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McCarthy: Wonderfully Rewarding
Saturday, 29th Nov 2014 15:17

Boss Mick McCarthy said it was “wonderfully rewarding” to see new loan signing Noel Hunt come off the bench to net Town’s 95th minute goal on his debut as the Blues won 1-0 at Charlton to rise to second in the Championship table.

“It’s fantastic, isn’t it?” he said. “Wonderfully rewarding. I’ve always admired Noel Hunt, the way he goes about his job, about his business.

“I thought that if we can get him going again we’ve got a good player. He’s a great character, he’s like his brother. He’s a great character to have around.”

McCarthy admitted that the defeat was probably a little harsh on the Addicks: “I can’t honestly come in and say we’ve played Charlton off the park. I thought Charlton were the better team in the first half and had the better chances.

“We’ve had to make good blocks and good saves, although we had good chances in the first half. I wouldn’t write off what we did.

“I think in the second half we came more in to the game. I’m absolutely certain that the sun had a real bearing on the game, it was difficult to deal with it defensively, balls were bouncing and consequently you get more of the ball in that half. We struggled to head it in the first half.

“It says a lot about the team because we had to weather that and then we got better and in the last 15 minutes it was us that was going to win it, probably more than that. I thought we shaded the second half.”


He had praise for his backline: “That’s what they’re there for. We have defenders who like defending and throw themselves in front of things and block things and track people.

“We’ve got proper defenders who want to do it and they’ve had to do it today because I thought Charlton were good.”

The Town boss says Luke Hyam suffering an injury in the warm-up wasn’t too much of a disruption as he’d named a flexible side in any case.

“We decided that Didzy would just play off Murph,” he added. “The system had him set up with the two wide players, we could put Tabby [in Hyam’s central position] and Ando out wide.

“We’d been watching Charlton and they’ve played 4-4-2, they’ve played 4-1-4-1, 4-4-1-1 as well. Whatever we wanted to do we’d got flexibility within that. It worked anyway.

“It was his achilles. He felt it yesterday but he thought he was OK. You can’t run achilles injuries off, they just get worse and worse.”

He says the absent Teddy Bishop’s hip flexor problem isn’t serious: “Teddy will be fine for next week.”

Asked whether he felt Town would now be considered more serious promotion challengers after the victory, he said: “I think that’s a misconception that they don’t take us seriously. I think at the start of the season we weren’t one of the favourites.

“But after the games that we’ve played and the manner in which we’ve played them, I think they’re taking us seriously.

“I think other teams take us seriously ,which concerns me more rather than anybody else.”

Charlton boss Bob Peeters felt his team should have won: “It’s cruel, but we only have ourselves to blame.

"You create enough chances, you have enough possibilities to win at least one maybe two games, then it’s about finishing that last ball off.

“Then at the end, we got away with it already because we gave a ball away and Andre Bikey put a block in [on Conor Sammon] in the last second of the game.

“Then in the 94th minute when your centre-back [Tal Ben Haim] thinks he can dribble in the middle of the park and try to score a goal, if you get cocky, they punish you.

“We got a lesson today. I think in every aspect of football we were the better team. We passed the ball better, had better movement, they only kicked long balls, but it’s about putting the ball in the net and that’s what they did and that’s why they’re up there and we’re not.”


Photo: Action Images



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IP3 added 15:21 - Nov 29
THIS FEELS SO GOOD
7

irishtim added 15:25 - Nov 29
Thanks Mick, Terry. And Staff. The Town are back.
7

LiamCP123 added 15:26 - Nov 29
WE LOVE YOU MICKY, WE DO, WE LOVE YOU MICKY, WE DO, WE LOVE YOU MICKY, WE DO, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MICKY WE LOVE YOU! GET IN
4

essexboy added 15:27 - Nov 29
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
0

jas0999 added 15:37 - Nov 29
More sour grapes from a losing manager I see! I don't think Charlton were considerably better than us or deserved to win. We had more shots on target! Also, it wasn't hoof ball at all. Okay, their football was better, but we did pass the ball around. A draw would probably have been a fairer result, but then we deserved to beat Blackburn at home. That's football.
20

Diamonddazzler91 added 15:44 - Nov 29
I thought we were slightly fortunate to win that game if i'm being honest. A number of times, their striker Vetokele had very good openings, but poor touches let him down. He did look like a very good striker mind, with his movement in particular causing a threat. Skuse looked particularly off the pace today.

