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McCarthy: Focus on Recent League Performances Not Cup Exit Friday, 20th Jan 2017 21:00
Boss Mick McCarthy is hoping his players emulate their last three Championship performances and are able to put Tuesday’s embarrassing FA Cup exit to Vanarama National League leaders Lincoln City behind them when the Blues visit Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
Prior to Tuesday’s woeful display at Sincil Bank, which saw Town dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league opponents for the first time since Peterborough beat them 3-2 at Portman Road in 1960, the Blues had put in improved displays in the Championship.
VIctories over Bristol City and Blackburn at home, 2-1 and 3-2 respectively, sandwiched a 2-1 loss at QPR, a game McCarthy’s side really should have won.
“They always say one game at a time and you can only take the Lincoln game but I’ve said to the players today that our last three performances in the league have been good, certainly the two home performances and results were good,” McCarthy said.
“And that’s really what we should focus on. We can’t do anything about the FA Cup, it’s gone, it’s done. I know if I spoke to Norman Hunter he’d still remember the Colchester game [in 1971] when they [Leeds United] got beat, and Allan Clarke.
“I played with both of those and they both told me at FA Cup ties that would be with them for the rest of their lives, and it is. And the same with Tuesday for me.
“But it’s just part of my history, that. I’ve got a pretty good history if I look through mine, I’ve had some good results and some bad ones and that’s just one of the bad ones unfortunately.”
Is he confident his players will be able to put Tuesday behind them? “I hope so, Wednesday was a tough day. It was for me, probably was for the rest of them, humbling, humiliating, embarrassing. It was.
“But sometimes that suggests the opposition weren’t very good and yet they were, they were a very good team and they’ve not lost at Sincil Bank since September. But in spite of all that we shouldn’t lose to them.
“So, congratulations to them, they played very well. And I’ve been the giant slayer, I’ve been the one that’s turned the big teams over and it’s a great day then, the day after, you’re basking, glorying in telling how good you are.
“But when you’re the bigger team it’s horrible and it was a horrible day Wednesday. But you’ve got to get over it.
“I came back to work on Thursday, I’ve got a game on Saturday and we’ll soon find out whether they’ve got over it.
“I don’t know with individuals, you can go around and ask them and they go ‘I’m fine’, I’m never quite certain about that but we’ll see.”
McCarthy admits performances such as Tuesday’s from his team do concern him, although he accepts responsibility for the similarly disappointing display as his side lost 2-0 at home to Fulham on Boxing Day.
“Fulham, we almost sat back, tactically as much as anything, we knew their full-backs would get forward and we tried to deal with them, and it didn’t work,” he admitted.
“I’m not going to blame the players for that one. There’s still an element that they can change it on the pitch and do more, but that was as much down to me as it was them. The other night, does it worry me? Yes, it does. I wouldn’t want to see many of them.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen that. God bless the FA Cup because I’ve seen other teams get turned over, not only us, but it’s only us that concerns me and concerns the people in Ipswich, of course.
“But it’s been happening for years and years and years. And like I said, I haven’t got an answer. I can’t tell you the reason why, it’s just not very nice when it happens to us, to me.
“Like I say, I’ve been on the other side when I’ve been on the winning team as a lower team and it’s fab. That’s what the FA Cup’s all about.”
Huddersfield have been the Championship’s surprise package this season and are currently fifth, nine places and 12 points above the Blues.
McCarthy believes they can maintain their play-off form for the rest of the season: “They are a good side, mind you there are a lot competing for those top six spots. But I think they’ll manage it.”
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Looking at their squad, he identified who he believes is the Terriers’ key man: “I’d say Aaron Mooy is the standout player without a shadow of a doubt, he’s the one for me that’s driven that team.
“Any time I see him play, he seems to be all over the place, he’s the one that gets the ball, he’s got a personality, he makes the team play, makes them tick.
“And I think they’re very good going forward. They try to get you pressed in and they go chasing it and go after you but I think you can score against them.”
Questioned on whether Tuesday’s performance made up his mind regarding some of the players involved, he added: “It’s made up my mind that they’ll all be here and all be in the squad because I’ve only got about 12 fit ones that are first-team players!
“[I’m not really in a position to wield the axe], and by the way they’ve been great for me, they don’t deserve to be [axed] on that one performance.”
