Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted that he is ready for a holiday after the Blues’ disappointing season ended with a 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest. The Blues manager added that his side, like Forest, who escaped relegation to League One on the final day have "not been good enough all season long".

McCarthy felt the final-day scoreline was harsh on the balance of the first period: “On the first-half performance it was. They guy on Sky just said we held them out, I didn’t think that was the case at all, I thought we were equally as good as them in the first half.

“They had a very good start, we got into the game and I was really pleased, then we just gave the most stupid penalty away.

“I’m not blaming Bart, he couldn’t do anything other than come for it. The defenders that allowed [Jamie Ward] to get in behind us from a throw-in, that was ridiculous.”

Did he think it was a penalty? “I haven’t looked at it that closely, but he’s given the penalty. He’s had to come out to try and punch it, as I remember. He shouldn’t have got there, it shouldn’t have been thrown in behind us, that’s the ridiculous nature of it and Bart’s had to come and deal with it, or try and deal with it.

“There’s no point in me arguing about it, he’s given the penalty. I’m more annoyed at the third goal. He’s given us a freekick, we fan out and try and play it, they get the ball back and he sticks in Assombalonga and he goes and scores. That was a bit annoying.”

What did he feel changed after the second half, did Forest have more of an edge as they were battling for their survival? “Probably. I tried to change it and went two up front and matched them, but it didn’t work. I thought Myles Kenlock had had a really tough first half so I gave Josh Emmanuel 45 minutes.

“They were [on top], certainly when they got the second goal, we gave it away and it ended up in our net.”

He added: “They were playing two up and I thought we’d match them up. It just didn’t manifest itself like that. But we gave the second goal away at that point, so we never really got a chance to get into it at all.”

Young full-backs Emmanuel and Kenlock have conceded three penalties between them in recent weeks, is that something they’ll have to learn from?

“We have been very fortunate with them that they’ve come through and got themselves in the team,” he added.

“But they’re still learning very much. They’ve only had about 15 starts between them or something, maybe a few more than that, I don’t know if they’ve had 20 or 30 starts between them, and that’s not a lot.

“They’re both very, very young, inexperienced but have got good potential and I think overall they’ve both had good seasons.

“But it starts to get to the end of the season and they get physically tired, mentally tired and they’ve both got to come back and be ready for a tough year next year.”

Might Town have had a penalty late on when Dominic Samuel looked to have been fouled by Matt Mills?

“I know Matt Mills has pulled him down because I’m a defender,” McCarthy said. “He messed it up and he threw himself across him.

“It’s a foul but it was at 3-0 that, so it was hardly going to change the scoreline dramatically. But I would still have taken the penalty, I would still like to have scored. I think it was a foul.”

McCarthy says he switched Christophe Berra for Adam Webster in the second half in part to give the former Portsmouth player some minutes on the field after his injury and partly so fans could pay tribute to the Scotland international, who could return home this summer.

“It was more a gesture to Adam to put him on and let him have 10 minutes and get a feel for it having had such a horrible injury,” he said.

“But also if it is Christophe’s last game it was nice that fans did give him a nice ovation and he’s deserved it because he’s been terrific.”

McCarthy included second-year scholar Flynn Downes on the bench but said it wasn’t the game to blood youngsters. However, he says the midfielder will have a chance of being involved with the first-team squad in pre-season.

“A very good chance, him and Tristan Nydam,” he said. “I’ve just said to him in the dressing room, it wasn’t a day for those guys. We had it all on with the experienced players on the pitch. But he’s got a really good chance.

“All-round, technically he’s a really good football, he’s athletic, he puts his foot in, he’ll compete, he’s a real competitor and he’s a winner on the pitch.

“He comes over and he shows no respect for the first team, he comes and dumps them on their backsides if they need dumping on their backsides. I love that about him.

“And Tristan the same, there are a number of them. Unfortunately they’re all central midfield players coming through. Dozzer’s still having to grow up in a tough year for the club. But they’ll be good players in the end.”

What did he say to his players after the match? “The general gist of it was ‘Thank you’. It’s interesting, isn’t it? We’re here today and it’s a bit like Nottingham Forest have won the league today. It’s like their FA Cup final, it’s their league, it’s brilliant. It was either going to be a wake or a celebration and up until the penalty it could very easily been a wake.

