Boss Mick McCarthy believes there have been more positives than negatives during Town’s 2015/16 season, despite the Blues having been unable to replicate last year’s play-off finish. McCarthy’s side complete their home fixtures this afternoon when the MK Dons visit Portman Road for the first time in their short history.

“I think there have been a lot more positives than negatives but because it’s finished pretty poorly because of the performances at home and results at home [the mood’s more negative].

“Our fans haven’t seen us as we have been in previous seasons when we’ve been all over teams and we’ve been vibrant and we’ve got crosses in and had shots, scored goals and got good results.

“I bet Brentford fans are flying at the minute, I bet they think they’re great, feel they’ve had a great season.

“They’re still beneath us and they had an awful time but [they’ve just won five out of six, drawing the other], until they lost at Hull they had great results.

“They’ll be thinking it’s great, but they’re still four points behind us, despite their good run, as are Fulham, Leeds and Wolves and a lot of others. We’ve had more positives than negatives, but we’ve just finished on a low for us.”

Regarding criticism of his team’s style of football, he added: “We’ve had a bad end to the season really, a poor end to the season. But I look to before that when we were threatening to be in the play-offs and I didn’t hear any grumbles about the way we played.

“That was because we were playing better, we were looking a real threat every time we went forward, we were full of energy, we created chances.

“I think the criticism and the moans and groans have come because of results really. And if people tolerate other stuff when you’re winning, I think that’s slightly disingenuous - whenever you’re winning it’s OK.

“I thought we played well and last season we played well and we’ve done nothing different.”

While McCarthy is criticised for being too direct in his approach other managers elsewhere, such as Everton boss Roberto Martinez, have come under pressure with their sides playing prettier football.

“I love the way they play and I think they’ve got really good players,” the Town boss added. “I wonder how much James McCarthy and some of those players cost. They have got good players.

“That is the flipside of it. Manchester United, they keep the ball for fun and they’re getting pelters from their fans because they’re not winning games.

“Arsenal play the best football and the team, God forbid, who plays the ‘worst football’ but have the best defenders and hit more long passes are pissing the league by seven points at the minute, they play 4-4-2 and they get the best out of them.

“Go through them all, each and every team has got their identity and I think we all like that identity when it’s winning games.

“And when it’s not, people stop liking that identity and poor old Roberto Martinez, who I think is a really good manager and coach, is getting pelters at the minute and there’s a wave of support that will probably see him out of a job.

“What are they going to do then, get somebody who plays a different brand of football? I don’t know. I think they’ve been very, very close to being a good team but because they haven’t have won games they should have they’ve ended up being like a mediocre one.”

McCarthy feels fans’ frustrations at Town may have been overstated: “Our support’s been fantastic. I just think there’s a little element of social media that you guys [the media] pick up on about me getting loads of abuse and the players.

“I think they’ve been fantastic. There’s only been one game this season when I think they turned on me and turned on the players and that was Rotherham and I was as annoyed and as upset and as frustrated and as angry as anybody. And I got it. But overall our fans have been fabulous.

“I think some of the away games we’ve been to, certainly those close at hand, Charlton, Fulham, have been amazing. And other places we’ve gone, we went to Huddersfield and we had a wonderful support up there. At Bolton we had a wonderful support.

“They’ve been brilliant and, do you know what? They’ve been wonderful to me as well over the last three and a half, nearly four years and I appreciate every bit of it.”

Moving on to the lap of appreciation which traditionally follows the final home game of the season, McCarthy says it’s a chance for the players and staff to pay tribute to supporters, although he admits he’d feel uncomfortable doing so if fans were less welcoming.

“I’m not bothered, I’m quite happy to walk in the tunnel and not come back out if nobody wants us to, that doesn’t bother me one little bit,” he said.

“And I’m not being strange or funny about that, I think it’s lovely at the end of the season to show our appreciation to all the fans who have travelled, lots of them come and pay good money to watch us and support us and are there for us.

“And if that’s what everybody wants, or a percentage of them wants, then that’s exactly what we’ll do and I won’t feel awkward at all.

“I’d feel awkward if there were a load of people stood there booing me, I just wouldn’t bother me barney and I wouldn’t go out. We’ll see.

“But I hope the fans do stay so we can show our appreciation to them and they would show their appreciation to a group of lads who have put a great effort in, but who ultimately haven’t been good enough. But I still think there’s a lot to be proud of with them.”

He says he’ll look at why the Blues failed make the top six and why home form was less impressive during 2015/16, although he already has a good idea.

“I’ll look at the teams we have played against and analyse what they’re trying to do to us, which I know already, I don’t have to look too closely - I think we’ve been caught on the break quite a bit, I think teams have broken on us - and just make sure that that doesn’t happen next season.”

