And so it continues.
When Roy Keane was installed as Ipswich Town manager a little over twenty months ago, there were hopes that the record books at Portman Road might need to be re-written.
Yet, Keane continues to challenge the records that most managers would dearly love to steer away from. Having achieved the unwanted blemish of being responsible for Ipswich Towns worst ever start to a league season, his team are now hurtling towards the worst ever run in the clubs history.
As the losing streak reached six on Saturday, after a defeat to bottom of the table Preston, so Keanes despair continued to build. Speaking to the BBC after the game, Keane spoke of his frustration with familiar failings.
“Same old story Im afraid. We were by far the strongest team in the first half, we looked more likely to score. Because we had so much possession and some good chances in the first half, we thought we might regret it and we certainly did that again.
They defended very well, the two centre halfs got to any balls into the box. To give another soft goal away is disappointing, he got one chance and he scored.”
Poor defending is a worrying trait, but when paired with an inability to find the net, the problem becomes potentially terminal. As it proved on Saturday, as Town were not able to add a goal to the paltry three they have recorded over their recent losing stretch.
“We got in good positions with good attacking play but once again we couldn’t find that killer pass.
Its not just over the last month or two, with the back four we are always under pressure so even to concede one you always hope you can score one goal away from home just to stop this run were on.
To achieve anything in football youve got to put the ball in the back of the net. If you don’t score goals, youre not going to get anywhere fast.”
With the aim of adding some experience to his youthful backline, Mark Kennedy was given a suprise run out at left back after his recent hamstring troubles.
The other surprise in the starting line up was up front, where Rory Fallon was awarded his full debut in an Ipswich shirt.
As against Swansea in the previous match, Towns first half performance left much room for optimism. The Blues enjoyed the majority of the possession and showed a level of confidence which belied the poor run which they find themselves on.
Both Scotland and Fallon managed to create good chances, with Scotland hitting the post with one of those chances which his manager has bemoaned his side for not taking in recent weeks.
With Prestons biggest threat coming from set-pieces, Town had found things relatively comfortable.
However, as against both Norwich and Swansea previously, the failure to take advantage when in the ascendency was again to come back to haunt Keanes side as, after a good start to the 2nd half, they slipped behind after a quick Preston break had left Town players failing to pick up Preston runners.
With time remaining to claw their way back into the match, Town failed to create much of note, save for a Jaime Peters header which was tipped away by Lonerghan, as Preston saw out the match with relative ease.
The lack of impact from the bench frustrated Keane, as the changes failed to turn the tide in Towns favour and find an equaliser. “Again we made substitutions, and again, I have to say, I don’t think that had much impact on the game. You always hope for more when you make these changes, but again it didn’t really work out”.
Whilst the defeats are mounting up, there have been positives over many of the recent matches, with the level of performance being perhaps above the level of reward provided by the result. However, the problems with the current Town side appear to be beyond tactics and individual changes and more about a collective lack of self-belief, a cause for concern given that it is an area which ordinarily would be seen as a given in a Roy Keane side.
Saturday brings with it another match on TV, a medium which has been far from kind to Town in recent times. With Leicester City arriving on the back of a 5-1 home win, the signs look ominous. However, with each passing week, Towns injury list improves- Mark Kennedy will have provided his manager with a big boost, having completed an hour without complaint, whilst Connor Wickham edges ever closer to a first team return.
Yet, as Keane knows, time is not on his side- “The pressure builds and we have to get results- lets not kid ourselves.”
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