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A giant of a man. Fantastic manager, held our club together with his fingertips and he snubbed Thatcher.
The fact the football world is united in appreciation for him today on Twitter says it all.
Here he is roasting our own Hambo
Saved us, made us competitive, at times a decent watch (Boro / Brentford etc 2014), brought in some decent players (McGoldrick, Webster, Mings, Waghorn, Skuse, Garner, Chambers, Hunt, Tabb - some good loans - Celina, Fraser, Lawrence). As with all managers, especially thoe hugely underfunded, there were plenty of duds too. Yes it turned sour, for some even toxic but for 3/4s of his time here, Mick did well for us. Yes we're in a better place now but it took us some years of serious despair - far worse than anything Mick gave us to get here. Would I want him back - no not now. Would I applaud him were he to return with another club - you're damn right I would.
Saved us, made us competitive, at times a decent watch (Boro / Brentford etc 2014), brought in some decent players (McGoldrick, Webster, Mings, Waghorn, Skuse, Garner, Chambers, Hunt, Tabb - some good loans - Celina, Fraser, Lawrence). As with all managers, especially thoe hugely underfunded, there were plenty of duds too. Yes it turned sour, for some even toxic but for 3/4s of his time here, Mick did well for us. Yes we're in a better place now but it took us some years of serious despair - far worse than anything Mick gave us to get here. Would I want him back - no not now. Would I applaud him were he to return with another club - you're damn right I would.
The fact you put into context why he might be one of our greatest ever managers makes the vitriol he still gets even funnier.
I hope he has a slap up dinner and it's not egg on toast tonight.
Your opinion of him is unshakeable. I won’t bother to argue.
One play-off place in 6-years is the height of aspiration for this guy. A true visionary. It’s almost like he’s been wrong for so long he’s decided to double-down to save face. Even football clubs won’t take McCarthy now and he was sacked from his last three roles in under a year. Still, Mullet's always right…😂
One play-off place in 6-years is the height of aspiration for this guy. A true visionary. It’s almost like he’s been wrong for so long he’s decided to double-down to save face. Even football clubs won’t take McCarthy now and he was sacked from his last three roles in under a year. Still, Mullet's always right…😂
Mate, you backed Paul Cook so strongly that you went on a rant about Mullet and Badger destroying the club because they helped to get him sacked. You might want to pipe down about the judgement of others. McCarthy was an infinitely better manager here than Cook ever was.
Saved us, made us competitive, at times a decent watch (Boro / Brentford etc 2014), brought in some decent players (McGoldrick, Webster, Mings, Waghorn, Skuse, Garner, Chambers, Hunt, Tabb - some good loans - Celina, Fraser, Lawrence). As with all managers, especially thoe hugely underfunded, there were plenty of duds too. Yes it turned sour, for some even toxic but for 3/4s of his time here, Mick did well for us. Yes we're in a better place now but it took us some years of serious despair - far worse than anything Mick gave us to get here. Would I want him back - no not now. Would I applaud him were he to return with another club - you're damn right I would.
Agree with your summary.
Happy birthday Mick. My brother in law met MM a few times in the barbers of all places many years ago when he was living in Orpington. He reckoned Mick was a nice bloke, always happy to chat about the game.
In my view he did brilliantly to stave off relegation with what he inherited. To make us competitive to the point of the play offs was also amazing given the crumbs he had to work with. Especially where mediocrity was the club’s aim. He created a loyal band of players whose efforts as a team were better than the sum of their parts. He got results.
He had an eye for a player too. He had the odd awful punt but given he had little to work with and zippo club structure, that was inevitable. Against the turkeys, he bought in some really good players for no money.
On the downside he should have moved on at the end of 2015/16 when it was obvious that 6th was the high water mark with the resources available to him and his way of doing things were becoming stale.
The football was actually pretty dire and and I can’t think of too many games that weren’t scraps for points. Every point is a prisoner, remember. The low point was playing for a point at home against a poor team with Skuse, Hyam and lead legs Douglas. Truly depressing. The nature of the way we played switched a lot of people off and contributed to falling attendances.
I didn’t like the ‘little Ipswich, you’re lucky to have me’ attitude. It smacked of arrogance, even if he’s not and it wasn’t.
His way of playing was quite limited. It wasn’t just that dementor Evans starved him of resources - his teams everywhere played that way.
According to people who were there (Lee and Dyer) he went very much concentrated on the first team. KD commented that while he was open to a chat, he always felt MM was kind of looking at his watch/the door (paraphrase based on memory).
