Town boss Mick McCarthy says Blues owner Marcus Evans remained as supportive as ever when he spoke to him on Wednesday, despite the embarrassing 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Lincoln City on Tuesday, and doesn’t get the feeling the club wants to sack him.

“He was exactly the same,” McCarthy said. “He actually said he’d just about got over it and I said, ‘I haven’t’. That was yesterday. He said he’d just about got over it and I said, ‘I’m glad you have because I’m far from it’.

“He’s always very supportive, he’s great. He doesn’t come on and make me feel worse, that’s for sure.”

McCarthy says that while Evans has previously made his support clear publicly, it’s not something he feels he has to reiterate when the two speak.

“He knows I don’t need to hear it,” he added. “What I wouldn’t want to hear, and I’m sure other managers do get it from chairmen, is ‘why have you picked that one?’ and ‘why have you done this?’, ‘why have you done that?’, ‘why have you done the other?’ and who have got no idea about football and yet are telling you how to do it.

"That is the nice support that I’ve always had from Marcus, I don’t get that. It’s fine.”

He says he spent Wednesday at home with his family as he sought to get over the loss to the Imps: “I got to my bed about 2pm and I was up at quarter to six, didn’t sleep. I took my daughter to work, which was lovely, took her to the train station. Had a bit of a normal day, had my granddaughter, Fionnuala.

“I bought a newspaper and I bought it purposely just to read it and get it over and done with.

“I bought two papers, read what they had to say and I’ve been there, I’ve been that dragon slayer, it’s brilliant, it’s a great day.

“And I looked at it and I thought ‘fair play, they’ve got all the plaudits, they’re doing great, good luck to them, I can’t do anything about the result’. That was cathartic, that. Just got it out of my system.

“Do I listen anybody else? Do I heck. I don’t want anybody else’s opinion on it. I feel bad enough about it myself. Me and [director of football] Dave [Bowman] had a chat, me and TC had a chat, usual. I don’t go seeking anybody else’s counsel.”

McCarthy was again the subject of negative chants from the Blues’ support on Tuesday and he understands fans’ frustrations.

“I prefer it when I’m getting nice chants but it’s part of the gig,” he reflected. “It’s football now. We’ve had four years on an upward curve but we’re having a tough time. I kind of get it and if they want me sacked there’s not a great deal I can do about it.

“I’m going to continue working and be focused on trying to win games. And if it ends up that the club wants to sack me, they sack me, but I don’t get that feeling, I have to be honest.

“The position that we’re in, we’re not great but we’re 10 points above Blackburn, who we beat last week and 11 points from the play-offs.

“We’re kind of mid-table and, do you know what, that’s probably where we should be with the budget we have, compared to the ones above us.

“But it’s not great football, it’s not great results, I get it. Do I lose any sleep over it? I probably did on Tuesday, yes.

“But I’m more concerned about how I feel, not how other people feel about me. I’m more concerned about how we’re playing and the results that we get and not some people who want to say nasty things about me.

“It always gets worse, somebody else gets asked and they try and say something even nastier and it’s even more humiliating and more humbling, but I’m not bothered, I’m more concerned about how I feel about myself.”

He says it’s easier to take now than it was earlier in his career: “I remember being considerably younger at Millwall and how much it did affect me then. I think you tend to take it far more personally.

“I’ve got a bit more perspective on life and people who say things to be hurtful and I can still manage to speak to them now, whereas when I was younger I would probably have confronted them. I still might when the occasion comes.

“It’s a lot easier. Age has to bring something, surely. Whatever that is, I think ‘thank God for that’ sometimes because I wouldn’t want to be as angry now as I was when I was 37 because I was an angry man then. Occasionally it raises its head.

“But that doesn’t mean I want to win any less. It doesn’t mean that losing hurts me any less.

“It doesn’t mean that I can feel any better about being humbled and embarrassed by a National League side. I can’t.

“But I can just get my head around it a bit better and that when I do pick my granddaughter up it’s not eating away at me every single minute of every single day, that I get enjoyment out of that and then when I put her down and she’s gone off with my wife, I might be sat in the chair having a cup of tea and I’ll be snarling about it, but at least I can enjoy other things and it’s not as intense in my head as it always was.”

While he says there has been no progress on adding to his squad, he and Evans are continuing to work on incoming transfers with his one million-plus offers having been increased.

McCarthy says the two liaise regarding moves - “I am very much part of the process" - and on occasion he tells the Blues’ owner where to draw the line when it comes to a valuation.

“Sometimes that would be the case, yes,” he continued. “If somebody asked for a bonkers cost I’d say it’s not worth it.

