Town boss Mick McCarthy says today’s 0-0 home draw with Cardiff City was the type of match the Blues might have nicked all three points from last year. Despite recording their fourth home draw in a row - and their second successive 0-0 at Portman Road - McCarthy was pleased with his side’s performance and to have kept a clean sheet.

“We’ve got attacking players on the pitch, it’s just not happening for us at the moment but we’ve got a chance to build on it if we keep a clean sheet,” he said.

“If we’re one down and we have to get back into a game all the time that puts added pressure on them. I’m pleased with the clean sheet, delighted with the clean sheet, as I’m sure the lads are.

“We’ll just have to keep working and turn it into a win. Last year we would probably have nicked that, I keep saying that, but it’s just not happening at the moment.”

He added: “We’ve played well against a good team, they’re a good side. I’m not coming in here saying we deserved to win by a hatful, it was going to be a goal either way.

“They’ve only conceded 11 goals, they’re a tough nut to crack and the more we pushed the more you leave yourself a little bit open to the break and we got done a couple of times. But overall I thought we played well, it was a good performance.”

McCarthy feels his team has been more like themselves in recent games: “We’ve been far more competitive.

“We didn’t start competitive [today], it took me and TC to start barking at a few, I think, [for them to start] chasing things and hunting things down and competing for everything, because that’s the league.

“And when we did it, we got to grips with it in the first half, I thought we played really well and it was a far better performance.”

Striker Daryl Murphy came close to breaking his duck for the season when Cardiff keeper David Marshall tipped his header on to the woodwork, while the Irishman had a couple of other chances but found himself closed down before he could get in a shot.

McCarthy says it's no surprise that last season’s 27-goal top scorer might be lacking in a bit of confidence.

“It doesn’t matter what job you’re doing, if it’s just not happening for you at a certain period of time then your confidence will hardly be flowing,” he continued.

“He needs to find one from somewhere, he had a couple on his right foot where he’s checked back and tried to put it on his left and they defended them well.

“On a different day, maybe when he’s scored 20 goals, he swings his right foot and it flies in the net. But that is football, that’s strikers.”

McCarthy’s continued faith in Dean Gerken paid off with the keeper impressing and arguably Town’s man of the match: “I was asked a question the other night about being loyal to people and he was one of them.

“He’s been outstanding Gerks, he’s been fabulous. I’ve felt sorry for him with goals going in because they’ve not been his fault and he’s played well again today, as has their goalkeeper I might add.”

He added: “Gerks is a good goalkeeper. I’m very fortunate I’ve got two very good goalkeepers.

“And when one gets in it’s hard work for the other one, however it happens. Whether it’s because he got injured or there was a bereavement or somebody gets injured while his wife’s in hospital watching the game and he gets carried off on a stretcher with oxygen on his mouth.

“It’s been bizarre how they’ve [lost their places], neither one of them has been left out because of poor performances. I’m very fortunate goalkeeping area.

“Malcolm Webster, the goalkeeping coach, should take a lot of credit for that, he was the one when we brought them in that recommended them and he works with them.”

McCarthy had no issue with the second half penalty claim which saw Kevin Bru booked: “No. I had a complaint because I thought it was a foul on Murph [outside the area] before and I was appealing for the foul when Kevin went down.

“We were all having a look at it and it was one of them that could have been given, so I said ‘Kevin, was it a penalty?’ and he said ‘No’, so that cleared that up.

“I don’t want to be coming in here and bemoaning it and I don’t want to be going to the referee and bemoaning it because it was one of them that you can see it and see it, you can keep looking at it and you could make a case for it being a penalty.

“But I don’t want to be making a case for it, I want to know the truth and he said no, so it’s saved me all that embarrassment and growling at people.”

The Town boss praised the Portman Road crowd for the backing they gave his side: “They were brilliant, I think there was an added bit of support for us all there today, it was lovely.”

McCarthy says his side suffered no new injury problems with Jonas Knudsen expected to be available again after the hamstring problem which saw him miss today’s match.

However, he says Teddy Bishop is still a little way off a return to the senior side: “Bish has no chance for Tuesday, he’s only had the 90 minutes for the U21s and that doesn’t equip him well enough to play in the first team on Tuesday.”

The Blues manager says that despite the disappointment of not ending the winless run, the result and clean sheet are something to build on when Bolton are at Portman Road on Tuesday: “Absolutely. Providing we keep going like that and scrapping away and playing like that because we played well and we created some chances, something will drop for us. It’ll turn.”

