Ipswich Keane on Next Season

It can only be a good thing that Roy Keane is back in football.

Ipswich Town has made a shrewd appointment and Keane joins the new current management team that looks to carry Ipswich forward.

Jim Magliton didn’t do as well as anticipated and unfortunately paid the price, a playoff place was always in sight but never reachable and new Keane insists that promotion is a very realistic ambition.

He was appointed almost instantly, as the board knew whom they wanted in charge.

Club owner Marcus Evans plans matches Keane’s as they look to get back to the top flight.

Both have bold ambitions and fans must be hugely excited at the prospect of what next season may bring.

The owner has chosen Simon Clegg to transmit his vision and his vast experience with Team GB will help Ipswich to expand as a business.

Clegg’s appointment could be just as crucial as Keane’s, Evans must feel that Clegg is a man who has the experience with dealing with the media, big egos and has a long glowing list of sporting success.

The only problem is Clegg has never been much of a football man, while Keane lives and dies for the game.

Sir Clive Woodward’s appointment at Southampton wasn’t exactly a gleaming success.

The partnership between Keane and Clegg will determine how good Ipswich will fend next season. Keane must be under the understanding that he is solely in charge of football matters, and Clegg is there to deal with the business aspects.

Ipswich has football’s most colourful and controversial figure at the helm; it could be absolute carnage in Suffolk.

Evans, unlike Niall Quinn at Sunderland, is publicity shy and rarely speaks out against anything and for sure, Keane will have some highly controversial moments that would probably need explaining.

For all its boldness, it’s a rather risky appointment too.

Keane’s mood varies uncontrollably. Throughout his playing days, he had always been a winner, a trait that he has dragged into management and it was his primary downfall in the Premier League.

He struggled at Sunderland when they were at the wrong end of the Premier League. He wasn’t necessarily used to scrapping it out at the bottom, winning is what he knows.

He always seemed to be a sore loser.

A fine example of his winning mentality was how easily he took Sunderland from bottom to top of the Championship in a matter of months.

Keane poured his mentality and drive into the players and all of them wanted to play in the Premier League, he will be doing this again at Ipswich.

In the top flight, he spent big and was out of his comfort zone. Now he’s back to what he knows and will do well.

Now he has the rest of the season to access his squad and see what players have the heart and desire to push for promotion next term. He will bring players in the summer that will be winners.

Don’t be surprised if Suffolk will be celebrating promotion next May.