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McCarthy: Search for Signings Will Go Right to the Wire
Tuesday, 17th Jan 2017 06:00

Blues boss Mick McCarthy believes Town’s search for January recruits could go right to the wire.

So far Town have added striker Kieffer Moore from Forest Green Rovers for £10,000 and free agent right-back Jordan Spence, who had been on trial with the Blues earlier in the season.

On Saturday McCarthy said he had made offers for a number of higher profile players but so far without success.

“We’ve had three or four one million pound-plus bids in for players, but they’ve all been kiboshed,” he said.

“We’re still working on them and trying to do them, but if they’re too expensive I can’t do owt about it.”

The situation remained the same as of yesterday’s press conference with McCarthy believing clubs have been unwilling to allow their players to move on until they’ve brought in new recruits of their own.

“And I also think prices are inflated, no doubt about it, especially in the Championship," McCarthy said.

“[Brentford’s] Scott Hogan, who I think is a really good player and I think would be a good signing [West Ham having been linked], but we’re talking about £15 million.

“How does that process down for every other striker that is wanted or available? Or any other player in the Championship for that matter?

“We’ve seen Jonathan Kodjia go for £15 million [from Bristol City to Aston Villa] and Ross McCormack went for a similar fee. It’s crazy prices, unfortunately.

Does he believe his search for players will drag on and go right to the wire, with the window closing at 11pm on January 31st?

“Yes, I think that will be the case," he added. "I just can’t see it going any other way.

“And it’s the same with loan deals because clubs can’t take anybody else in, there are no emergency loans, that’s really had an effect that, that’s really started to bite.

“I think clubs are going to be very cautious in what they do and if they can’t get players in then they’ll keep the players they’ve got.”


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Suffolk_n_Good added 07:17 - Jan 17
Sorry but this is all hot wind & excuses, I accept prices are inflated in January, but this really is a case of let's put a seven figure bid in for "X" player, MM & EVANS know it won't be accepted, because the valuation they are putting on a player is no where near what the parent club value the same player, this is proved by what MM says about other players moving on.

But they can then come out (YET AGAIN!) wave their arms around about how "we tried" "we've had seven figure bids in" "we'll keep looking but it looks unlikely" since the day Murphy left they've known the January window was coming, this should of been sorted weeks ago.....

But EVANS is taking us for mugs again, by signing a non-league striker for £10,000 & a right back who couldn't get in the MK Dons side for free!!! It's ok banging on about Mings, Vardy, Kightly, but let's get realistic for every player who makes it from being plucked from non-league, there are hundreds who aren't good enough, hence why they are playing non-league football.

I'm prepared to give these lads a chance, but they are not the answer to our already dire squad. Wait for the news articles saying the players we have bids in for will suddenly of been signed by another club, who were prepared to put in a genuine offer, these articles will appear any day now, mark my words..... #sadtimes #mccarthyout #evanssellitfc
1

Umros added 07:28 - Jan 17
Why are we not surprised, same old bull churned out every window, pre window, looking to close deals early, mid window, how difficult it is, post, how unlucky we were and we had a valuation and weren't prepared to go up. Get the Murphy money spent now on some quality Instead of hopeful freebies and loans instead. #evans out.
3

backwiththeboysagain added 07:29 - Jan 17
Couldn't agree more Suffolk_n_Good, I'm probably reading too much into it but I'm hoping MM & ME have already agreed he's off in the summer, the reason being the two already bought are on contracts for 6 & 18 months. At the end of the month when all we have is these two and possibly one crap loan it'll be the same BS, ooh we tried but nothing came of it.
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ArnieM added 07:30 - Jan 17
They appear to be sticking to the 5 point plan.

