Q and A with Roy Keane

Welcome to Portman Road, Roy. We'll start with the obvious, why Ipswich Town?
Lots of reasons. It's an excellent football club. It's got a great history. It's an ambitious club and I like a challenge. I have been very lucky in the clubs I have been involved with in my professional career, both as a player and a manager, and I'm very lucky again to get this opportunity to work at another `proper' football club. I'm looking forward to my time here.

Did you have any other offers?
Yes, I did.

What did the Club's owner, Marcus Evans, say to you that persuaded you to come to Portman Road?
Sometimes you do not have to say too much. You can see it in people's eyes, the ambition, and that was the case with the owner. I've been in football a long time and I know what a good football club this is. He didn't have to do a hard selling job to me.

Were you not tempted to wait for a Premier League club?
Not really, it's all about the challenge. When I took over at Sunderland I knew they were a very good football club and I knew I could turn things around there. I feel it's the same here. I feel more than confident of working in the Premier League, but this is the opportunity that came up that really appealed to me. The fact that the club is in the Championship just makes it more of a challenge.

Have you missed the game?
I've not been too bad. I had four or five months out since I left Sunderland and enjoyed spending some time with my family. It was about a month ago that the hunger to get back in the game increased. I never lost the desire to return, but it was then that I felt that, if the right challenge came up, I would be ready for it. I feel refreshed, trust me I'm ready for it.

What are you hoping to achieve here?
To take the club back to the Premier League. It's as simple as that. It's a big challenge, definitely, but life's full of challenges and if I wasn't up for the challenge, I'd be at home walking my dog.

Employing you as manager is clearly a statement of intent from the owner. He is ambitious to take Ipswich Town back to the Premier League...
That is one of the major attractions in coming here. I enjoy working with ambitious people. There are a lot of people who have no ambitions in life and are happy just to go through the motions. I'm not here to go through the motions, I'm here to win football matches and take Ipswich Town into the Premier League.

You've only signed a two-year deal, does that put you under extra pressure to get the team up in that time?
I'd like to do it in a year. I'm comfortable with two years. If that means there is going to be an edge to it, or that I'm going to put myself under a bit of pressure, then so what? Some people sign five-year contracts and don't last half that time.

You will have had two games to see the players in action before the end of the season. Does that help your cause?
I think so. I have had a couple of weeks to have a look at the squad and see what we have here. We have a lot of players that are out of contract so that is one aspect that we need to look at. I'll look at past games on tape and speak to the staff who are here and get their thoughts as well.

What's needed to get Ipswich Town out of the Championship and back into the Premier League?
A lot. You need good players, a desire, a bit of luck along the way. There are many things. I'll be trying to get a good pre-season, build a good team spirit and get some characters into the football club that will add to the quality that is already there.

Do you expect a major turnover of players in the summer?
We'll see. We have 13 players out of contract so we have to look at that, but it might help me. I'm pretty sure it will be a busy time coming up. I'd like to bring in some new players for next season, but there won't be a lot of wheeling and dealing like there was when I was at Sunderland.

What in particular will you ask from your players here?
I want my team to go to the very end. I had that at Sunderland. Even though we were short in certain areas, we had a great team spirit and the players gave it everything until the last whistle. It doesn't guarantee you win football matches, but you can't ask for any more. I have no problems with players making mistakes as long as they keep going and have the desire to do well, day in, day out _ not two or three days a week. That's what I want from the players and it's up to me to make sure that happens. There are some good players here. They look like a decent group and I've enjoyed working with them. Hopefully they will enjoy working with me. It can be difficult for players when a new manager comes in, especially when there are only two games to go in the season, but I've been pleased with their response. I can be demanding, but I also think I'm very fair. As long as they turn up for training on time and give me 100 per cent, we will all be happy. If they do that, they will enjoy working for me, if they don't then it will be a brief relationship.

How does the challenge here compare with what you have faced throughout the rest of your career?
It's the biggest one, basically because it's the next one. I think it's very hard to compare it with what might have happened in my playing career and what happened at Sunderland. It's a massive challenge here. We are 24 points behind Wolves at the top of the table so that shows what we have to make up next year and the Championship is a very competitive league. You look at the teams that might come down from the Premier League, potentially Newcastle and Middlesbrough, West Brom - who know how to get out of the division. It's a big, big challenge, but hopefully we can surprise a few people.

You must have been delighted to start your career here with a comfortable win with that 3-0 victory at Cardiff last week...
It wasn't as comfortable as the scoreline suggests. I only started relaxing when we scored the third goal right at the end. We rode our luck at the start and invited trouble for the first 15 or 20 minutes by overplaying it in our half. Our 'keeper made a great save from the penalty and that probably was the turning point in the game. It wasn't as though it was a bad penalty, the lad struck it well, but Wrighty gambled right and did well to get down to it. It was a fantastic save.

What pleased you most about the win?
I thought we did the ugly side of the game well. The team has maybe been accused in the past of being a `nice' team, but to be successful, you have to do a lot of stuff when you haven't got the ball as well as when you have. We have got a lot of quality in the side, especially going forward, but I questioned the players over whether they could dig in and do the other side of the game, and they did that very well at Cardiff. They worked very hard as a team and to score three goals away from home, you have to be happy with that. There is a long way to go yet, though. We have just started on a long, long road.

What do you want to take out of today's final game of the season?
What I want from every game - three points. I've not come here to go through the motions, I have come here to win football matches and to get the Club back in the Premier League. Our supporters travelled to Cardiff in good numbers last week and it was good to give them something to celebrate. Now we have to look to finish the season off on a high against Coventry.