Cardiff manager Russell Slade was pleased with his side’s continued solidity at the back but disappointed with their lack of penetration at the other end of the field.

“Somebody’s just told me that it’s the first time since 2005 we’ve had four clean sheets on the bounce,” he said.

“We’ve got that side of it right at the minute, clearly our problem is at the other end really.

“I think we had one more shot than Ipswich today, a couple of good chances in the second half Sammy Ameobi, Craig Noone in the dying minutes could probably have gone with his head rather than attempting to volley.”

He added: “I do see it that as a good point. Ipswich is always a difficult place to come and it’s been a difficult place for Cardiff to come. I think we’ve lost 21 and won 12, history will tell you, I was just looking in the programme.

“It’s always a difficult place to come and Mick McCarthy’s sides are always very difficult to play against.

“They’re fighting to turn their form around. Don’t forget, they were in the play-offs last season, that was the standard and we came here and got beaten 3-1.”

Photo: Action Images

armchaircritic59 added 00:11 - Nov 2 As the name suggests, i'm now a follower, (fair point Essex57) rather than the supporter i used to be for approaching 30 years and indeed as has also been pointed out, cannot really comment on individual or indeed team performances as i do not see them! But i hope i may be allowed to make the following comments and if people disagree, that's actually fine because it shows there are people out there who care passionately about ITFC, something i believe has been missing at the club for quite a number of years at Owner/chairman, Manager and player level (with of course exceptions). I was lucky to be around for a good part of the "glory" years, but also saw a few downs as well (part and parcel of supporting some football clubs). What really saddens me is the way the club appears to have lost it's passion from the top down. We used to have chairman, (Cobbolds and Sheepshanks until very late on) who cared passionately for the club. This passion appeared to be passed on to the management and further on to the players who were proud to pull on a blue and white shirt. The club was often held up as a model of how a football club should be run, and indeed was widely admired for this and for the style of football that was (largely) encouraged. Alas, where (and indeed why) has it all gone wrong and why does the good ship ITFC now find itself floating becalmed, seemingly rudderless, in the sea of mediocrity? Has anyone got any constructive ideas as to how to set this potentially great club of ours sailing back towards and reaching those heights that were once almost (probably foolishly) taken for granted? I speak as a follower yes, but one who is greatly saddened by events and still has a love the club.

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battyblue added 05:36 - Nov 2 Marcus Evans offered MM a 1 million bonus to keep us in the championship.....How about Evans offering a new manager 5 million to get us up to the premiership next season.
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essex57 added 08:15 - Nov 2 Good post armchair i travel 180 mile round journey to home games and attend 3/4s of away games thats my choice and i dont expect any medals like you i remember the glory days that lovely hot afternoon evening in amsterdam when we lifted the uefa cup all the cobbold family greated us when we got back to PR on the coaches. The FA cup great days trouble is in trying to raise the club to the next level we over stepped the mark and basicaly went broke.ME saved the club but for a fatal decision to employ clegg i think things could of been different.Jim Magilton Roy Keane and Paul Jewell squandered millions of ME money which is why we are where we are.Its a much different scenario to pre 80s football the only way to get to utopia and sky zillions for a small club is lots of luck a good together squad theres no manager out there who could do better than MM and with his experience he might just cobble that squad together keep the faith.

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Bluetone added 09:27 - Nov 2 @armchaircritic59 No sir your are not a mere follower you are, in my book, a true supporter of both ITFC and football as it should be played by our club with skill, pride and passion. As I have tried to say (inspite of the downers of essex57, bobs leg end and such). it is not only the winning that was important but the manner and style of the football played that instilled that pride in our club. You and I were lucky we saw our club when it was admired and envied for being an example of what a football club should be..

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runningout added 10:30 - Nov 2 I'm sure the downers are not all doom and gloom when we show any glimpse of form...
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bohslegend added 11:22 - Nov 2 All ITFC fans cherish the good old days, of course we do, they were great times, different times too. No Sky TV, no Asian and American Billionaire investors, and pitches were either muddy or bumpy. So Armchaircritic, while I agree with everything you said about how great our past was, I disagree with the context you putting it in. There's zero sense pretending we can be like that again, us or any similar sized club. Of course clubs such as ours (eg. Burnley, Bournemouth, Cardiff) get occasional glimpses of the promised land but find it difficult (if not impossible) to maintain that over a long period of time mostly because the financial challenges of merely treading water often strangles those clubs causing long term damage. Of course the clubs that do drop then have the recent benefit of parachute payments to help them in the following years. All this does is makes things even more difficult for honest clubs like our own to compete in the top half never mind go for promotion.. The team needs support, encouragement, belief. Not whining, criticism, bitching. The vast majority of ITFC fans are still with the manager in this respect whether the TWTD realists choose to believe that or not.