“And good for them, good for Mark Warburton, but we had our day at Burton and we had our day against Newcastle. Why are they where they are, why are we where we are? We’ve not been good enough all season long.

“That game’s probably summed our season up, to be honest, some good, some bad, some indifferent.”

Is he now ready for a holiday? “I certainly am and I think everybody else is. That was the gist of the conversation and ultimately to say thanks to them. We’ve done what Nottingham Forest have done and we’ve done it earlier than them. We could have been looking for points today.

“Chambo as a captain and the rest of the lads, I’m not saying they’ve been great playing and results and performances-wise but as a squad of lads, as a bunch of lads they’ve been great. They’ve stuck together and made sure we weren’t in Nottingham Forest’s position today.”

Forest boss Mark Warburton was delighted that his side escaped the drop with Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn relegated despite their 3-1 win at Brentford.

“We showed a lot of character, we deserved the win and the victory and I am delighted for the players and the fans; their support today was outstanding,” he said.

“The vow is we must never allow Forest to be in this situation again. It can’t happen. The last five or six weeks, the relegation dog fight, is not what we are about. Remember the feeling and the relief we feel now and that must not happen again.”

Photo: TWTD

Kesblue66 added 18:50 - May 7 Have a wonderful holiday Mick. After all you deserve it after what you have achieved this season.Just think about it. You have achieved our lowest league position for 50 something years. You have achieved in reducing the anything up to 10,000. on the gate.You have achieved in serving up the worst football anyone can remember. You have achieved in insulting and upsetting the fans. Yes have a nice long holiday,I suggest you return about 2025.

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azuremerlangus added 19:08 - May 7 Holiday? Plenty of work to get on with.
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Seasider added 19:14 - May 7 Disagrees with Sky comments,and always criticises young players and not the older ones.Who said MM is a players man; erm,maybe a big headed Yorkshireman? Describes Kenlock,who he took off for one mistake,and Emmanuel who replaced him as being very very young and getting tired ;unlike Douglas,who he mentioned the other week can run,or is it trot for 90 mins.Wrong again Mick,young maybe;but so are a lot of players,several in the Prem.In 4 1/2 years not one player has been brought through from the Academy to play as a regular in the first team. I currently question McCarthys ability as a coach,his scouting set up,his social skills;and even his motivation both personally and to the team. I also wonder if Marcus Evans has the liquidity to fund serious investment in ITFC.However he has just sold the production company, who brilliantly produced 'Line of Duty,' to ITV for something in the region of £30/40 m.He could also raise funds by selling some of his holding in the Club. If he doesn't sack Magical Mick,and put up a bit more money than recently,then I will also wonder about his reason for having our football club in his empire

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runningout added 19:36 - May 7 would like to know who would be decent and realistic to replace MM .. I would risk Francesco Guidolin
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JCBLUE added 19:40 - May 7 Worst league position in 6o years, great work Mick, go have your holiday!! Diabolical substitutions cost us today, unless MM leaves or ME invests we face relegation next year.
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delias_cheesy_flaps added 20:13 - May 7 Chambers gets a 2 year extension, why, he can't defend, Forest's third goal showed that perfectly! Obviously a great lad, that's all it requires. MM you're an utter deluded joke! On the positive side that's £400 plus beer money I will be able to spend elsewhere on a Saturday afternoon etc.
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jollyroger added 20:18 - May 7 Yes mick go have your holiday and give your position some serious thought and do the right thing and resign pleeeeeeeeeeease I can't put up with another season like this one and nor can the club
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alfromcol added 20:34 - May 7 Just over 8000 season tickets sold. Sad business, something has to give, hopefully MM. First half today, we were the equal or better than Forest. Second half Mick decided to match them, not sure what he meant by that, and we were a shambles. Embarrassing to be there.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:45 - May 7 even though their own season didnt go as well as they hoped they must be having a right laugh about us down at Carrot Rd, stuck with McCarthy ,and Evans with his pockets son up .
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PSGBlue added 20:49 - May 7 A dreadful season from the start with the selling of Murphy and defeat in the EFL cup against Stevenage. The list is endless, the run of five matches without scoring, the seven or so draws on the bounce. The Lincoln debacle and not beating Rotherham. On top of that we get after match interviews with bad language having a go at the fans! The Douglas/Skuse partnership before Christmas, the list goes on. Off the pitch we have a faceless owner who offers no investment or leadership. With secondhand info spouted out by the Milne puppet. The final insult being the season ticket price fiasco. The only highlight being a 3-1 victory against a depleted Newcastle. No wonder Town fans have had enough of what is being offered up. The future is not bright, more of the same next season. I don't need a holiday, I need therapy after that season!