“That’s not happened too often, I have to be honest. But in this inflated market I would hate to spend a whole load of money on somebody and find out he’s not that much better and end up having to keep him for the next three years on inflated wages. That wouldn’t be right either. But I leave it to Marcus pretty much, in terms of the valuation of players.”

He added: “I’ve always found if you ask somebody, if the answer’s no, it can’t be done asking in a different way and sort of begging. I’m not into that, believe me. If we can’t do it, we can’t do it. That’s been the same way for the last four years.”

Photo: TWTD

martin587 added 17:22 - Jan 19 Is that wishful thinking Mick.!!
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strikalite added 17:30 - Jan 19 Just about got over it WTF?? Obviously not in his blood which we know anyway and probably didn't watch it, if he did then the guy is a clueless version of McCarthy behind the scenes, oh no what am I on about that goes to idiot Milne. It's still on my mind that game, scarred for life I reckon.
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paulcooperisgod added 17:34 - Jan 19 No surprises really, MARCUS EVANS has to be the worse business man ever if he can't see what's happening with HIS investment. JUST GO EVANS AND TAKE THAT DINOSAUR MCCARTHY WITH YOU
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jas0999 added 17:35 - Jan 19 And this is why the club is stagnating. No one cares. No one is bothered. Just keep plodding along. Depressing stuff. The owner is a bit of a joke. Mick arrogantly sticking two fingers up. Sad times.
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dukey44 added 17:40 - Jan 19 Basically both of you can do one Evans has never had a clue how to run us? He's hidden his own debt in Ipswich Town. Wish he would come out of his hiding place and realise Micks is totally TOSH and he's not wanted here any more!!! Jesus can we go any lower???
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bostonusablue added 17:45 - Jan 19 After Tuesday's performance we are a laughing stock. With the current set up of owner and manager some would call us a joke. As a life-long Town fan, it's a joke that is not remotely funny. MM and Evans out!!
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Kesgraveblue57 added 17:46 - Jan 19 McCarthy if it's any consolation to you if you are only half of the problem , go now and spare the fans your presence in the dug out
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Hamish1979 added 17:49 - Jan 19 I really wish our supporters could lay off him now. He's staying, let's get behind him. Who do we think would come in and do any better on such a small budget? We are where an outsider would expect us to be with no investment and lots of injuries. Yes the football is terrible but we're lacking confidence, not helped by the toxic atmosphere at games. I was at QPR and thought we were really good! Give the guy a break.

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Toronto_Tractor added 17:54 - Jan 19 Is anyone else thinking that maybe ME isnt real? Or hes locked in a basement somewhere? That this is all some sort sick conspiracy carried out by double agent MIck, AKA Undercover Budgie. This slow-motion car crash defies the laws of logic. I mean surely its impossible to hoof the ball needlessly to the opposition, under no pressure, THAT MANY TIMES in a game unless you're intention is implosion and defeat. Just a thought.

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prebbs007 added 18:03 - Jan 19 Then he as big an idiot as you dinosaur !!! Thought Evans was a sensible businessman. If that were true he would act now to correct a failing business !!! But as he uses our once treat football club as a tax avoidance scheme I guess he is happy with falling revenue and attendances. Next season will see ST sales below 10k but will he care ??? Will he fck. You're both an utter joke and I truly truly hate you with a passion for what you've both done to my club. I wish you would both fark Off now and like THOUSANDS of others I won't be back until there is change !!! Tossssers

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Tractorboy1985 added 18:03 - Jan 19 We all know Mc Carthy must go.. we are so stale but with that waste of oxygen of a so called chairman at the helm we are only going one way sadly! Stop hiding behind Milne and be a proper chairman! What you are doing to this club is disgusting! If we are not careful we will become a Blackpool.. us fans can't allow that to happen!
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carlo88 added 18:03 - Jan 19 At no point has he even offered an explanation as to why we played so appallingly on Tuesday. That would be a start.
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cat added 18:04 - Jan 19 Here we go again, another 2 fingers up to the fans. It really pishes me off that MM likes to give it the big one, nothing bothers me, skin like a rhino blah blah blah. Well It's a shame Mick that you do not set your team up to play with the same fight, instead of bottling it by playing defensive midfielders, maybe under that hard exterior Mick has a soft interior!!!! MM out NOW