If these players develop ( 24yrs of age is not too late), then he will have pulled off another coup surely. Let's just give any new player a chance. At the least that would be the decent thing to do by the fans.
10

wkj added 07:36 - Jan 17
There hasn't been very much transfer business at all in the Championship; so yes, It will go to the wire - Im not Mick's biggest fan, but some of the expectations on him are really out of focus
10

Suffolk_n_Good added 07:50 - Jan 17
Well let's see who's right come the end of the month shall we wkj?
-2

thebeat added 08:24 - Jan 17
Just the 4 months since Murphy left to plan how to spend his fee. No excuse.
They have no intention of spending that money, itll be a a couple of poor workhorse loans and the excuse that our bids were rejected blah blah blah.
-2

Superfrans added 08:30 - Jan 17
Some of the comments above are idiotic. £15m for a player, when our annnual turnover is only just about that? Cloud cuckoo land. Why would we do that? The money being bandied around in the Championship is crazy. Nothing we can do, if that's the case - except hunt for better value deals.
13

iaintaylorx added 08:30 - Jan 17
As much as I want Mick out and I'm tired of his excuses, he is right to some extent. We can't compete with clubs offering stupid sorts of money and now seeing that Chris Wood, Scott Hogan etc are valued at £15M, we will be being priced out due to clubs wanting more than they're worth.

Look in the lower leagues and find some gems, along with a one or two £1-2M signings and we may be alright!
9

martin587 added 08:31 - Jan 17
I accept the club cannot afford to spend big,BUT, surely MM must have been searching out players last year to try and sign in the January window.
We all seem to be going for the same players,do we not have a scouting system where we can look abroad etc.
If as MM says it will go to the wire,does this mean we will only get the scraps other clubs don't want.
Of course this is disappointing for the club but it also affects the supporters as well who are spending a great deal of money on mediocre football.
Sorry ,but it's true.!
7

wkj added 08:35 - Jan 17
You kind of contradict yourself a little with this line- "I'm prepared to give these lads a chance, but they are not the answer to our already dire squad." I mean, you're prepared to give them a chance, but you've already decided they aren't going to help fix the problems.

As for being right at the end of the window, I based my comment purely on today, being the whole of the Championship has been quiet up until now
2

SheptonMalletBlue added 08:54 - Jan 17
Heard it all before!!!!!
-2

Suffolk_n_Good added 08:59 - Jan 17
No contradiction at all, I am prepared to give them a chance, like I give every player who pulls a Town shirt on, & I whole heartedly hope they prove to be great signings, but we are in dire need of proven Championship quality or League one players ready for the next step, these lads will take time to settle in it's a big step up from non-league to Championship football. & the problem is as fans we will have unrealistic expectations of them too soon.

We have so little ambition shown from our owner now, coupled with being a Championship team for 14 seasons that some fans are ready to accept mediocrity as our level, well I'm not, we are Ipswich Town Football Club, we should be at least financially competing with teams like Huddersfield, Brighton, Sheffield Weds, off the pitch, but sadly we're not. (& before someone says it, I have expected us to compete with those clubs receiving parachute payments, I haven't met any Town fan who expects us to be bidding £8m+ on a player, but I know plenty who agree we should be able to compete around the £2m mark......

1

Suffolk_n_Good added 09:00 - Jan 17
*DO NOT Expect us to compete!!!
-2

dirtydingusmagee added 09:20 - Jan 17
I think he is trying to let us down gently,to the probability that we will not sign Messi or Costa.
2

braveblue added 09:56 - Jan 17
Just get out Evans.
-4

blues1 added 10:00 - Jan 17
Umros. You say let's get the Murphy money spent. Well ive got news for u. We already have. Or at least we've spent 2 thirds of what we've already received (£3m). It cost us £2m of that to sign Best,Lawrence and Williams on the last deadline day.
-1

Surco72 added 10:19 - Jan 17
If prices are so over inflated MM why did you let our main goal threat and top scorer in the whole division a few years ago go for £ 3million ?
Why did you let him go without a replacement as the other clubs you mention are doing ?
If you have 3 or 4 bids of a million out there why don't we sign one player for £2million or more that could be the real difference like Murphys goals were ?
Same excuses we have heard for years with MM only signing cheap unknowns or loans that he cant be judged on as " it was worth a punt "