BUT, all that matters is the final score, and 3 points to the Tractor Boys. Bloody love it!!
5

scooterblue added 15:49 - Nov 29
Getting peeved at the "they played long balls" quotes every week.
8

NoCanariesAllowed added 15:51 - Nov 29
For 94 minutes I was questioning whether it had really been worth me taking a day off work to travel down to The Valley when I could've just stayed and watched a goalless draw on the box. But in that last glorious minute, I was so, so glad I made the effort.

Haven't celebrated a winner like that since Carlos Edwards at Derby in 2013. Another one of those games where you've kinda resigned yourself to it ending in a draw (something which would've been very foreseeable given how tough both sides have been to beat this season) which only heightens the euphoria when you get the result at the death. It was brilliant.

Charlton should definitely feel hard done by. There wasn't much in this today - two good, organised Championship teams who have both proven hard to break down, and it seemed like we weren't quite at our best. No doubt Bialkowski was keeping us in it during the first half, and if they'd gotten clean finishes on some of their counter attacks, we might have been in trouble. But this team always keeps going to the end, because you've always got that one last chance.

I wouldn't say we were great today, but we did what you have to do on the road and found the killer touch when it mattered. Certainly enough to at least quieten Noel Hunt's critics - it was fantastic to see him make that impact. Mings was very good again, the more floppy-topped of the Hunts put in a real shift, and Bart was excellent in goal.

I know what Mick says about away points, but I bet he's feeling rather glad they did get on the bus today after all! Three points which could prove so significant to our campaign.
14

itfcserbia added 16:01 - Nov 29
Good entertainment today, good chances on both sides.

Bob Peeters talks rubbish.

Mick is the man and I am so happy for him and Noel Hunt, hopefully this will shut some mouths around as he showed some nice touches today.

Connor Sammon has to be the absolutely worst player I have ever seen in a blue shirt!

0

dav86 added 16:03 - Nov 29
Bob peeters sounds a bit bitter!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
0

bohslegend added 16:41 - Nov 29
Unbelievable sour grapes for yet another sore loser opposing manager..

BUT WHO CARES???!

WE WON! AGAIN!

The sense of anticipation around the club at the moment is incredible. Could this be the year???
6

Popeye added 16:48 - Nov 29
It wasn't pretty but it was three points. Typical MM performance,solid but unremarkable. Bish, Bru and Hyam missing meant the ball went long too often. The only defender who tries to play it on the floor is Mings. Town are still missing a decent central midfielder who can take the ball off the centre halves and link the play and can run beyond our forwards like Gerrard did for Liverpool years back but those type of players cost millions town don't have.
2

jabberjackson added 16:57 - Nov 29
Yet another sour grapes manager
"They only kicked long balls"
Long may it continue...
All the way to the premier league
7

therein61 added 17:14 - Nov 29
Really loving this at the moment my beer on my way to Bath has never tasted better!!! yet another manager having a pop at us(poor Eddie Howe wonder what he has to say this week after another 2 pts lost at home!!!!) so Mr Peeters your side never kicked a long ball then!!!???? let them keep moaning let us keep getting points on the board and carry on looking down on them, are we really 7 pts clear of our arrogant parachute induced neighbours!!?? love it just love it come on you blues!! oh and very well done and welcome noel.
4

Hegansheroes added 17:19 - Nov 29
Again inane comments regarding the opposition managers. As last week we were the inferior team but came away with the points which is a credit to the hard working team we are. There are too many people with rose tinted glasses on here. We do still play a long ball game which is OK in this league, it's not pretty but is seeming to be effective. With all the injuries this was a great result but Charlton understandably must be pretty miffed at dropping 3 points as Bournemouth were (they were far the better team last weekend). Can anyone tell me was Tabb in the team today????
-10

Blue041273 added 17:22 - Nov 29
Why are losing managers so ungracious? Up to min 94 it was a closely contested game in which both teams had chances to score and if either team had scored it would probably have been the winner. Until then however neither team took any of the chances which fell their way. Then we did and as a result we won the game. Charlton didn't lose because they didn't take their chances. They didn't get a point because we defended better than them and didn't concede and, guess what, we scored a goal. Bob Peeters might like to look at the papers tomorrow or even the TV tonight. He might recognise that Charlton lost and that in football there are always losers. More often than not teams lose because their opponents do the basics better. That was the case today.
6

