Boss Mick McCarthy said he was proud of his team after their 2-1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday saw the Blues to ninth in the Championship on 68 points, four from the play-offs, their best finish in six seasons.

“It was an open game, both teams have got nothing riding on it except for the three points and a bit of pride,” McCarthy said.

“I should imagine the Sheffield Wednesday fans went away thinking their team put up a good show but we go away the winners. That’s what matters in the end, but they played well.

“It’s progress and I don’t really do ‘enough’ or ‘it’s ordinary’ and ‘it’s fine, it’s acceptable’. I do prefer better than that and I expect better than that.

“What I would say is that I’m immensely proud of the lads and the season they’ve had, they’ve been great. If you consider that we’ve not spent a coin on anybody coming in.

"It’s strange that because Marcus still has to put in £5 million or £6 million in or whatever it is, but we’ve not bought anybody.

“I’m just really pleased, really proud of them. I look at teams below us, Nottingham Forest, Bolton and Huddersfield and all of them that seem to have done it differently and I’m really proud of the players.

“I looked at the league and I thought barring Burnley, and they went out and bought Ashley Barnes for £750,000 or whatever it was at the last knockings, [no one above us has spent less] I think ours have been brilliant.

He was pleased to see Tommy Smith net his sixth goal of the season, rather better than his own highest total, with Smith's regular central defensive partner Christophe Berra scoring five and skipper Luke Chambers three.

“It was a good goal, they’re all good goals," he said. “I only scored 12 out of 500-odd league games, two was probably my best!

"The two of them [Smith and Berra] have been great. When we’ve got good deliveries in the three lads have all contributed. The area where we haven’t contributed enough is from midfield, to be honest with you.”

McCarthy gave Jack Marriott his second Town appearance from the bench late on and admits he considered giving him longer: “There was not a lot at stake then. I could have done something different with the subs but I wanted to win the game.

“You could see the size of them, if we’d put Jack on too earlier we might have got done from a freekick and I wanted to win. As much as I would have liked him on and I could have done something different, but he got on.”

He says the three-man backline was something he’d wanted to look at: “We were in on Thursday and I said ‘Let’s just have a look, we’ll try it’.

“I’ll never know whether it would have worked because we started and there wasn’t one of our players that could pass to anybody in a blue shirt, we were f-----g hopeless.

“If you can’t keep the ball, you can’t pass it, they kept attacking us. I’ll never know whether it worked.

“It wasn’t down to a system because we gave it away. I thought that if we weren’t playing well off that solid 4-4-1-1 at least we’re not going to give something away, so that’s why I went back to it.

“I tinkered with it but there was nothing at stake. Then at the end when we were winning, I wasn’t going to give that up easily.”

Sheffield Wednesday manager Stuart Gray felt his team ought to have made more of their opportunities: “My analyst tells me we’ve had 21 goal attempts.

“I think we’ve dominated possession, we’ve had good counter-attack opportunities. It just shows that if you don’t get it right in both boxes you end up losing a game of football.

“I’m disappointed that we’ve conceded two goals but pleased with the performance. I thought we deserved something out of the game. Unfortunately, people will see the scoreline tomorrow, 2-1 to Ipswich, but with 21 goal attempts we should be working the keeper a bit more or scoring more goals.”

Photo: Action Images

batram92 added 21:41 - May 3 TimmyH & Walk_the_Wark if someone had said to you when mick took over that we'd finish ninth 18 months later would you not have taken it? You always make my mood worse whether we win or lose! Give it a rest!! He's had no money like other managers so I think, in a results business, he's worked miracles!
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batram92 added 21:41 - May 3 TimmyH & Walk_the_Wark if someone had said to you when mick took over that we'd finish ninth 18 months later would you not have taken it? You always make my mood worse whether we win or lose! Give it a rest!! He's had no money like other managers so I think, in a results business, he's worked miracles!
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78ShadesOfBlue added 22:11 - May 3 Mick has being doing a fantastic job at Town and it's great to see him admiring his tenure. Brilliant to see Marriot debut for the first team today too!
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alfromcol added 22:15 - May 3 Hope Marriott doesn't have to wait another whole season before he gets his third 10 minute run-out!
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Hegansheroes added 22:22 - May 3 Having been a supporter for over 50 years I am sorry to say I will probably not go to another game until MM has gone. He's done his job, ie in keeping us up last season but is there any real progress-NO the stats prove this. I can't stand his arrogance, his tactics or the fact flair players are out of his spectrum. Does any one really think Anderson is a better player than JET,yet again stats prove this is not the case & Anderson wasn't a freebie, we had to pay up JET's contract. Taylor is on his way but Hunt seems to be in the picture. All I see is another season of appalling football with probably a similar position. GET rid of McCarthy now.

