Mick McCarthy says he’ll be keeping faith with keeper Dean Gerken at Yeovil tonight, despite the 28-year-old’s error for Middlesbrough’s first goal on Saturday. The Blues boss believes it’s important that players shouldn’t constantly be in fear of losing their places and that Gerken wasn’t the only player to blame for Danny Graham’s opening goal at the Riverside.

The former Colchester United and Bristol City man has been McCarthy’s number one since August and he confirmed that he will keep his place for Town’s first ever game at Huish Park: “I have [nailed my colours to the mast] and will be doing so again tomorrow, he will be playing.

“I think he deserves it. If you start looking at a game like Saturday's, the easy thing is to go ‘I’ll change that, I’ll change that and I’ll change that’. But actually, that’s not the right thing to do.

“You’ve known me 16 months and you’ll have seen that I’m a loyal person and a consistent person who doesn’t chop and change on one bad performance.

“That’s something I learnt from my managers myself. One in particularly stuck with me when I had a bad spell. I came out of it and I was fine.

“I had a bad spell having had a fantastic spell prior to that. I played out of my skin and then I had a bad spell and he would have been justified in going, ‘Out the door’ but he didn’t because he knew I was a good player and I would come back and play well.”

He says it doesn’t help players if they feel they’re always one error away from being dropped: “It creates fear if you think that if you make one mistake today you might not play again on Saturday. Wow!

“There’s all these things going on — you have to play anyway and perform, you’re playing in front of fans, some are giving you adulation, some are giving you whatever else it might be and the ones who are giving you adulation can turn into the abusive ones very quickly.

“If they’ve got that in the back of their minds, ‘If I have a bad game today the gaffer’s going to drop me’, they’ve got no chance.”

Regarding Saturday’s goal, he says Gerken failing to hold on to Mustapha Carayol’s shot was one of a number of errors: “I don’t think we can [entirely blame] the goalkeeper.

“[Carayol] shouldn’t have got out, he shouldn’t have got inside, he shouldn’t have hit the shot and Tommy and everybody else who was there perhaps could have done better with the rebound but it didn’t happen. I’m not going to leave them all out, all the ones who were involved in it.”

McCarthy says he and assistant Terry Connor review all Town’s matches: “We do analyse the games from start to finish, from the end of the game to start of the next one. We’ve put Saturday’s to bed now.

“People play badly, people don’t play as well as they can. They don’t do it every week, we have 46 games and you’ve got to be at it every single week.

“Our lads are at it every week, in terms of the physical side, but they were better than us on Saturday. There’s got to be a bit of that sometimes, holding your hand up and saying ‘We were beaten by a better side’.

“I thought they pressed us and closed us down and stopped us playing and they did to us what we do to other teams mainly. And then they’ve got some players with really good ability.

“I don’t like losing but I’m the ultimate realist and pragmatist and sometimes you do get beaten by a better side. If they’re playing well with those players playing well, they’re a good side.”

He points out that there haven’t been too many days like that since he came to the club: “That’s why I don’t do paralysis by analysis, I accept that some days we will not play well.

“On Saturday I was asked why we didn’t play well and the answer always sounds like excuses.

“I mentioned travel, we’ve got to travel again, so if we don’t play well at Yeovil, is it because we’ve travelled for five hours on the bus? I thought they deserved it, they played well.

“And when we beat teams like that I know our opposition are asked why it happened and we’re saying it was because we were too good for them, we were all over the top of them, we played well, we passed it well, we made good crosses, we had good chances.

“And they’re going ‘And why was that?’. Were they this or were they that. Sometimes you just get done by a better team and I thought on Saturday that that was the case.”

Photo: Action Images

townietilidie added 06:23 - Mar 11 "You've known me 16 months and you'll have seen that i'm a loyal person and a consistent person who doesn't chop and change on one bad performance " ... Try explaining that one to Scotty Loach then Mick . The trouble is your loyalty and consistency is being shown in the wrong areas of the team on the pitch . Sorry Mick but Yes , Gerken was to blame , its not down to Tommy or any of the other boys to catch the ball , thats the goalies job .As much as i love the way he runs around and puts the effort in big Frank just isn't ready yet and i'm sure he's a real nice guy and all that Mick but its like we are playing with a man down when Tabb is on the pitch . I'm gonna tell you a little secret now Mick ... To win games you have to score goals !!! .... Lets see some positive attack minded line ups between now and the end of the season . We aren't gonna make the play offs so at least give us a bit of entertainment , its all we ask . We just want our Ipswich Town back ... COYB !!!!

