Boss Mick McCarthy believes there have been more positives than negatives during Town’s 2015/16 season, despite the Blues having been unable to replicate last year’s play-off finish. McCarthy’s side complete their home fixtures this afternoon when the MK Dons visit Portman Road for the first time in their short history.
"I think there have been a lot more positives than negatives but because it’s finished pretty poorly because of the performances at home and results at home [the mood’s more negative].
"Our fans haven’t seen us as we have been in previous seasons when we’ve been all over teams and we’ve been vibrant and we’ve got crosses in and had shots, scored goals and got good results.
"I bet Brentford fans are flying at the minute, I bet they think they’re great, feel they’ve had a great season.
"They’re still beneath us and they had an awful time but [they’ve just won five out of six, drawing the other], until they lost at Hull they had great results.
"They’ll be thinking it’s great, but they’re still four points behind us, despite their good run, as are Fulham, Leeds and Wolves and a lot of others. We’ve had more positives than negatives, but we’ve just finished on a low for us.”
Regarding criticism of his team’s style of football, he added: "We’ve had a bad end to the season really, a poor end to the season. But I look to before that when we were threatening to be in the play-offs and I didn’t hear any grumbles about the way we played.
"That was because we were playing better, we were looking a real threat every time we went forward, we were full of energy, we created chances.
"I think the criticism and the moans and groans have come because of results really. And if people tolerate other stuff when you’re winning, I think that’s slightly disingenuous - whenever you’re winning it’s OK.
"I thought we played well and last season we played well and we’ve done nothing different.”
While McCarthy is criticised for being too direct in his approach other managers elsewhere, such as Everton boss Roberto Martinez, have come under pressure with their sides playing prettier football.
"I love the way they play and I think they’ve got really good players,” the Town boss added. "I wonder how much James McCarthy and some of those players cost. They have got good players.
"That is the flipside of it. Manchester United, they keep the ball for fun and they’re getting pelters from their fans because they’re not winning games.
"Arsenal play the best football and the team, God forbid, who plays the ‘worst football’ but have the best defenders and hit more long passes are pissing the league by seven points at the minute, they play 4-4-2 and they get the best out of them.
"Go through them all, each and every team has got their identity and I think we all like that identity when it’s winning games.
"And when it’s not, people stop liking that identity and poor old Roberto Martinez, who I think is a really good manager and coach, is getting pelters at the minute and there’s a wave of support that will probably see him out of a job.
"What are they going to do then, get somebody who plays a different brand of football? I don’t know. I think they’ve been very, very close to being a good team but because they haven’t have won games they should have they’ve ended up being like a mediocre one.”
McCarthy feels fans’ frustrations at Town may have been overstated: "Our support’s been fantastic. I just think there’s a little element of social media that you guys [the media] pick up on about me getting loads of abuse and the players.
"I think they’ve been fantastic. There’s only been one game this season when I think they turned on me and turned on the players and that was Rotherham and I was as annoyed and as upset and as frustrated and as angry as anybody. And I got it. But overall our fans have been fabulous.
"I think some of the away games we’ve been to, certainly those close at hand, Charlton, Fulham, have been amazing. And other places we’ve gone, we went to Huddersfield and we had a wonderful support up there. At Bolton we had a wonderful support.
"They’ve been brilliant and, do you know what? They’ve been wonderful to me as well over the last three and a half, nearly four years and I appreciate every bit of it.”
Moving on to the lap of appreciation which traditionally follows the final home game of the season, McCarthy says it’s a chance for the players and staff to pay tribute to supporters, although he admits he’d feel uncomfortable doing so if fans were less welcoming.
"I’m not bothered, I’m quite happy to walk in the tunnel and not come back out if nobody wants us to, that doesn’t bother me one little bit,” he said.
"And I’m not being strange or funny about that, I think it’s lovely at the end of the season to show our appreciation to all the fans who have travelled, lots of them come and pay good money to watch us and support us and are there for us.
"And if that’s what everybody wants, or a percentage of them wants, then that’s exactly what we’ll do and I won’t feel awkward at all.
"I’d feel awkward if there were a load of people stood there booing me, I just wouldn’t bother me barney and I wouldn’t go out. We’ll see.
"But I hope the fans do stay so we can show our appreciation to them and they would show their appreciation to a group of lads who have put a great effort in, but who ultimately haven’t been good enough. But I still think there’s a lot to be proud of with them.”
He says he’ll look at why the Blues failed make the top six and why home form was less impressive during 2015/16, although he already has a good idea.
"I’ll look at the teams we have played against and analyse what they’re trying to do to us, which I know already, I don’t have to look too closely - I think we’ve been caught on the break quite a bit, I think teams have broken on us - and just make sure that that doesn’t happen next season.”
Town have spent a lot less cash than plenty of sides set to finish below them in the table, but McCarthy says he’s not using that as excuse for the Blues’ failure to make the play-offs.
"I know but fans don’t want to hear that,” he continued. "That is a matter of fact, but they still don’t want to hear that.
"I’m not citing that, I can tell you I’m disappointed, I’m upset and angry that we’ve not done it.
"I’m irked that we haven’t played better than we have and had better performances and better results.
"But that is a fact, there’s no question about that. There are a lot of teams who will finish beneath us that would certainly swap with us.”
He added: "We’re all a bit gloomy about the way the season has ended, I don’t blame [the fans for feeling like that]. I’m not knocking them, but what they have had, and I go back to the lap of appreciation, is a team that’s scrapped for every single bit for them.
"And the one thing that was said to me when I walked in this door was, ‘The team have downed tools, nobody’s bothered, there are players who don’t care about the club [when they're] inside the club or outside the club’ and that there was apathy surrounding it.
"That can’t be said now, that can’t be said of the squad of players who are here because they do care about the club, they care about the support that they get, they care about the work that they do in the community because they’re all very good at that.
"So surrounding the club there are far more positives than negatives. But it just goes to show, Everton are playing wonderful football in the Premier League, they nearly got to the final of the FA Cup and they want to sack the manager.
"I get it, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for two years, so I’ll be back here next season trying to get the team revitalised and up and at it like we were at the start of this season.”
Having recently been linked with Aston Villa and with one report earlier in the week claiming he could be leaving Portman Road in the summer, he added: "You can rule me out of anything, I’m staying here. Unless Man United come in, as I keep telling you. And I don’t see that happening.”