Darren Ferguson will be breathing a sigh of relief tonight as his Preston side recorded their first victory in seven games with a solitary Iain Hume goal.

Unfortunately Middlesbrough’s victory over high flying Cardiff means that the Lilywhite’s remain grounded at the foot of the table, but they are now within two points of safety as Scunthorpe fall into the drop zone due to the postponement of their game against Nottingham Forest.

The story however will remain to be how long Roy Keane can survive as manager of Ipswich Town as the Tractor Boys extended their run of league defeats to six.

Whilst playing away against any team in the Championship is a difficult task, this was an opportunity for Ipswich to play a side that is also out of form and you can imagine that the fans and chairman would have been looking at a draw as the minimum acceptable result at Deepdale today.

It is unclear where this leaves Roy Keane with Marcus Evans put in a difficult situation, as it is unclear with confidence so low where a turn in fortunes is going to come from.

The former Manchester United midfielder has been at the club for over eighteen months and the team is of his design so excuses are in short supply.

Good chairman are always hesitant about changing manager part of the way through a season (Mike Ashley take note) but with Ipswich now just three points away from the relegation zone we may be at the point where the Irishman’s luck has run out.

However I think that Keane should be given until the New Year to improve results as to change manager going into the busy Christmas period would only destabilise the club further, however another defeat or too and I think I will be writing about his demise.

A fantastic victory for Preston, but the storm clouds continue to gather at Portman Road.

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Last night Ipswich Town defeated Premiership side West Bromwich Albion by a solitary Grant Leadbitter goal, to secure a place in the last four of the Carling Cup. 

The only team in the Championship remaining in the competition, this is a welcome boost for an Ipswisch side that is struggling for form and still reeling from a rout in the East Anglian derby last Sunday. 

Any jubilation or overzealous ambition was soon tapered though as it became clear that luck is not something in abundance at Portman Park at present, with the Tractor Boys drawing Arsenal in the semi-finals. 

Keane himself conceded that this was the “toughest draw we could have had” with West Ham and Birmingham avoiding the only member of the Premier League top six left in the competition. 

Earlier in the week Roy Keane was facing a tough examination of his ability to take the club forward, yet this result will lift the pressure albeit temporarily if Ipswich’s losing league run continues. 

The Carling Cup could be the key to the Irishman avoiding a P45, if Ipswich avoid a relegation dogfight, a surprise victory in the semi-final would most likely eclipse most of the negative feeling around the club’s league form this season. 

This would in turn be likely to buy Keane another season to improve the league fortunes of the Suffolk club. 

In a strange twist, going one step further, winning the competition outright would be likely to turn Keane from lame duck to hero within just a few months. 

The Carling Cup would represent the club’s first silverware since the days of Bobby Robson in the early eighties and give the Tractor Boys a Europa league spot making this year’s league form seem irrelevant providing the team stay in the Championship. 

These are all long shots but you have to be in it to win it and with the possible exception of their East Anglian rivals I am sure the entire football league will be willing Ipswich to upset the odds and go all the way, for the underdog story rather than an innate desire to save the career of a controversial Irishman.

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Norwich City moved back into the play off places as they routed ten man Ipswich, as Grant Holt bagged a derby day hat trick which may just signal the end of Roy Keane’s tenure at Portman Road.

Recent snowfall and near freezing conditions did little to thaw a heated derby atmosphere, as a record crowd witnessed a fiery and incident filled derby that will put an entire city on a high as they return to work on Monday morning.. 

The tone of the afternoon was set as Norwich captain Grant Holt was booked for a crunching challenge that on other days would have been deemed worthy of a red card.  

Norwich started the game the stronger winning the 50/50’s and outrunning and outpassing Ipswich, putting pressure on the Ipswich defensive line and fully deserving the lead they gained on thirteen minutes.

The goal was calamitous and a disaster for defender Darren O’Dea who dallied with a through ball allowing Grant Holt to pounce and power his way through one on one with Marton Fulop who was unable to prevent Holt sliding the ball past him and into the back of the net.

However Ipswich responded well to going behind and hit back through Damien Delaney just over ten minutes later through a well worked move amid dismal defending from the Canaries.

However Norwich were still overall the better side and the signing of Henri Lansbury on loan has already paid dividends, as the under 21 international played a delightful through ball to put Grant Holt one on one with Fulop once again and the striker finished with aplomb.

Things went from bad to worse for Ipswich as just moments after the goal Damien Delaney was sent off for taking out Grant Holt around 35 yards from goal as he was about to break clear.

Ipswich were able to survive until half time despite Norwich chances and incessant pressure, the sending off putting Ipswich on the back foot in an overall poor half for Roy Keane’s men.

Ipswich were able to regroup at half time and game out more resilient and organised, but rarely threatened the opposition goal as the pace and drama lessened although Norwich still looked a threat going forward.

