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What a rollercoaster month April has been for Ipswich Town and its supporters! The collapse at Bramall Lane in the 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United, followed by an embarrassing home defeat to the Blades’ South Yorkshire neighbours Doncaster, meant the month began in the worst possible style.
Ipswich followers grew angry at the lacklustre performances - especially at home - and by Mid-April fans stepped up their ‘Magilton Out’ campaign after the Doncaster result effectively ended Town’s season. Although the majority of supporters were in favour of a new manager, I don’t think many expected it to happen so quickly, and in the manner in which it did. Within the space of one week, Simon Clegg and Roy Keane were in - Magilton was out. How long Marcus Evans has been chasing Roy in unknown, but it is clear that Town’s owner has been chasing his man whilst Jim was still in charge given the quick turnaround time in his appointment. Many Town fans believed Magilton had lost the confidence of the dressing room, and questioned his man-management skills that quite evidently weren’t working; the final straw noticeably appearing after the Doncaster game when he blamed the result on his players ‘letting him down’.
The appointment of Keane was certainly not my first choice, however, that’s not to say I wasn’t happy with his appointment. Once Magilton left the club, I anticipated the arrival of a manager with vast experience and proven tactical knowledge, the obvious example being Alan Curbishley. However, Town have decided to appoint Keane, who in my opinion, is not as likely to settle the squad and get us playing the kind of football we did under Burley’s successful reign about ten years ago. A lot of people will say his managerial qualities are too similar to Magilton’s, which may well be the case. However, after Saturday’s shock 3-0 win at Cardiff, perhaps we are wrong to doubt Keane. I certainly will be giving him my undivided support and wish him the best of luck.
Any managerial appointment can be a risk – take Juande Ramos’ short spell at Spurs as an example of how it can all go wrong – but in Keane we may have appointed a man that can add that little bit of quality to Town’s play, which could see us promoted come this time next season. Keane has already vowed to ensure Ipswich can compete in the ‘ugly’ side of the game, a part of Town’s play that has been desperately lacking in recent years. He is a figure to respect and has achieved promotion from The Championship with Sunderland, a club who harbour similar ambitions to Ipswich. With transfer funds available to Roy in the summer, Ipswich fans can look forward to an exciting season next year.
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