Mick McCarthy admitted that his side were poor in the second half as his hometown club Barnsley staged a comeback to draw 1-1 at Portman Road on the first anniversary of the Blues boss taking over at Town.

McCarthy said: “We were all right in the first half, took the lead and it completely changed around in the second half. They played well and we were poor.

“Don’t ask me the reasons why yet, I’ll have a look at it. Maybe they did to us what we were doing better to them in the first half. We were on the front foot. In the end, it turns out to be a good point because we could have been beaten.”

Regarding the Blues late claim for a spotkick, he had no argument with referee Andy D’Urso’s decision: “It’s not a penalty. I haven’t seen an angle that tells me it’s a penalty. I’ve got no gripe with the referee about it at all.

“It’s one of them, the home team, we suddenly found five or 10 minutes of a bit of excitement because Frank had closed the ball down and the game changed a bit and everybody’s baying for blood. Anywhere in the world everybody would have shouted for a penalty and I’ve looked at it and not for me.”

He says he is disappointed with Aaron Cresswell for getting himself sent off for foul and abusive language, which is punished by a two-match ban, after the final whistle but understands why it happened: “Of course I am. It was borne out of frustration, we’ve not played well, we’ve drawn and not continued the first half performance. It was his man that put the ball in the net, all of that.

“You know what, been there, done that. Actually, I never got sent off for swearing, it was usually physical assault, which sort of made it worthwhile. But it’s still the same.

“Fair play to Cressy, he’s been and apologised to the referee for it. It takes a bloke to go and apologise at that time.”

He says there were some positives to take from the match: “We didn’t get beaten. Murph got a great header, a thumping header. I thought we put great corners in, I thought we could have had some more.

“First half, it was just a scrappy Championship game. How does it change, the impetus, the force? I’m not quite sure. I’ll have a look at it on Monday, we’ll watch it again.

“But we got another point, we didn’t get beaten and on a different night we could have lost it. And we kept going, not playing well. Barnsley played well, we should congratulate them, they played well.”

McCarthy says he has no problem with fans booing at the end, as they did at the final whistle, but was less impressed with boos which came earlier in the match: “I’m cool with that at the end.

“What I don’t appreciate is boos when we were trying to play in the first half and we end up keeping it and trying to be considered with our football.

“Because in one breath people will say to me ‘We’ve played some really good football’. And they you try and play some good football and don’t put the ball in the box and it gets a bit frustrating because it’s 0-0 and then the jeering starts. I can’t be doing with that. Afterwards, cool with that.

“Put a bit of pressure on us, by all means, because I think we should be in a better position. We’ve not played well in the last two games, certainly in the second half today. In the first half we were arguably the better side.

“By all means, I’m cool with that after the game. Disappointment, I’ve not exactly enjoyed it myself.”

Barnsley boss David Flitcroft was impressed with Town before the break: “First half, for 20 minutes we couldn’t withstand their pressure and intensity. I thought they were excellent.

“To get a point here is really pleasing because I think they’re in a false position in the league, I think they’re a top team with a top manager, who knows how to get the best out of players.

“That’s a fit team, it’s a high energy team and they’re going to score a lot of problems for teams at home.

“Delighted to get a point, but on the second half performance and chances created, possibly we deserved three points and I’ve have put all my money on Jason Scotland finishing that chance.

“He’s the player that you want on the ball at that time with his composure and I’d have backed him to score that.”

Should Town have been awarded a penalty? “They’re vocal when they go for a claim they really go for it. I don’t think Frank’s dived, I really don’t. I just think it’s a coming together, Jean-Yves M’voto’s quite aggressive. I’ve not seen it back, so if I’ve got it wrong, I’ve got it wrong. It would have been a soft one.”

Photo: Action Images

Kentish_Tractor added 10:24 - Nov 2 *Gerkin . Bloody auto-correct.
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Keaneish added 11:31 - Nov 2 Ha! I like German better! Lets face it, 4-4-2 works and MM likes the solidity it brings in a side. This is possibly (with maybe one exception (Wordsworth)) our most attacking side but this side feels like it'll concede too so it's unlikely we'll ever see it. If we started with an attacking side like this we still have 'impact' players from the bench to either things up or offer a different dynamic.... Gerken the German Hewitt Chambers Smith Cresswell Taylor Skuse Tunnicliffe Murphy Nouble McGoldrick With 4 strikers on the pitch and an attacking midfielder you probably can't argue with that no matter what you think of Nouble or Wordsworth or Murphy playing as a left midfielder. I'd love to see us start with this and have a bench of: Loach, Berra, Hyam, Edwards, Anderson, Wordsworth and Marriot But Hyam and Berra would be very unlucky to be dropped in my opinion.

