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Hope you're doing well. I occasionally write for Cardiff blogs etc.
To say we are underwhelmed with the appointment of big Mick would be an understatement. However some have been romanced by his direct Yorkshire accent.
Would love to get Town fans thoughts as you guys would know more than anyone:
> What can we expect from him? Hoof and hope?
> Is he really a dinosaur?
> What's his team setup and preferred formation/style of play?
> Is he tactically astute?
> Transfer wise, does he have a 'type'?
> Finally, how long before the Northern charm wears off?
Would love to get your thoughts and off topic, how's Emyr Huws doing? seems to have fallen off the face of the earth after a period out with injury.
All the best!
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:03 - Jan 25 with 1593 views
Possibly the most succinct answer to your questions is the thing that a Wolves-supporting mate of mine said to me when I asked him similar things when MM first took charge of Ipswich:
He's like marmite. You'll either love him or hate him.
From that moment on, I knew that I'd be underwhelmed.
Ok, Ipswich are now in a much worse position than when he left (in large part due to Hurst's dismantling of the squad, followed by the subsequent mistake of appointing Lambert), but Ipswich under MM were so boring it literally made my eyes bleed.
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:22 - Jan 25 with 1527 views
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 14:10 - Jan 25 by OsborneOneNil
If a fans favourite player is on the bench, don't for heavens sake chant his name, MM will not bring him on just to pi55 everyone off.
MM likes to not lose. If you nick a winner then all the better.
Mick sets up to cancel out the opposition. His tactics will change with those of the competition After he cancels them out he looks to win. But sets up on defensive side until he is comfortable you will not lose The negative with him is he never looks to play to your strengths first and is too conservative
His record in playoffs are bad as he never goes to win first.
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:25 - Jan 25 with 1522 views
Youll find that after a while his football becomes incredibly tedious. Forget excitement. As said before, he does have a lot of connections & picks up good signings often very cheaply. For us he was very active in getting in some quite good loan players. He can be very divisive amongst the fanbase & you either love him or hate him. You'll become solid but uninspiring & probably wont go anywhere. Be very careful when you get rid of him!
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:26 - Jan 25 with 1519 views
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 14:55 - Jan 25 by itfcjoe
Someone on an earlier post claimed only 3 games stick in the memory for Mick - they can't be regular away followers because that season was as good as we've had it since I was about 18/19 which was a long time ago.
The London away days that year were all special for different reasons - the 2 1-0 away wins at Watford and Charlton, the 2-1 at Fulham, the 4-2 at Brentford. A fantastic year to be a fan then as we travelled in great numbers and great voice, and were rewarded for it.
No to be fair you're right, that season i had a job i had to work every other Saturday so only managed around 4 or 5 away games. One of those games included being played off the park and beaten by a terrible Rotherham team with Ben Pringle and Connor Sammon in it. I did get to watch the Charlton game on tv and i know a lot of people are fond of it but up until a last minute winner it was another frustrating performance. We stumbled in to the playoffs and had absolutely no form going in to them.
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:30 - Jan 25 with 1510 views
My views are well documented on here but I’ll conclude them as outgoing sentiments to pass on to your crew :
> What can we expect from him? Hoof and hope?
Pragmatism. He’ll halt your run of defeats from the off and set his stall out as a tough side to break down. If you’re lucky, he’ll try a few different things to inject a layer of fluidity to the attacking intent but in truth, it depends how affected he’s been. The last two-years here were painfully dull. ROI was equally unspectacular. Whatever he serves up, there will be no apologies for it even if it is a grind.
> Is he really a dinosaur?
Kinda. Although his football is painful to watch at times, he did tweak our style of play often. It just never hits the spot. He’s an old skool kick it and head it defender and those are the principles he instills. Great, to an extent; the game has moved on though as have fans expectations. His philosophy is “win the game and the fans will be happy” - it’s a part truth but it’s his mantra.
> What's his team setup and preferred formation/style of play?
442 in the main although we played a 433 / 451. He’ll make a few bold calls which won’t be popular but he won’t care. As long as he’s grinding out results and inch up the table, he’s happy. “Nowt bad as an away point” is a good day on the road.
> Is he tactically astute?
