Town boss Mick McCarthy says he has no intention of walking away from his Blues contract and is looking ahead to next season when he plans to rebuild, believing there need to be changes in the squad. The 58-year-old, who has a year left on his deal, with Town having an option for a further two seasons, also reacted angrily to terrace chants claiming he’s “ruined” the club during Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Fulham.

Asked whether he he ever considered walking away from Portman Road during this season’s struggles having spent the larger part of it under fire from fans, he said: “No, because I enjoy my job and as for some of the stuff about ‘Mick McCarthy, you’ve ruined our club’, what the biggest load of cobblers that I’ve ever heard in my life that is.

“I saved the club from relegation and I’ve had three top 10 finishes and the one time I have a bad season then people have turned their backs on me, which is a bit of a surprise and it’s disappointing.

“But hey ho, I’m not walking away from here, I have a year’s contract to run and unless something else is done then no, I’m not walking away from it. I’ll be here and I’ll be planning for next season and I’m looking forward to it.

“I’m looking forward to my holiday actually. I’m looking forward to getting enough points to make sure that we stay in this league, I can go away and have a break and I’ll come back full of vim and vigour again.”

In January McCarthy said he would make a decision on his future in the summer, has he already made up his mind?

“I’m not walking away from my contract, not a chance,” he reiterated. “I’m not walking away from a job, which I see it as, and it’s a good job.

“I’ve no intention because I’d like to build it again. I don’t want to walk away, I’m not walking away, no way.

“I’d like to have it again as we had it two years ago, even last season. Saved them from relegation is what I did, then we had three top 10 finishes, and this year it’s been bad.

“I don’t think it’s justified what’s gone on, to be honest with you. My intention is to stay here and build another team, and hopefully it’s as successful as it was when we finished sixth. And if that pisses off a lot of people, so be it.”

Put to him that he has said he wouldn’t be happy if he turned up on the opening day of 2017/18 and season ticket sales were down to 10,000 - as it seems likely they will be - and that was down to him he wouldn’t be happy, he added: “Marcus might not be happy with that either. That might be the case, but I seem to remember there were 20-odd thousand in here most weeks when we finished sixth and guess who that was down to.

“My objective is to get it back to that. And you know what, if it’s only on a one-year contract, so be it, it’s a one-year contract. Not a chance would I be drive out of anywhere. No way.”

Regarding the ongoing criticism from fans and in the media, he said: “I don’t read the media, that’s for sure, any of it. I don’t listen to the radio station, I certainly not locally. I talk to them but don’t listen to them. You might think that that’s nonsense but I don’t.

“Unless I put ear plugs in I can’t do anything about the crowd on a Saturday or a Monday or whenever we’re playing.

“I guess I have to be a bit brass-necked about that and just understand but, as I just said, apart from ‘ruining the club’, that’s the biggest load of nonsense I’ve ever heard in my whole life.

“It’s been tough this year, it has. We’ve not been good. And it’s sad that a lot of people have turned on me and turned on the players but they’re going to have stick me out for another five games anyway.”

He continued: “If Arsene Wenger can get stick, Alex Ferguson got stick at one stage, he was getting vilified by his own punters and Sir Bobby could and everybody else, it’s part of the gig.

“You [the media] keep asking me about it and I talk about it but I’m not whinging about it or talking about it every day. I come in and I do my job.”

He says not all fans have been on his back this season: “I’ve had some nice comments, nice letters and nice support from people. And, of course, the ones who come [and] were at it from very early on in the game on Saturday, I can’t do anything about that. As I keep telling you, win games and that stops.

“There’s not a lot [you can do], play well and win games. We’ve not done enough of that this season. But I don’t think it constitutes some of the vitriol which is going about, but hey ho.”

Looking ahead to the summer and next season, he says the playing staff will need refreshing whoever the manager is.

“The squad’s going to have to change,” he admitted. “You said ‘Whoever’s charge’, at this moment in time it’s me that will be in charge.

“If that’s the case, things have to change, of course. It can be that you’re with players too long and eventually maybe they need to change and the manager needs to change.

“If for some unknown reason it’s somebody else, then it will change because they’ll want different players.”

