By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
McCarthy: Difficult To Take But No Disgrace Saturday, 23rd Aug 2014 16:20
Boss Mick McCarthy felt that while it was difficult to take the Blues losing to local rivals Norwich City, there was no disgrace in how his side played against the recently relegated former Premier League side. Lewis Grabban's 24th minute goal was enough to give the Canaries the victory.
“It was a hard-fought game,” McCarthy said. “They had the goal and we didn’t. It changed the course of it, as it always does.
“It changed the momentum, I thought they were better than us for 10 minutes after that and being one in front allowed them in the second half to try and catch us on the break, which they almost did a couple of times.
“But we had a gilt-edged chance when we were playing well through Daryl Murphy. He’s just looked at it and he knows he should have scored.”
He had no complaints regarding his team's endeavour: “The effort and commitment is always there from the players.
“I thought we rushed it and tried to get back in the game too much, we didn’t have too much quality in the first half. In the second half we were better.
“But we were playing against a good team, a team that’s come down from the Premier League with good players in it and has signed some good players.
“They’ve got a good squad, it’s no disgrace how we played against them, it’s just difficult when it’s our nearest and not so dearest.”
McCarthy says he always expected the opening few games of the season to be tough: “When I looked at the fixtures when they came out I didn’t think for a minute that Fulham at home, Reading away, Birmingham away and Norwich at home was going to be easy. I always thought it was going to be hard and that’s how it’s proved to be.”
Regarding Norwich’s goal, he said: “Somebody shouted ‘keeper’s’, I don’t know who shouted it. I haven’t got an ear-piece into the six-yard box to find out whether it was and who said it, but no other player should shout it except Gerks."
He added: “It wasn’t Gerks, Skusey’s marking Grabban, so I don’t know, might have been Grabban that shouted it, could have done. None of our players should shout that."
“It certainly looked like a mix-up. We didn’t deal with it well enough. We dealt with the first corner kick but we didn't deal with the ball coming back in.”
Despite Christophe Berra being on the floor not far from goal when Grabban scored, the video evidence still suggested that the goalscorer may have been offside, however, McCarthy was more concerned with his team’s defensive failings.
“If [it does still look offside] then it’ll give me something to whinge about,” he continued. “But in reality we didn’t deal with it. I’m not blaming the officials and I think if you look you’ll find that Berra and Michael Turner are lying on the floor about one yard out.
“I’ve got complaints about how we dealt with it, not how anybody refereed it, which is unusual for a manager.”
He admits he’s been less than happy with the goals his side has given away in the last couple of matches: “In the last three games we’ve conceded very poor goals from our point of view.
“It’s not like we’ve conceded as a back four that can’t defend, it’s been individual errors, the one at Reading, the two at Birmingham and the one today, so we’ll have to get better.
He says he expects the Canaries to be amongst the promotion challengers come May: “We’ve played a team today which will be competing at the top with an opportunity. Without a doubt, they’ve got a very good squad.”
Asked about the very different budgets Town and Norwich - recipients of £60 million in parachute payments over the next four years - are forced to work within, McCarthy added: “Financial Fair Play, that’s bollocks, isn’t it?
“We’re operating within it and they’ve just got a different Financial Fair Play [situation], as have Fulham and the other teams who have come down. It makes it all the more rewarding when you do well without it. And that’s what we’re going to have to do.”
Norwich boss Neil Adams believed his team was worthy of the victory: “It was a well-deserved win.
“I thought we needed to be better in the first half. I said to the players at half-time that we didn’t really move the ball as quickly or as effectively as we’re capable of.
“Even though we were winning the game, I still felt we could have been a little bit better.
“To the lads’ credit they did step it up more in the second half. I thought defensively throughout the game we were excellent and we probably could have gone and added another two goals in the second half.
“We missed some good chances but it was good to restrict Ipswich to few chances if any at all. Overall I thought we deserved to win the game and I’m delighted with the victory.”
Adams apologised for failing to shake hands with McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor after the match.
“I want to apologise to Mick and Terry,” he said. “I was out of order I didn’t shake their hands. Completely unintentionally, I was too caught up in the moment, so hopefully you’ll all report that.
“I realised when I was on the pitch that that was out of order and I should have shown more respect to them and shaken their hands before I went off on my celebrations. Hand on heart it wasn’t intentional.
“I wouldn’t have been too happy if that had been flipped, so big apologies to Mick and Terry, they’re good people and I apologise unreservedly for forgetting to shake their hands at the final whistle.
“Terry actually came onto the pitch and shook my hand and I realised then I’d forgotten and thought ‘I’ve made a big mistake here’.
“My fault, it certainly wasn’t intended and hopefully they’ll accept that with the grace that they have. I was out of order, not intentionally, I just forgot.