The best we’ve had since Evans arrived but then look at his competition. Never really changed a game though. Set-up becomes very familiar, substitutions become familiar and the more you call for change, the more he’ll ignore it.
> Transfer wise, does he have a 'type'?
Micks biggest strength. His ability in the transfer market is second to none. He’ll find talent and nurture it in no time and make big sums. He likes works, grafters with a natural raw talent or energy he can utilise. Wingers are a bit of an Achilles heel - other than Ryan Fraser, none of them were really well utilised here I didn’t feel. He won’t sign any blaggers that’s for sure - maybe a few old cart horses but the latter is better than the former.
> Finally, how long before the Northern charm wears off?
Quickly. For all his jibes and quirks, you’ll get tired of the dreary Yorkshire approach to life quite quickly. As one journo said, “his favourite colour is brown, he holidays in his garden and he dines out on breadsticks and luke warm water” - not exciting but it does a job. That’s Mick.
Great man-manager. Players love him and will run through brick walls for him. Fiercely loyal to his players, but tends to pick his 'favourites' irrespective of performances. Great contacts in the game which will be an advantage to you. Likes Irish players, and pre-season will be an uninspiring tour of Irish clubs you've never heard of - just in case he does well and you extens his contract. He will keep you up. But it won't be 'sexy'. Expect pragmatism. You'll like him at first, but eventually the style of football will depress you - but that will be your fault not his. He will then build a seige mentalty with the players. Enjoy.
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 13:53 - Jan 25 by Weekender
To answer your q's... >Direct and very pragmatic football - fine if the results come >Arguably but he was effective with us for 2/3 seasons >442, direct, picked his favourites at times, loved to have "proper blokes" in the team >Not particularly >He can pick a player to his credit >Never much charm to loose but fine if you're winning.
Huws is an absolute shadow of the player we had on loan, injury really took its toll by the looks of think but then again none of our current squad look much good at the moment.
[Post edited 25 Jan 2021 13:55]
Just remember that is was Russell Osman that”discovered” Tyrone Mings NOT big head MM.
Don’t expect any cup runs his cup record was awful and often painful to watch ( we still have nightmares about the Lincoln away replay live on BBC ). He will play the youths and a few reserves and maybe the odd player coming back from injury but will try to exit as early as possible to concentrate on the league.
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:38 - Jan 25 with 1455 views
> What can we expect from him? Hoof and hope? I wouldn't say hoof and hope, as a lot of the direct passages of play were designed to pick out key targets.
> Is he really a dinosaur? I never really got the description of him as a dinosaur, but in the end went with a section of the crowd when I was frustrated and used the term. His tactics will always be familiar and he likely won't ever be featured on Tifo- but he will get results... to start with
> What's his team setup and preferred formation/style of play? 442 , Direct, but isn't a slave to the formation.
> Is he tactically astute? For the most part, yes. Although he was much less effective in this regard later on during his time here.
However, there was a weird season when we were actually playing really decent attacking football and doing well - but then Reading tonked us at their place and Mick instantly got us back into the direct football there after in an almost "told ya so" type way.
> Transfer wise, does he have a 'type'? Hi transfer/loans were varied - there were a few failures, but easily outnumbered by good transfers. He did unearth some good players though, and got the best out of them.
(See Tom Lawrence's loan stats for teams before he came here vs his stats during/after)
The one thing I don't like is that he is very cautious with young players, and I feel there were a couple that could/should have tasted first team football more. (Jack Marriott was prolific in the U23s but went on loan 6 times over a couple of seasons with only 2 cameos for the main team. He's not done incredibly well since leaving us but I genuinely feel we did not do his development any favours at all)
> Finally, how long before the Northern charm wears off? At the point you feel that the results aren't the only thing that matter. When the football is boring, anything but a win feels even worse.
He will get you shaggin', but rarely with the pretty ladies.
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:32 - Jan 25 by Fixed_It
Great man-manager. Players love him and will run through brick walls for him. Fiercely loyal to his players, but tends to pick his 'favourites' irrespective of performances. Great contacts in the game which will be an advantage to you. Likes Irish players, and pre-season will be an uninspiring tour of Irish clubs you've never heard of - just in case he does well and you extens his contract. He will keep you up. But it won't be 'sexy'. Expect pragmatism. You'll like him at first, but eventually the style of football will depress you - but that will be your fault not his. He will then build a seige mentalty with the players. Enjoy.