Town have spent a lot less cash than plenty of sides set to finish below them in the table, but McCarthy says he’s not using that as excuse for the Blues’ failure to make the play-offs.

“I know but fans don’t want to hear that,” he continued. “That is a matter of fact, but they still don’t want to hear that.

“I’m not citing that, I can tell you I’m disappointed, I’m upset and angry that we’ve not done it.

“I’m irked that we haven’t played better than we have and had better performances and better results.

“But that is a fact, there’s no question about that. There are a lot of teams who will finish beneath us that would certainly swap with us.”

He added: “We’re all a bit gloomy about the way the season has ended, I don’t blame [the fans for feeling like that]. I’m not knocking them, but what they have had, and I go back to the lap of appreciation, is a team that’s scrapped for every single bit for them.

“And the one thing that was said to me when I walked in this door was, ‘The team have downed tools, nobody’s bothered, there are players who don’t care about the club [when they're] inside the club or outside the club’ and that there was apathy surrounding it.

“That can’t be said now, that can’t be said of the squad of players who are here because they do care about the club, they care about the support that they get, they care about the work that they do in the community because they’re all very good at that.

“So surrounding the club there are far more positives than negatives. But it just goes to show, Everton are playing wonderful football in the Premier League, they nearly got to the final of the FA Cup and they want to sack the manager.

“I get it, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for two years, so I’ll be back here next season trying to get the team revitalised and up and at it like we were at the start of this season.”

Having recently been linked with Aston Villa and with one report earlier in the week claiming he could be leaving Portman Road in the summer, he added: “You can rule me out of anything, I’m staying here. Unless Man United come in, as I keep telling you. And I don’t see that happening.”

Photo: Action Images

Dissboyitfc added 06:08 - Apr 30 such a shame, he is going nowhere, i will still hope for change.
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BlueMachines added 07:09 - Apr 30 More BS from Mick.
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prebbs007 added 07:22 - Apr 30 Hahahahaha !!!! More positives ???? Who ???? What ???? You're deluded man. The only positive from this season is Bart. The next would be if you foxtrot oscar. You're hoofball style is embarrassing. Your loyalty to dross underperforming out of position useless idiots is misguided and you're head in the sand excuses are boring. Saying others would swap places with us is not good enough. Play offs last year much better squad this year (according to you and the owner) and a horrendous set of results and performances in 2016. You set the team up and how they play and you have massively failed. So cut the cr&p, were sick to death of hearing it. We want football played at our great club again and entertainment, you can't deliver that so go away and the fans will return. You're a dinosaur with no plan B ever. Bye bye !!!!!

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TractorCam added 07:29 - Apr 30 The only positives from this season have been signing Fraser on loan (who's been injured for half of the season anyway), having a terrific goalkeeper in Bart (who bench warmed for Gerken for months) and Dozzell making and scoring on his debut What else has been positive?
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jabberjackson added 07:47 - Apr 30 Injuries to creative players Playing Douglas with Skuse Chambers at full back There it is.
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muccletonjoe added 07:51 - Apr 30 We had fraser, bishop, didz and murph injured for large chunks of the season . I dont see how we can blame mm for that. Positives are we still managed top 10 , the form of bart theae last 3 months is a huge positive. Dozzell coming into the team is another plus and having 2 or 3 other academy players ready for the first team has to be an advantage next season. I am sure the negatives will be pointed out extensively so i will not bore anyone wirh those.

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Suffolk_n_Good added 07:53 - Apr 30 Two wrongs don't make a right Mick, sitting there & saying "lots of teams would swap places with us" doesn't mean we've done well, comparing us & Everton is actually quite interesting, They are a club who have languished around mid table, fans see other teams around them doing better, & what have those teams done? Spent a bit of wisely invested money!!! Where have I heard those wishes before!!! You seem to constantly try to drain any bit of fan support you do have, by trying your best to aggravate the fans, you seem to like your own stubbornness just a bit too much, & take every opportunity to verbally stick two fingers up to us. I will still support ITFC next season, the season after that & many more, but that doesn't mean I have to blindly agree with the manager & his style of play, Mick has bottled it at times this season, we should be "going for the jugular" rather than this "there's no such thing as a bad point" attitude, this has to change into a "we are going out there to win" philosophy for next season, regardless of how much we spend.

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jas0999 added 08:02 - Apr 30 Disagree with this. The fact that we are somehow 8th is to an extent a positive but equally really does show what an exceptionally poor league this is. Poor cheap summer signings on the whole, then despite a decent start the wheels came off after the debacle at Reading. There were one or two good showing since then, a few last minute winners but again overall the home form was poor. Defensive tactics have led to boring negative football which has given us an extremely bad name and reputation amongst opposition fans. Rightly so. Then we mustn't overlook the complete lack of ambition by the unambitious owner in January. Four out one for a fee, just two cheap options in. Not promotion ambition that's for sure and since then the record speaks for itself. Not too many goals, not too many wins. Dreadful stuff. Overhaul required.