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Razor added 12:21 - Nov 2 CHESHIRE BLUE----I do not want to get personal but did you say "KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK" in relation to MM and did you really mean it-----surely not!!!!???
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Cheshire_Blue added 16:43 - Nov 2 Cutting remarks Razor! I am sure you can read quite clearly what I said and mean't and I am confident the silent majority agree with me. For avoidance of doubt I will repeat it in capital letters. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MICK, we could have far worse than you. With you 100% bohslegend, well said. I can well remember the 2-0 victory over Villa at Portman Road in 1962 that virtually sealed the League Championship but there is little chance of a return to those days triumphant days in this much changed world of football. We are all, of course, entitled to an opinion and we all think we are right, including the many armchair managers who think they could do a better job than Mick McCarthy.

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Bluetone added 19:40 - Nov 2 @Cheshire blue how depressingly defeatist you are " there is little chance of a return to those days triumphant days" and your firm belief that their is no alternative to McCarthy and his hoofball tactics. There has to be better because for sure there is nothing more boring that this stodge that is being served up week in week out. I seem to remember in those triumphant days neither of our knights in shining armour came to PR with glowing credentials. They were appointed by men who had the best interest of Ipswich Town Football Club at heart for no other reason than their pride and passion for something they believed in. Maybe you're right and those days won't be seen again but there is just a chance they might but not with this stodge feeding manager we now have.

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armchaircritic59 added 23:16 - Nov 2 Just wanted to say thanks guys for the reply to my original post. As i said, i certainly don't mind criticism if it stimulates a healthy debate and doesn't become vitriolic. I have to say Essex57 that you DO probably deserve a medal for that level of support! It appears you have your detractors on here, but no one can possibly question your commitment to the cause. Both you and bohslegend make good points about football being a different game now to what it was in 60's, 70's and 80's. I'd say the actual game is pretty similar but the money feeding it is in a whole new ball park! Undoubtably Clegg was something of a disaster as have been one or two recent managers. You have to wonder whose fault those appointments were. I'd say in any business, the buck stops with the appointee. It's quite possible without the money put into the club by Mr Evans that we would be in a far worse position than we are now. However this doesn't hide the fact that a good number of appointments have ultimately become failures. I wonder if ME makes all the decisions himself or whether he relies on advisors who supposedly know the game better than him. It would be interesting to know. It would also be nice to think that those in the corridors of power take the trouble to read sites such as this, if only just to know what those of you who shell out your hard earned every week are thinking. It wouldn't hurt and who knows, they make pick up something useful! One thing is for sure, in any business (i include football in that), no owner, manager or anyone in authority has the monopoly on sound advice! When the time comes for MM to leave whether it's his own choice or otherwise, i'd love to see us go back and almost start again with a young, hungry manager, that employs pass and move football and who is not afraid to give youth a chance (where it's deserved of course). This is not meant as an attack on MM, just my footballing philosophy. I would also like to see a greater spotlight put on developing that young talent. It seems these days we hear of numerous youngsters at the club getting glowing reports only to disappear from view. You have to wonder why. Sure, it would be a (calculated) risk, but it's worked on more than one occasion here, so whose to say it couldn't happen again? I can see no reason why we couldn't emulate the likes of Stoke, Swansea and West Brom and for that matter Southampton! Maybe we could look abroad for a future managerial appointment? I think i'm what you would call an optimistic realist! I just hope that at sometime in the not too distant future, the club once again tastes some success, even it's relative, so that those of you who are too young to have experienced it and everybody on here who contributes in no small manner to the clubs income can feel the euphoria that comes with it. At todays prices you all deserve it!

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Cheshire_Blue added 11:35 - Nov 3 Point missed Bluetone. I am in no way defeatist. My point was that in this day and age even with the best manager in the world you won't compete with the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal etc.without mega bucks to back him. I have a strong feeling that even Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn't achieve much more than MM with the present set up at Portman Road. Far from defeatist, I live in hope which is why I am about to get in my car and drive 250 miles to tonight's match and then 250 miles back home where I will arrive around 2am. Much easier to sit in my armchair at home and criticise those who are more knowledgeable than me.

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armchaircritic59 added 16:41 - Nov 3 Wow Cheshire Blue, that's fantastic support! I wonder how much the players and those in power appreciate it. Support like that from you and no dobt others, deserves 100% commitment fom every player, every match, nothing less.
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