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madmouse1959 added 20:56 - May 7 No mention of the fans who travelled to watch this tip tap crap. Many Ipswich fans were walking out after 80 minutes once again. He talks as if the players are drained emotionally and physically as if they have endured two cup runs and a few games playing in the Europa League. Do everyone a favour and yourself, find another top club to put on your CV. Four years later and now MM wants to talk about building a football team. He stood on the touchline like a lost soul once again.

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markytitfc added 21:13 - May 7 "Wasn't the game to blood youngster " why put him on the effing bench then TAWT?! At least twice he's used that phrase after games FO MM
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barrystedmunds added 21:18 - May 7 Has he gone yet?
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prebbs007 added 21:30 - May 7 Make it a 1 way trip out of our club. You're a stubborn deluded dinosaur and no one wants you here. Worst league position since 1950 something. Now feck off and don't come back.
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blueboy1981 added 21:44 - May 7 ........ in fairness - the penalty was debatable to say the least, many referees would have seen it another way, just look how high the Forest players boot was ... !! The other two goals were terribly naive defending on both counts - no excuse for it. They were two given goals, not well worked or taken goals. But that's how good we are - simply not good enough.
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Bob7881 added 06:52 - May 8 Why Evans wants to persist with ITFC totally confuses me. Claims of Millions put in every year i think is a complete smoke screen. Its his club his money to do what he wants with, god only knows what he sees in Michael McCarthy as a manager but again his choice he owns the club. The one thing we as fans have is the right not to attend matches or buy season tickets so theres our answer. As far as im concerned the ITFC ive grown up supporting and loved and the current ITFC have in common is they both played and play at Portman road there it ends. Thanks for the Memories the Cobbolds, Sir Alf, Sir Bobby, Mr Lyall, George and Joe. Sheepshanks wherever you hide these days hang your head in shame you and you alone are responsible for the black hole ITFC is in.

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JimmyP45 added 06:52 - May 8 "I tried to change it and match them but it didn't work" Story of the season Mick.
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martin587 added 07:48 - May 8 MM,while your on your well deserved vacation 🤔 Let's just hope you find time to reflect on the disaterous season you have inflicted on this club,your errors,bad judgments and comments. whether your still here next season is out of our hands,but I just hope either you or Mr.Evans do the right thing for th future of this once great club.I'm sure I don't have to tell you the answer.!!

