ROY Keane believes he will be a better manager due to his experiences at Ipswich Town.

The Irishman always spoke dismissively about punditry during his time as Blues boss, but he has undertaken an increasing amount of television work of late.

And he let slip recently that he had watched a Wolves game three times, giving credence to speculation that he may have applied for the vacant managerial position at the Midlands club.

It’s now been more than a year since Keane was dismissed by Town owner Marcus Evans. The Blues finished 15th during his first full season in charge and were just three points above the relegation zone last January when he was sacked.

“To me it is all about learning,” said Keane. “I have got five children and I think I am a better father to my fourth and fifth. I have learned to be a better husband too.

“I think my driving has improved the longer I have been driving and I think my management will improve the longer I stick at it.

“Will I get an opportunity to get back into it? I don’t know. If the opportunity comes along I think I can do well for a club, but because of the way things finished with Ipswich I may have to wait a while, which would be disappointing.

“I have been out of work in terms of a football manager over a year and the longer you are out of it, the harder it is to get back into it.

“I possibly learnt more from my time at Ipswich than at Sunderland, because when things go reasonably well you get pats on the back but when things are disappointing – like they were at Ipswich – you have got to learn from it and hope you do not make them again.”

Reflecting on his time at Portman Road, Keane said: “I was very proud that we played a lot of young players. I think there were about eight from the academy that made their debuts.

“Ultimately you want to do well in the league though and we are in the business where if you are not achieving what you set out to do, you are going to pay the price.”

Asked what he felt went wrong for him at Town, he added: “There was disappointments losing one or two players – the likes of John Walters and Jon Stead. And to be fair we had quite a few injuries too. To just cope with a lot of young players then took its toll on the squad, but that is the way it goes sometimes.”

He continued: “Over the course of my time at Ipswich we did not win enough league matches.

“I think we drew about 20 games which is ridiculous. If you want to be successful, draws don’t get you anywhere too quickly.

“You have to learn in this job and learn quickly.”

– Roy Keane was speaking to Yahoo! as part of their partnership with the League Managers’ Association. For more, go to: www.yahoo.co.uk/sport