1Finshefki added 17:31 - Nov 29
Bob Peeters: 'we had forty shots and twelve or thirteen on target.' Really, Bob? Are you sure? Somebody else wearing the wrong specs?
3

bluemikey100 added 17:53 - Nov 29
lol awesome upto 2nd charltons first home defeat nwich losing at home does it get much better
3

Warkys_Tash added 18:12 - Nov 29
Master stroke MM. Well done, we love you and the buzz and togetherness you have created at our once great again club. Thank you.
3

feelinblue2 added 18:38 - Nov 29
After what I thought could be a real sticky spell for Town with games against the top 6 teams a few weeks ago; how refreshing is it to be sat at the right end of the table. 10 points from 12 is a fantastic return especially against the opposition we've played. Nice to be the only one in the office being able to enjoy the Monday office banter! Carry on MM and the boys and fingers crossed we are still in the mix at the end of the season.
2

tim added 19:11 - Nov 29
I rate Sammon for what he does. I cert dont want him to start for us, but he's a pain in the bum and a bulldog for opposition at 80 mins every game. He causes a disruption everytime he plays because it's never a like for like sub, no matter who he's replacing. He gives his all, he gets corners and he holds the ball up and makes chances. Who cares if he doesn't score goals. His role is to unsettle and disrupt defenses in the final quarter of a game and he does it to a Tee. I hope we sign him.

McGoldrick seems to be perfect for that deeper role and I personally think we need Hunt Jr. to become a poacher because Didz and Mings will always create opportunities in the box and if they keep slotting sublime passes through to our strikers we are going to need a poacher to score us goals. Didz wont score as many goals in that position, but he'll cause more of them.

Skuse is right about people never seeing what he does but i think there's a good reason for that. 50% of the time I cringe when he has the ball. Our midfield is a dusty old corpse without Bishop or Williams. It's worth spending a few quid to sort this out in January. I'm fine with Skuse as long as he's not relied on to create anything. I see him (and Hyam sometimes, when he's having an off day) more as a 3rd centre back in front of the two real ones. Interesting role, and it's needed sometimes, but it explains why other teams have been "carving us up" at times; why we're accused of just playing long balls, and why we're relying on our defense and goalkeepers to get us out of trouble, a lot.

That said, I think we need another centre back. I hope St Ledger is the next Berra for us because Smith is nothing more than good cover IMO and while I love Chambers for his enthusiasm, we need someone of Berra's smarts if we're going to compete at this level and higher. I don't see Chambers or Smith at the answer. I look to be proven wrong about that.

Mings is amazing obviously. Parr was brilliant today. Murphy needs another striker to offer something more that what he can do, which is find space and head the ball at set pieces. Hopefully Hunt is what we need - a poacher to terrorize defenses. Is Nouble a lost cause?

I like what Hunt Sr. offers but he's not a long term solution. Hopefully our young / injured wingers can surprise and delight in the coming weeks / months. Anderson is getting better and better. Very exciting prospect. BArt was solid but his distribution is a bit flakey. Tabb is okay cover and can pull off a great performance now and then.
0

michaeldownunder added 19:15 - Nov 29
This win shows we have a real squad rather than a team and subs.
A hard working side from top to bottom but with some skill thrown in.
Our big plus is the goal keeper
Can Bart be the man that takes us up? we talk about needing a player to get us goals from midfield but maybe a outstanding goalkeeper who can save us ten goals a season is just as good.
7

Tractorog added 19:49 - Nov 29
Can someone ask Mick for some lottery numbers please?
2

Walk_the_Wark added 19:52 - Nov 29
Agree Hegansheroes. We do not look like a side 2nd in the table and certainly not one sylistically suited for Prem. However this won't change until Mick goes. Think we'll be up and back down by then. At the mo tho we are doing well, so can't moan too much
-12

kaimcneil added 20:55 - Nov 29
Defenders where great today, chambers was outstanding, smith was solid. Charlton matched us today everywhere apart from defence which cost them in the end.

Great Win, Bring on Leeds!
1


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