Keane won’t press panic button as Ipswich slump

ROY KEANE says there’s no need to panic despite his Ipswich side dropping to 14th in the Championship after three successive league defeats.

Keane’s side lost their last home league game to Coventry, then fell to defeats at Watford and Nottingham Forest, results which the ex-Manchester United skipper feels were a blip.

“I think we had a poor seven days. If we all going to start panicking after seven days, then we’ve got no chance of making progress.

“If we lose the next two or three league games then I’m sure we’ll sit looking at ourselves, but there’s no need to panic after a couple of poor performances,” he said.

Keane, whose team reached the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup after defeating League Two Northampton on Tuesday, says that a few poor results don’t mean he’s a bad manager.

“I don’t all of a sudden think that because we lost one or two games I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing.

“But if we have a bad performance like we did at Coventry in the first half, I’ll have a good look at myself and think ‘maybe I got that wrong’.’’

Keane, whose team take on Millwall at Portman Road this afternoon, says some managers seem to be given rougher rides by the media than others.

“I didn’t come here with my own PR people, I don’t have pals in the media. Other managers can go through spells where they don’t win for two or three months and nothing’s ever written, but that’s the name of the game.

“All of a sudden a couple of weeks ago when we lose one or two games, people’s jobs are at stake for some reason.

“It’s cheap headlines and lazy journalism from my point of view, but I don’t expect that to change. I live in the real world.”