Town boss Mick McCarthy admits that the ongoing rift between him and supporters will come into his thoughts when he decides on his future in the summer. The 59-year-old’s Blues contract is up at the end of the season and he recently revealed he had begun discussions with owner Marcus Evans - who has an option to keep him at Portman Road for two further years - regarding what might happen at the end of the campaign.
Yesterday, McCarthy issued an apology for swearing as he celebrated Town’s goal at Norwich but denied he was directing his comment at the travelling Blues’ support in response to earlier derogatory chanting, as had been widely interpreted at the time.
"Yes, I guess so,” he said when asked whether the schism would come into his thinking. "But I’ve not given that too much thought, I have to be honest, since [Sunday]. I always say I’d like to win tomorrow and then my relationship is a lot better, it always is.”
A shame that the rift has developed? "I prefer it when they’re supporting the team and if it’s me being here that is affecting that, that really is sad.
"But, I’m here for the next 14 games at least, and I’m at pains to say at least, and I’m going to try and do as well as I can.”
McCarthy says despite the weekend furore, he has no problem staying focused: "Oh yes, absolutely. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve had ups and downs throughout my career and, yes, I do manage to focus on it. All I am is focused on the Cardiff game.”
Regarding the apology, he said: "Listen, people saw me swearing on television. It was at nobody but I was pumped up for that game, really pumped up.
"I said when I was sat here last week how much it meant to the fans and that I was quite aware of it. I was desperate for a win, sadly I didn’t get it.”
Was he concerned when he saw how it had been interpreted? "Not really, people can interpret it however they want. But listen, I’ve jumped up and done that before, so it was a really good moment, I thought we were going to win the game.”
Does he believe he’s entitled to celebrate a goal in any way he likes? "Well, maybe not when people are watching it with the bad language that I used. But when I jumped up I’m not thinking I’ve got the cameras on me because I’m not that bothered, to be quite honest.
"But I think it’s a shame actually that you [the media] are running the story and carrying on with it, to be honest. It’s just prolonging it. It’s such a shame that we should stop talking about it, I guess.”
And if he’s getting stick from fans, isn’t he entitled to hit back in kind? "I wasn’t giving them stick back. You’re misinterpreting it. I was pumped up and I said here, I was desperate to win.
"Pumped up and delighted we’d scored, thought we were going to win. And that’s the end of it. You’ve seen the website and you’ve seen what I’ve said, so as far as I’m concerned it’s finished with.”
Does he believe it’s possible for a club to be successful over a longer period if there is such a rift between its manager and its fans? "Let’s hope so. I keep saying, I’ll just keep doing my job. I’ve got Cardiff to play tomorrow night.
"I’ve had a great relationship with the fans actually, for the most part. And I think if we win tomorrow night we’ll get cheered off as we normally do.”
Can it have an impact on the players during a game? "You’d have to ask them. I don’t think so actually. I think the atmosphere does and I’ve said in the past that I think that fans come along and cheer the team because that’s what they are, they’re fans, and they come and support us.
"And that’s what they do generally and if we’ve won we get well supported, if we’ve lost, like any other club, like any other team, you get the bird when you’re going off.”
Asked again about how his relationship with fans might affect his decision in the summer, he added: "I’m concentrating on tomorrow. Effectively, the only way I can [improve] it is by winning games and playing well.
"We played well on Sunday and we should have won that game in the end. You can argue that Bart made two good saves. I think their keeper made some good saves, I thought we played well and were the better team in the first half.
"We had to withstand a bit of pressure from a very good Norwich side, but in the end we scored and with 30 seconds to go we should have won the game. I’m hoping that we can replicate the performance but win the game instead.”
McCarthy refused to blame ill fortune or referee David Coote for his side not being able to hold on for the remaining seconds.
"It’s not bad luck and it’s not the referee,” he said. "It’s not him adding five minutes on. I don’t think the physio was on in the second half, forgive me if I’m wrong.
"There’s six substitutions, apparently that’s three minutes, there was a goal scored, that’s 30 seconds, I believe. Even if it’s a minute I still don’t know where five came from.
"But that’s the most comfortable we’ve ever been with five minutes being put up, they never looked like scoring and it’s our own stupidity that cost us.
"We’d pretty much done it. We should have run the ball in the corner and wedged it up against the corner flag and kicked it out for a throw-in and don’t let them out and then game would have been finished. But we didn’t and it’s cost us.”
"We were excellent. I thought the lads were great. If there’s ever a perfect game plan which had gone to plan and was kiboshed by some naivety at the end of the game that was it, and that’s all it was. And, of course, had we won it would have been a completely different story.”
He says no blame was apportioned in the dressing room after the match: "Not at all. I don’t go around doing that, that’s for Monday morning to have a discussion with them.
"I’ve said to them today we should have learnt, we did it against Sheffield Wednesday, we continued going forward, trying to score another goal and it’s just bonkers. As far as I’m aware, and I’ve been in the game a long time, 1-0 wins it.”
He admitted the home side’s celebrations at the final whistle irked him: "It stuck in my craw, I’ve not beaten them. When we scored I thought we’d do it. But we didn’t, so it still does. I might have to come back and do it again.”