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McCarthy: Beaten By the Champions
Saturday, 22nd Oct 2016 18:16

Town boss Mick McCarthy tipped Newcastle for the Championship title after the table-topping Magpies had beaten the Blues 3-0 at St James’ Park.

“We were beaten by the better team, beaten by the champions if anything,” McCarthy said. “If I see a better team than that this year I’ll be surprised.

“I’ve just spoken to the players and that was one of those days. Having given the goal away, there wasn’t a lot really we could do about it. We were trying everything to stop them and get a foothold in the game.

“To be fair, the one pleasing thing was that we kept it at 1-0 for 70 minutes. We gave the ball away from a throw-in that we had for their second goal but nevertheless the finish was fabulous.

“All three finishes were fabulous and I wonder if we’d have had those chances or anybody else, would they have scored them, I don’t know. They were better than us, they are better than us, they’ll be champions in my view.”

McCarthy was reminded that he warned against allowing Newcastle, who scored their first goal in the opening minute, make a strong start at his pre-match press conference.

“I was the prophet of doom, wasn’t I?” he reflected. “I said I didn’t want to let them have the ball, we tried to press, we didn’t really do it particularly well, we didn’t get in a tackle.

“Maybe if somebody could have put in a tackle and put somebody on their arse and upset the crowd and got them going, but we didn’t, we didn’t get anywhere near them.

“I don’t know how many passes they had before it ended up in our net. It was difficult to stop.”


McCarthy made changes of system and personnel as the game progressed but to no avail.

“Yes, none of it worked,” the Town boss added ruefully. “And the players, they’re all knackered, they’ve all tried their nuts off, they’ve worked really, really hard and done it like they do every week for me, put a shift in.

“I can’t really say any more, they are a very good team, they played very well, they deserved to win and we got what we deserved, which was nothing.”

Was it any consolation that for a spell in second half Town made it difficult for Newcastle?

“I think we got in their half a couple of times,” McCarthy joked. “It’s not a consolation. I know my lads have worked really hard and having kept it to 1-0 in the first half, the second half at 70 minutes the crowd’s just getting a little bit fractious, they’ve passed a few balls out.

“Everybody knows that if you can keep it at that, you might get a corner and nick one, a freekick, you catch them on the break, there’s a mistake.

“Unfortunately that’s the disappointing thing, that we didn’t keep it at that and take it a bit longer, and that we had the ball [ahead of the goal], we gave it away it was our throw-in.”

Did Town miss Cole Skuse, a regular in central midfield throughout his time at Portman Road, who missed out with a toe injury.

“Whether that would have had such a bearing on it playing against them, I don’t know,” the Blues boss continued.

“He’s been an ever-present Skusey, so you know what I think of him and how important he is to the team.

“It’s never nice to leave a player of his importance to a team, but I’m just hoping he’ll be fit for Saturday.”

Regarding Leon Best’s half-time withdrawal, McCarthy said that it was tactical rather than down to an injury: “He dislocated his finger, he had it put back in. But no, I wanted Didzy on the pitch and I wasn’t going to have the two of them on the pitch.

“I didn’t think I was going lose anything, I was only going to gain something by getting Didzy 45 minutes. I thought he did all right and he’ll be a lot better for playing 45 minutes in the first team.”

Jonas Knudsen was also replaced at the break and that was down to an injury, McCarthy confirmed: “Jonas couldn’t stand up straight, he ricked his back, so he was in real pain because he is a tough lad, he couldn’t carry on.”

McCarthy was pleased with Josh Emmanuel, who took over in the unfamiliar left-back role: “Josh did fine, he was all right. He’s never going to be spraying the ball about from that position, he doesn’t particularly do that from the right-back slot, so difficult on his left. But he defended well, I thought he did really well. Josh is fine.”

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez was delighted to see his side claim their fifth successive win.

“I would say it was another good win because it’s not easy to win in this competition,” he said.

“I thought we played really well in the first half, we had a lot of chances, we could have scored more goals but we didn’t do it, so we had to work hard in the second half when they were pushing and pressing high and it was not easy to pass the ball in the way we wanted to until we scored the second goal.

“After the second goal we had even more control and it easy at the end because you can see the result, but it was difficult during the game, especially the second half.”


