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

martin587 added 18:46 - Apr 12 What an arrogant man.!!☹️☹️
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PSGBlue added 18:49 - Apr 12 If you support ITFC, then I suggest we all turn up at PR for the Sheff Weds game to voice our displeasure. The biggest signal we can give is show our disgust at the end of the game when MM, TC and the likes of Skuse and Douglas do their lap of dishonour. Being the last game of the season I suspect Evans will be in attendance. Some advice for players - don't bring your children on the lap of dishonour - its not going to be nice!

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PSGBlue added 18:51 - Apr 12 Sacked in the morning, we want you sacked in the morning...
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planetblue_2011 added 18:56 - Apr 12 If Evans gives Mick money next season then I think he can turn things around. Mick has does a good job & saved us from relegation, but this season has been awful & not blaming Mick it's more blame on Evans that we never replaced our best striker Murphy & we got 3/4 million for him. We needed a good striker & it didn't happen. Next season we need a fit goal scorer. Midfield needs an overhaul so does the defence. Youngsters need to start playing more. We all know the score it just needs to happen. Mr Evans needs to give Mick at least 10 million to sort the team out & make a play off push next season!!!

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planetblue_2011 added 18:58 - Apr 12 Keep us safe this season 1st!!
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oldblue added 19:10 - Apr 12 Its all about how we play...MM cannot deliver a team that plays football that is pleasing to watch...of course results matter but it is so much about what we see on the pitch too and the way MM likes to play is not the kind of football we want to watch .Despite MMs opinion of ITFC fans we DO know what good football looks like and we want to see it...winning is usually a bi product of good football ...look at Bournemouth ..it can be done...no one wants to continue to watch poor quality football so fans have and will vote with their feet ....if you were out for a meal at £25 a head and it was poor you would send it back..most likely get a refund and maybe would not want to recommend it to anyone and not go back...what is different about opinions on football...if you don't get what you want you complain...and if you don't see improvement ..you don't go back. If the quality of football at Ipswich does not improve the fans won't go back and their will be a continual slide toward football obscurity. While we have something to build on change must occur and that change will not come under MM ....ME employs him to deliver the product ..he is not doing it so get someone else in and take advice from real football men before he selects another dinosaur....

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DirtyOldNodger added 19:14 - Apr 12 Some of you are so wonderfully miserable. Never in my life have I seen so many southerners taking offence to a northerner saying it how it is. PSGBlue.... I think you'll find threatening little children isn't popular amongst many football fans regaardless of whether they hate Mick McCarthy or not. You sad little pr*ck.
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muhrenmagic added 19:19 - Apr 12 Now decided .....not renewing to watch more turgid football. Another unhappy statistic.
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bressinghamblue added 19:22 - Apr 12 MM is absolutely deluded. He got lucky with the likes of Murphy and Ryan Fraser on frees and loans. When it comes to real training ground coaching, he has turned exciting players (e.g. Sears) into 'good old boys willing to play anywhere' and he continues to promote his one-dimensional, old-fashioned brand of boring boring football played by his different class war horses. He fails to give young talent the chance to grow like others before him have. We would certainly be a very attractive proposition to an exciting, modern coach from an overseas second division e.g. Eredivisie or British lower leagues. So don't fall into the trap (like some on here) that we could not attract a good progressive attack-minded manager. We most certainly can. Please Marcus - open your eyes and your ears. Look at the volume of season ticket cancellations, and realise that you MUST take action to save our club. I have no doubt at all that the majority of Town fans will support the team in PR on Monday - please do - but when it comes to MM, let's make our heartfelt feelings known to Mr Evans.

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micksillett added 19:26 - Apr 12 The people who ruined this club came well before MM and ME. If I were ME I'd say bo**ocks to you, bail your own club out and have that hefty debt back while you're at it. Yes he could probably invest more in the club ,and after this season I wouldn't be at all surprised if he does, but I for one am not going to knock the bloke for investing so much of his own money. As for MM I still think he's done a really good job in the circumstances. Some of the players that have come in seem to have potential and he's changed the style of football, all be it that that's work in progress. We could stay away from the ground for the rest of this season and next, or we could do our bit and get behind them instead of trying to drag them down further. Nobody wants to waste their money but I'm pretty sure that includes ME. Given the backing, MM is more than capable of getting the club back on track.

