Town boss Mick McCarthy says 16-year-old Andre Dozzell loved his first week as a senior player. The first-year scholar, the son of former Blue and current academy coach Jason, scored after coming on as a sub at Sheffield Wednesday before making his first start against Fulham last Tuesday, both games ending in 1-1 draws. He was an unused sub at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

“He’s all right,” McCarthy said reflecting on the midfielder’s big week. “It’s one of those things. I don’t go around and ask them, ‘How do you feel after your first week, you OK? Everything all right?’.

“He’s buzzing, isn’t he? He’s loved his first week, certainly scoring on his debut. He probably enjoyed that more than his full debut.”

McCarthy says Dozzell is a good character off and on the field: “You get to see them walking around the building and chat to them. He’s a lovely young man, very personable, has a smile on his face, a talented footballer.

“Quite clearly if he comes in and makes his debut at Hillsborough then he’s got something about him.

“But he’s got more than just that, he’s got a bit of spirit about him, he’s got a bit of ‘nuts’ about him, the fact that he can go in and score on his debut and actually not look out of place whenever he got the ball and whenever he competed. So his football personality on the pitch is good, I’m pleased with him.”

England U17 international Dozzell will formalise a previously agreed two-year professional deal when he turns 17 on May 2nd.

Photo: Action Images

TR11BLU added 08:43 - Apr 26 Will never thrive under you Dino Mick out
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Cambonbleu added 08:53 - Apr 26 Yes, because Bishop didn't flourish under MM last season did he? We are where we are, disappointing performances this season compared to last. MM is staying, so about time we all get used to it. I'm not passing judgement until after the summer - let's see how the squad looks then.
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essexboy added 08:54 - Apr 26 His Talent is there for all to see.Lets just hope he is given the chance he deserves.He must play against the MKD on Saturday. 👍
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prebsa added 09:38 - Apr 26 Problem is that if all midfielders are fit next year Mick will still set up not to lose with 2 defensive midfielders. Mick will not change, yes bishop did well last year and dozzell im sure will too but we will still lack a creative midfield and continue to play other midfielders out of position (bru on the right, dozzell played a little on the left against Fulham) just to accommodate Skuse and Micks love child Douglas or one of our own but still not good enough Hyam.

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blueblood66 added 09:39 - Apr 26 will people stop posting negative comments to such a positive move by Mick. He has given a 16 year old a chance, think about it you utter morons.
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Penguinblue added 10:03 - Apr 26 Positive story from negative hoofball manager. Is he hiding behind it I wonder? Don't forget even when Bishop was playing his socks off and the best player on the pitch McCarthy would sub him. Ok he is young and you might say he was protecting him from injury........... (McCarthy OUT)
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tractorshark added 10:15 - Apr 26 Jesus wept. Everyone accuses Mick of anti-football but this site has the anti-fan. No positivity, just negativity.
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spanishblue added 10:27 - Apr 26 I suppose you moaners seem to have short memories,its not thatblong ago that we were staring div 1 square on,we have no money we are in the top ten,ask Charlton fans or MK D then think of poor ol Bolton fans i feel sick for them it could of been us,we have two gifted players McG and Bish neither of which has been fit all season,even i know that without those type of players your going to struggle,just hope they have a good summer and come back fit with 4 new players to back them up,off to the beach before the barrage starts thanks Mick & TC i appreciate your efforts,i know you know far more than us armchair managers

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Penguinblue added 11:21 - Apr 26 3 or 4 years ago. Job done. Any half decent manager could of done it after the mess left by the previous two jokers. We cant't stay in MM's debt forever. It is now stale. ITFC fans deserve more than hoofball , favoritism and contempt. We moan because we want entertainment and football again McCarthy OUT
2

TR11BLU added 11:26 - Apr 26 I remember when we were good, my memory is not that short... Yes he saved us from the drop but its time to move on and time he was moved on. Lets get someone in who can move us forward.
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Kikapu added 11:27 - Apr 26 Good stuff, soanishblue, but don't be too hard on the moaners. They can't help it.
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prebsa added 11:28 - Apr 26 Oh hear we go spanishblue raking up the past, yes he saved us from league 1 and thats fantastic and thank you very much for that Mick. But thats the bast, wake up take off the rose tinted glasses and see the zero entertainment and little ambition that this club has right now!
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Mr_Evans added 12:06 - Apr 26 It's all good and well saying that Andre is playing and signing his contract, but where is he going to fit in next season? MM is alway going to play a CDM in either Skuse or Douglas , so it's either going to be Bishop or Dozell taking up the remaining CM spot. What I can see happening is MM playing Dozell out on the left or right - again playing players out of position and detrimental to his footballing education. Another season of square pegs in round holes I'm afraid.

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wellhungphil added 12:09 - Apr 26 Right, this is all very well and good, but is anyone thinking about the future here and the massive pressure that'll be on some poor young lad in about 2035? First it was Jason, now Andre, next up will be Darren Dozzell (or Daz-Doz for short) to score on his debut at 16 too! I know where I'll be...a sixty year old professional goalie blasting the ball up the pitch for young Daz to nod one in at the far post! Gola!!

