Blues boss Mick McCarthy hailed a “a good, solid, disciplined, hard-working” display from his side with the added bonus of Martyn Waghorn and Joe Garner “putting the ball in the net”.

McCarthy admits he’s surprised that Brentford end the afternoon bottom of the table with only a point to show from their four Championship games.

“Let’s be honest about it, they’re a very good side, how they’re bottom of the league with only one point is beyond me,” he said.

“In the first half we got away with a few things, they started really well. I accepted that they were going to have a lot of the ball and I’d set up to sit back a bit, knowing full well we’d catch them on the break if they gave it away.

“With the strike force we’ve got we can do that. But it took a rearguard action from four full-backs, very stoically they were doing it.

“We’ve got away with it but the second half was much better, they’ve not really penetrated as much. All-round, good, solid, disciplined, hard-working and then the end bit, which we hadn’t got last year, is putting the ball in the net.”

He added: “They’ve probably had 1,796,000 passes and we’ve probably had 212 or something, I don’t know.

“I had to set up that way, if we’d have gone chasing them they’d have played around us, we’d have got beaten, so it was a matter of keeping solid and we have got a good counter-attacking team. That happened at Millwall on Tuesday, the front five were a really threat.”

McCarthy was delighted with goalscorers Waghorn and Garner - “Two good signings, they’re doing everything I’d expect of them and more” - summer signings from Rangers, who have netted four and three goals respectively.

Told his side had scored nine of their 12 shots on target in the league this season, he joked: “Not sure we had 12 shots in the league last year.”

After the less than favourable songs which were sung about him last season, the Portman Road crowd returned to chanting ‘super Mick McCarthy’ during the second half.

“I prefer that but I treat it equally with the same contempt as I do the boos because that can come back pretty quick,” he reflected.

“It shows how fickle football is. I’ve always said if we’re winning games that will change. I’m more concerned that the club is on the up genuinely.

“Because I will leave, at some stage I will be gone from here, but it’s the club that really counts and I hated it last year when ‘everything was wrong with the club’, and I didn’t like that.

“And it ends up being a horrible atmosphere. I’m not bothered how many pies, how many pints, how many kids, I don’t give a shite about everything else in the football club, if you’re not winning games and you’re playing badly, we’re all wrong, we don’t get anything [right].

“Genuinely, it’s not about me, I’m delighted for the lads that they’re enjoying playing a great atmosphere, so that’s lovely.”

Regarding makeshift centre-half pair Jordan Spence and Jonas Knudsen’s performances, he added: “They kept a clean sheet, that tells a lot about it. I wasn’t worried about that today but I would have hated to have gone to Millwall with that back four.

“Pretty much there was only one difference, but we had Chambo in the team who will compete and make sure they all stay up.

"It was going to be a different game and having four full-backs who were quick and lively and mobile and cover the ground quickly suited us playing against that team, to be quite honest.

“Whether I’d pick them if I’d got all my centre-backs fit that’s another matter, but it didn’t do us any harm today. I thought they were good.”

Knudsen in particular seemed to thrive in the role and took on the responsibility of the post-match fist pump in front of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

“If you look back at things I’ve always said he would make a left-sided centre-back,” McCarthy continued. “He loves defending. He outs his body in the way of things.

“He’s great, he gets forward, he puts crosses in when he’s playing at full-back, but he loves defending.”

The result sees the Blues climb to second on goal difference behind Cardiff City, managed by another veteran boss Neil Warnock, a currently unfashionable type of manager.

“Two old farts who know f***-all about the game!” McCarthy joked. “I’ll have to get my iPad out now.”

Brentford manager Dean Smith felt the afternoon was an all too familiar tale for his team.

“We’ve had a little bit of déjà vu again," he said. "In the first half we could have been out of sight. I thought our play was very good, we created opportunities, we were camped in their half.

“We gave a sloppy pass away in midfield, they broke into the box, the ball ricocheted to their lad and he tucked it away.

“Even with that goal we had enough chances to get back in the game and should have been comfortably leading at half-time. The word is frustration at the moment.

“In the second half I asked the lads to keep doing the same because I felt we were so on top, then Harlee Dean gets fouled, the referee doesn’t give it, they break and get a corner and we don’t deal with the corner well enough.

“I think after that I think they sat in their half, broke things up and we didn’t have the nous. I thought we were very sloppy on the ball in the second half.”

Did he feel his side didn't get the rub of the green from referee Oliver Langford? "I’ll have to be careful with what I say here. I certainly don’t think Neal Maupay got protection in the first half.

“I had to bring him off in the end because he got whacked all over the place. He’s a lad who has come over from a different league in France, but he’s got a little bit about him.

“I still don’t know how you can go through the back of someone without a freekick being given but it’s one of those things.”

Photo: TWTD

RoyalAscotBlue added 23:16 - Aug 19 Hamish1979. The manager is proving nothing. He is simply selecting the only fit players he has at his disposal.
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Notts_tractor added 00:33 - Aug 20 People are getting carried away. We haven't played anyone of real quality yet, and last week at Barnsley we could have been three down at HT. sounded similar today. I give McCarthy credit for the signings this summer and a different approach, but I don't think I'm ever going to be a fan of his. The pitiful size of the crowd today shows how many fans have been lost and remain to be convinced that the abysmal turgidness of the past two seasons is behind us.