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happybeingblue added 19:26 - Apr 12 Also we are fast becoming the most despised team in the league for our style of football HOW DO YOU THINK THAT MAKES US FEEL MICK ?WE ARE DESCRIBED AS A HORRIBLE TEAM TO PLAY AGAINST lovely!! by nearly every manager, opposing fans etc, it might float your boat scraping a 0-0 with 10 men behind the ball UUURGH
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docsavage52 added 19:27 - Apr 12 So glad I cancelled by season ticket after christmas
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walberblue added 19:27 - Apr 12 poor mick waiting all year for a good win to announce he's staying but can only manage draw after draw,,,,,finally runs out of patience knowing its likely to be some ugly results before the season ends won't win another game this season and can anyone mention a single big game in the last 5 years that we've won playing football under bottom six mick???
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Bert added 19:31 - Apr 12 Would anyone posting on here walk from a job if their employer was happy with them? It is Evan's failure to grow the club that is at fault. That said MM needs to zip his mouth about attacks on him whether it is fair or not. He gets paid enough to have broad shoulders.
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chazyt21 added 19:41 - Apr 12 Everybody should turn up to Newcastle game on Monday with tape over the Marcus Evans logo in protest!! #EvansOut #MickOut
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brittaniaman added 19:42 - Apr 12 OH WELL !! Now he says he is staying BANG goes our 5% discount on the club selling 12,750 ST. I would say we will be lucky to sell 9000 to 10000. Over to you Marcus Evans !!!!! Dino needs to start reading local news papers to see how fans feel about him staying. as he admits he does not read local papers or Internet, when he is at home in Kent he is far far away from Ipswich. Evans is at fault for giving Dino an extended 2yr. contract when things started to go downhill.

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woohoo added 19:49 - Apr 12 Oh well, that will have knocked a few thousand more off the ST renewals!
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jayaps added 20:08 - Apr 12 The demise of our once great club really saddens me.How people who pay top dollar to watch this beautiful game are still backing this current regime infuriates me.In any walk of football it is commiting suicide to sell your best player without having a replacement lined up....rant over
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grumpyoldman added 20:18 - Apr 12 I really love people who say "better the devil you know", I bet some Burnley fans were saying that before Sean Dyche took over, Leeds fans before Gary Monk took over, Man City fans before Pep Guardiola, even Arsenal before Arsenal Wenger probably said that. The list could go on, I prefer "nothing ventured, nothing gained".
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BrettenhamBlue added 20:32 - Apr 12 He's not making things any better with fans by giving interviews like this one. Build? Build on what exactly? Can see a really big clear out of players in the Summer, with next to no money spent to replace them. A big enough offer (in the region of 6 million) and we will lose Bart. It's not looking promising next season, and I fear we will be fighting for our lives to avoid relegation next year. I can see why ME will keep MIck though. 500k for mutual termination plus new package for incoming manager. Many of the backroom staff would also need to go. It'd probably cost 1.3/4M to put a new manager in place and given our lack of transfer funds I can't see that occurring. It makes financial sense to keep MM in place, regardless of us fans. Shame he can't even identify with the club. I kept THEM up. Surely it would be good to say I kept US up. After so many years he still sees an "us" and "them" situation.

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TimmyH added 20:37 - Apr 12 Money money money moneeyy monneeeyyyyy!!!...what manager in their right mind intends to 'rebuild again' after they made the house collapse in the first place? (metaphorically speaking). Just wants more time whilst collecting a lot of money each season whilst the owner has little ambition. Didn't bother to read the rest he just needs to go!
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wayway added 20:55 - Apr 12 To all you people who are glad McCarthy is staying and that he would be successful with a bigger budget ask your selves this. His football philosophy is built on defend the point we start with, 46 Games 46 points = survival. Do you really want another season of dire, turgid hoofball with the midfield packed with the likes of Skues and Douglas? Evan with the players at his disposal now he does not have to play this totally boring way, I wonder what our young talented midfield players Dozzell and Bishop are thinking now, if they have any sence they will be off ASAP as they never get a look in under Boring Billy. Today is yet another nail knocked into the ITFC coffin

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itfc2001 added 21:01 - Apr 12 Unbelievable interview. Been a paying supporter since 1976 and never felt so undervalued as a supporter/customer. The man is clearly deluded and thinks he is blameless. Thought exactly the same when he was at Wolves. Well if MM is hear next year then my 2 sea
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itfc2001 added 21:09 - Apr 12 Unbeleivable interview. Been a paying supporter since 1976 and never felt so undervalued as a supporter/ customer. The man is clearly deluded and thinks he is blameless. Thought exactly the same when he was at Wolves. What happened to the best squad I have had at the beginning of the season. Clearly suffers from memory loss as well. If MM is here next season then there are 2 more free seat seats for ME and ITFC to fill. Will always follow the Town and look out for the results. Fed up of paying to be bored and watch S**t football.

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FromIpswichToPhoenix added 21:16 - Apr 12 BillyBaxterwasbest, you've down marked everyone down but you haven't chimed in at all. Please, by all means, offer your feedback instead of being a click troll.
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