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H1960 added 08:05 - May 8 I don't know about a holiday extended gardening leave would be a better option
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woohoo added 08:24 - May 8 Well, I shall be taking a holiday from watching tedious and negative football at PR, having been insulted by the clubs price hike for the 60-64 yr olds. Pay more to be disappointed by our performance and go home feeling deflated week after week? Now why would I do that?
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woohoo added 08:24 - May 8 Well, I shall be taking a holiday from watching tedious and negative football at PR, having been insulted by the clubs price hike for the 60-64 yr olds. Pay more to be disappointed by our performance and go home feeling deflated week after week? Now why would I do that?
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bobble added 08:37 - May 8 yawn.....
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:49 - May 8 after enduring his crap for past 18 months [if not more] i hope he has a holiday from hell, the holiday company goes bust and strands him on some remote feckin island, where he can sit and bore a bloody palm tree with his memoirs and ''achievements .
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brittaniaman added 10:08 - May 8 McCarthy twitter 18hrs ago !!! Looking forward to my holiday and thinking up new ways of upsetting the few remaining Fans left next season !!! Arrogant Yorkshire Git !!!!
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MicksZzzTactics added 12:20 - May 8 @warktheline + @2_Goal Especially great post both of you -- although there are quite many good & **objective** posts on the news pages today -- The bigger reason I'm singling you 2 posters out though is that you both DARE (wow!) to in some unmistakable degree point a finger in the direction of our seemingly mostly beloved Captain too! And thus not just at "The Usual Suspects". @2_Goal: Great covering review you wrote there, and thus the only thing I personally would have changed is this little thingie: "yes Chambers is much better a centre back" to "yes Chambers is LESS SUBSTANDARD at centre back" :-) lol As not surprisingly he has looked better at CB as he is considerable less likely to constantly being at risk of being exposed in his btw 'natural position' in the middle/central part of both the defense & the field, but aerially he is in fact really quite solid enough, HOWEVER on the ground though, especially against 'em speedy speedsters who can also twist & turn and 'em extra physically upper-body strong but still real agile opponents = Ohhhh Boy!!! That's an entirely different and often (like today! where as @Goal_2 said The Forrest forwards simply just had "to run at him") depressing matter isn't it now??? :( :( :( :( But "of course" we all have to remember the all-embracing most important thing about Mr. Chambers and that SEEMINGLY is... that he is the No. 1 "proper bloke" i.e. not merely "proper", not even "more proper" but the "most proper" bloke!!! :-) lol not the least in the generally visually impaired eyes of the one that sadly seems destined to continue to set the team, the Dreaded Dino!.... And hey! he always shows great enthusiasm for both the game & the club. Hands down! ... And obviously it also looks quite awesome when he fist-pump with that tattoo-covered arm of his! And although Chambo has always been an decent aerial threat on our deep set-pieces it also simply has to be said that him averaging about 3 goals a seasons is not jaw-droppingly awesome particularly considering that most even over-all substandard players not named Cole Skuse!, will eventually find the net once in a while IF & THEN they continuingly are run out there for 95 minutes! as that simply is "The Laws of Probability" in it's fullest effect (I could explain it to you in detail but I better not! since it's real long-winded and Zzz in and by itself!:-) lol) But now on to the other "Bad" Stuff with Mr. Chambers which for curious reasons rarely ever gets mentioned except by a selected few here on TWTD, as apparently in the eyes of the vast majority it's "nevermind" that my 84 year old bowlegged Aunt Betty probably could distribute the ball a bit more intelligently + with a greater completion % too!!! And likewise also apparently "nevermind" that in my experience he generally doesn't really exhibit any noticeable amount of **genuine** leadership skills in him ON THE FIELD (contrary to OFF THE FIELD though, where he does indeed exhibit an more than acceptable & appreciative amount of it) most visible in the games where we fall behind early and subsquently have too many players unacceptably displaying a tendency to especially against decent opposition then just hang their heads while seemingly just waiting for the final whistle?! and/or in the games where many of his teammates for some Dino-imposed tactically "tweaked" but also flawed reason incl. them vintage utterly unsound substitution(s), also suddenly are running around like quote "headless chickens"!, Or perhaps a lot simpler put: In all them games where the often 1-dimensional one & only Dino game-plan (Plan "A" = Let's defend with minimum 7-8 players and then cross our fingers that we "nick it" from a set-piece) inherently and very visibly is not working from the get-go and ever never is going to be working at all on that opponent on THAT given day. But ehmmm I better completely shut myself up now :-) as like I said earlier I evidently belong to a clear minority on this particular subject, as lots and lots of fans, here and elsewhere, were literally falling over one another to congratulate not only Chambo himself (which as I've been implying above is a good guy but also sadly TOO OFTEN for my personal liking is aka "Captain Calamity"!), but very very puzzling also congratulating the club and thus invariably its utterly incompetent Regime itself???!!! ....For what really? securing another 2 years of someone's while truly enthusiastic with the club (which is real nice & commendable obviously) at best overall 'BARELY MEDIOCRE' on-the-field services here??? El Capitano has a below 5.00 avg .rating on TWTD which is actually less than the "immensely popular" Mr. Skuse! and also I can't remember! the last time he i.e. someone who with that armband of his very much is suppose to "LEAD BY EXAMPLE" got anywhere close to deserving the MOTM award! So sorry I don't really get his extension, nor all the fan hype about it! and additionally exactly like @warktheline said it's certainly NOT a good sign of the much Public Relation spun & heralded quote "groundbreaking shake-up & rebuilding" either!

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