He added: “Players under contract, there’s not a great deal that they can do. They can ask to move, they can make noises towards that, they can stamp their feet and pull their hair out and tell their agent what to do.

“But if they’re under contract there’s not really anything they can do if a club wants to keep them.

“There may well be some that want to move on, there will be some will move on. There will be some I want to move on, and some I don’t want to change. That’s going to be a natural process that in the summer, I think.”

Are there players who are out of contract who he is yet to make a decision on? “They’re all my thoughts and I’ll keep them to myself for now.”

McCarthy feels he and his squad have done well in previous seasons having worked with a budget which is among the lowest in the division. Will he have to ask owner Marcus Evans for more money as he looks to rebuild?

“I’ve performed particularly well, and the players have, with what we’ve got and sometimes you have to deal with it,” he insisted.

“And I’ve never complained about that. My conversations with Marcus will be exactly that, with Marcus.”

The finances of the Championship have changed significantly in the two years since the Blues finished sixth, does McCarthy believe it’s now tougher for Town to hit those heights?

“It is,” he agreed. “I’m glad I didn’t say that because it might seem like an excuse. I’m glad you said it. [But that is the reality], absolutely it is.”

Managers at all the established Championship clubs without parachute payments or owners investing around £20 million a year are working in much the same situation as he has been, aren’t they? “They are and trying to get results and some, with their budgets, are doing well.

“I’d say Cloughy’s doing well [at Burton], Barnsley have done brilliantly, they’ve come up with momentum from League One.

“Huddersfield are doing great. David Wagner’s got some good players, some good loan players, he used the German market, he knew it and he’s done really well with it. Fantastic, as I did in my second season, to be honest.”

So, it can still be done? “I’d say so, but as you said, it’s a lot harder now.”

Photo: TWTD

judespiveyg added 16:18 - Apr 12 Not over the moon about him staying. However, as it appears he's staying, I wish him the best of luck next season.
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12th_Man added 16:19 - Apr 12 I said he wasn't going to go could be an interesting last few games and new season
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Mullet added 16:19 - Apr 12 The facts speak for themselves.
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ASAx added 16:21 - Apr 12 I wonder if Marcus Evans will even realise that if he gets rid of Mick by paying him say £500k of the £1m left on his contract to walk now, that he will immediately get at least 1500 non renewing season ticket holders back, covering the cost of getting this bloke out of our club and probably vastly exceeding the compensation.
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Andy32Cracknell added 16:22 - Apr 12 If this is indeed the fact then us the supporters really need to show our dissatisfaction. The only way to do that is to hit Evan in the pocket and not turn up from now and till the end of the season and beyond if needs be. Enough is enough.
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iaintaylorx added 16:25 - Apr 12 Someone diagnose this man with the famous condition as "I'm a **at"
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truckertractorboy added 16:25 - Apr 12 So glad i cancelled
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Bluebell added 16:26 - Apr 12 I have said all along Mick wouldn't leave in the summer. I have also said that the best person to replace Mick is Mick himself (but the Mick of 4 years ago). He needs backing from ME to be able to do anything other than what he has done this season. A big clear out is needed but I don't think he knows which players are good and which ones need to be told to leave. Unfortunately this news won't sell season tickets!

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PortmanTerrorist added 16:26 - Apr 12 This quote from Sudbury Mercury is slightly different to what is stated above:- "We have had three top-10 finishes, I saved them from relegation, is what I did, three top-10 finishes and this year it's been bad." Saved THEM indeed - like to know if he actually did say that, as it would be in keeping with the disdain i felt treated with as a lifelong supporter this past season. Even if Sudbury Mercury quoted him wrong, it seems he thinks a top 10 finish will be a success next year. GO NOW. You have no clue about this great Club and wonder if you might realise that finally on Monday when you will see how we still respond to one of our own !

