Talk of the Town - an exclusive weekly look at Ipswich Town

The sands of time are running away towards Roy Keane’s departure from Portman Road.

Or at least they are if you treat tabloid reports as gospel.

It’s been a fascinating few days in terms of speculation and intrigue, with frenzied interest about the manager’s future.

In the eyes of certain media outlets, he’s a dead man walking and most definitely on borrowed time.

But is it red top tittle-tattle or is there no smoke without fire?

I wish I knew the answer but you can’t help feeling something is in the offing.

The guessing game revved into gear again on Saturday morning, as we made our way to Swansea.

One newspaper claimed Keane would be axed if his side lost at the Liberty Stadium.

Others have suggested Alan Curbishley is already signed up to replace him (his name keeps reoccurring because he was spotted watching a couple of Town games).

Paulo Sousa is also said to be in the frame, while various murmurings of discontent have filtered from within the bowels of Portman Road.

A very high Ipswich source claims Keane is “ruining the club”.

I’ve also heard that a certain player complained about not getting enough chances.

In response, a top official told him: “Don’t worry. Changes are on the way.”

Of course, it’s still conjecture and I’m stirring the melting pot by sharing this information.

But if it is merely paper talk, chief executive Simon Clegg didn’t do a very good job of quelling it in his statement on Monday.

My gut instinct, before I’d read a word, was why is this coming from Clegg and not owner and chairman Marcus Evans?

He’s the man who will make any decisions.

Secondly, the wording was very non-committal.

At no point, to my mind, did the statement offer any rock-solid pledges of support – a sentence or even a word or two to break the rumour mill.

It was also interesting that Clegg made a point of saying Keane will be in charge for tomorrow’s home match with Reading. How about after that?

The whispers and opinion could and will rumble on and on.

They would with any manager, not least one of such high profile, superstar proportions as Keane.

The man himself hardly did himself any favours when he faced the media pack last Thursday.

In fact, it was one of the most bizarre press conferences I can remember.

Town had lost 2-0 to Plymouth on the Tuesday.

It was the poorest, most pitiful home performance for years and for many fans the last drops of patience must have finally evaporated.

How did Keane respond two days later?

By criticising the supporters (for booing his young players), complaining about the homely, welcoming culture of the club (something most of us are fiercely proud of) and having a pop at a former Blues legend (Paul Mariner)!

It was the strangest triple-whammy and hardly likely to endear him to frustrated, dissenting fans. Just the opposite, I suspect.

Having said that, I must balance things up by saying Keane received tremendous backing in Wales on Saturday.

The loyal travelling supporters kept chanting his name and the players, despite under-performing far too often, thoroughly deserved their point from a 0-0 draw.

Easter could be the key, with tomorrow’s match at home to Reading followed by a trip to Derby on Monday.

It’s always a pivotal time, with promotion and relegation issues to the fore.

But for Keane, it could well be that his future as Ipswich manager hinges on the events of the next 72 hours.