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Mick Not the Man for Town
Written by Stato on Monday, 25th Aug 2014 17:03

After the lacklustre performance against the Budgies there seems to be an increase in dissenting voices complaining about the style of football being produced by Town under Mick McCarthy.

With some of those previously touting the blind faith chant of "In Mick we trust" now not so sure if they still trust the timing seems right to spark the debate about how much longer we should be made to endure the negative style of football increasing numbers of Town fans are getting bored of.

The arguments in favour of Mick seem to centre around, "He is a nice bloke", "He saved us from relegation" and "Poor bloke has had no money to spend".

He does seem like a really nice bloke and I'm yet to read anything on this site that suggests otherwise. I remember lots of the same comments about Paul Jewell and plenty on here desperate that we keep him while on the pitch fortunes were awful.

Having a straight talker like Mick in charge of first team affairs is great but I'm more interested in how he manages my team than I am in how he manages the media. He did save us from relegation, I'm not sure how but he did and again I've not read anything other than respectful praise from all on here about how he turned our fortunes around.

He does have bugger all budget but that is no different to most of the Championship sides. The FFP stuff gets discussed by some on here like we are the only team in the Championship adhering to it, which is complete and utter nonsense.

Educate yourselves on FFP and our rivals' finances, this article makes a good starting point and by doing so you'll realise that the majority of our rivals are facing the same issues as we are. So in summary he is a nice bloke who did save us from relegation despite a lack of budget. So what ?

Looking at the arguments against him I'd say they mostly centre around his negative style of football. I would also ask why does he only ever play 4-4-2. With our best three defenders all being centre-backs why hasn't he tried 3-5-2 and not even in a pre-season friendly?

An increasing number of fans are starting to question Dean Gerken and perhaps we shouldn't be shocked that a guy of his age playing for relegated Bristol City was never going to prove an amazing find or surely some other manager from the Championship would have seen it before now.

A similar point could be made about Anthony Wordsworth. Before Gerken's arrival the number of goals conceded was so much lower. Why didn't Mick pursue Stephen Henderson or any other more credible target than Gerken?

Let's consider the Paul Taylor debacle. I've no idea why Mick didn't like him and possibly I wouldn't like him either if I had to manage him but Mick is portrayed as a pragmatist and Taylor's MOM awards to games played ratio on this site was HUGE. This means that those attending the games regularly rated his performances above all other players, above our skipper, above Cressy, above Didz and certainly above the teacher's pets, Hunt and Tabb.

To think that Taylor was shipped out because he was a bit of a nuisance is disappointing considering the lack of options left behind. For many I think the Taylor saga has shown Mick to be lacking in the man management skills that are going to be needed to get us out of this division.

Taylor goes and Conor Sammon arrives and a few of us are bemused. If Didz gets injured we have nobody similar (Taylor was closest in our squad) but in the big lump department we have an embarrassment of riches. Mick's priorities are there for everyone to see. There is no argument for being patient as there is no sign of any change in direction.

Our lack of goals from midfield has been another source of increasing frustration and actually for some of us the less publicised lack of assists from the same department makes you wonder what on earth they are doing. The fact is we can all see that as a unit we play too deep, we lack the passing and dribbling skills to open up other sides defences and overall there is very little to get excited about.

Some favour Luke Hyam and some favour Cole Skuse but only Mick seems to think they compliment each other. Giving Hyam a goal scoring target of six is a joke. Why not just sign someone capable of giving that return (or greater) and let Hyam and Skuse fight it out for the other spot.

Mick not the man for Town? Absolutely. Let him go save some other team facing the trapdoor and perform more miracles in either the Premier League or more realistically in the Championship. Will he come back to bite us? Maybe? Who cares? I'm fed up with sitting inside Portman Road with no atmosphere and watching Mick bore the pants off the paying punters with the whole park the bus thing.

I'd like to see a younger manager with a more attacking outlook be given the chance to get us out of the division. Several clubs with smaller budgets than us have managed it but I reckon Evans will sit tight with his own teacher's pet and a long season of dire football awaits.