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tiptreeblue added 06:33 - Mar 11 Scott Loach did nothing wrong against Blackpool (in fact he got us something from the game) and gets dropped, is that being loyal?
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Mark added 06:38 - Mar 11 I agree with McCarthy on this. Gerken had had a good run of form and I think he is slightly the better of the two keepers, and is more vocal on the pitch.
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blues1 added 06:42 - Mar 11 tiptreeblue. no loach didn't do anything wrong against blackpool, but he was only playing due to an injury to gerken, who had been playing well for some time and so came back into the team. at the end of the day, while I do believe we need a better no1 than gerken, he is better than loach and I would always pick him ahead of loach. unless of course he continually makes the kind of mistake that he did on sat, in which case, loach should be given his chance.

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Len_Brennan added 06:47 - Mar 11 Gerken is a better keeper than Loach, that's why Mick is loyal to him. He may make a mistake here & there, and may not even be our number 1 next season, but he will always rank higher than Loach in Mick's eyes. Over the course of a season Gerken would cost less points to the team (& save more for the team) than Loach would.
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geography26 added 06:54 - Mar 11 I agree neither loach or gerken is the answer! But mick does have favourites, the goal on Saturday was gerkens fault! End of! Mick also mentioned at the weekend taylor having a bad game so I'd imagine that's him dropped! As much as I like mick I personally think he's a walking contradiction!
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townietilidie added 06:56 - Mar 11 Correct me if i am wrong but hasn't Gerken made several mistakes now this season ??? Its just Micks comments about consistency . If he is consistent then Gerken should be dropped for Loach just as Loach was for Gerken . Got nothing against Gerken he has had some blinding games this season but how many more times is he gonna make excuses for below par performances from players ?

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essexboy added 07:09 - Mar 11 Well,Loach made ONE mistake and you dropped him.!!!,but I do agree Gerken is better but there is not much in it.WE do need a Better NO 1.Contradiction does come to mind,I feel mick has his favourites.
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BlueySwede added 07:50 - Mar 11 Excuse me I am from Sweden, so I don´t understand english very well. But I think McCarthy is saying that Boro played well on Saturday??
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BondiBlue added 08:13 - Mar 11 I love the irony of mick telling us how loyal he is after using the exact same description of gerken's mistake on Saturday as he did for loach's mistake against Leeds. Shame he can't just come out and say 'I don't rate Scott loach', as that would be 100% honesty, but terrible management. We should all accept that sometimes managers have to talk rubbish (like mourinho) as they don't actually have a choice

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Jimmy86 added 08:31 - Mar 11 It does really smack of a contradiction from mick, because although loach only played against blackpool due to an injury to gerken, he produced a man of the match performance and saved us losing that game. There isnt an awful lot between them, same as when henderson was here too. Gerken has better command of his area but loach is a better shot stopper and has better distribution. Loach, if coached properly has the makings of the better keeper

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Luggworm added 08:34 - Mar 11 Gerken has made mistake after mistake this season, you can see the defence has little confidence in him and he often goes mute when the defence needs a shout. If he is better than Loach (which I would argue against) then we desperately need a new number one keeper to have any chance of progressing this season or next.
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thebeat added 08:38 - Mar 11 One rule for one........
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thebeat added 08:42 - Mar 11 I dont believe in chopping and changing on one bad performance No s**t sherlock we see Tabb and Nouble every week so we already bloody knew that. You should rephrase it to " i dont believe in chopping and changing due to a whole season of inneffective uselessness"
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Wickets added 08:47 - Mar 11 Not much between our 2 keepers for me,we love Loach because he is a town fan and i also agree he has the makings of a better keeper in the long run but at the moment i dont think there is any doubt that the defense prefers to play in front of Gerks. both have similar faults but from my postition,north stand lower, i'm telling you Berra ect prefer Gerks. Better keeper next year would be great but remember these days its all about FFP!