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therein61 added 18:13 - Jan 19 Yeah Mick your bonus for the healthy contribution to the empires tax loss(on top of your excellent salary for under performing!!) which is all Town is to Evans will be more than an average Town fan will earn in a lifetime, enjoy the money you very large arrogant failure.
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lightingblue added 18:19 - Jan 19 I see the players have had as much after the game as they did during it. Not one has come out and done a single press interview. 10k a week and their rear end goes
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WestSussexBlue added 18:20 - Jan 19 Do we think Terry Butcher is over it? Maybe Burley? Warky? Even Magilton perhaps.....No. No Blue Blood anymore and it shows. Did I also read correctly that Marcus has the final say on valuations but earlier in the interview Mick is happy to have an owner that "Knows nothing about football " My God.
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pumpee added 18:20 - Jan 19 That's because Evans is a c%*^!!!!
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dirtyboy added 18:21 - Jan 19 Being pragmatic. “We're kind of mid-table and, do you know what, that's probably where we should be with the budget we have, compared to the ones above us" Nails it on the head. However, I am bitterly disappointed with the Cup exit and the manner of that display as I'm sure we all are. Should the style of play encountered against Blackburn persist and the results pick up and goals get scored with youngsters in the team, then there is a possibility he can turn this around. Manager of ITFC is the toughest job in football at the moment I suspect.

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MicksZzzTactics added 18:31 - Jan 19 ROFL! Well good for you Mick :-).... still supported by the Phantom! No not of the bloody 'Opera'! but rather 'The Phantom of the global laughingstock & travesty that is ITFC'!!! And as I just posted elsewhere on TWTD: In much more gratifying news the Online Poll run by EADT / IS / GreenUn24 have until now had well over 4000 fans voting .... significantly more than on Phil's TWTD Poll from last month (or obviously TWTD member @The_Last_Baron's one from yesterday) and guess what 'brainiacs': An unmistakable & crystal clear consensus can be seen -- and now based on such a sizable respondent's degree that neither Milne or Evans himself can just swipe it under the old rug! --- with no less than 3/4 (74%) of those 4000+ fans who voted through one of these 3 local online papers wanting incompetent Dino Mick out NOW!!!

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rfretwell added 18:35 - Jan 19 Sh-t happens like Lincoln, we aren't the first club to go out to a much lower club and wont be the last. We are mid table in the league, most of our dynamic creative players are all injured, we are trying to replace Murphy and have bids in, Mick is giving our promising youngsters more game time, Emmanuel will now get a good run in the team with Webster injured for the rest of the season. We are moving away from hoofball and once our defence tightens up we will move up the table again. So man up and stick with Mick.

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blue75 added 18:38 - Jan 19 How much did Lincoln's team cost I'm guessing a lot less than ours and their wage bill won't be as high as ours, but their players managed to string 2 passes together. We've always punched above our weight McCarthy is not the first manager to have a limited budget. I'll bet his budget is bigger than Joe Royles and Joe's teams always entertained and nearly went up!!
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Seasider added 18:59 - Jan 19 Crikey Mick went to bed early 2pm on the afternoon of the match,couldn't sleep so went and stood for 90 mins outside the dug out at Sincil Bank shouting at your useless team.Having that wouldn't inspire me either lol! Just think every day could be like Wednesday Mick!Which paper did you read,bet it wasn't the EADT as don't do that in Kent,and they really slated that dire performance. No surprise that you don't seek others counsel (sic).Perhaps if you were not so arrogant,and its my way or the highway;we might not see so much crap dished up by your players. Also looks like Mr Evans is not the sole reason for lack of meaningful transfer activity,as you say that on occasions you TELL your boss where to draw the line(not suggest). Didn't take Evans long to get over that defeat then,as most of the true supporters are still smarting(as is Mick);but then he is only probably running the club to offset profits elsewhere,to pay as little UK tax as possible,and by keeping this Manager in post he is making sure that the season ticket applications will plummet once again in a couple of months time. Wish I could be positive,but have gradually become more despondent,as between them Evans and McCarthy grinds this once great club into the ground,and we could easily end up in the 3rd tier for the first time since I was in short trousers.

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hampstead_blue added 19:05 - Jan 19 He does make a lot of sense. It is a shame he can't get the team playing better quality football. His skill isn't in finding talent, it's coaching and setting-up a team to play good football. His honesty is to be admired.
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thechangingman added 19:07 - Jan 19 No surprises here. Mick has made MILLIONS out of Town and Evans has invested in a vanity project. Neither of them care because neither of them is emotionally bonded to the club. Sad times...
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Kulturarv added 19:23 - Jan 19 Managers can come and go but as long as Scrooge owns the club and rejects all spending it doesn't matter if we bring in Guardiola, Klopp, The Queen, Elvis or Santa as manager. Evans out!
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