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TimmyH added 12:18 - Nov 2 'Don't ask me the reasons why yet, (we were poor) I'll have a look at it.' - Bit late Mick the games been and gone, you should have made tactical changes and substitutions earlier to combat this! - Mick going through a poor time of it at present, must do better!
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Cheshire_Blue added 12:59 - Nov 2 This is a night Cresswell will want to forget. First he goes missing as his man is in acres of space for virtually a tap in. Jason Scotland missed a similar chance later on from the same position,again totally unmarked and finally he picks up a totally unnecessary red card after the game has finished and misses the next two matches. Some way short of a premier League player on this showing. Our only goal came from a set piece and until the mid field starts creating and the front men converting we will continue to drop points whenever there are errors at the back. Probably the worst 90 minutes this season.

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oddball added 13:17 - Nov 2 Maybe all this roi stuff has taken his eye off the ball.
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Bluesaway added 13:35 - Nov 2 I was talking to a friend who is not a Town fan but watched the 2nd half last night. His comments summed things up, as follows: Q.were you missing a central midfield playmaker, like you used to have with Magilton, last night? A. no, we don't have such a player. Q. as a team that has a reputation for good passing football, why did the centre backs seems to panic after 3 or 4 sideways passes by lumping it down the field? A. because we've a predictable style of Murphy as a target man. Q. McGoldrick seemed to have to keep going deep to get the ball, why weren't the central midfielders pushing into that space? A. because both Hyam and Skuse are more comfortable as holding/ball winning midfielders so there is a gap between the front two and the middle two. If it is so obvious to a neutral observer in just 45 mins then you suspect the scouts of other teams will spot this and brief their manager as to these weaknesses to exploit when they face us. The fact we never change or mix things up just compounds the problem. We need to be more flexible and use players such as Taylor to give us other options either from the start or during the game if plan A isn't working.

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JWM added 14:50 - Nov 2 Oh Good the bloody moaners out in force again! For those of you who rid of McCarthy I just say GROW UP! Get back to your foot all manager computer game and leave the real stuff to the professionals.
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Kikapu added 21:22 - Nov 2 I think what JWM is saying is that we need to be realists. Every supporter wants us to play Premiership football on a fraction of the money. It's not going to happen. We have to wait till the right manager accumulates the right blend of players and that'll take time - and luck. In the meanwhile MM Is holding ground and planning for that time in the future. The last thing we want is a manager that promises the earth and delivers us 3rd division football. Give him a chance. He's playing the long game (not the long ball game).

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Warkys_Tash added 22:31 - Nov 2 Very poor first half too, Mick - another draw that feels like a defeat. That Derby game knocked the stuffing out of the lads. We are glad you are here, but let's forget the Ireland job now & concentrate on the job you are getting paid to do - getting us up the league!
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Warkys_Tash added 22:38 - Nov 2 Keanish, Berra is the best centre half at the club, so has to be the first name on the team sheet & have you not watched Town for two years? - Murphy is not a left midfielder it has never worked for Jewell or Keane & never will do - he has no pace & can't beat his man. The only real chance we have of successfully playing all 3 CB's in the team is to bring in Hewitt & play 5-3-2 with cares well the other wing back - worth a try IMO - Burley did it & it worked out quite nicely... Hewitt is very unlucky to be left out..

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J4ck22 added 22:50 - Nov 2 Kikapu has it spot on. Sure the result was poor and we all have every right to be angry at that, but the fact is that we have to be patient with this team. Mick took over a club that was looking to be pretty much almost relegation certs. People who say that he's had enough time to build his own squad is talking crap. One year isn't enough time to change certain relegation into playoff contenders, especially when you have to rely on free transfers in that year. What Mick has done is build foundations on which in my opinion can be expanded into a very good side in further seasons providing we can keep a few of our better players. Us fans need to be patient and look at the long term, because realistically, we were near enough a League One team before Mick came along and it would take more than a year of improvements on free transfers to build a respectable side. The negative football is something we will HAVE to put up with for a while before we can improve, sure one or two things could be done to mix things up, but I still think we haven't hit our stride yet this season and let's face it, we're not exactly losing many are we?!

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iTFC4LiFE99 added 01:08 - Nov 3 Sign up O'brien Barnsley's number 7, he's the WIDE PLAYER we need, get it mick WIDE?! Not cm's playing wide, agree with a change in formation would like to see Wordsworth in for Blackpool and Taylor needs a chance not just 10 minutes at the end! Hyam needs to be dropped he's so negative he slows up the play and his forward passes (when he rarely does pass it forward) are poor. Glad the Ireland speculation has gone, although would have liked to see holloway at town..

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PutneyBlue added 12:27 - Nov 3 What's all this 4-4-2 business? From the commentary, we seemed to be playing 4-0-2
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