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Keaneish added 08:12 - Apr 30 I can think of four positives this season: - We never got relegated - The form of Bart - Dozzell's debut and goal - Watching Ryan Fraser play That's it. The fact you called Charlton away an "amazing" game shows how out of touch you are. I was bored out I my mind and left early for the first time in my life!
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Blue_Dwarf added 08:18 - Apr 30 To be fair to MM he is a pretty honest bloke. I'm sure if Fraser, McGoldrick & Bishop would have been fit we would have got top 6. If he stops playing Chambers at right back next season as any decent team who play on the deck have full backs who are natural ball players we will be moving forward again. Douglas contract extension is insane though he is past it.
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Penguinblue added 08:29 - Apr 30 Biggest negative is McCarthy - all the other crap, dire hoofball, no entertainment, favoritism, moronic stubbornness when he is wrong (goalkeepers)- contempt for supporters - stems from McCarthy. Even when we were winning, as a 'football' manager he is crap. There were complaints by (total lack) of style. Reread with the dark one said about MM - he was 100% right. No to hoofball - save Town McCarthy OUT

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BrettenhamBlue added 08:33 - Apr 30 Keaneish has hit the nail on the head but I need to add Foley to that list. A midfield General who is actually a full back. And Sears when he is not playing wing. I'd say there are more negatives to the season overall. Rocket ball played for most of the season Most boring football team in uk and Europe Mcgoldrick, bishop, Fraser injured at different points in season for long periods Awful loss to Portsmouth in FA Cup Form of Murphy average Form of Douglas and Toure poor Form of Coke ........ Too much pressure on Bart to be a 10/10 keeper every game due to defensive or midfield lapses Can't even remember how we got knocked out of other cup as so long ago General form of U16 and U18 not good u21 squad generally poor Loss of Sam Ford for next to nothing. A player said to be "the next Wilfried Zaha". (Daily Mail) Loss of Oar, Parr, Connolly etc for very little transfer fee I could go on but think you get the gist. It's not been a great season.

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footyblue added 10:41 - Apr 30 to me the lack of football has been the issue and always will be with Macarthey
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GiveusaWave added 10:55 - Apr 30 I firmly believe that Mick is the right man for the job, but also fully agree that the football is turgid and boring. It was summed up by the Fulham game when after they scored we spent the next 20 minutes time wasting and then right at the end actually started to pump it forward and try to score. That's one thing about our play I really do not understand. Why do we time waste even AFTER the opposition has taken the lead? I have seen this happen SEVEN times this season and it's one aspect of MM's tactics that I just don't get. It is slightly more understandable at 0-0, but does that mean we are aiming for a 0-0 every game? Serious investment is needed. MM needs money to bring in a rb, 2 creative midfielders and a young and hungry striker who can score goals for fun at this level. We also need to RETAIN Bart and Sears at all costs. I feel MM simply hasn't had the funding to date hence the likes of Coke et al.

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htb added 11:28 - Apr 30 He is plain wrong that people have only started complaining about the style of football for the last couple of months a lot of us were complaining about it last season too . Unfortunately it is clear he will never change and regrettably does not look as though he will be leaving us any time soon. Very sad and I really feel he is destroying the reputation of this club and we are in danger of losing a generation of supporters. My three kids have one by one said they don't want to go anymore as it is so boring!

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superblue70 added 11:36 - Apr 30 He's hit the bottle early today.
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Daleyitfc added 12:50 - Apr 30 MM still not paying any attention to what's going on around him then : he can't seem to remember how we played last year either, when the football was nearly as bad but we had Murphy sticking in half chances and we weren't saddled with "36 but plays like he's 56" Douglas.
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joepublic added 13:09 - Apr 30 He will say absolutely anything except acknowledge that he may be wrong in playing too defensively and with zero style.
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bohslegend added 13:54 - Apr 30 So many just have it in for MM. No matter what he says or anyone else who dares to put our late season form in context, some people will turn everything in to a reason to criticise the man. I've asked many of MM's critics in the past, if not Mick, who then? Taking fully into account no funds for transfers, and the absolute need for playing tiki takka even if we are getting beaten and looking like being relegated, who could get us promoted to the Prem?

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TimmyH added 14:20 - Apr 30 Sorry Mick what are you going on about!?! - your now mentioning Brentford again saying I bet they feel great as they've played well of late, just the other week before we played them you said 'be careful what you wish for' in regards to how Brentford have got on this season (they made the play-offs last season too). The fact is there has not been much between the 2 clubs this season yet they lost their managerial team and a lot of players, not sure what excuse we have!

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