To be fair, none of this was happening in a void.
We were a mid-table team paying bottom-end wages and small transfer fees with most of the fan base not really understanding the lack of structure in the club in addition to that. What’s more in his last couple of seasons the budget got constrained even more as Mick was tasked with managing the transition to a younger, more sustainable side based on academy products that weren’t there yet.
It was easy to demand better on the pitch and expect a top half team only if people completely ignored all of that. And I think the mood would have been vastly different if we also hadn’t been a club on a general decline for two decades. Now, anyone who gets us back to that position in mid-table Championship and keeps us there with the relatively low funding will likely be called an Ipswich legend.
Pronouns: He/Him
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:50 - Jan 25 with 1419 views
I would echo the dull, turgid football (in his words pragmatic) that many below have stated and add he is good for 18 month's to 2 years, not being able to attend games will be a bonus. I would recommend not watching any games, just read the match reports.
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Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 16:01 - Jan 25 with 1380 views
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 15:53 - Jan 25 by Basuco
I would echo the dull, turgid football (in his words pragmatic) that many below have stated and add he is good for 18 month's to 2 years, not being able to attend games will be a bonus. I would recommend not watching any games, just read the match reports.
After 18 months under Mick we were about to miss out on the play offs and finish 9th. The following two seasons we finished 6th and 7th.
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 16:01 - Jan 25 by WubbleU
Pragmatic, nothing more, nothing less.
You employ Mick McCarthy... you get Mick McCarthy... depends if you want your team to maximise points or always play good football.
I loved those maximising points days.
Please note: prior to hitting the post button, I've double checked for anything that could be construed as "Anti Semitic" and to the best of my knowledge it isn't. Anything deemed to be of a Xenophobic nature is therefore purely accidental or down to your own misconstruing.
Cardiff Fan looking for the lowdown on 16:01 - Jan 25 by WubbleU
Pragmatic, nothing more, nothing less.
You employ Mick McCarthy... you get Mick McCarthy... depends if you want your team to maximise points or always play good football.
Thanks all, appreciated. A lot of consistency with many responses as expected, a few surprises in there. Particularly with regards to the transfer market, after all he did buy Adeyemi and Huws from us.
From our perspective we don't have any long term plan after 4 years of direct turgid and boring football. We have a big target man, a few decent wingers but absolutely no creativity or mobility in the middle of the park.
Any team who play the ball about a bit (like the other team in East Anglia) then we can't cope. Sounds like it's a MM team in waiting.
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You'll get some contradictory opinions on here... but here goes on 16:05 - Jan 25 with 1378 views
First off you have to understand we're a club in crisis, in freefall, and this primarily down to our owner - Marcus Evans - and his choice of managers. Alongside his inability to create a football and club management structure behind the manager, which is so crucial in modern football. Clown CEOs, low horsepower football directors. Plus a weak and non-existent strategy.
Mick is the best of Marcus' appointments by far, and you have to think of it as Mick and Terry OConnor (the latter being the first team coach). But its the best of a very very bad bunch - Keane (nutcase), Jewel (defensively naive, well just naive), Hurst (just way out of his depth), Lambert (some promise, but overall a huge failure).
The good things about Mick are he's quite likeable (albeit he spoiled this in the main come the end,with his attitude to a fan base that had been hugely patient), he has an eye for a good player, some of his attacking loans and the finding of Tyrone Mings from lower league stand out, he's defensively strong, and I think he's a good man manager.
You'll find there's a hardcore on this board who back him to the hilt, and this is built on saving us from almost certain relegation, a strong season and a half, including a play-off push, and our subsequent demise after he left - the problem with the 'careful what you wish for crew' is that they're linking Hurst's abysmal tenure with Mick success. And they forget the poisonous end and dire football. Also even when he was funded and was doing well - many fans had already started to turn off to the style, a very un-Ipswich style.
Some would accuse me and others as 'Never Mickers' - my match reports over his time paint a picture of a fan desperately wanting him to succeed and praising the really strong performances (of which there were many) when Mick let us play more freely and we scored.