Photo: Action Images



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Norwichbeater added 18:24 - Oct 22
Look at Norwich score MM. U idiot. You can't concede games. Go away. Grrrrrr
17

Norwichbeater added 18:26 - Oct 22
His comments prove that we have no desire or intention of gaining promotion. I don't believe any other club would concede a game before kick off.
28

tractorboyjim added 18:27 - Oct 22
Seven subs and no natural cover for left back?! Kenlock instead of Digby on the bench, if a CB gets injured Emmaunuel on and Chambers to CB. Am I the only one who believes even the subs bench was wrong?

Starting 11, when going to a club like Newcastle... why not just go for it? Would much rather lose giving it one helluva go, as opposed to barely venturing into the opposition half. Truth is, there's been way too many games like this already this season.

George Burley got it spot on in our first season in the PL. Away from home we always went for it and, against teams far superior in stature and players at their disposal, we won as many as we lost and had one of the better away records that year!

Doesn't get me down losing to a better team, our current first team philosophy does!
44

groovyASH added 18:27 - Oct 22
What an incredibly annoying comment that is from MM, beaten by the champions, really? You're declaring a team champions on October 22nd going totally against your usual policy of saying don't worry about the league table until February or March.

The fact of today is our game-plan was undone after 60 seconds and we had no plan B, we never do have a plan B. We are still incredibly weak up-front, even if Best played well our only out-and-out striker on the pitch has managed a grand total of 0 in his games this season. Number 1 role of a striker has got to be one capable of finding the net.

We saw off Burton but they have a poor defence and will always ship goals, that does not mask for me the point that a massive lack of goals is likely to go on and cost us. I do not see us getting more than 7 or 8 before January and when that comes, we really need to seriously sort that weakness out.
25

Norwichbeater added 18:31 - Oct 22
Spot on groovy. How can he predict the championship winners. Idiotic comments as usual.
11

jas0999 added 18:33 - Oct 22
The football club needs major changes and has done so for a while. This once proud club is no more. 2016 has been simply woeful and no one seems to care, instead focusing on the occasional good result and yes men spinning a yarn. The owner certainly has no ambition or it would seem drive. Stuck in a rut perhaps sums it up?
33

carlo88 added 18:34 - Oct 22
I don't know how you can winge at today's result. They're probably the most nailed on Championship winners for decades.
-23

grubbyoik added 18:34 - Oct 22
8th from bottom.. A lucky win against Burton papering over the Mcarthy cracks.. im bored of watching his teams play.. Im bored of listening to his interviews.. Im bored of his team selection.. I'm bored of his tactics.. Bored waiting for the creative players to come back from injury.. Bored.. Bored .. Bored..
41

DurhamTownFan added 18:38 - Oct 22
I don't care what happens with the opposition. Why can't we focus on our team and think about what we have to offer? It's sad to think I we seemed to have thrown the towel in after 59 seconds! MM should have more faith in his players and let them express themselves more often. This fear of conceding is stifling our whole team
28

PSGBlue added 18:42 - Oct 22
Claims Newcastle will be champions, only to justify why we have come up short yet again. I wonder if the matches away at Brighton, Norwich perhaps Sheff Wed will also be against the Champions when we lose to them.
24

sixtyblue added 18:42 - Oct 22
Agent rid of the cretin Evans
9

smellmycheese added 18:44 - Oct 22
God no, lets not have TWO strikers on the pitch at the same time Mick.....whatever next!!!!!!!
TWO strikers!!! Best and McGoldrick!!!! Away at Newcastle.....that would be shocking.....
Mick ; it's not F.CKING Bayern Munich or Barcelona. Grow some F.CKING balls man!!
32

Ipswich_Crazy added 18:44 - Oct 22
Mick, Enough with your excuses! Tell us! why be do pig headed? Us fans have had enough now! You better hope we beat Rotherham or be prepared to be chanted out!
20

evansblue added 18:46 - Oct 22
As the weeks pass I get more and more frustrated with some of our naive and deluded fans.

No shame in today's result against a team who are certainties for promotion. I would go as far to say they will get 100 points and I can't recall a stronger championship team.