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TrueBlue1998 added 16:26 - Apr 12 Good. Give him some money now please
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The_Romford_Blue added 16:27 - Apr 12 Well he's right in some of the stuff he says. He certainly isn't the one ruining our club. #EvansOut
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Lightningboy added 16:27 - Apr 12 Well it's blatantly obvious McCarthy's only staying for the cash and to stick two fingers up at our supporters - for the good of our club Marcus - PLEASE pay him off ASAP. Could you imagine Sir Bobby bigging himself up in the way McCarthy does? McCarthy may aswell take a dump in the centre circle next Monday.
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CBMTOBWMMBG added 16:28 - Apr 12 Three good seasons, one poor. Largely good defending, excellent goalkeeping but an ever-decreasing attacking threat which is dull to watch and getting worse. If he's going to stay then a massive overhaul is required.
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MattinLondon added 16:28 - Apr 12 Mick, yes I agree you saved the club from relegation and I have no trouble saying that. And yes, excluding this season you have done a good job but the football has always been dire a even if you suddenly have millions at your disposal I suspect the football will continue to be dire. Do we owe Mick anything? I don't think so - if a bigger club, or a club with a lot of money, contacted his agent he would have been long gone. There's a reason why Mick is not managing in the Premier League and that reason is due to his pig headiness. Mick is far too one dimensional and narrow minded to adjust to new styles - he seems too ingrained in the believe that all footballers have to be proper blokes and run miles and miles and miles every match. In the past few seasons how many games have actually been enjoyable? Half a dozen at most — and for that reason please go whilst I still have some respect for you.

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Swailsey added 16:29 - Apr 12 Hopefully this will quiet some people down and give us a chance for one more push. Evans is the issue, not MM.
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Surco72 added 16:33 - Apr 12 The question should be what were the objectives at the start of the season even after Murphy had been sold and MM publicly stated that in his professional 25 years of managing opinion this was his strongest squad he had in his time at Ipswich , if they were anything more than finishing 17th and not losing crowds or season ticket sales then he has failed dramatically and has to leave Until that happens I have no intention of attending games at Portman Road or giving the club any money

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Radlett_blue added 16:33 - Apr 12 So Mick clearly isn't going to walk unless Evans fires him & pays his contract. No surprise there really - why should he? I doubt Evans will pull the trigger as Mick will probably keep us in this league with the current level of funding. The only hope for change is that Evans sells to an owner willing to risk more money.
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ArnieM added 16:33 - Apr 12 If Mick.ia going to attack us fans for voicing our opinions he should perhaps get his facts straight. The chant referring to am individual ruining our Club is actually aimed at Evans and states his name, not McCarthy! McCarthy's chant concerns " boring football"......
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Mark added 16:33 - Apr 12 So is the big summer meeting with Marcus Evans to decide MM's future now not happening?! Surely we can't expect fans to endure another season of dull, negative football with the aim of scrapping enough points to stay up? MM's points per game in 2017 are lower than Keane and Jewell's average, so we are crying out for a change. I take MM staying as evidence ME won't invest... we will just plod on and try to keep up another year on a shoestring. Meanwhile attendances fall and fall.

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StringerBell added 16:34 - Apr 12 The man is clueless and has no class whatsoever.
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senduntd added 16:34 - Apr 12 Had to laugh at that one. One year to go and option for two more years. That will upset a few fans. Better the devil you know than one you don't.
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wewerefamous added 16:36 - Apr 12 "I'm not walking away from here, I have a year's contract to run and unless something else is done then no, I'm not walking away from it" One word sums this up for me.... GUTTED!
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muhrensleftfoot added 16:36 - Apr 12 The issue is the abject lack of entertainment. Could put up with it if we played with a bit of adventure, particularly in midfield. I started losing my faith in MM when he picked Skuse, Douglas and Hyam in midfield at home to near bottom of the league Rotherham last season. This season has been cheerless and boring. Select our young talent, & we'll put up with a few bad results.

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Lightningboy added 16:40 - Apr 12 @Asa Such a good comment re how the season tickets would increase / covering the cost of paying him off. Can someone please put that notion to our owner - it's a no brainer.
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essextractorboy93 added 16:45 - Apr 12 We just wouldn't attract a better manager than McCarthy at this level, he is still a top Championship manager. Nobody else could do this job with the funds he has available. This season we have been very poor but all the other seasons he has been here we have done well. Easy to think the grass would be greener with a new manager but think we need to stick with Mick for next season as if Evans gives him even a bit more to spend he will get us back challenging.

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