One player who may have enhanced his standing on Tuesday was central defender Paul Digby, who came into the side as a replacement for Adam Webster, who has been ruled out for the season due to an ankle ligament injury.
“To be fair to Diggers, the other night he didn’t do anything wrong, I can’t be saying anything was down to him,” McCarthy said
“He’s been out for a long time [with a knee injury], thought he might be going out somewhere else on trial or on a loan deal but suddenly he’s in the team. Fair play to him, he was ready to go.”
Despite Dean Gerken having been similarly blameless in Tuesday’s defeat - indeed, the former Colchester keeper prevented the Imps from taking a first-half lead with a very sharp save - Bartosz Bialkowski is set to return in goal.
Given his available personnel McCarthy may well opt to stick with the three-man backline, which would see skipper Luke Chambers in the middle with Digby to his right and Christophe Berra to his left. Josh Emmanuel and Jonas Knudsen will be the wing-backs.
In midfield, Cole Skuse will take up his usual holding role with Andre Dozzell and Kevin Bru likely return to the starting XI having been on the bench at Lincoln.
Up front, Freddie Sears seems likely to come back into the team alongside Tom Lawrence with Brett Pitman set to return to the bench after his calf injury.
New signings Kieffer Moore and Jordan Spence are both likely to be among the subs, while we understand 17-year-old Tristan Nydam has travelled with the squad.
Terriers midfielders Jonathan Hogg (quad strain) and Rajiv van la Parra (knee) are both back in training after injuries and will be in the squad.
But on-loan Chelsea midfielder Kasey Palmer is out with a hamstring injury, while Australian Mooy, the man McCarthy cited as Huddersfield’s key player, is a doubt with a back injury.
Winger Sean Scannell is a long-term absentee with an ankle problem, while former Southend midfielder Jack Payne, a player the Blues were keen on last summer, is suspended having been red-carded in last week’s 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
Huddersfield have signed striker Collin Quaner from Union Berlin and the big German will be available to face the Blues.
Historically, Town have won 22 games between the sides (including the only cup tie), the West Yorkshiremen 13, with nine ending in draws.
If Town fail to win they will have gone 23 league games without repeating the same result in successive matches - since they drew with Wolves and then Norwich in August - beating the previous club record of 22 established in 1965/66.
In October, Championship leaders Huddersfield recorded their first win at Portman Road for 20 years as Christopher Schindler’s second-half header saw the Terriers to a 1-0 victory.
The Blues, who were beaten at home for the first time in the league this season and failed to score for the fourth successive match, never looked like getting back into the game after the German centre-half had put the visitors in front from a 58th minute corner.
The teams last met at the John Smith’s Stadium in February last year when loanee Ben Pringle’s first Town goal after 19 minutes saw the Blues to a battling 1-0 victory.
Pringle netted in a first half largely dominated by the home side who missed a succession of chances and played the final quarter of a hour of the game with 10 men, Jonathan Hogg having picked up an injury after they had used all their subs.
Blues academy coach Alan Lee was with the West Yorkshiremen until the summer of 2013 before returning to Town.
Striker Leon Best had a trial with the Terriers at the start of 2015/16 and featured for their U21s - coincidentally against the Blues - before moving on and joining Rotherham.
Huddersfield frontman Nahki Wells spent time on trial at Portman Road as a teenager. He did enough to be asked to stay on for a longer spell but the homesick youngster opted to go back to Bermuda and the Dandy Town Hornets before later making his return to English football with Carlisle and then Bradford before joining the Terriers in January 2014.
Saturday’s referee is Andy Davies from Hampshire, who has shown 88 yellow cards and four red in 25 games so far this season.
Davies has only taken charge of two Town matches, both of which have ended goalless and both of which have seen the opposition reduced to 10 men.
He was in charge of the 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in September, in which he showed eight yellow cards, two of them and then a red to Seagulls midfielder Dale Stephens. Luke Chambers, Josh Emmanuel, Jonathan Douglas and Tom Lawrence were the Town players cautioned.
Prior to that, Davies’s only other Blues game was the 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield last October when he red-carded Terriers striker James Vaughan for a second bookable offence in the final minute.