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Currie10 added 12:10 - Apr 26 I'm quite irritated how this season has panned out. I remmeber being at Brighton thinking " pretty sure we'll make the play offs after this " but not to be. Injuries have hit us hard sadly - Bishop/Fraser x 2 / McGoldrick. Mick has tried to set us up by adding wide men to the jigsaw for this season in - Oar ( waste of time ) Toure ( gamble ala bru/ Banj that hasn't worked and not helped by fitness ) Niles ( very good first half of season no idea what's happened since ) Fraser ( class but sadly wiped out twice ) I don't like the anti-footy approach however I would rather a manager with a plan ala Mick incharge to right the wrongs of this season next. Get 3 decent wide men in next season, a bit of luck with Bish / McGoldrick and I see no reason we can't break the top 6 even with the clubs coming down having bucket loads of ££££ to splash. That said, IF we have a poor season next year then Mick has to go for me too.

4

sidtheswan added 12:54 - Apr 26 Think he will be a big player looks a talent .
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itsonlyme added 13:06 - Apr 26 I have been saying this for a long time:- we are all grateful to Mick for saving us from certain relegation and we have improved season upon season, until this year, where I believe the injury situation, particularly to Ryan Fraser, robbed us of a potential top six place. However, the football has been dire in a lot of games. I have wanted Mick out for quite some time, but am prepared to wait and see what he does in the summer and the style of football next season, before I rant about him again. I have tried to be positive but the football has to improve completely.

3

brian_a_mul added 13:12 - Apr 26 MM can only play the players available to him. When squad is fully fit he prefers a more creative team. We saw this with Fraser, AMN, Murph and Freddie in the team with Bru in midfield. When Bish and Didz are back we will see them naturally come in to the team and lift the quality of play. Give him a break! Well done again Dozzer
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tractorshark added 13:29 - Apr 26 PenguinBlue - 'Any half decent manager could have got us out of the mess 3/4 years ago' I beg to differ. The season Mick took over, you needed 55 points to stay up. We had, what was it, seven?? when he started. To put that into perspective MK Dons are going down on 39 at the moment. I'd argue it took a very decent manager to save us that year. Maybe you've been playing too much Championship Manager on your PC and think it's a doddle. Since then we've steadily risen until this season where we've stumbled. Mick has to take part of the blame, along with Evans, injuries etc but surely he deserves one more season at least to put that right.

8

Penguinblue added 13:37 - Apr 26 never played Championship manager or any similar crap in my life. Prefer real football (not hoofball) Like to be entertained by football - have not been by McCarthy McCarthy OUT
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mutters added 14:42 - Apr 26 Penguinblue lol - i think you're wrong there fella. MM did a great job, and not something that a lot of managers could have done. He pulled us out of the mire we were in, and got us into top 10. Now we'd all like it to go further, but you know these things take time. Sure this season is not as good as last, but hey two of our most gifted players have been out for almost the whole season. Why do people choose to ignore this massive fact, it has impacted our season and the way we play more than MM dodgy tactics.

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bohslegend added 16:04 - Apr 26 The Pretzels (aka the Realists) have moaned all the way through the season that MM doesn't give youth a chance and once again have been proven wrong with him bringing young Dozz in for his debut AGED 16!! (this is worth putting in capitals - name any other managers at any professional level who have done that this season?). I agree entirely with the genuine context mentioned previously - we have suffered injuries to our most creative players for long periods of the season - Bish, Didzy, Fraser, Murph (maybe not so creative - but when fit our best goal threat) and Bru. With the 50p budget we have for new signings we simply cannot sustain that and still threaten the playoffs - and yet, we will likely finish only a couple of places outside the playoffs which in itself given those injuries is a real achievement. I cannot for the life of me understand how unreasonable some fans are. And when terms like CDM are used to describe holding midfielders I can only assume that those using that term are (like my 11 year old son) experts on FIFA 16.

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HarryS_H added 17:19 - Apr 26 I literally don't understand some of our fans... Mick has given a 16 year old a chance in professional football which is not something you see a lot of these days. Every one is moaning about the style of play and the performances but the team are trying to fix it. You can't play with 5/6 attacking players on a pitch it you need 1 or 2 in midfield to hold and be a solid anchor. Giving Andre his chance was a smart move and he has taken his chance well. Saying mick will ruin him is a very unintelligent thing to say because if he has talent, then he has talent no one can take that away from him

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Dissboyitfc added 18:41 - Apr 26 Spanishblue...stop comparing us to the teams that went wrong, you could also compare us to Leicester or Bournemouth if things went differently. Shall we start aspiring to be like the successful teams and stop this appreciation for mediocrity and safety. This thread was about young Dozzell, a future Diamond of that i have no doubt!
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Dissboyitfc added 19:39 - Apr 26 Prebsa... what is you dont agree with about my post? are you happy where we are? or do you aspire to better things for our team?
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