Exiting former caretaker-manager Ian McParland says he was disappointed to hear Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas claim the Blues played rugby to beat the Gunners on Wednesday. McParland, who officially left Town yesterday, says his players did exactly what was asked of them.

The man known as Charlie said: "Did he think we would beat Arsenal playing the 'Arsenal way'? We went into the game on the back of a tanking and we were down to the bare bones player-wise.

"I'm disappointed to hear what Fabregas said. Arsenal have some of the best players in the world and I asked an honest group of lads to put in a full shift, which is exactly what they gave me.

"We passed it when we could and we got it down the sides but, of course, there were times when we had to clear it.

"Fabregas can say what he likes but it was 1-0 to Ipswich and that’s all that bothers me."

The Spaniard also criticised groundsman Alan Ferguson’s surface: "At Portman Road they are motivated to play their game in front of their own fans on a pitch that is not so good.”

McParland says that’s just nonsense: "As for his comments about the pitch, they're rubbish. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

Photo: Action Images

bobble added 11:00 - Jan 14 boring boring arsenal
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stiffshorts added 11:08 - Jan 14 still, he's got a point hasn't he? We're now becoming renowned as the team that "hoofs" the ball upfield. He's brave to say it as it looks like sour grapes but wake up town fans, he's correct! Unfortunately. However he'd have had more credibility if he'd had the courtesy to praise our players for their effort. I hope Jewell's first move is to get us back to playing football and stopping the "hoof" ball game introduced by RK and Charlie.

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brian_a_mul added 11:35 - Jan 14 Sour grapes indeed from the Arsenal captain. You wouldnt hear former captains like Bould, Adams or Ian Wright making comments like that after losing. Pitch is fantastic, Fabregas was marked out of the game and the genuine pieces of quality came from Priskin. First with amazing bicycle kick (fractionally offside)and then his great goal (speed, first touch and finish). We could of had 2 or 3 goals. Priskin had a chance to shoot when through on goals but took too much time. Edwards had a great chance but Keeper made good save. In fairness to Wenger, he was very gracious in defeat and complimentary about Ipswich. As for Spain at the WC, they were one of the few teams that turned up to play football. I still despise the way Holland played that final. De Jong and Van Bommell were out rageous. Its one thing to have a tough defensive team and play long balls but to play with the intention of specifically injuring players is terrible. Spain deserved their win. Fabregas did change the game in Spains favour when he came on and set up Iniestas winner. Give his some credit for his ability. But Cesc does needs to grow up a bit.

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roytheboy added 11:43 - Jan 14 What stupid pathetic comments from Fabregas, he has shown himself as a very poor loser, typical of some of the vastly overpaid, over rated prima donas in football today, I was at the match and was thrilled to bits with the way our boys played, and right up until the final whistle as well, incidentally what was supposed to be wrong with the pitch anyway ?
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bobble added 11:49 - Jan 14 who let the foreign gas companies in here anyhow ? i blame Margaret thatcher fish and chips have never quite tasted the same since
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feelinblue2 added 12:03 - Jan 14 Laughable! Read this comment on SSN this morning and was quite disappointed with a quality player such as Fabregas. The one thing that these top teams don't teach players is to accept defeat gracefully, yes it isn't nice to lose to lower opposition but to disrespect a team that clearly out played them is just sour grapes. I can only hope and pray that we out perform them again in 2 weeks just to prove a point to the niave and immature comments that are bounded around. Bring on Millwall, lets get this show back on the road!

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ITFC_Budapest added 12:11 - Jan 14 I reckon the ipswich players should do that new zealand hakka routine just before kick off for the second leg! Either that or the fans do it!
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nobrain added 12:18 - Jan 14 Did he play on Wednesday?
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GenericIpswichMan added 12:23 - Jan 14 Unfortunately this idiot has history in this. I remember reading a season or so ago when Arsenal got turned over against Blackburn in the Premier League. He then wandered over to Mark Hughes and said "You used to play for Barcelona, thats not how Barcelona play". What a complete hampton. Lets hope we sneak a very ugly result in the 2nd leg just to twist the knife in a bit.