Absolutely the worst team and manager in the history of our once proud club. If Douggie plays for this club ever again the so called manager needs to be shot. I 've never seen a club or team in such disarray and performances that are pathetic. We could be done by 6 by Huddersfield and that would sum this sad load of rubbish up.
Have you noticed not one of the players who played against Lincoln have stepped up and said anything in an interview to the press. Either they are embarrassed or simply body swerving the fans and media. They haven't even got the balls to do that!!! I believe that a large amount of success comes s from passion from within ones self. Otherwise said as having fire in their bellies. If we are not careful this will breed into the talent younger players who are in and around the first team and both the player and club will not take advantage of their talents. In other words there are a load of first team regulars who need to go, get players who have this fire in their bellies and set an example in how to conduct yourself to our young up and coming players
If the the players are motivated only by money, then they still have the wrong attitude.if they are then they need to learn that money comes with success and achievements and winning things such as promotion. With that they deserve to be rewarded accordingly. Unfortunately they are unwilling to adopt this mentality then they can play elsewhere where people will accept this way of thinking. Terry butcher, Warky, messi all with their talents have a winning mentality. Even Lincoln have that desire and will to win. Either you have it or you don't. Our senior players don't. Get rid of um and allow the youngsters to flourish
It's time for this triraid of negativity from the fans to stop, for the good of the club. All it does is make a difficult situation for players and management worst. MM should probably go, but it's not going to happen to at least the end of the season, so suck it up and support the team until then....before we push the team into a relegation fight.
Don't think ME should get all the blame here. Yes ,he should get rid of MM obviously but if you were ME would you trust him with any of your money . Not likely . What he deems to be a good player and what I ( and I'd guess most of the fans) believe are good are two different things . Just think of his transfer doings over his time here and it is scary. This list is endless Nouble,Coke,yorworth ,malarzich toure, 'different class tabby and Douglas, Bajner ,Henshall ,etc. etc. It is incompetent at the highest level but each one may be free but if they are no good they still need wages and ultimately most of them have their contract paid up. ME , DON'T give this man any money . He is a FRAUDSTER who is pretending to be a football manager
Seaside, a very good article, well said and similar to one I wrote yesterday which failed to publish.
"Comment by Mick: "but I've had a pretty good history." - OK Mick, then let us look at it. After your World Cup exploits with Ireland where you had a row with your Captain and sent him home, in recent times you have had charge of three largish clubs. At Sunderland we found the fans sick to death with you and screaming for you to be sacked. The Board must have felt the same because that is precisely what happened, you were sacked.
Next came Wolverhampton Wanderers which ended with the fans detesting you and screaming for your head. Once more the Board agreed and you were sacked but this time the Board went further. Some of them came out and said how you had destroyed their club and look where they are now, still suffering from your special treatment.
Next came Ipswich Town. When Evans was silly enough to appoint you through total lack of experience and knowledge. I wrote him an open letter advising a different route, he adopted part of the letter but not your part. You stopped us going down that year which almost any suitable Manager would have achieved, the next year we scraped into the top six but that was thanks to phenomenal once in a lifetime striking by a good player, whom you have since sold without replacing,but that was it! Approximately 90% of Town fans now hate you and want you out but this time there is no Board to sack you and as you have no shame you just bumble on.
Even worse you are saying forget the double defeat by a non league club because we scraped past near bottom of the table Blackburn the week before. Well I suggest we do not forget those two fiascos because you have not won a single cup match since you have been here and every single one of those games has been against lower league opposition. Mick get out of our club now, it is already destroyed on and off the field but before you go ask the Chairman to pay for you to visit a Psychiatrist because I read somewhere that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a sure sign of madness, that may find the answer to some of your problems. Goodbye Mick.
Totally agree essexbluey, if the majority speak up and stay away from games, they will force ME's hand. By saying 'nothings gonna change' and continuing to attend games etc, then no, of course nothing will change! Trust me, if another 5000 decided to stay away, Evans would act!
CAN PEOPLE NOT SEE, BY GETTING BEHIND THE TEAM AND CONTINUING TO BACK THE CLUB.... YOU ARE DOING MORE DAMAGE THAN GOOD. FFS, GROW SOME BALLS, OPEN YOUR EYES AND FORCE A CHANGE!
