Keane press conference:Roy Keane does not intend putting his Ipswich players under the pressure of having to prove themselves in the remaining two games of the season but has warned them that anything less than 100 per cent commitment will result in a brief relationship with him at the helm.
The new Town manager has 15 players nearing the end of their contracts and will most likely need to do some squad building if he is to lead the Tractor Boys back to the top flight in his first year in charge, as he plans.
The fact so many of his squad are up for review might play into Keane’s hands and make his job of showing them the door that bit easier – though the Corkman has never had any problem doing that in the past.
“There are a lot of players on long-term injuries and players whose contracts are up, so that might suit me,” he said at his first press conference this afternoon.
“But it would be unfair to say to players whose contracts are up ‘You’ve got two games to prove yourself’.”
At training this morning, where Keane and assistant Tony Loughlan met the players for the first time, the manager had a “chat”.
“I put demands on the players and they look up for it,” he said. “All I’ve asked of any player as a manager is that they give 100 per cent, and that’s all I’m asking of the Ipswich players.
“If they’re okay with that they will enjoy working with me, if not it will be a very brief relationship.”
Keane’s two-year contract leaves little room for manoeuvre. He must assess and assemble a squad quickly to get a proper pre-season in and then either repeat the success he had with Sunderland in getting them promoted in his first year, or at least get Ipswich them to within touching distance of a play-off spot.
It makes for more pressure, but Keane insisted today he is “very comfortable with the two years. If that means I’m putting myself under pressure — so what?
“It’s all about the challenge, when I took over at Sunderland I knew that was a big club and I could turn it around and it’s the same here.”
His departure from Sunderland ended somewhat acrimoniously but there is plenty he wants to replicate at Portman Road.
“We had a very good spirit and never-say-die attitude,” he said of his time at the Stadium of Light. “We scored a lot of late goals and had great desire.
“I always felt we would go to the end and I want that from Ipswich players. That’s up to me to get into the players.
“I’m convinced the players will enjoy working with me.”
He added: “It’s a massive challenge, but hopefully we will be in the mix. At the moment we are 26 points behind Wolves, so that’s a big, big gap to make up.”
