simple as that " If that's true then that's my dilemma. I desperately want Keane out but I don't want Town to lose. But would another loss be worth it to get rid of the malevolant influence and further long-term damage? Absolutely! But I still don't want Town to lose - how could I? It's a problem. Still, not going to lose any sleep over it - it's just a game of football, which ranks as insignificant in my priorities. Can we win and Keane still get the boot? What a great day that would be. eeerrmmm.... LOL

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PutYaBootsOnKeano added 23:46 - Dec 11 UEFA, I do empathise with your turmoil in detesting a man that runs the club you love; but you are so dogmatic in your hatred (for someone is actually, about the most honest bloke you can meet) that you have driven yourself to it. I personally feel I think like Keane. I'm angry when he is, exasperated when he is, and understand 85% (and he would probably justify the other 15% were he not misquoted so much) why he does things the way he does. What I am proud of in Town is our loyalty. I was sickened when Burley was fired because we built a man mountain. Joe nor Jim were never right for us. They were transition years into the modern game. Now, we have a man at the helm that our club culture has humbled, yet still craving to be the success we want him to be - but all the while, working in tight parameters. I would say, i think you are a naive person, but need go no further in judging you. I would also say, that you do let yourself down in your lack of balanced, considered perspectives. I would finally say, that I believe your idyllic vision of Town is incompatible with the modern game, and not something I subscribe to.

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Lightningboy added 00:30 - Dec 12 The fact is we've been on this "fantastic" unbeaten run BUT we're still in the bottom 3 and let's not forget we've not exactly been playing the big guns in this division over the course of that run (with the exception of Cardiff and at a push Bristol city)..what happens when things hit the skids again? It's a paltry 2 wins in 20 games..26 to go and we realistically need to win 12+ of those just to stay up. If we fail yet again tomorrow then surely something needs to change because I can see us being in this situation when yet another couple of months have passed and Keane's fans will still have their heads in the sand thinking he's going to turn it around. You need to start wanting the best for ITFC rather than clinging onto the idea of us having a "big name" manager at the helm.

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UEFA81 added 00:38 - Dec 12 Please point out where I have actually said that I hate Keane. I have never said I hate Keane. I have simply said, time and time again that he is the wrong man for the club. People have simply mis-interpreted my comments and think that I hate the man what with me continually going on about the Haaland incident, etc and have unfairly labelled me as a Keane hater as a result, but the truth of the matter is that I don't hate anybody. Hate is an extremely strong word and it's true defnition is horrific and is something I could never put my name to nor apply to any person (living or dead). As for balanced, considered perspectives, I have no time for things like this for something so trivial as a game of football. I realise life is much more serious than that and there are other things far more important to apply my time and consideration to. Let me tell you why I support Ipswich: I was never really interested in football as a kid - I think breaking my leg when I was playing it with my dad when I was 4 years old put me off to be honest. By the time I got to secondary school I was about the only lad in the school that didn't support a football team and was made to feel like a leper because of it. So, to resolve this, one night while I was watching MOTD on a b&w portable in my bedroom I just picked a team that had won and it happened to be Ipswich. I'm a Sheffielder so had no pre-conceived local loyalty or anything. I have stuck with them ever since and have visited PR often (though not lately). I would also like to say that ITFC have been very good to me in providing free merchandise in the past after personal letters to the management explaining my physical disabilities, etc and my consequential inability to watch them play as much as I would like due to no fault of my own. They are a friendly club, a decent club and a club I am proud to follow and support. I am sorry if I express discontent about my club being rubbish all season, but surely I am entitled to do this? I despair to see Town doing so crap and I personally feel that it is all the fault of the current manager, whom I feel has a bad attitude, has an appaling and violent track record (as a player and manager) and simply does nothing more than drag down the good name and reputation of our club. If Keane does bring success to Town then there will be nobody more happy than me but that will not change my opinion about the man. I'm just so afraid he is going to turn a team I have loved and supported for 26 years into a laughing stock and I just hate to see what is happening. I'm sorry that I have to feel the need to apoogise for being concerned for my club. It's a sad day.

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prozach added 00:56 - Dec 12 UEFA81, would you rather have a man who headbutts his own players in charge of our club?
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bjc added 01:34 - Dec 12 these useless players could do with a good headbutting , as for roy 'jim' if i got to meet him he wouldnt know which side his head was buttered.
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PutYaBootsOnKeano added 01:55 - Dec 12 Well, old chap - then you must 'die by your sword', as they say. If you will not put time into balanced views, that is your prerogative, but it will leave you open to criticism. Debate is often better served with considered comments. As for your entitlement to express dissatisfaction; quite. You are most welcome. And in return one must accept the dissenting views - as you begrudgingly do - on your occasion. I strongly believe the club ethos remains; and will remain under RK, ME and SC. I'm glad you've been treated well too, civilised society expects no less. What I wish to see change at the club is the desire to succeed, which has been missing since Burley, but will be forcefully engaged under RK, who has a second transfer window imminent to proceed with his agenda. I think we're far from being considered a laughing stock. I indeed think that people will soon fear us, and probably already do. We are bottom 3, and i'm desperate for that to improve - but utterly faithful that it will. The football we're playing is manifestly improving, it is solely (requisite) goals we are lacking. Your history in supporting the club, though hardly compelling, is as welcome as any other but of no consequence to me. Further, I appreciate a contrary viewpoint. But, honestly, only if it's well reasoned: a bit of sage, rather than outright dogmatism, is all I request of you dear boy. COYB, agree with Marsdon 1-0 tmrw. My Bro thinks 4-0. We'll tonk someone soon.

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timmy2guns added 02:06 - Dec 12 Agree with X-ray specs 100%, mate you should write the blog next time
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I_ONCE_WAS added 02:27 - Dec 12 UEFA81.You talk about dragging down the good name and reputation of our club. There have been plenty before Roy Keane who have done that!! Keane is a breath of fresh air pity you're too bitter to see that.
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bjc added 03:15 - Dec 12 more like a fart
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bloooosman_malta added 08:02 - Dec 12 Leave kean where he is.A good squad needs time to be built. As mentioned in the blogg we have a couple of key players set to return from injury which i beleive,espescially in the case of norris,will make a difference.Being unbeaten for such a long period of time is not an easy feat.Besides that having a good defence is fundamental in the build up of a quality team. Just remember how the likes of Sir Bobby and Sir Alex started their spells at ipswich and man utd respectivley. Have faith.

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