Frustrated Mick McCarthy felt there was no way Town should have been beaten 2-1 by Leeds at Elland Road.

“I am totally and utterly pissed off because we should never have lost the game,” McCarthy said at his post-match press conference.

“I’ve just been looking at [the incident which led to the freekick for the first goal], I don’t know how they managed to give a foul one way or the other there for that, when they gave the foul against Ty. But when he does, Bart should have saved it. That’s the upshot of it.

“Having got back in it, I know their keeper should have saved ours as well, there’s no doubt about that.

“Their second one, we’ve got a great chance in their box and it’s not like us to get done as we did.

“And even then we’ve had the opportunity of the penalty and he’s not struck it with any great conviction, and that’s our leading goalscorer. I think we’ve had the best part of the game, to be honest.”

Town fell to back to back defeats for the first time this season - they are the last Championship side to do so - and McCarthy is disappointed to lose for the second time in four days.

“It’s not a good time, I fully understand that, you don’t have to ask me the question,” he continued. “It’s never good to have back to back defeats.

“The position that we’re in, we could have got back in the top six. We’ve got Brentford on Saturday.

“All the things, we’ve played a day later than them, we’re travelling back, we’ll get back at half-two. We had an opportunity to get back in the top six tonight and we’ve pissed it away unfortunately.”

He says his team selection - Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears were both left on the bench - wasn’t why the Blues lost.

“Brentford left their centre-forward on the bench last night, funnily enough,” he added. “I’ve no problem with the team changes I made whatsoever.

“I thought that Varney and Wood played well and they’re a real handful. Varns was unlucky with his [early disallowed] header, if he’s offside it’s marginal.

“And the two lads will be fresh for Saturday, they’ll start on Saturday. But that’s not cost us the game by any stretch of the imagination.”

McCarthy tried to sign Billy Sharp, who scored the second goal, on loan in January, the former Sheffield United and Doncaster man turning down the opportunity to join the Blues in order to fight for his place at Leeds.

“He’s a goalscorer,” McCarthy said. “And we’ve got them as well. We’ve got the leading goalscoring and we’ve got Freddie, who has come in and scored. We’ve got Chris Wood, who was one of the leading goalscorers in the league last year.

“If you’d have said at any stage that we’ve got Chris Wood and Varney on the pitch at any time I’ve been here in the two and a half years, I think we would have been delighted with having those two to select.”

Varney is a former Leeds player and will have been desperate to do well against his old club, particularly with their fans giving him a hard time, but McCarthy says that didn’t come into his thinking when selecting his team: “Not at all and I wouldn’t take anybody being in my ear.

“I’m slightly, no I’m very disappointed and offended that you might even think I’d be influenced by a player in my earhole to play. They’ll play if they warrant playing and I thought he did.”

Leeds manager Neil Redfearn thought his team deserved all three points: “It was a great win. It was a tough game, a hard-fought game. A typical Championship encounter. They’re up there for a reason, Ipswich.

“They’re very combative, but they play football. But I thought we were the better side tonight.

“I thought the game was won and lost in midfield and we absolutely dominated that area. Lewis Cook and Alex Mowatt and Luke Murphy were outstanding.”

Redfearn was impressed with striker Sharp’s performance and particularly the way he took his goal: “Brilliant, Sharpy was outstanding again tonight.

“He’s led the line really well, he took his goal outstandingly well, it’s behind him, he’s kept it down and got over it. It was a great strike and he looks a polished striker.”

The Leeds boss confirmed that it was Sharp’s decision not to join the Blues in January: “He didn’t want to go, which is great for Leeds United.”

Photo: Action Images

KiwiBlue2 added 02:31 - Mar 5 Very disappointing result. Was surprised when I saw the starting line-up but assumed that Sears and Murph would play the whole second half. We need to be more attacking. For Brentford I would suggest the following: Gerks (Bart has made too many mistakes lately) Parr Chambers Berra Mings Anderson Skuse Bishop (if fit) Connolly or Stewart Wood Sears Murphy
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 04:58 - Mar 5 Disappointed as the rest, but I think we have to realise that injuries have badly hampered Mick's options for quite a while now. For example, a fit Ambrose would have made quite a difference, not to mention McG. I would have thought Sears is young enough, enthusiastic enough, and fit enough to play every match, though. I'd just like to see him in action with a bit more support around him: definitely a bright spot in the general gloom.I said earlier we would drop out of the top 6 and spend the rest of the season fighting for 6th spot. Now we're there, but we're still not out of the race yet.