The problem is, and this is the key point, over time you just could feel the football product slowly eroding, quite gradual whilst we had an on fire Murphy and some good loans, but we started to play quite within ourselves, and the team selection and game tactics became very conservative. Some famous home games in his penultimate season, where inferior opposition played us off the park, sitting on 1-0, we'd play 3 holding midfielders, and well.... it became a chore to go to Portman Road. I think Mick is quite old skool, I don't think he's progressive, whereas a club of your stature (as we used to be) should be looking at Brentford, Norwich, Swansea style managers, period.
Having said all that there are a hell of a lot worse managers out there, you've got a good squad, and he may provide a real boost this season. He's just in no way a long term bet if promotion is your goal.
Answers to your points:
> What can we expect from him? Hoof and hope?
I think its wrong to say he is hoof ball, nothing wrong will being direct into the channels. But don't expect triangles of passing, movement between the lines, and large passages of opposition goal pressure. Sometimes the lack of ambition instilled into players, and the rigidity of position mean some speculative long ball is inevitable.
> Is he really a dinosaur?
Again he is from the old skool, watching O'Connor doing exactly the same pre-match drills week in week out even when we were failing tells you something. He's certainly not a young and progressive manager. But hey he'll keep you up.
> What's his team setup and preferred formation/style of play?
4-2-2-2 or 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. Defensive as the foundation, often at the cost of possession and flair. Creativity doesn't come through the middle with Mick, where he likes to remain solid and deep. I think you'll get the best out of Mick with good wingers, playing to a decent central striker/target man.
> Is he tactically astute?
Yes, but will be found out by more modern managers, with pace in their team
> Transfer wise, does he have a 'type'?
He's actually got a well rounded ability to bring in players, from foreign flair to slow/no nonsense types. But he dropped the ball on a few - see Kieffer Moore.
> Finally, how long before the Northern charm wears off?
I think it will wear off very quickly if he reverts to very defensive and unexpansive football. You'll find yourself walking out of the ground, or switching off iplayer thinking - did I really enjoy that! depsite having secured a point or 3
> What can we expect from him? Hoof and hope? Hoof and no hope is more accurate. He certainly won't have you playing attractive/free-flowing/pretty football.
> Is he really a dinosaur? He understands modern footballers very well, but arguably doesn't understand modern football.
He will not set your world alight in terms of playing style or tactics, but he does know how to get blood from a stone when it comes to man management of players. However, that only extends as far as effort rather than flair.
He will also stick to his guns even when it's clear to everyone else that something isn't working; in fact, the clearer it is to the rest of the world, the less chance there is he will change. He is the very definition of stubborn and frequently refers to himself as belligerent. I am not sure many managers will openly say that if fans are calling for change he will proactively go against it, but he will (did).
> What's his team setup and preferred formation/style of play? 4-4-2. He will occasionally switch things up, but usually after an awfully long period of sticking to his guns and ignoring what is obvious to everyone else, i.e. that the system he is currently playing isn't working. He will switch until such point that you lose a game and then go back to 4-4-2.
> Is he tactically astute? Yes and no. He can set a team up to not be beaten based on the strengths of the opposition, but above and beyond that his ability to use any tactical nous is limited. If you are losing with ten minutes to go, the only chance you have of winning is if the players do something different because you can sure as hell bet he won't.
> Transfer wise, does he have a 'type'? The obvious answer is grafters, but that isn't entirely fair because he also has an eye for flair players (but don't expect him to utilise them to full effect). He does, generally excel in the transfer market and alongside his man management, this is his key strength.
> Finally, how long before the Northern charm wears off? He has no charm and that is reflected in his style of football. He was highly disengaged from the club as a community and whilst he was reasonably respectful of our history, he cared little for our heritage and couldn't understand why the fanbase might. To him it was all about results - winning is great, but if you have been raised on a diet of attractive football then winning isn't the be all and end all. That is something he doesn't comprehend. I don't go to football just to win (as a Town fan I would have given up long ago if that was the case), I go to support my team/town/county and to be entertained. Winning and entertainment shouldn't be mutually exclusive and unfortunately for much of his reign they were.
Ipswich fans are very patient - we gave him and his teams an awful lot of leeway and he wouldn't have lasted anywhere near as long at many other clubs. I don't know a massive amount about your fanbase, but if you are the type of fans that voice their displeasure then it will go very badly very quickly unless results are going your way.