Blues1 ...same old tired excuse we didn't pay Williams while he was deemed not fit hence MM kept saying he wasn't ready to play , we are only paying a portion of Lawrences wages and that would be no different budget to paying Fraser's and ANM's last year and Best cannot be on the same money that Murphy was on so a saving there plus the £3 million
-3

nhabo added 10:25 - Jan 17
How many football clubs do we need to see go under before people drop the 'splash the cash' demands and stop equating 'showing some ambition' with spending lots of money? Ipswich were in administration as recently as 2003. We spent massively in the early ME days with nothing to show for it. We can't afford to be a big spending club - we don't have the turnover to support it. No business can justify spending money it doesn't have or won't recoup. And why would you call for ME to go at the moment? Who is going to come in and shoulder the debt this club has? How many other owners would have enough of a long term view to invest heavily in the academy? I also still think McCarthy is doing the best job he can with the budget everyone at the club has to operate within. In these past 10-15 years, it's important to remember that we still have a football club. I think some people would improve their starting point in the argument by accepting that this is our level at the moment because I think the alternatives are far worse.
1

Razor added 10:26 - Jan 17
This is the usual old waffle and hot air from MM trying to appease the supporters for lack of/no action.

Other clubs seem to get the business done and I was really peeved last night to learn QPR are in for Walsh and also checking out Freeman at Bristol City, a good player who I mentioned last year.

This could be another frustrating and disappointing window-----but not yet!!
1

Carberry added 10:42 - Jan 17
If the market is inflated what are you doing making £1m bids? You must know you will get nothing. Murphy was sold for £3m, to get someone in of his standard you will need to spend at least ....£3m. By telling us you are getting knocked back it confirms how brainless the owner has become. It beggars belief that you spin this stuff every transfer window. And to those people on here who believe there is a diamond like Vardy playing non-league football to be sprung from his club, the answer is you can only pull so many rabbits out of a hat. I seem to remember he cost Leicester £1m from Fleetwood and so wasn't in the £10k pond we fish in!
1

Suffolk_n_Good added 10:43 - Jan 17
Here we go, here come the "Evans is our saviour" brigade, & that folks is why unfortunately nothing will change, because we have to many armchair fans/blinkered fans who will readily except this 14+ years of being in decline without direction or proper investment, so we should just all shut up, have no opinion, keep paying overinflated ticket prices to watch dull, unentertaing football, because "that's what we are" "just except we're an average Championship club"

Check out our dwindling crowd, lack of fan base, & ask all those that used to fill them empty seats if they're happy.....??

Some of you lot do my head in...... what will it take for you to finally take your head out the sand & see what's happening...... PLEASE DOWN VOTE ME, I don't care, but I do care enough to say the truth.
3

nhabo added 11:25 - Jan 17
Suffolk_n_Good - I imagine we all care on here. There aren't many who bother to post about the country's 34th best football team (on current standings) on this remote message board in the vast vacuum of the internet? :-)

What alternatives are you proposing? I would say that Evans has put in proper investment. Looking at the accounts, he's put in far more than has been taken out. How much more can he put in without reward or sustainability? If he goes, who would want to put in more?

1

Wickets added 11:37 - Jan 17
I do think Micks quotes on transfer deals are much less bull then some of his usual quotes. Lets just hope that we do get a couple of deals done so that the bit of cash he has to play with at the moment does not just evaporate away!!
1

Suffolk_n_Good added 11:52 - Jan 17
I would suggest that despite putting "£millions" in, this would appear to not be enough! Now I accept that ME may of decided enoughs enough, & he has made his decision that he is not investing a pound more than is needed to keep us in the Championship, that's his decision, but if that is the case then he should do the decent thing & put the club up for sale.

One way of looking at it is this: Invest money in quality rather than quantity, this in turn will produce a more entertaining football team (with a manager who wants to play entertaining football), the team climb the league, this draws fans back in, in creates extra revenue & will justify the ticket price, reinvest the extra money back in the team, promotion becomes a realistic target rather than a pipe dream.

At the moment the lack of investment, the lack of entertainment is driving people away, after 14 seasons of Championship football the excuses are becoming tired, people aren't prepared to buy into the promotion dream because they see no proof on the pitch.

3


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