Ipswich 1 Barnsley 3

Cheers rang out around Portman Road on Saturday, as Ipswich fans showed their feelings on the latest performance from their team.
Unfortunately, the cheers were for visitors Barnsley, and they were distinctly ironic.
As Ipswich slipped to a miserable defeat having been thoroughly outplayed by the Tykes, so the Town fans turned on their team and their manager, more significantly than on any previous occasion during the Irishmans eighteen month reign.
Speaking to the BBC, Keane recognised the patience that the support have given him, but acknowledged that the performance was poor, as his side slipped to their third successive home defeat “I can’t control whether the supporters are going to boo players, boo me or cheer the opposition. I have no control over that, obviously as the manager I can look at myself and the team. It’s the way it is, it’s more than a bad day at the office, I’m not trying to play it down.”
“They were pretty supportive last year when we went 14 games without a victory - the Watford game I’ll never forget - they were very, very good to us. But at this moment in time, you’re still hoping that fans would understand where we’re at.”
Keanes side had enforced changes from that which had lost to Derby in midweek, with Grant Leadbitter missing the game with suspension and Gareth McAuley failing to recover from the Achilles injury he sustained against the Rams.
It meant a surprise recall for Mark Kennedy, who also took the captains armband from suspended skipper Leadbitter, with Tommy Smith moving to centre back in McAuleys absence. In midfield, Andros Townsend earned a deserved start after his positive impact from the bench against Derby.
Whilst Town started brightly, with Tamas Priskin once again looking the biggest threat, they were soon behind as Lovre drilled home after Adam Hammills cross was only half cleared by Tommy Smith. It was soon two, as Eastman showed his inexperience in allowing Hammill to drift inside and fire a shot past Fulop onto the post, the ball rebounding into the net off of the stranded goalkeeper.
Priskin mounted something of a one-man assault in an attempt to force his side back into the game, but the closest he got was a goal chalked off for an offside ruling. It nevertheless provided some optimism heading into the second half, which was soon flattened by a swift Barnsley attack resulting in Gary O’Connor slipping home a third goal, having escaped his marker Smith.
Although Smith atoned somewhat by heading home from Edwards corner late in the game, it was nothing more than a consolation, as the more significant incidents occurred in between the two goals.
Having found themselves three goals behind, significant numbers of Town fans began to cheer each successive Barnsley pass as they enjoyed a period of sustained possession. It represented not just a reflection on the match itself, but an indication of greater concern amongst supporters regarding the progress being made at the club.
This concern was exacerbated by the introduction of Connor Wickham as replacement for Priskin, who had provided Towns best and perhaps only hope for a goal in the second half. Keane felt it a more positive change than supporters had, arguing that the change was aimed at returning the side to a front pairing, having sacrificed the impotent Jason Scotland at half-time.
“When we took Tamás off, we changed it with Connor going up with Ronan and actually I thought they did OK in the last 20 minutes. Ok, they’re young players and you could say the game was over.
“Obviously there were a few people disappointed and they probably thought we were going to stick with the one up front, but of course we changed that with Jack coming over to the left and I thought Ronan did quite well and was perhaps unlucky not to score. It was a straight swap in that sense."
For a game with few positives for the lowest home league crowd of the season to take from it, there was at least some consolation. As injuries forced his hand to an extent, the manager had nine under-21 year olds either on the pitch or on the bench, suggesting that, even if recent results have not been as desired, the club is developing well for the Ipswich side of tomorrow. This brings its own problems, as Town are currently requiring these players to mature very quickly in order to provide the answers for the Ipswich side of today.
Having seen two winnable home matches pass by without registering a single point, so the task becomes harder. A heavily depleted Ipswich will find themselves competing with a squad which has only recently departed the premiership, as they travel to Hull City on Saturday. Whilst that will prove a stern test, Keane will doubtless be anxious to register points, as failure in the following match is likely to increase supporter unrest to critical levels. A derby with Norwich City could not be more ill-timed.