The final fifteen minutes of the game however poured salt into Ipswich wounds as Norwich found a killer instinct to secure victory against a tiring ten man opposition.

The third goal completed a Grant Holt hat trick as Chris Martin outfoxed the defence with some fancy footwork inside the area to set up his team mate who coolly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to complete a hat trick of composed finishes.

Just two minutes later Wes Hoolahan completed the misery for Ipswich with a chipped finished from a tight angle to put the game beyond any doubt and put Carrow Road in party mode. Much respect has to go to the Norwich fan who at this point decided to go topless whirling his shirt as he danced and sang gloating songs at the Ipswich fans in freezing temperatures.

Overall this was a comprehensive victory for Norwich, who were on their game from the first whistle, the sending off of Damien Delaney may have made the victory more comfortable but this was a worrying display for fans of the tractor boys who have now lost four games on the bounce.

Beyond the bragging rights of derby victory the underlying issue to emanate from the result today is the mounting pressure on Roy Keane’s position. Losing to your bitter rivals is difficult for fans to accept and this could be the result that convinces them and the chairman that now is the time for change.

How much time will Jim Magilton be given at QPR?

Of the 24 teams that kicked off the Championship just under a year ago, eleven now have new managers. In the majority of cases, the manager was removed due to perceived failings. Being a Championship manager is like being a duck at a shooting gallery. It’s a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’, no matter how dumb the man holding the gun might be.

It’s a truism, but it all comes down to expectations. Two teams can be promoted automatically, another four can reach the play-offs. Yet by my reckoning seven clubs will expect to finish first or second and nine others will believe they can make the play-offs.

With kick-off still a few weeks away, two-thirds of the managers in this league are now giving optimistic interviews about challenging for the top six. Disappointment for most of them is therefore inevitable. And disappointment leads to jobless managers.

Here’s my top five managers most at risk as teams start their pre-season preparations:

1. Jim Magilton, QPR: The Rangers owners can dress it up any way they like, but the turnover of managers (or head coaches) at the club since Flavio Briatore arrived has been startling even by the bizarre standards football sets itself. QPR have now turned to Jim Magilton, deemed not good enough for Ipswich only a few weeks before his appointment at Loftus Road.

A spat with the Chairman or a poor start to the season could easily see Magilton disappear from his post within a matter of months.  He has to be the favourite to go first.

2. Malky Mackay, Watford: Another new manager who could potentially be at risk early in the season. Watford seem destined to lose talisman Tommy Smith to Sheffield United, and even though the surprisingly high £1.8m fee will be welcome, his departure will be a real blow.

Watford are now a far cry from Boothroyd’s big, dangerous side of a a few years back and if they start badly the club may decide to cut their losses and, against recent practice, opt for a more experienced hand.

3. Gareth Southgate, Middlesbrough: If Southgate had been in charge of any other established Premier League club and turned in the results he did last season, he would be out of a job.  Famously, he belittled Sven Goran Eriksson after England’s 2-1 World Cup defeat to Brazil in 2002, claiming that the team needed Winston Churchill at half time, not Iain Duncan Smith.

I wonder if he recalled those words when his team lost 3-0 to rock bottom West Brom, 4-1 to Bolton or 5-0 at home to Chelsea. The management game, he must now realise, is more than spouting a bit of loud rhetoric at half time.

Steve Gibson always backs his managers but if Boro fall towards mid-table (or worse, as Sunderland did a couple of years back), Gibson may have no other option than to advise Southgate to go back to the pizza commercials.

4. Roberto di Matteo, West Brom: This was truly an appointment out of the left-field. It was as if the West Brom board were so flush from receiving £2m from Celtic for a manager that had just relegated their club, that, like a gambler who believes he’s on a roll, they decided to bet high on a pair of deuces. I mean, the Albion job is a big job these days.

Di Matteo did well at MK Dons, but in truth he was managing a team already built by Paul Ince and one that had a significant financial advantage over most clubs in League One.

It’s a brave decision, but West Brom fans are used to yo-yoing. They’ve had their spin down and now they will be expecting the corresponding spin up. Di Matteo is under significant pressure.

5. Chris Coleman, Coventry: As with the Premier League, there will always be one surprise who’ll go early. I’ll plump for Coleman. He has had time to consolidate at Cov and the board will be expecting something much greater than last season’s finish of 17th.

Only four teams won less home games than Coventry last season and Cookie must somehow find a way to turn that cavernous stadium into an intimidating place to visit.

Now it’s over to you. Who do you think will be first to go? Maybe Shearer won’t be able to take the heat? Or perhaps Gary Johnson will be poached by the Premier League. Let us know below.

Interesting article about the lure of the Championship and how it compares to the Premiership with a quote or two from Roy Keane.