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batram92 added 22:53 - May 3 Hegansheroes how do you judge progess? we finished higher this season than last! You're old enough to have seen the glory days. No money, more points. How is that not progress? What more do you want? I'm glad you won't go, I can't stand moaners like you!
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TimmyH added 23:58 - May 3 @batram92 - basically your comparing where we are now with what we have experienced under 2 of the worst managers we have had in our history (well the last 50 years) - and yes I suppose 9th isn't bad if you want to judge us by that but it's far from good, there are many 'much the muchness' teams in this league and we're one of them. Glad we haven't had a season like the last few where we were looking over our shoulders but really can't see Mick taking us forwards from this, he worked miracles last season granted. W18 D14 L14 this one still wreaks of inconsistency. By the way my prediction at the beginning of the season was somewhere between 8th to 10th, don't know what yours was? No money, doesn't matter - he's place square pegs in round holes too often and set the team up too defensively against struggling teams (particularly at home) - something I noticed is how we struggled to beat the relegated teams last season under his tenure as well. This has cost us this season!!

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Lord_Mac added 04:30 - May 4 Good luck to those who want to go back to "Manager Lottery" It hasn't been perfect this last 18 months, but by God it has been better than the previous 4 years. He's not the best in the division, but he.s up there in the top half dozen, and TC's coaching setup is perfect for our club with little money to spend. You can't meaningfully compare this season with last on average points per game - all teams got fewer points this season because the top 2 took so many home. This season you were safe from relegation on 45 points, whereas last season 55 were needed. Finishing position is a more reliable measure of progress. Goals scored and goals conceded also tell a story.

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jonbull88 added 07:54 - May 4 I think a lot of you knocking mick need to go buy the highlights of the Keane and jewel era, if you had seen or remembered them, the football was worse and the results a lot worse!! Anyone who cannot see progress really need to get their arse of the sofa and come to Portman road. At the end of the day we're not going to turn from relegation contenders to promotion in 1 season and I'm getting fed up of plastic fans wanting change every 5 games. After our good season do you honestly want ANOTHER manager change, that will mean more players out and in, look what happened last time we sacked a manager after finishing 9th! Mick is building a squad, getting rid of the dead wood and will hopefully get some cash if cressy goes. It takes time to build a team, Christ even Leicester have done it over the last 2/3 seasons. With this whole Marriott thing he WILL make it, but I'm glad he came on as sub with 5 to go as the whole game passed him by and he looked right out of his depth, a new 4 year deal and a year in league 1 or 2 will help!

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Luka added 09:40 - May 4 Regarding the steward and fan thingy - The fan directed abuse at Chris Maguire, so it was the fan's fault. Also, it was the ref who got rid of him, not the steward. Sad that his girl missed out but it was his own fault. Anyway, back to the game. Not bad for the end of the season. Tayor did ONE good dribble when he came on, so I do not see what all the fuss is about. Would have liked to have seen Henshall, and Marriott a little earlier, but Green and Richardson impressed, looked like they wanted the shirt for next year, which is good to see. Mick has done a stellar job with piss all money, so with the sale of Cresswell will hopefully be able to spend some. Onwards and upwards

