Mick McCarthy says he’s still no nearer to knowing whether DJ Campbell will still be at Portman Road after his loan ends on January 5th. The 31-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has said he would be open to signing a permanent deal with a club in January but doesn’t want another loan, while QPR boss Harry Redknapp has intimated that Campbell will come into his plans on his return with attacking options currently short at Loftus Road.
McCarthy said: "I would love to come here and report that we’ve agreed something and he’s staying here, but I can’t. I can’t say he’s got to go back or he’s going anywhere else either. I’ll just keep going until whoever decides tells me.
"Everybody knows I want to keep him. I think he’s enjoying being here and playing and scoring. That’s one that’s not determined by me, so we’ll wait and see.”
The Town boss says he has a lot of time for the Blues’ nine-goal top scorer: "He’s a really good player who has been valuable to us and he’s a lovely man as well, he’s a nice guy to have around the place.
"He’s a really good pro, good in the dressing room and I really like him. He’s lovely bloke. He’s a lovely bloke with talent, which is really nice!”
He says Campbell has formed a good partnership with Daryl Murphy during his time at Portman Road: "All I can do is deal with what’s here and now and at the moment they’re playing well, they’re both scoring, which is great for us.”
McCarthy says he has been planning for the January transfer window ever since he took over as boss at the start of November: "We’ve been looking ever since I came in for players that we could sign, players that we can take on loan, potential targets.
"You can line them up all day long and they might get kiboshed by something else — we can’t afford them, they don’t want to come, their manager isn’t going to let them go, someone pays more for them, they’ve a preference.
"We’ll do our best to get some of the targets that we’ve set our sights on and you’ll find out as soon as we do.”
The Blues manager wouldn’t be drawn in terms of the specific number he’ll be looking to add to his ranks during the transfer window: "No, no chance. We need to supplement the squad, of course, because I don’t have the biggest squad.
"We’ve had 23 on duty over Christmas and within that we’ve had Tyrone Mings, who we’ve just signed from Chippenham, we’ve had Josh Carson, one of the younger players, and we’ve had Bilel Mohsni, who we’ve got on loan and who will be going back to Southend. So, it’s not the biggest squad and we need to get some in.”
While his search for signings won’t just be limited to UK-based players, McCarthy says a knowledge of the Championship is useful: "We do tend to look further afield than just under our noses now, but I do like the thought of having players who have played in the Championship.
"It’s a very individual league. It’s a bit like the Premier League, if you get players who have played in it, they understand it, they know what it’s all about and you’re better off.
"There are four months of the season left. People have to get up and running and get playing and ready for it within that time and they’ve got to make an impact in that four months.
"Because of where we are in the league, I can’t afford to bring somebody in and have the luxury of two or three months to settle in. That’s no good to me.”
McCarthy is keen to keep all his loan players — with the exception of Mohsni — and would like their positions clarified sooner rather than later: "I don’t want to get to the situation where it’s panic stations at the end of January where somebody is called back then. I need to get an answer whether I can keep them as soon as I possibly can.
"But they’re all enjoying it, the ones who are here and playing and would be keen to stay, unless they get better offers from somewhere else or their club gets a better offer. There’s nothing I can do about that.”
The Town boss says he wasn’t entirely shocked to see Nottingham Forest and Blackburn sack Sean O’Driscoll and Henning Berg respectively earlier this week, despite their short spells in charge: "Strange happenings, but I always thought that they could be volatile, both clubs, to be fair. It’s been proven now at Blackburn.
"And at Nottingham Forest it seemed to have settled down with Sean, they’re only one point off the play-offs. I think they’ve done well, they were in a relegation fight all last season.
"That’s just the way it is in the Championship and if the owner doesn’t want you there that’s what they’ll do and obviously that’s the case. I think I’m all right for another week or two.”
O’Driscoll has been replaced by Alex McLeish, a friend of McCarthy’s: "I was sad for Sean firstly, but I’m delighted for Alex because he’s a mate of mine.
"I’ve just sent him the usual ‘Welcome back to the asylum’ message this morning. He’ll be tearing his hair out on the sidelines just like I am.”