Yeah, we will win some games and the "in Mick we trust" brigade will be dancing in the streets. Yep, we may even go on a run that puts us on the edge of the play-offs again. So what? How many 1-0s and 0-0s against mediocre teams and mediocre displays will it take before someone reminds Evans that on the basis we haven't served port at the right temperature since the Cobbolds left then the only crisis these days that matters is what is happening on the pitch? (I suggest 14-year-old keyboard warriors ask their dads to explain reference to a time when ITFC were in a much stronger position on and off the pitch).




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Marcus_Evans added 17:56 - Aug 25
Let me guess? You want Darren Ferguson....
2

irishtim added 18:04 - Aug 25
Christ get real. MM will turn it around. Funds the problem.
-1

StanwayTractorboy added 18:04 - Aug 25
Whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion I think getting rid of Mick is a ridiculous idea and after him signing a new contract we couldn't afford to anyway! Don't get me wrong I'm bored to tears at the moment but we were never going to challenge this season.

I agree with the Skuse Hyam thing, Skuse for me is hopeless, doesn't score and doesn't set anything up.
12

italianotractor added 18:04 - Aug 25
Very good blog I agree 100%,
5

blueboy1981 added 18:12 - Aug 25
Excellent blog - honest and accurate assessment of the entire situation.
4

Wickets added 18:31 - Aug 25
Funny how if you feel Mick is right for us it's blind faith! As much as i would like to see a bit more quality in our team, i for one am prepared to give him the time left on his contract. My memory is not as short as some, i can well remember a couple of years ago when we where watching a team of couldn't care less players mixed in with one or six loans,players that other Championship managers just wanted rid. Time will tell if Mick gets it right but he deserves the chance and for me our support.
8

broadside added 18:43 - Aug 25
Unbelievable. Four league games into the season and already nonsense like this. Give it a chance to build and make a mature judgement over after the Boxing Day and New Year games.
1

Daleyitfc added 19:04 - Aug 25
Excellent blog. Expect lots of stick from the one brain-cell "Keep the fafe" brigade though.
-3

Leather24 added 19:04 - Aug 25
Agree with most of this, he has managed to make our squad worse than it was last season yet has higher aspirations (top 6). The players that have come in are woeful and he is shipping out the last bits of quality we have. Unless we bring in some amazing loan signings then top 6 is a long way away, only time will tell.
9

irishtim added 19:08 - Aug 25
Alot of dickheads on here. Support the team and manager 4 games yes we need to improve but with investment not given think we are doing the best we can.
-5

Mullet added 19:14 - Aug 25
Who's ever argued for Mick on the grounds of being "a nice bloke" he quite happily tells journalists to "fcuk off" and screams at players and makes them upset each week. Clearly these poor souls blinded by faith and changing their mind need some sort of emergency surgery. Perhaps something removed from their arses will cure the blindness too.

We should have stuck with Jewell instead of this bloke taking us nowhere. Paul played dynamic goal strewn football that was clearly moving us out of this division.
-9

bluefeast added 19:27 - Aug 25
Did MM write it , found it a bit boring . You could of said ,goals and assists the worst in the championship the last two seasons from midfield players. Thats all sides bar none and the problem has not been addressed. Its obvious this department is our weak link. Simple
4

TheGov added 19:32 - Aug 25
So is it time for "Evans Out"? Currently it doesn't matter who we have as manager without any sort of money or some hefty chunks of luck we have no chance of getting to the premier league. So is ME really doing us any favours? While we are thankful he saved the club when we were in a dire situation but has the time come for a change?
4

MrDiddle added 19:42 - Aug 25
We lose against Norwich and 90% of supporters posting on here decide its time for change already. Bit sad really isnt it!
-2

SouperJim added 19:44 - Aug 25
It's incredible what a 1 goal loss to Norwich will do.

Football fans always want more, but that doesn't mean we should forget how far we have come under Mick in a short space of time. Under Jewell we had a team of loans, mercenaries and disenchanted players who simply did not care. We are a million miles away from that disaster now.

Yes, there are legitimate concerns over whether Mick is able to take us to the next level. But given the track record of our owner, are you really advocating another roll of the dice?