Roll on next Saturday - been far too long since a home Saturday game. Time for a beer. Cheers
-19

ChrisFelix added 18:48 - Oct 22
So today we played a good team. What about the last 4 weeks. Negative tactics playing TWO defensive midfielders & not supporting Best as our loan target man
32

Tractorboy1985 added 18:50 - Oct 22
douglas knackered??? I've seen golfers who have used more energy! Maybe he'll try more at the golf day Wednesday?? #f**kinguseless
26

geminimustang added 18:52 - Oct 22
MM & TC have overachieved with ITFC for years and credit to them.ITFC are,at best,a mid-table team.They simply don't have the financial clout to mix it with the big boys.Sack MM?Who on this planet will do a better job with freebies,loans and youngsters?Newcastle will embarrass most teams this year so today's result was never in doubt.I say,give MM until the end of the season and see what funds he receives in January. Personally,i think he's doing ok with the players he's got and the guy should be given some slack until you see the table at the season end.Don't forget the injuries of late.
-14

Fatcatevans added 19:07 - Oct 22
MM is so full of fear. The man is scared to give anything a go and uses the fact that the other sides cost money as an excuse to play his ultra defensive anti ipswich football. Last night I was at a sportsmans evening where Messrs Whymark Osborne Butcher and Hunter were in attendance. Only the last named cost anything. They would not have sought solace in Micks tactics. They would and did embrace the challenge of playing against costly opponents. The results speak for themselves. For goodness sake man up MM, there's no disgrace in losing if you give it a go. At the moment you are making us look pathetic
35

Bluetone added 19:17 - Oct 22
Why does McCarthy always give, in his arrogant way, that given the opponents financial clout and players he could at the very least match them and probably do better. The man's arrogance and self belief is astounding but unfortumnately misplaced.
17

pistolknight added 19:30 - Oct 22
I don't want to finger point at anyone in particular but I do feel that my football club is broke!! I've been a season ticket holder for 16 years and I'm just really not that bothered anymore, I used to look forward to going to the footy all week leading up to the game i'd be buzzing but I'm getting really flat with it all!! It's not just the results but the way the team plays!! I'm really hoping to see some improvements quickly with hopefully some of our more creative players back to fitness!! It's just poor to average football where at the minute we are just doing enough to be mid table at best!! There are 4 to 5 nailed on players playing week on week who just aren't good enough to take us where we want to go!! Really hope something changes quickly but with the current infrastructure the whole way through the football club I really cannot see that happening any time soon!! #bored
26

alfromcol added 19:49 - Oct 22
Newcastle champions already, so were Norwich - yesterday!!!! What a load of crap MM spouts. Of course we were going to get beaten, he went there looking for 0-0 or nicking a goal. If that didn't work we lost. No plan B again.
19

Bobby_Petta added 19:59 - Oct 22
“He's been an ever-present Skusey, so you know what I think of him and how important he is to the team.
What a joke! thats the problem, our Midfield is woeful with Ex Skuse and Douglas play. These are the sort of players Mick likes as its suits his boring style, these two wouldn't make it in many Championship first teams. How to these two keep out the likes of Bishop, Dozzell. I worry for the young players like Dozzell and Emmaunuel, we need to build for the future, with Mick we are going nowhere. You can Blame Evans for lack of Investment but you don't need loads of cash to progress, with have some talented youngest coming through. If you don't start giving them game time they will not develop.
The club has no long term plan, Mick plays the percentage game, he grinds out results this was ok 4 years ago, have we progressed since then? I don't think we have.
18

Lathers added 20:00 - Oct 22
Dire football, zero entertainment, poor team selections, old skool tactics, arrogance, etc etc etc etc, do we need to be in the bottom 3 before Evans finally acts?
19

goat_man added 20:05 - Oct 22
Lol why does beating us mean they are nailed on for promotion? We've lost to loads of teams in the last 16 years and they don't all go up.
11

dukey44 added 20:09 - Oct 22
Sorry but come on enough bull from manager every week now. It's rather boring now. Mick face it you just not good enough. What difference will it make to Evans if we win lose or draw? It's falling on deaf ears now. I luv Ipswich and have for over 40 years now!! Mick please do the right thing for once.... leave please!!!
20


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