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thebeat added 08:53 - Mar 11 Wickets as a fellow North Stander i know what you mean they do seem more confident in Gerken but Mick needs to think about what hes saying before opening his mouth. He is Mr Contradiction
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Simonds92 added 09:05 - Mar 11 1 mistake? That's absolute rubbish, I'm not sure anyone can safely say they are overly confident with either keeper involved but Gerken is continually making mistakes and looking shakey. I think they're both much of a muchness but Loach should be given an opportunity now, he's only made one mistake and he was looking good until the Cardiff game last season, I think he's been pretty unlucky. Just frustrating mick defending players who under perform week in week out we're carrying about 3 different players

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Dissblue added 09:12 - Mar 11 One mistake? OK then. But not one mistake per match.
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theobald1985 added 09:18 - Mar 11 totally fed up with mick mcarthy and he is talking out of his a*rse again. loach was dropped after a man of the match display and was also dropped after a mistake at leeds but gerkin has made planty of errors and if mick was at all fair he would have been dropped. seems most people on here can see that tabb and nouble are not good enough for town and play consistently badly but yet they keep getting picked. mick has personal issues with loach and taylor or they would be playing. he is playing a CB at right back hes loaned out our best young RB and brought in an older one on loan who he never plays and he is absolutely commited to playing for draws and pumping the ball up the field. maybe this is ok at some clubs but i like to think of us as a proper football team who get the ball down and attack teams like we did under burley or royal-ITS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. marcus evans does not help but i cant agree with all the mick apologists who say hes playing this way due to lack of funds-he has still brought players in good ones like mcgoldrick ebanks blake berra hunt etc so we could play better than this but under mick we never will. new manager who plays the ipswich way would be nice

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SouperJim added 09:23 - Mar 11 The armchair managers are really out in force on this one. Mick sticks with Gerks, Nouble, Tabb because he understands what they bring to the team compared to the rivals for their position. Of course he puts a bit of spin on it when the press ask him, what do you expect him to say? "Yeah I'm sticking with Tabb because although he's playing crap, I like him more than Wordy who does naff all".

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SouperJim added 09:30 - Mar 11 theobald - nice to see "the Ipswich way" wheeled out there, what an utter myth that is. Get the ball down like we did under Royle? All I can recall from Joe's tenure is a barrage of abuse on here about "long ball football", people screaming for Andy Marshall to be dropped, the constant criticism of Matt Richards etc. Deja vu mate, rose tinted specs on or what? Mick will never be good enough for some people, the people who always need something to criticise and lack any kind of objectivity about our current position.

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thebeat added 09:45 - Mar 11 Come on then SouperJim what exactly do Tabb and Nouble bring that others dont? I presume your one of those who think we are all dumb because we cant see it yet you can. They bring nothing and they are awful week after week after week but because they run around a bit they keep getting picked. Last time i looked Football was about scoring goals by outplaying the opposition, not by playing 4 defensive workhorses across midfield and lumping it up to the strikers with no support whatsoever. Under Royle we got the ball forward quickly but we never lumped it and atleast he played players with flair like Currie. Id like to think we might go to Yeovil to attack them, they are bottom 3, but hes already talking them up so id be amazed if we actually played 2 wingers, at best itll be Williams left with Hyam, Skuse and Green out of position to try and cope with the mighty Yeovil! We should be playing 2 wingers there with Williams as the playmaker in the middle but theres no chance of that is there, its too much like a proper football team

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thebeat added 09:45 - Mar 11 Come on then SouperJim what exactly do Tabb and Nouble bring that others dont? I presume your one of those who think we are all dumb because we cant see it yet you can. They bring nothing and they are awful week after week after week but because they run around a bit they keep getting picked. Last time i looked Football was about scoring goals by outplaying the opposition, not by playing 4 defensive workhorses across midfield and lumping it up to the strikers with no support whatsoever. Under Royle we got the ball forward quickly but we never lumped it and atleast he played players with flair like Currie. Id like to think we might go to Yeovil to attack them, they are bottom 3, but hes already talking them up so id be amazed if we actually played 2 wingers, at best itll be Williams left with Hyam, Skuse and Green out of position to try and cope with the mighty Yeovil! We should be playing 2 wingers there with Williams as the playmaker in the middle but theres no chance of that is there, its too much like a proper football team

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theobald1985 added 09:57 - Mar 11 so SouperJim you are gainst the idea of the ipswich way! i think traditionally we are a team that likes to get the ball down and play to win. royal was not perfect in that respect bet we always went out to score goals at least and it was a damm site more entertaining than this rubbish under mick. I dont need something to critisise but i am ideologically apposed to the long ball game being played at my club. is it so wrong that some of us want attacking passing football to be played and want youngsters and creative players to be given a chance. or shall we just say we aint got much money so lets get men behind the ball and pump it in the mixer-id rather we try and play how about you?

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Garv added 10:08 - Mar 11 "we played well, we passed it well, we made good crosses, we had good chances." When did this happen?
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