Town boss Mick McCarthy and striker Daryl Murphy have won the Sky Bet Championship Manager and Player of the Month awards for November. It’s the second time in just over a year that the Blues have pulled off such a double, McCarthy and former full-back Tyrone Mings having carried off the September 2014 gongs.
McCarthy, whose side took 10 points from 12 during November, beat Derby’s Paul Clement, Middlesbrough’s Aitor Karanka and Brighton’s Chris Hughton to claim his second Manager of the Month award with Town and the fifth of his career. He previously won one with Wolves and two with Sunderland.
Murphy, who scored six goals in three games including his first hat-trick in 11 years at Rotherham, fought off competition from Brighton’s Solly March, Leeds United midfielder Alex Mowatt and Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson.
"It’s a reflection on everybody, the Manager of the Month award,” McCarthy said. "The Player of the Month one, Murph’s, that’s a reflection on him playing well and scoring goals.
"My award, I accept it on behalf of everybody else. That’s not me being humble, that’s the way it is because it’s been a good effort by everybody.”
He admits the Blues needed the form they showed in November after a disappointing October in which they took only three points form a possible 15.
"Yes, we did, but that’s the beauty of this league. It is all very close, it’s a tough, relentless league.
"There’s not much between us all on any given day and that’s why you can have a good run of three wins or four wins and if you can get that then you can get back up the league, as we did. And we had good performances and good results.”
Murphy was pleased to land the award he previously won in December last year.
"It’s very pleasing to win the award and it was a good month for us,” the Irish international told Ipswich Player HD.
"We had some good wins, after a difficult month before that and on a personal note I managed to get a few goals.
"It’s nice to win the award but all the lads deserve credit as it was a real team effort and hopefully we can take this form into the festive period.”
Reflecting on the famed Manager of the Month curse, McCarthy added: "It’s great because the jinxed one’s gone, that was the Middlesbrough game before they’d even told me I’d got it. It’s already been played out, that!
"But we did play well during November and we played well against Middlesbrough as well, it was just the fact that they scored and we just let our guard down a bit. But for 65 minutes we were excellent.”
He says the Blues will need a few more months like November if they’re to finish in the top six for a second successive season.
"You can win three or four games, we had a great November but we’ll have to have a few more great months as well if we’re going to end up in the play-offs,” McCarthy continued.
"I think the league is tougher, I think it’s more competitive in terms of quality, teams have spent a lot of money and added to their squads, and we’ll be as competitive as ever and trying to get in the play-offs. Whereabouts that’s going to be, I don’t know. May will tell me, as it always does.”