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Bluemania added 12:25 - Jan 14 I do't think Fabregas would have said any of this if Arsenal had won the game, just a very bad loser.
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Garv added 12:28 - Jan 14 Cock. Bad loser. You were outplayed by Norris and Healy
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itfc1981 added 12:33 - Jan 14 dumb dumb
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Ohiotractorboy added 13:08 - Jan 14 I didnt have any team in the Premier League that I hated until now thanks to this little t**t. Dude, how you managed to miss from 3 yards is still mind boggling. Then to come out and cry about rugby, and the pitch whicle your pathetic manager whines about being tired? Go get your skirts back on, un bunch your panties, and try to act like the men you aren't. I agree with another post, plaster this on the wall and lets win it for Alan Ferguson.

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arc added 13:14 - Jan 14 Same old Arsenal. Always whining.
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tallguy6767 added 13:20 - Jan 14 What a arrogant twa* from someone who should know better, spoilt prick !
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Lightningboy added 13:22 - Jan 14 Sour grapes... Did anyone notice the "incident" in the 2nd half when the ref gave arsenal a free kick?...Norris jogged backwards and accidentally bumped into fagregas (el whinger)..you should've seen the fuss fabregas (el whinger) made about it..you'dve sworn that Norris had kicked him in the shins...he went on about it to the ref for a good 30 seconds. Posing pratt...hope we give him plenty to whinge about in 2 weeks time too.

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BerlinBlue added 13:29 - Jan 14 fabregas is talking utter b*****s... however he obviously wanted to win and sees the semi as a great chance to get to the final and win the trophy... before he buggers off to barca... leave on a high and all that...
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emergencylime added 13:31 - Jan 14 I read the article on SSN website and was quite heartened by the user comments left, by fans from many clubs, including an Arsenal fan who says we fully deserved the win, knocks his team's Captain for being a sore loser, and credits Town for playing the ball "on the deck a fair bit" and "better than [Arsenal] in the final third". Seems the only one who feels hard done by is Fabregas, a lone figure making himself look a bit of a fool.

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MazzaCOYB added 13:38 - Jan 14 Great news, This has just further confirmed my view of Cesc and will do wonders for us at the Emirates. Not a clue where he has got the comments about the pitch from but obviously to stupid to think of anything that was even close to believable. Thank you Cesc, these comments have done nothing for you but will do a hell of a lot for 9000 tractor boys on 25th January!

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dude added 15:08 - Jan 14 who cares what some whiney overpaid hypochondriac loser says about us? he was just embarrassed by his 'thigh shot' and wanted to divert his team's attention from the fact that we were the better side. lets give them what's for next round and really rub his nose in it. BLUE ARMY!
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Skip73 added 16:05 - Jan 14 What a t0$$er.I used to like him before this, typical of an Arsenal player this is. They are the worst losers in the country- even worse than Man U- ARSEne Wenger even had the audacity to say they'd played alot of games when they played 27 hours before us at the weekend, just more excuses. We deserved our victory as we were much the better side. BTW Stiffshorts I agree with you that we should go back to playing proper football again but on the 25th, play the same style again as Arsenal obviously don't like it.

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HaagRocket added 16:49 - Jan 14 The only thing that came out of Fabregas' mouth when he made these comments was, "I'm embarrassed that I captained my team to a 1-0 loss against a team that just got thrashed 7-0, and I missed sitter from four yards." First, we played the long ball out the back when we had to. We'll not apologize for that. We played sensibly and exploited Arsenal's weaknesses. I also read that he thought we barely threatened their goal except when we scored. What game was he at? We had as many, if not more, good chances than Arsenal. Priskin had four, Edwards had one, Norris had one, and there were probably a couple more. Second, his comments about the pitch were just laughable. Granted I was watching on TV, it looked like the usual near-immaculate Ipswich pitch to me, except for the spots in front of goal. Not to mention, a few match reports I read spoke of how the good quality of the pitch should have suited Arsenal. Excuses, excuses. My respect for Fabregas is gone. If we defend like that in the second leg, we do have a chance.

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WREXHAM_BLUE added 08:03 - Jan 15 Charlie: "Fabregas can say what he likes but it was 1-0 to Ipswich and that's all that bothers me." Me too Charlie; well said. Fabregas' comments do him no credit at all. Certainly a story to pin up on the dressing room wall at The Emirates methinks!!
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