Town manager Mick McCarthy says that contrary to weekend newspaper reports he has no plans to allow midfielder Lee Martin to move on in January. The new boss was impressed with the 25-year-old’s performance in his first game at Birmingham on Saturday.

Speaking before Tuesday’s heavy defeat at Crystal Palace, McCarthy said: “When’s his contract? End of the season? Well, that’s what he’s going to be doing as far as I’m concerned.

“He played well on Saturday, for me. He put a right good shift in. I think we can get more out of him going forward because I think he’s got more ability in an attacking sense than he actually showed. But he put a shift in which was worthy of being mentioned. He was terrific.

“I’ve got eight loan players, what am I going to do, let him go? No, no chance, mate. I need players, I can’t be letting them go.”

Martin is one of 11 permanent squad members whose contracts are up at the end of this season, along with Andy Drury, Arran Lee-Barrett, Carlos Edwards, Jason Scotland, Nathan Ellington, Jack Ainsley, Cormac Burke, Ronan Murray, Joe Whight and Cheick Kourouma.

McCarthy says the situation can motivate players: “There are two ways of looking at it. Will they keep playing and will they be committed to the place? But let me tell you, a little bit of insecurity can make them run about more, as far as I’m concerned.

“It makes you work harder if you haven’t got a contract [for the following season]. Not everybody gets a contract when they’re Bosmans any more. They don’t all fall into better clubs, better wages and better contracts. Some of them don’t get jobs.

“I would like to think that any of them that are out of contract will be running around like scolded cats trying to prove to me that they really want to be staying here, that we can stay up and we can progress.

“There are two ways of looking at it, a negative way and a positive way. Thankfully mine is the positive.”

Photo: Action Images

townietilidie added 06:31 - Nov 8 Let's hope Mick can get the best out of Lee Martin . I do believe he has a lot more to give . His current form may not at the top of his game but I think he does alot that goes unnoticed on the pitch and gets more stick than he deserves . I guess time will tell and it will show in his performances from now until the season how much he wants a new contract . 3 points Saturday plrase

0

townietilidie added 06:34 - Nov 8 And may I just add ... IN MICK WE TRUST !!! ... COYB !!!
0

pazelle added 06:47 - Nov 8 Great to hear this - I'm sure if Martin's energy and determination were channeled and harnessed then he could be one of our top players - always gives his all and hopefully Terry and Mick can mould him into a more effective player. Nice to hear good things about the players as well!
0

village_blue added 07:07 - Nov 8 Glad to hear that Mick wants to keep Lee. You know that Lee will always give 100% effort but I do agree that there is more in Lee than is currently on show.
0

NewYorker added 07:10 - Nov 8 Headless chicken...
0

Popeye added 07:22 - Nov 8 Tbh not sure if any of them will be offered new contracts
0

bigolconnor added 07:23 - Nov 8 He wasn't playing to his strengths on the wing. He needs to be back behind the striker. Annoying defenders and tackling back in the midfield•
0

Superfrans added 07:40 - Nov 8 At a time when too many of our players dont care about
0

Superfrans added 07:43 - Nov 8 ...dont care about losing we need to keep those players who do. And Martin is one who does. Too many people worry about his deficiencies and ignore all the work he puts in. he's an essential player for us imho.
0

Dissboyitfc added 07:48 - Nov 8 Spot on words from MM...... COYB
0

roytheboy added 08:24 - Nov 8 We have a really good Manager in Mick.
0

bluefeast added 08:31 - Nov 8 He is a great Manager , very much like his attitude. Cant wait until he has a team he can call his own..
0

alfromcol added 08:41 - Nov 8 MM talks a lot of sense.
0

Karlosfandangal added 08:48 - Nov 8 To be fair ,we need to leave contracts to at least Jan now It will give Big Mick time to see who he wants to keep and the big point is we are still bottom we can let go as we can't afford their wages. Sad really people like Chopra given a lifeline by the club and bailed out, then stick by him with all the trouble and they really don't care if we stay up or not
0

eastcoastblue added 08:50 - Nov 8 Martin as awesome behind the striker and lost and ineffective on the wing. Play him in his best spot and he will aet the level for everyone else.
0

Stato added 08:52 - Nov 8 from our current crop I rate martin in the top 3. more flair than any other player we have and chases defenders for 90 minutes. just wish he would add a goal threat
0

StowTractorBoy added 09:24 - Nov 8 I can't disagree with his workrate but invariably there is nothing at the end of it. To me his best position is in the hole behind our striker(s) where he can cause problems. When he plays out wide he has occasional lapses and does not do his job in tracking back and this has cost us on more than one occasion. I am not too worried either way if he goes or stays as I guess he is on massive wages. In any event I am sure he will be with us until the end of the season after all who else will match his income at our level.

0

Wickets added 09:28 - Nov 8 Now the time for a bit of end product then Lee!!
0

dirtydingusmagee added 09:30 - Nov 8 GOOD, he may not have scored the amount of goals hoped for ,but like many players over past two years has been moved about and played out of position .If some other players worked as hard as he has i doubt we'd be in the trouble we are in now .Wasnt impressed when he arrived but have seen big improvement ,perhaps with Big Mick he will meet expectations . COYB
0

Marcus added 09:39 - Nov 8 If he's not good enough for Ipswich then he'll probably need to drop a division. Same with all the others fighting for a contract. Like it or hate it we're a mediocre league one team fighting for survival in the championship at the moment. If all the reports are true half the team think they are better than the squad yet without the evidence on the pitch who would want them? Bad attitude + bad performance isn't a good reference for a new job.

0

FenboyBlue added 09:40 - Nov 8 There's 2 ways you can interpret that headline, probably satisfies people's 50:50 split opinion on him.
0

ericclacton added 09:41 - Nov 8 I smell desperation, If he was going to develop into a class player it would have come to fruition before now.
0

algarvefan added 09:49 - Nov 8 Agreed Eric, he has had long enough to establish himself, a good player will always stand out no matter how poor the team is around him. I think he's good enough to be part of the nucleus of a new team though & maybe 'kick on' from there.
0

karls_dad added 10:12 - Nov 8 This makes very scary reading, eleven out of contract, eight loan players, total = 19 possibly out of the door! I reall hope Marcus Evans has had a good year and plenty of pages left in his cheque book! MM has said he will need to look hard at the squad, never a truer word said!
0

meekreech added 10:15 - Nov 8 He should be gone as he has no end product . If he can not sign a new contract as offered earlier he is not going to stay . With the attitude of " contract has stalled " he is not going to re-sign and should not be playing !
0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls