ON THE B-SIDE: Jonathan Barnes and Roy Keane don’t have much in common - but a love for Bob Dylan means they are a musical match...

“I WISH for one time, you could stand in my shoes. You’d know what a drag it is to see you.”

Sounds like Roy Keane, doesn’t it? It isn’t. But it’s from quite possibly the Ipswich boss’s favourite song. Certainly his favourite singer.

The words come from Bob Dylan. And the song: Positively 4th Street. That was what journalist David Kelly heard blaring out of Keane’s hotel room in Saipan after the Irishman had just quit the 2002 World Cup.

Keane was reminded of this when he was interviewed by Kelly again back in May. “If ever there was a morning to listen to Bob, it was that morning,” he recalled.

So, yeah, I’m quite like Keano. Just look at the picture at the bottom of this column and feel the aura. Don’t those eyes frighten you?

Okay, maybe not. But we both do love a bit of Dylan. Quite a lot in his case. We’re musically in tune, perhaps.

I even asked the club if he fancied a break from talking about all that football nonsense and wanted to shoot the breeze about some Bob. From the lack of response, I guess he didn’t.

Shame, I was going to see if he wanted to form an East Suffolk Bob Dylan Appreciation Society. As long as the facilities were top notch, everyone turned up on time and my phone didn’t go off in the middle of Mr Tambourine Man, I thought it might be quite good.

Keane’s having a tough time of it at the moment so I suspect that old Dylan vinyl is getting some rotation. I could dig out many a song lyric that might strike a chord with his current plight at Portman Road – they’re practically blowin’ in the wind – but for that you hardly have to leave Positively 4th Street.

“You gotta lotta nerve/To say you are my friend/When I was down/You just stood there grinning,” sneers Old Bob.

“You gotta lotta nerve/To say you got a helping hand to lend/You just want to be on the side that’s winning.”

Well, I’ve been to Portman Road this season, Roy, and I didn’t hear too many people wanting to be your friend (I gather the feeling is somewhat mutual).

It’s just that winning bit. That’s true. Our fans are old-fashioned like that. Half of them are a bit irked that Dylan ever went electric.

Sort us out with a few wins – the derby game especially, and don’t think twice, it’s alright*.

Otherwise, it might be time to revisit the Highway (er, 61)*.

* with apologies to the world’s greatest lyricist for woefully lame use of song titles.