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Akaroablue added 10:10 - May 4 I said three months ago our midfield were not scoring enough goals! gave the stats to prove it. Had MM spent some money buying just one goal scoring mid field player we would have been in a play off position. that is not rocket science, to say I am disappointed is immeasurable!
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Akaroablue added 10:20 - May 4 PS I note MM has now admitted that the mid field didn't contribute enough goals! I rest my case, unfortunately.
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blue_moon09 added 11:06 - May 4 Most of what is posted on here is from complete muppets! Every true fan will have loved to be in this position after our situation this time last year. Ok were not the finished article yet but anyone who insists that progress has not been made this season simply have not been watching games. We have won games we probably didn't deserve to but equally we have lost points which we shouldn't. But fundamentally we have, whether winning or losing, been much more competitive this season. As a season ticket holder I have enjoyed this season more than any other in recent history and am more than happy with the progress made, playoffs were never realistic as the team is short in different areas hopefully the dead will be moved on and better players brought in over summer All the posters on here who do not actually attend the games and still consider themselves qualified to comment are merely trolls. We all know who you, enjoy your summer sitting in your bedsits , and try and get down to Portman Road when the season starts in August. BFN

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Akaroablue added 11:16 - May 4 I also note that MM 'wax's lyrical' about how well Burnley have done this year and tells us that they have a small budget but spend 700.000.00 pounds on a player to help there Premier League push, surely we should have done the same, if unsuccessful we would still have that player to build a team around, they missed a golden opportunity to give the team the best chance to at least get into the Play Off's . I think this whole management team couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery to be honest, very poor outcome! Burnley will be probably be 50m pounds better off for there investment.

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MattinLondon added 11:58 - May 4 I think that it is very easy to be critical of MM. The football at times has been dire with much emphasis on aimless long balls. Also his reputation is that of a managerial dinosaur. However he is not stupid. He must know that the midfield has all the grace and flair of a battered crisp packet. MM has over the last couple of months brought in a few young players on extended trials and he must already have targets in mind. We need pace and flair to push forward and I think that we will bring in a few of this type of player. If not then we all need to go to Argos and buy neck cushions

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MattinLondon added 11:58 - May 4 I think that it is very easy to be critical of MM. The football at times has been dire with much emphasis on aimless long balls. Also his reputation is that of a managerial dinosaur. However he is not stupid. He must know that the midfield has all the grace and flair of a battered crisp packet. MM has over the last couple of months brought in a few young players on extended trials and he must already have targets in mind. We need pace and flair to push forward and I think that we will bring in a few of this type of player. If not then we all need to go to Argos and buy neck cushions

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lonelyblue added 12:49 - May 4 Largely agree MattinLondon. There are not many "flair" players at this level that are going to play for the team, do as they're told, and perform consistently to their ability. Most teams get promoted by making the most of what they have, building team spirit, being able to depend on one another and knowing what each other is doing. And sure, you need some talent within that framework. While you're getting there, and trying to find "that bit of quality around the box", you've got to have players who do as they're told. Royle, utterly different in style, but he believed in players doing as they're told too. I think it's bull, this Mick's "favourites" thing. He wants to win. He'll pick the players he reckons are going to do as he asks. And I'm sure he'd like some better ones who'll do as he asks 'n all.

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Bergholtblue added 14:41 - May 4 All great teams are based around their defence. Mick has had just one full season to sort it out and he has. Keep the basis of this defence and it will be sound for next year. We need a keeper of Loach is going and cover if we lose Cresswell, but basically the defence is sorted. Up front we will have McGoldrick back and Murphy has been superb since given the loan role. He work rate is outstanding. So next season MM will sort out the midfield. Maybe not the playoffs next year either, which will upset all the 'I want success and I want it now!' brigade, but Mick is slowly building the nucleus of a good team. That is what I judge progress on.

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JWM added 21:36 - May 4 That's the best news I have seen on here Hegans! Good riddance to yet another moaner!
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Jackie added 04:59 - May 5 5 or 6 million on what?! is that loss what we're running yearly? hm, maybe reduce the ticket prices or sumfink.
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blueboy1981 added 17:25 - May 5 JWM ........... you don't improve much - do you ?
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blueboy1981 added 17:29 - May 5 ......... typical of your non respect for someone who has followed ( supposedly OUR Club) for 50+ years - just don't need to tell you what I think of that. But it tell's us much about you.
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Steelmonkey added 21:11 - May 5 Well there's a statment, couldn't pass to a blue shirt and we were f-----g hopeless. I am glad your so proud of them MM. Many games this season we have played like that at PR, we need to sort it,. That's why you so disappointed that we didn't finish in the top six, even a Meer cat could work that one out, simples. Perhaps you should play the first team in blue shirts during practise on the training field before a home game.

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