Overall, I agree. Mick did well for a good chunk of his time here, especially given the state of the club and the owners’ clueless approach. He deserves respect for the job he did and should always be made welcome, should he attend a game. He was a good manager for this level.
Wherever he is ranked in the ITFC manager order, he’s a heck of a lot better than the two muppets that preceded him and the three that followed.
Happy birthday Mick. My brother in law met MM a few times in the barbers of all places many years ago when he was living in Orpington. He reckoned Mick was a nice bloke, always happy to chat about the game.
In my view he did brilliantly to stave off relegation with what he inherited. To make us competitive to the point of the play offs was also amazing given the crumbs he had to work with. Especially where mediocrity was the club’s aim. He created a loyal band of players whose efforts as a team were better than the sum of their parts. He got results.
He had an eye for a player too. He had the odd awful punt but given he had little to work with and zippo club structure, that was inevitable. Against the turkeys, he bought in some really good players for no money.
On the downside he should have moved on at the end of 2015/16 when it was obvious that 6th was the high water mark with the resources available to him and his way of doing things were becoming stale.
The football was actually pretty dire and and I can’t think of too many games that weren’t scraps for points. Every point is a prisoner, remember. The low point was playing for a point at home against a poor team with Skuse, Hyam and lead legs Douglas. Truly depressing. The nature of the way we played switched a lot of people off and contributed to falling attendances.
I didn’t like the ‘little Ipswich, you’re lucky to have me’ attitude. It smacked of arrogance, even if he’s not and it wasn’t.
His way of playing was quite limited. It wasn’t just that dementor Evans starved him of resources - his teams everywhere played that way.
According to people who were there (Lee and Dyer) he went very much concentrated on the first team. KD commented that while he was open to a chat, he always felt MM was kind of looking at his watch/the door (paraphrase based on memory).
Overall, I agree. Mick did well for a good chunk of his time here, especially given the state of the club and the owners’ clueless approach. He deserves respect for the job he did and should always be made welcome, should he attend a game. He was a good manager for this level.
Wherever he is ranked in the ITFC manager order, he’s a heck of a lot better than the two muppets that preceded him and the three that followed.
[Post edited 8 Feb 2024 8:19]
Good summary although I suspect his Wolves and Sunderland promotion teams (especially Wolves with their wngers) were easier on the eye. Whenever Mick tried to bring in more creative midfield options - Huws and Adeyemi for example - he was shopping in the "injured but could be good" bracket. Too an extent, resources dictated the style although even at his best, pragmatism was the core of his being.
Good summary although I suspect his Wolves and Sunderland promotion teams (especially Wolves with their wngers) were easier on the eye. Whenever Mick tried to bring in more creative midfield options - Huws and Adeyemi for example - he was shopping in the "injured but could be good" bracket. Too an extent, resources dictated the style although even at his best, pragmatism was the core of his being.
My Mackem mate reckons Sunderland were turgid under Mick, but he desperately wanted Keane back so maybe his judgement is a tad suspect!
Agreed - pragmatism is very much McCarthy’s way and there’s nothing wrong with that. You are right re resources too. I don’t think I realised how much Mick’s hands were tied by the state of the club until Gamechanger/Ashton/KM came in. The job Mick did was actually better with hindsight than I thought at the time. Context.
It demonstrates the age old cliche that you have to get the foundations/ basics of a club right if you want to get anywhere.
Good summary although I suspect his Wolves and Sunderland promotion teams (especially Wolves with their wngers) were easier on the eye. Whenever Mick tried to bring in more creative midfield options - Huws and Adeyemi for example - he was shopping in the "injured but could be good" bracket. Too an extent, resources dictated the style although even at his best, pragmatism was the core of his being.
Wolves were decent to watch but they had two very good wingers and that was an area we struggled with throughout his time here, we didn't have the budget to bring in the quality he would have liked in those areas. Think the last couple of years under Mick put a very dour slant on his overall time here, there was some good stuff in the years where we finished 6th and 7th and even a bit in his final season. Not McKenna ball by any stretch but entertaining enough.
There’s little to no point spelling out the facts. As it’s confirmation bias a go go on this thread.
But you know football forums are a world of opinion. So let’s celebrate it.
What is a fact is that Mick saved us from imminent relegation, and he and an inspired Murphy gave us a play-off campaign - so Happy Birthday 65th Mick.
I liked Mick, even though if he was too stubborn and the football under him was dire (especially towards the end, but you could also argue that he was dealt a rotten hand). Happy birthday!
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