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battyblue added 05:40 - Mar 5 Will you ever learn Mick you lost because leeds scored two to our one however you look at it you set up the team ,,is it to late probably not but unless you change things there is to chances of going up very little and none.
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Hoppersblue10 added 05:57 - Mar 5 MMs stubborness is bordering on arrogance, he refuses to play players in their correct positions, refuses to play a more open and expansive game, refuses to revert back to 433, last night topped it off...who in their right mind benches not only the leading scorer but also our in-form striker to replace them with a couple of lads that have barely played a game of football between them all season? MM picked a side last night clearly to try to stifle the game, frustrate Leeds and snatch a point....no wonder he is angry because he failed miserably, all he did was frustrate everyone involved with ITFC..

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MicksZzzTactics added 06:16 - Mar 5 Tonight's classified result: Leeds United (2) - Hoof Town (1) Hmmmm a very short resume: ONE shot on goal in the 1st half. About a lofty THREE shots on goal in the second half incl. one that went in thanks to an absolute gaffer by the Leeds keeper and a penalty not quite optimally taken but also well saved. Otherwise plenty of premium Hoof Ball (as customary!) all night long, as well as plenty of further evidence of Hoof Town and it's dinosaur manager playing the league's LEAST creative and dangerous midfield. And for something new: Even the once proud defense was pretty awful tonight .... but on the plus side we did have more of the ball???!! (Do they also time how long the ball is "in the air" from an Ipswich Hoof as part of our "ball possession" nowadays??? :-) LOL ) but to little avail though. PS: Does anyone here remember the last time, if ever, Guru Mick has sincerely said post-game after a point-loss (not necessarily this one): "This one is mostly on me. Wrong tactics, Wrong starting XI etc. etc." or words to that effect??? Well in recent memory it seems it's EVERYBODY or EVERYTHING else's fault: Whether it's the pitch, the weather conditions, the ref, the linesmen, Madame Fortuna or in a non-typical McCarthy fashion: His very own player(s) like he partly fingered today. But interestingly it's as good as NEVER McCarthy's own fault to a large degree, is it Mick??? :-)

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Keaneish added 06:44 - Mar 5 Backfired Mick and not for the first time. You can take the plaudits for getting us in the top 6 and spending no cash but you can also take the criticism for being inept tactically at times. You've now just increased the pressure massively on Saturday's fixture and i have no confidence we'll get a result...
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blueherts added 07:12 - Mar 5 Since Xmas our defence , which prior to Jan 01 had conceded 22 in 24 has conceded 16 in 11 - we have gifted teams goals , and Bart is looking shaky - thay all do PLUS - MM has never bemoaned it but if you think we are without our two best footballers - Dids and Bishop , Hyam , S Hunt and Ambrose thru injury - that has created a big loss We need ALL our players fit to compete - which he did - January was a disaster on that front So - with our resources who do we play in the middle - we have little choice I would love to see Connolly and Stewart to at least give us width buy any midfield needs players to break it up and then pick it up and create A team with Bishop Dids Murphy and Sears would be one I would like to see - it has never happened through injuries Am I defending the long ball tactics - No Am I optimistic about our chances of getting in the play offs - Yes Is our season over - No Some people on here seem to have given up ? why with 11 games to go would you stop believing This league is one of the worst standard in recent years - Wigan win away Norwich , Bournemouth had a blip , Derby lost two in a row etc etc Is Mick perfect - no - is he better than what we have had in last 10 years ? YES I believe we will beat Brentford on Saturday . The job is in OUR hands so until that changes lets get behind them - I am not blind to his faults but I think some of you have to look at the bigger picture