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Fat_Boy_Tim added 00:57 - Aug 20 Can you have déjà vu again? Can you have déjà vu again?
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Fat_Boy_Tim added 01:01 - Aug 20 Notts Tractor- I tell my 6 year old not to get carried away because she would be upset by the disappointment. I do that to protect her, I don't think the contributors on TWTD need your loving protection. Getting carried away after 5 wins on the bounce has never hurt anyone. But thanks for your concern anyway!
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SpiritOfJohn added 07:17 - Aug 20 Interesting comments from Mick on Knudsen's performance at centre half. He could become our Great Dane if he keeps him in that position and allows Kenlock to flourish on the left. It is going to be interesting to see what kind of team Mick puts out against Palace - would be amazing to keep this winning start going but temptation will be to rest key men for the league.

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Fat_Boy_Tim added 08:38 - Aug 20 SpiritOfJohn - In the interview on ISupport MM said He's going to ring the changes for Tuesday.
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Notts_tractor added 09:11 - Aug 20 Just ridiculous. Suddenly Mugabe is a football genius and those of us who were critical of his awful football, arrogance and total contempt for the fans are"idiots". I've heard of short memories before, but this is more like people's brains have been restored to their factory settings. Yes the summer signings have been good, and the results in the face of a shocking injury list excellent, but we have played no-one of any real quality yet and feet surely need to be kept on the ground. Mick McCarthy for me remains a manager with outdated ideas and an appalling lack of humility.

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bedsitfc added 09:47 - Aug 20 Is blue boy on holiday???? I feel we have been fantastic to far, especially when you consider our injury list. But do I think we will win the league? Probably not But we have played some reasonable championship sides, Brentford, Birmingham will finish higher than mid table, and millwall will be easily safe in this league through their home form.
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cat added 10:17 - Aug 20 Credit to MM for bringing in the Waggy & Garner, cause that's the difference this season, but that side of MM has never been an issue. I'm with sereneblue as per!! I will never warm to this buffoon, ever again, as I've stated many times I've lost my ITFC spirit, MOJO if you like! If not at PR (in the past) when watching in a boozer or at home you would hear me from a mile away if we scored, nowadays it's more a subdued celebration if we win, or not really that bothered if we lose. If any of what I call the hardcore MM worshippers, not the bandwagon 'swing with the sway' posters! think for one second he has any affiliation or respect for any of you, forget it! cause let's be honest here, he don't give a "flying one" about any ITFC FANS, if you can't see that, read through his post Match interviews again. Fans are happy because we are unbeaten, and I get that, scratch the surface or a change in fortunes, you will be then see the same problems surfacing again, let's hope from a club perspective this don't hapoen.

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Hamish1979 added 12:15 - Aug 20 Grumpy old man - I am glad you acknowledge that you are an idiot. Dissy boy - Making out that you are in some way responsible for our upturn is really quite ridiculous isnt it? The reason why we are better at the moment is simple. MM was given some money which he has spent very shrewdly whereas in previous seasons he hasn't. He had a crap team last year and made the best of what he had. We shoukd have been relegated last year with what we had yet we managed to stay up. The relentless negativity only served to make us worse.

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StowTractorBoy added 12:58 - Aug 20 I am all for criticism where it is due providing it is done in the correct way. The level of abuse towards McCarthy last season was uncalled for and perhaps you anti brigade will realise this when he has gone and what a job he has done for us. I myself had doubts about him last season mainly for the some of the silly things he said but it looks as though he is starting to get things on track again. One of the biggest traits of MM is keeping the squad as a happy close knit bunch and yesterday this was reflected in our performance. There is no doubt that we have a great team spirit and long may it continue. Well done to our fans who really kept the noise level up during almost the whole of the match.

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jas0999 added 15:36 - Aug 20 It's early days, but a great start to the season. Mick deserves the credit and the praise, but we all know it could change very quickly. No excuses now to return to the boredom and negative approach of the past eighteen months. This is much better.
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Ipswichbusiness added 21:27 - Aug 20 Crystal Palace will play their "B" team. If we play our first team we have a decent chance of winning, keeping a Cup run going and maintaining a good start to the season; we might also put some bums on Portman Road seats!
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Dissboyitfc added 23:09 - Aug 20 Hamish you are blind! ME has given MM money and told him he has to be more entertaining because the club are losing fans in the thousands. it is so simple for any sensible person to see!
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Bluewelshman added 07:01 - Aug 21 MM is in his last year of contract, I think he is just going for it rather than play it safe, and it's bloody well working. So let's get behind MM, the boys, and the club, so they can bring us fans an entertaining season, and make all the pundits eat their words. COYB
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blue75 added 09:00 - Aug 21 I'll start by saying that was better than most games all season and it's nice to be unbeaten, scored some good goals. I'd just like to highlight that McCarthy said he set the team up not to be beaten, that's what he did for the last 2 seasons, at least we now have 2 strikers that can score from limited chances, 5 shots 3 on target and 35% possession at home is very worrying stats if our new strike force has a off day, and conceding 20 shots at home only needs Bart to have an off day and we'd take a hiding. I was told last season careful what you wish for, I'll now point out to be careful you don't get carried away!!

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blockb_steward added 12:31 - Aug 21 Again, credit to the team and manager - as I have mentioned before, the fixture list has been kind but you still have to beat what is put in front of you and MM/TC have done that. I fancy us at Selhurst tomorrow and I think Saturday's game will be a test of how far we have come this season compared to last...even with the injury list. Narwich fans must be feeling quite fed up too which is always a bonus!

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