McCarthy: Subs Inspired Victory
Saturday, 1st Dec 2012 18:12

A delighted Mick McCarthy hailed his three subs - Daryl Murphy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Michael Chopra - as the Blues came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at the Reebok Stadium.

McCarthy was pleased to grab the fourth win of his seven games in charge: “I’m delighted with it, of course.

“The first half was pretty bang ordinary, to be honest with you, from both teams, except an exceptional strike from Mark Davies. I don’t think there was a lot in it, they were probably better than us in the first half.

“But we stuck at it and we managed to come in at 1-0 and we had a good response to what we said in the second half.”

Despite Town going behind in the sixth minute, the Blues boss felt his side never looked like repeating the thrashings at Leicester and Crystal Palace: “We didn’t [look like capitulating].

“I don’t know what happened at Palace or at Leicester, it’s not like the group of lads, not like the team, they’re good lads, they work hard and maybe they’re just getting a bit more belief in what we’re doing and being organised.

“It wasn’t a good game, the first half was pretty awful, I thought. I was just happy we didn’t come in any more down and we could do something then.”

He says he brought on Daryl Murphy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Michael Chopra with the intention of winning the game: “I wanted to win it. I wasn’t going to put somebody on to try and shore it up, I don’t think I’ve got anybody anyway!

“I thought we were doing all right, we were playing OK. I thought DJ had had a game on Tuesday, he’d put another shift in and it was fairly even. I thought ‘Let’s try and win it’. I said to Terry ‘We can win this’ and as it turned out, we did.

“It’s nice when subs come on and they haven’t got a big lip on as they’ve been on the bench. I tell them beforehand that they’re there to change the game, win the game, save the game and I think the three subs won the game for us today.”

Murphy impressed from the bench for the second game running, winning both the penalty and the corner from which the winning goal eventually came: “When he’s bang at it and he’s motivated like that, he’s a handful.”

The Town manager said midfielder Luke Hyam had no chance of being fit after suffering a calf injury in the Nottingham Forest game: “Miles away, we left him in Ipswich! He had no chance. He’ll be fit for Saturday, I hope.”

Bolton boss Dougie Freedman thought his team ought had had enough chances to win it before the Blues’ goals: “I felt that for 70 minutes we played very well, we created a lot of opportunities and we just couldn’t quite take them.

“And if you don’t take your opportunities you’re going to give the other side a bit of confidence from that, and I thought that was the case today.

“I was obviously disappointed to lose the match, but I think we created enough to win the match. In the last 15 minutes we were a bit edgy, conceded two goals, no complaints, lost the match.”

Photo: Action Images

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TownLad21 added 18:21 - Dec 1 mick mcarthy you beautiful man
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andys_legg added 18:23 - Dec 1 Im glad he said this cos everyone i spoke to since i left the ground i told them the three subs changed it all. Love you Mick
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Mr_Jingles added 18:26 - Dec 1 This best result for a long time. Micks certainly putting his stamp on things now.
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tractorblue99 added 18:26 - Dec 1 Tough game up next though. Let's make sure Millwalls unbeaten run ends at 13. COYB!!!
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timspencero added 18:29 - Dec 1 well in boys! delighted, momentum into january transfer window is v important so we have a pop at keeping some of our loanees and bringing in one or two new faces
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bluefeast added 18:29 - Dec 1 Man management is a skill. MM has it. PJ was to nice ,Keane was to nasty. We have the absolute correct manager. Its clear. We are on a run ,3 games no losses.
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buryblue77 added 18:31 - Dec 1 Palace boss Dougie Freedman thought his team ought had had enough chances to win it before the Blues' goals: “I felt that for 70 minutes we played very well, we created a lot of opportunities and we just couldn't quite take them. Phil been on the sauce already?
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TractorBoy666 added 18:34 - Dec 1 Very happy about this. At 1-1, I was thinking just hold out now please! Good bonus away from home, but now a tricky home against Millwall, but we are in good form ourselves now. Who's watching the Reading Man United game?! 3-4 half time.. wow! Can't wait to watch motd and football league show tonight, well done boys and McCarthy.
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georgelamming added 18:37 - Dec 1 team chemistry finally? Great effort today, brilliant result.
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Mark added 18:40 - Dec 1

Fantastic win today, I think we all feared another crushing after the early Bolton goal but we held onto 1-0 and turned it round second half.

It's great that once again our substitutions are improving us. Jewell started his regime by hardly making any subs, and near the end every substitution seemed to make us worse.

It sounded like Henderson and Orr played very well and are clearly over their early jitters. I wonder if permanent deals could be done for those two and some of the other loans?

kuyski added 18:43 - Dec 1 good sub and got the great result well done MM
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Keaneish added 19:03 - Dec 1

Delighted with that!

I said a couple of posts back we had to get 12 or 13 points from our next 6 games what with the Christmas run in and loan players on the cusp of going back. This games were:

Peterborough (w), forest (d), Bolton (l), millwall (w), Leeds (w), Bristol c (w).

7 points from the first three of those is beyond what we could have expected. 2 wins from the last three of those? Still a big ask but it's looking a hell of a lot rosier!!

A good week! Bring on Millwall...

Michael11 added 19:07 - Dec 1 Well done boys. 3 of the main targets for a lot of the blame this season for not performing so glad they showed us they still have it in them to fight for us, long may it continue! Well done big Mick, how we've lacked someone with real tactical knowledge and knowing how to change a game, well done for bringing them on!
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arc added 19:18 - Dec 1 How nice it is to have a manager who is capable of changing things around during a match.
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irishtim added 19:19 - Dec 1 Thanks Mick & Players. Being an Itfc fan for a life time and seeing a fellow irishman destroy the club i was ashamed. Thank you MM was on your side in saipain!!.Thanks for saving our club.
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fifeblue added 19:25 - Dec 1 The most encouraging result for a very long time.
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StuartBrett8 added 19:28 - Dec 1 I'm so happy tonight.... such a refreshing change from under P.J, bring on Millwall!!!
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howsey51 added 19:38 - Dec 1 Bring back Roy Keane!
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dairec1 added 19:39 - Dec 1 Irish Tim,very same sentiments as yourself. Lifelong town fan and for the first time since Jim am finally feeling confident with the manager. Best man for the job and will get the best out of the squad we have. Onwards and upwards :-D.
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multiplescoregasms added 19:41 - Dec 1 This is much more like it. The team spirit and effort seem to be coming back into us. We are obviously a long way from where we all want this club to be, but there are positive early signs under Mick that make it look like we could get there. When the time comes for him to add to the squad, let's hope he gets the financal backing. COYB!!
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bobble added 19:42 - Dec 1 we are going up..
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Lightningboy added 19:45 - Dec 1

Utterly brilliant result...when Jeff Stelling went back to the Reebok at 4.50 I feared the worst..such a great feeling when your team get a last minute winner..no matter how many titles/cups the bigger teams buy,their fans can never know what it's like for clubs such as ours to enjoy victories like todays..I wouldn't swap it for all the tea in London/Manchester.

Mick & Terry are working a bloody miracle..next week is a massive game as it can really close the gap on the group above us and hopefully put some distance between those behind.

Great work guys..keep it going.