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You'll get some contradictory opinions on here... but here goes on 17:01 - Jan 25 with 1295 views
You'll get some contradictory opinions on here... but here goes on 16:05 - Jan 25 by unstableblue
First off you have to understand we're a club in crisis, in freefall, and this primarily down to our owner - Marcus Evans - and his choice of managers. Alongside his inability to create a football and club management structure behind the manager, which is so crucial in modern football. Clown CEOs, low horsepower football directors. Plus a weak and non-existent strategy.
Mick is the best of Marcus' appointments by far, and you have to think of it as Mick and Terry OConnor (the latter being the first team coach). But its the best of a very very bad bunch - Keane (nutcase), Jewel (defensively naive, well just naive), Hurst (just way out of his depth), Lambert (some promise, but overall a huge failure).
The good things about Mick are he's quite likeable (albeit he spoiled this in the main come the end,with his attitude to a fan base that had been hugely patient), he has an eye for a good player, some of his attacking loans and the finding of Tyrone Mings from lower league stand out, he's defensively strong, and I think he's a good man manager.
You'll find there's a hardcore on this board who back him to the hilt, and this is built on saving us from almost certain relegation, a strong season and a half, including a play-off push, and our subsequent demise after he left - the problem with the 'careful what you wish for crew' is that they're linking Hurst's abysmal tenure with Mick success. And they forget the poisonous end and dire football. Also even when he was funded and was doing well - many fans had already started to turn off to the style, a very un-Ipswich style.
Some would accuse me and others as 'Never Mickers' - my match reports over his time paint a picture of a fan desperately wanting him to succeed and praising the really strong performances (of which there were many) when Mick let us play more freely and we scored.
The problem is, and this is the key point, over time you just could feel the football product slowly eroding, quite gradual whilst we had an on fire Murphy and some good loans, but we started to play quite within ourselves, and the team selection and game tactics became very conservative. Some famous home games in his penultimate season, where inferior opposition played us off the park, sitting on 1-0, we'd play 3 holding midfielders, and well.... it became a chore to go to Portman Road. I think Mick is quite old skool, I don't think he's progressive, whereas a club of your stature (as we used to be) should be looking at Brentford, Norwich, Swansea style managers, period.
Having said all that there are a hell of a lot worse managers out there, you've got a good squad, and he may provide a real boost this season. He's just in no way a long term bet if promotion is your goal.
Answers to your points:
> What can we expect from him? Hoof and hope?
I think its wrong to say he is hoof ball, nothing wrong will being direct into the channels. But don't expect triangles of passing, movement between the lines, and large passages of opposition goal pressure. Sometimes the lack of ambition instilled into players, and the rigidity of position mean some speculative long ball is inevitable.
> Is he really a dinosaur?
Again he is from the old skool, watching O'Connor doing exactly the same pre-match drills week in week out even when we were failing tells you something. He's certainly not a young and progressive manager. But hey he'll keep you up.
> What's his team setup and preferred formation/style of play?
4-2-2-2 or 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. Defensive as the foundation, often at the cost of possession and flair. Creativity doesn't come through the middle with Mick, where he likes to remain solid and deep. I think you'll get the best out of Mick with good wingers, playing to a decent central striker/target man.
> Is he tactically astute?
Yes, but will be found out by more modern managers, with pace in their team
> Transfer wise, does he have a 'type'?
He's actually got a well rounded ability to bring in players, from foreign flair to slow/no nonsense types. But he dropped the ball on a few - see Kieffer Moore.
> Finally, how long before the Northern charm wears off?
I think it will wear off very quickly if he reverts to very defensive and unexpansive football. You'll find yourself walking out of the ground, or switching off iplayer thinking - did I really enjoy that! depsite having secured a point or 3
GOOD LUCK!
[Post edited 25 Jan 2021 17:56]
"He's actually got a well rounded ability to bring in players, from foreign flair to slow/no nonsense types. But he dropped the ball on a few - see Jordan Rhodes. Obvious the guy had something."
Wholly and utterly wrong....Rhodes had long gone by the time Mick arrived. Rhodes was very much Keane's doing.
Ade Akinbiyi couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...
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