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big_gaz67 added 07:24 - Mar 5 Just had a thought - does he keep picking Tabb because he's short and therefore less likely to get in the way of the hoof balls to Murphy?
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big_gaz67 added 07:27 - Mar 5 Kiwi Blue you appear to be playing a 4 4 3? My choice for goalie at the moment would be Paddy Kenny - he looks fit and has vast experience at all levels...
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AYACCA added 07:35 - Mar 5 a shame we didn't win, but hey, its not the end of the world!
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GeorgeITFC24 added 07:36 - Mar 5 VS Brentford: Gerken Parr Chambers Berra Mings Bru Skuse Bishop Murphy Sears Varney
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Help added 07:38 - Mar 5 I agree Mick we should never have lost, but only because our two best strikers should have been on from the start and maybe we might not have been going in at half time at Nil, Nil.
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werderbremenblue added 07:49 - Mar 5 Think the last few month prove we were punching well above our weight at the start of the season. Mid Table team Mid Table Manager. Mick out!!!
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blueherts added 07:58 - Mar 5 Dids is a big loss to our team
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NoelTheDub added 08:01 - Mar 5 Yes bloody Mick sick listening to your total bull talk.The game was won in the midfield and they play bloody FOOTBALL your words.That says it all for me, nobody has a clue what you were thinking last night mind boggling to say the least.
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KiwiTractor added 08:26 - Mar 5 I'm glad you are finally pissed off Mick, you now know how a lot of the fans feel. You are a very frustrating man to support........
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KiwiTractor added 08:31 - Mar 5 I like your thinking KiwiBlue2, playing 12 men ..... but why stop there, I suggest a 444 formation, lucky 13?
0

Cloddyseedbed added 08:39 - Mar 5 With your team selection, your players and how you set them up to play and your tactics, we were always going to struggle bigtime. Saturday will be the same unless you start picking a balanced team and get away from the hoofball. Crowds will continue to disappear as will 3 pts.
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rugbytomc added 08:42 - Mar 5 I think we were all hoping before the game during the week when Mick hinted at changes, that we would be seeing Parr at right back and Mings at left back and probably Berra and Chambers in the middle and in addition to that just no Jay Tabb. Disappointing none of those changes happened and he actually dropped Sears are most on form player at the moment. Tabb tries hard i'll give him that and puts in the defensive shift, but he can't shoot or cross or take a corner and unless he's getting his head on balls into the box he offers nothing in the attacking half. We do have a big bunch of lads and watching on sunday the poor deliveries at set pieces not allowing us to challenge for the ball often enough, we are screaming out for a winger. Anderson isn't it either. Hope Stewart gets a go soon or some premier league team forces one of their young wingers to come join us on loan!

4

brittaniaman added 09:11 - Mar 5 At last the press had a go at MM. for his tactics and team selection (Stuart Watson EADT) I am talking about, but it seems as though it did not suit MM. and finished up with a row, but afterwards they did shake hands !!! The fact of the Matter is nobody must question MM. or ask why on team matters !!!!!! Mr Stubborn
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Bluetone added 09:24 - Mar 5 He says his team selection - Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears were both left on the bench - wasn't why the Blues lost. Well he would stay that. McCarthy is becoming part of the current problem not part of the solution. Stop being so stubborn and arrogant if just about every supporter can see the obvious problems why the hell can't you. Be a man admit it you got it wrong, badly wrong.

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MicksZzzTactics added 09:43 - Mar 5 Brittaniaman (and others!) "Stubborn"is now a word frequently associated with or affixed to Guru Mick these day .... also here on lovely TWTD. He is stubborn and dinosaur-like alright .... but Ladiez and Gentz: Please don't confuse mere "stubbornness" with "totalitarian" and "megalomanic" (or is that more "Delusion of Grandeur"???? Better consult Doctor Phil on that one) pleeeeaZzze! :-) LOL He is the Boss, so obviously it's his prerogative to do and say pretty much what ever he pleases a very very long part of the way .... especially which such a hmmmm shallow and media-shy owner like ME .... But the way Mick handles The Press and other Media (incl. his nowadays notorious "OBJECTIVE" post-game drivel!) is really bordering on the tragic-comical these days IMO.

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OldClactonBlue added 09:46 - Mar 5 For those (few) who are citing injuries to McGoldrick, Bishop and Ambrose as a major factor in the decline. What evidence do you have that they would all play in the same team. Absolutely none, plenty that they wouldn't though, and even if they were picked they would play out of position. Until MM acknowledges that creativity (and goals) from midfield is a crucial element of a successful team it will not improve. Again plenty of evidence against that occurring.

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billlm added 10:14 - Mar 5 Tactically inept, done the job he was brought in to do, now I question if come June we should move on
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blueherts added 10:26 - Mar 5 Clacton - all good debate - but if Bishop and McG were fit they would def part of the set up -We have missed them at key times - they are our our best ball players As I said I am not defending some of MM decisions but we do need to look at 'the big picture' A fit McG and Bishop woud make a difference - what evidence do you have that they would not be part of the match day squad ? I would actually say as much concern to me is the Back 5 who are looking so shaky - and we have less options in there

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