Am i correct in thinking the vast majority of MM haters on this forum are divorced,some more than once?Life and football throw up testing times but you support and battle your way through and things will always improve.MM & TC came and saved ITFC from certain relegation,then provided a couple of exciting seasons before one bad one.You want MM & ITFC to divorce whereas i want them to work their way through their difficulties and be better for it.Good Luck ITFC for today and for the rest of the season.
PS: As someone who just so happens to also modestly be what is known as an 'IT Guru' I'm a tiny bit curious what you mean by your other article "failing to publish"??? Hmmm.... Please Please don't tell us that it conceivably was ME's little über puppet i.e. the pathological lying Public Relation & Spin Doctor etc. Ian Milne who someway managed to coerce TWTD to say..... temporarily switch off all their servers!!! :-), once he somehow by ways of sophisticated hacking intercepted whatever kind of 'Truth' about the current regime it was you were just about to deliver by pushing the 'Add comment' button?! :-) LMAO
Happily married for 20 yrs with two kids and living in the real world! I, as 90% of Town fans, can see where MM has been going wrong and results have proved this, yet Mick continues to make the same glaring mistakes, whilst crowing about his previous conquests! The guy is an arrogant, delusional fool, whose tactics and team selection is highly questionable. He is taking our beloved club down, you continue to support him if you want but the majority will win in the end and he will be gone!
The only victory for me if MM goes is that of common sense over dreaming, only a fool keeps doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different outcome. Whether it be a football manager or a supporter. Still married, recent Ruby wedding anniversary, stuck through bad times, but comparing a football manager's relationship with a club to a marriage is ridiculous, believe it or not something's are more important than football. Perhaps some people on both sides of the debate should take a reality check.
I listened to McCarthy on look East last night i think he sums up football he is comfortable in the Knowledge that if he gets the sack he will get a pay off. Im sure as a player he earned decent money but as a manager he has made millions by now so he sercure. Hes been in football all his working life and like Graham Taylor said about himself he should think himself lucky he has never had to get a proper Job. I dont agree with getting personal if ive got any thing to say id prefer to say it to his face. The club has been bought by someone who i think does not understand football its very difficult to keep all the fans happy all the time but the current owner is showing all the signs of not wanting to keep the fans happy any of the time. Sad times indeed i would think John Duncan is off the hook now i witnessed all Duncans games and although not a great period i never remember the fans feeling as bad as they do now. I said it loads of times before on here and i will keep saying it SHEEPSHANKS IS THE MAN TO BLAME FOR OUR CURRENT PLIGHT. One last thing when the club was purchased by Evans who received the money he paid out because my memory of the shares at the club were they were only voting shares as such and the Chairman at the time would hold the bulk of the shares please correct me if im wrong.
As per normal!!!! Geminimustang, swn and their very small band of cronies, AGAIN fail to EXPLAIN McCarthy's team selections these last two years and more! I conclude, the 'walking dead' are amongst us, and as far as Ipswich Town FC are concerned,they should 'fear the walking dead'.
haha it makes me laugh that some people on here think people should explain themselves. It's a forum and people will say wants on their minds, if you don't like the comments then mark them down. At the end off the day we all support ITFC
Agreed Billblue. What comes across in MM interviews his arrogance. Thinks he has a good record, no better that Jewell who had the dignity to resign. MM was hated vehemently at Sunderland in the end mainly due to the terrible tactics and style of play. The Lincoln match was the worst I have ever seen from an Ipswich team, Berra was appalling, made to look like an amateur by an overweight player who bullied him throughout the match despite Berra hanging on to his shirt all the game, wasn't sorry to see him get a smack in the face, should have woken him up. Dire times at Ipswich, how many other clubs would put up with this utter rubbish from McCarthy. Can't see him ting a job anywhere else other than shelf filling atTesco.
MicksZzzZ - No actually, there was a headline of Mick's saying how good he was in the Sudbury version of the local paper. I felt so incensed that I had to reply but Archant rejected it. On reading Seasider's comment, which was similar, I thought why not? and copied it over so that was it with an slightly improved wording at the end!
Comparing that Colchester V Leeds match of 1971 is ridiculous. Colchester at the end were hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Ipswich were totally outplayed by Lincoln over 3 hours of football.
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