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McCarthy: No Surprises in The Championship - Ipswich Town News

Mick McCarthy says the opening weekend’s Championship results held few surprises and the Town manager wasn’t even too shocked to see Mark Robins leave his role as Huddersfield boss after only one game.

"There are no surprises for me ever in the Championship because it’s a league full of surprises,” McCarthy said.

"I’m not a betting man - I can’t now but I never did anyway - but the league just throws up results.

"Someone asked me about the three teams who came down, whether they were going to find it easy.

"I wouldn’t have thought they were going to find it easy. One’s come to Ipswich, which is a nice place to come to but not when you’re on that Portman Road pitch it isn’t.

"One’s had to go to Blackburn and one’s had to go to Wolverhampton, who have just been promoted. They won’t have been thinking anything other than that it would have been hard.”

Regarding Robins, who left the Terriers following Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth, McCarthy added: "I’m not sure whether anybody’s left or been sacked before after one game.

"I certainly wasn’t stunned. I was there at the end of last season when we beat them [2-0] and there was not a nice atmosphere there at all, and towards Mark.

"It’s never nice as a fellow manager to see that because I’ve been on the receiving end of it.

"But then to put your faith in him and let him sign players and be there and do all the pre-season and to do it after one game, that is a bit shocking, that seems a bit ridiculous.

"However, having experienced it and seen what the feeling was like when we won, and then to lose 4-0 at home missing a penalty [perhaps it isn't a shock].

"I’m surprised they did it [when they did], although I’m never surprised what happens in football, but that was a tough one for him and I feel for him because he works hard at it.”

Meanwhile, he says striker Balint Bajner will have learnt some lessons about the Championship having been replaced after 44 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Fulham.

Did he feel the intensity of the game shocked the 23-year-old Hungarian? "I said to him afterwards, ‘if you thought the Championship was easy that’s put that silly little thought to bed!’, But I’m not so sure he was thinking that, to be fair.”

Meanwhile, former midfielder Simon Milton's role at the club has switched from academy sponsorship manager to director of academy sales. Milton is in charge of raising a target of £500,000 a season to help fund the club's youth set-up via the Academy Association.

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