All over: Roy Keane has been given the boot after
Ipswich's slide down the Championship
Paul Jewell is the frontrunner to take over at Ipswich
after Roy Keane was sacked to bring to an end his turbulent
20-month reign.
Keane was dismissed by owner Marcus Evans with the Tractor
Boys sitting 19th in the Championship after a run of seven defeats
in nine games.
Former Derby boss Paul Jewell, out of the game since
leaving the Rams two years ago, is the favourite to take
over.
Chris Hughton, recently sacked by Newcastle, is also in
the frame along with Portsmouth boss Steve Cotterill and Alan
Curbishley.
Ipswich will turn to coach Ian McParland as caretaker. He
will be in charge for Sunday’s FA Cup third round trip to
Chelsea.
New man? Paul Jewell
Former Notts County boss McParland, 49, is in his second
spell as a coach at Ipswich, having initially joined the staff
under Keane in November 2009.
The Scot left at the end of that season but returned after
his replacement, former Everton and Liverpool defender Gary Ablett,
was diagnosed with blood cancer just a few weeks into his
role.
Manchester United legend Keane was confident he would
secure promotion to the Barclays Premier League, as he did with
previous club Sunderland, but he managed just 28 wins from his 81
games in charge.
Ipswich’s start to last season, when they failed to win
any of their first 14 league games, was the worst in their history.
Despite a more promising start to the current campaign, when they
were undefeated after five games, they slid down the table after
suffering six straight defeats.
Keane spent £8million in an attempt to assemble a side
capable of winning promotion but few of his buys paid
off.
With the club showing no sign of improvement it was no
surprise that multi-millionaire Evans wielded the axe. But the
decision came just three days before the club’s FA Cup third round
trip to Chelsea.
Keane also steered Ipswich into the semi-finals of the
Carling Cup and a two-leg clash with Arsenal, the first of which is
at Portman Road next Wednesday.
But despite those money-spinning clashes Keane’s failure
to turn Ipswich into promotion contenders is what has cost him his
job.
Keane seemed to sense he was on his way, his comments in
recent weeks revealing he clearly feared the
worst.
