McCarthy Hopeful Williams Will Stay
Tuesday, 25th Mar 2014 06:00

Manager Mick McCarthy believe the Blues have a good chance of keeping on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder Jonny Williams beyond the end of his current spell which is up at the end of the month.

“I think the chances are pretty good”, McCarthy said. “If they want him back and want to play him, then he’s not going to stay.

“But if they’re not going to play him, then why wouldn’t he stay with us? He’s loving it, he’s having a ball at the minute, he’s playing, he loved his performance on Saturday.

“If they don’t want him back then we’ll be able to keep him. If they want him back there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Williams created Daryl Murphy’s 10th goal of the season at Brighton on Saturday with the Irishman having enjoyed an excellent 2013/14. What does the Town boss see as the biggest factor behind that good form?

“Wonderful management and coaching!” he joked. “I suppose good management and good coaching does help, but I think it’s down to him, he enjoys being here.

“It’s his first season as a recognised, signed Ipswich Town player, he’s been on loan here for the last 10 years, he’s had his testimonial.

“He’s settled, he’s enjoying playing, we get the best out of him. We put demands on him as to what I require from him.

“And do you know what, he’s been outstanding. I thought on Saturday he was great, playing up front, not quite on his own, he was like one and a half up front with little Jonny in between the midfield, and that was a good link-up.

“I thought his goal was excellent, Jonny’s movement, his skill to give him the chance but Murph’s movement in the box was great, just reward for a really positive performance.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy has been similarly delighted with Luke Chambers’s displays in his less favoured right-back role this season: “Chambo has been different class.

“There are some right-backs who are better than him with the ball and will get further forward and will put more crosses in, but I doubt there are any that are better defenders.

“It’s always that risk versus reward. You get the ones that are flying forward and putting crosses in and then you get ones who can’t defend. I’d take Chambo all day long, me.

“Solid, dependable, a really good character and he does his bit going forward as well. That’s what I love about him, he’s a centre-half but he tries all that. He’s terrific, I think he’s been outstanding all season.”

Does McCarthy see Chambers as a Town Player of the Year contender? “There are a few of them in the back four. He’s been the captain as well all season as Carlos hasn’t played. He’s sort of become the club captain and Chambo the team captain.

“For me, he epitomises a captain in the way he’s gone about that right-back job.

"When I first mentioned it to him he was a bit [reluctant before saying] ‘all right’ because your first thought is that you might not play as well at right-back, then suddenly the club’s looking for a right-back, the two centre-halves are playing well and you get your nose pushed out of joint. But it’s never been in doubt. He’s been different class.”

The Town boss says he wasn’t too surprised to see Chambers’s former club Nottingham Forest, who are at Portman Road on Saturday, part company with manager Billy Davies yesterday.

“Not really, no,” he admitted. “Not because of Billy but because of what’s gone on at Nottingham Forest. They had Sean O’Driscoll, didn’t they? They had Alex McLeish. Billy’s come in and it seems to be like [he’s] fighting something or other every week.

“It’s a shame because it looked like they were going to walk into the play-offs at one stage. With the weekend and the way it was, the defeat they had and then reading and hearing that Neil Warnock might be on his way up to Nottingham, it wasn’t a shock, it wasn’t any surprise whatsoever.”

Warnock subsequently turned down the job having held talks at the City Ground.

Photo: Action Images

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