Be careful what you wish for.
3

The_Tomonator added 20:02 - Aug 25
Totally agree. Ship him out, get someone one new in and repeat when we don't qualify for champions league in 2 yrs.
-1

RegencyBlue added 20:09 - Aug 25
Finance is the key for me - Magilton Keane and Jewell squandered millions and MM has been allowed to spend virtually nothing in comparison.

I must admit my faith in MM is being tested at the moment because some of his recent pronouncements seem rather odd and the style of football is poor. Having said that who would we be able to get in to improve things with no money to buy players?

Mourinho himself couldn't do anything with this bunch!
5

Stato added 20:29 - Aug 25
I was more concerned by the manner of the defeat than the actual result itself. Someone will correct me but did we only manage 2 shots on target ? At home ? It was Norwich not Bayern Munich. MM brings on 3 subs but doesn't change formation as he never does. Some of you make more noise on here than you do at Portman Road but I'm bored and fed up with the dire rubbish being dished up under MM. You can almost excuse it away from home but at Portman Road ? Let's see what the next home gate looks like and how many of the extra fans from Saturday are prepared to watch the next game.
6

Sorry added 20:42 - Aug 25
In that link you added about finances, Ipswich had the 18th biggest turnover in the division. So in terms of bang for our buck we overachieved a touch. In last season's championship the top 8 were 13th, 8th, 12th, 6th, 4th and three relegated teams. Not one team finished above us with a smaller budget and we finished above a lot of teams with bigger ones.

Is MM a genius? No. Will he ever get us promoted? Probably not. But that's how it is now. We're a small club, even for this division, and unless the academy suddenly produces 3 or 4 great players or we sign a few freebies who other clubs miss (both of which are as much luck as judgement), we're going nowhere.
5

dalianwasexciting added 20:46 - Aug 25
The blog has some very valid points and should be used as a debate which is what it is. MM has done extremely well moving us from a team full of loanees and over paid prima donnas and wasters, sadly there seems no flexibility currently in the way we play, even when we are behind its a case of keep the shape then spend the last 15 minutes attacking and chuck Berra up front.

What most would like is for Mick to display a little bit of attacking emphasis when it is needed and not blindly stick by a handful of the "chosen" players, I include Skuse, Tabb, Gerken etc in this.
6

MVBlue added 20:48 - Aug 25
Mick McCarthy got it wrong against Norwich. I believe he is a decent tactician and he changes the playing strategy for each opposition. Against good opposition he sets out a defensive counter attacking style, with long ball used. But he needs to realise with the extra atmosphere of the derby he should have laid out a more attacking team, which with the larger crowd atmosphere cheering them would have faired better than the poor game that was had. It feels like the Joe Royle era where we were promising but nullified with financial concerns. How this has happened with a now wealthy backer i'm not sure. Can he have some money Marcus?
1

MVBlue added 20:54 - Aug 25
Mullet - stick with Paul Jewell? Crazy talk. Would have been relegated for certain. And not returned to the Championship for some time.
6

tractorkent added 21:04 - Aug 25
i respect Mick for saving us from relegation but he is not the man for me.I feel he is a one way play manager.Town were always known as a good footballing team but no any more. I have a 180 round trip to watch Town and I am a season ticket holder in Churchmans [sir Alfs] stand. I am seriously thinking of calling it a day and just hand picking my games.TThe £35 pound petrol money I use can go a holiday lets say.I will always thank Marcus Evans for his finantial support but the man and his buddies clearly don't know a thing about football. At best MM is a good defensive manager but skill and flair in the middle is whats needed.
6

BillBlue added 21:21 - Aug 25
Good solid blog, well done Bossman and well said. 100% right!
0

DurhamTownFan added 21:31 - Aug 25
I agree with wickets comment above.

While I'm the first to admit that the football is dross and the results not much better, a longer term perspective could help. We all sit tight and bite tongues for at least another year or two and then start really complaining if we're still nowhere near.
Trouble is, is that just asking for death by a thousand cuts on the meantime?!
0
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