“I don’t want to argue with Mick, there’s only going to be one winner there, isn’t there?”
Questioned about the incident and Adams’s apology, McCarthy said: “He should have [shaken hands]. Sky have just asked me and I said it’s nothing to do with them whether he shook my hand or not.
“Whether they show that or not I don’t know. I tend to deal with my matters with other managers individually and on my own.”
He added: “He’s got a good team, they’re a good side and they’d just beaten us and if it’s a lesson in etiquette then the first person he shakes hands with [should be] me and [then] with TC.
“I’ve had to do it, I’ve had to do it at Leicester when we’ve been beaten 6-0 and 5-0 [at Palace] and that’s what you do. If that’s a lesson today, then fine.”
Photo: Action Images
Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
"McCarthy: Difficult To Take But No Disgrace"....??? No what is extremely difficult to take is your squad selection and preferences, starting XI and mostly negative football tactics Mr. McCarthy!!! Obviously you yourself are a not a (managerial) disgrace - thanks again for "saving us" in 2012/13 - you are however a managerial Dinosaur from around the 90's!!!
The attractive Fulham job should become vacant within a handful of weeks I predict.... so please please Mick, take that one if offered to you, cause a competent defensive minded and happy-to-draw Dinosaur manager like yourself it's exactly what the good doctor will order for a Fulham team marooned in the bottom part of the league.... just like it was when you came here and replaced PJ and his mess and saved our heineeee with your and TC's very own brand of football.
A lot of posters include some form of encouraging advice to our boss these days like "Sort it out Mick, fast!" or similar..... but there really isn't anything to be sorted out in a any POSITIVE way, mind you! The man is a managerial Dinosaur for crying out loud - starting today's game which he rated very psychological important btw with just ONE supposedly creative player on the field, sadly all Anderson contributed with was a hilarious blast 40 ft over goal - no transfer funds, and who just got rid of 2 players who at least carried a few ounces of CREATIVITY in them in Taylor and Wordsworth, both whom btw never got a fair and long enough chance to really find themselves on this type of workmanlike football team i.e. enough starts! So thanks for every thing Mick, once again just take that Fulham job will you! cause besides transfer funds obviously, this team DESPERATELY needs a new line of thinking in the Hot Seat.... as any neutral objective observer can see we are actually going backwards, losing "old" attendance and never ever attracting any new one primarily due to this often dire dire kind of football being served, win, lose or draw!..... and moreover suffered a disgraceful exit from the Capital One Cup in the 1st round AGAIN simply because you didn't bother even halfheartedly committing to it .
I can only imagine we are going to see a few loans come in shortly. With all these players leaving it leaves us short in the quality department in terms of creativity.
Today was poor but I believe made the game easy for Norwich by gifting them a goal allowing them to play on the break. Tried to explain that to naaawich fan but just did not get it. For all their talk of prem players I really do not think they would have broken us down had we not gifted them a goal.
Think gerken, skuse and Tabb will be replaced or at least should be. Would love to see Hewitt play at right back. All he is lacking is games at this level and why not let him learn.
Any of you trying to say that Norwich don't have a huge advantage over us having Peamount Utd U11s qualified from the group, beat Caragh and Bridge, beaten 1-0 by Annacotty, through in 2nd to play Freebooters from Kilkenny in the quarter final. Mon the Peas!been in the prem the last two years are showing incredible ignorance for the sake of slating MM.
They have fortunes to spend on players compared to us. We are like an amateur club in financial terms compared to them.
Question: if MM who do you think would do better in charge with Zero money to spend?
I cannot add much to what has already been posted. Devoid of any creative play except McGoldrick. Their goal down to Gerken. Time to drop him. Desperately need creative mid fielder and team built around that. Wes Houlohan destroyed us today. 4 points from 4 - extrapolate that means relegation. After today not sure I really care. Feel sick not because Norwich won but because we were so poor especially in the 2nd half. Headless chickens. Bright side- given the addition of a thinking mid fielder we have the rest of the team already. Can Anderson play right wing back?
Anyone got a copy of "4 2 3 1" for dummies. Mick has lost his copy. Would also like the same editions except for 433 and 343. Please make them large print as he is obviously blind from his comments about today's game.
Get real everyone.. The season has only just started and some of these posts are appalling. Are you truly ITFC fans . We all know that this tier of football is not where we want to be but we are where we are. Very easy to criticise players performances but the majority of the team I am sure did their very best. The gulf is widening between the Championship and the Premier League and we just have to accept that. The game has evolved into something that bears no comparison to the past .
Not good enough Mick and you need to start waking up to that fact..stop arsing around "monitoring" the likes of Collison,Ambrose & Garvan and get them signed up and onto the pitch because we desperately need some creativity in our team.
Hyam gives everything and i've no problem with him But I can't for the life of me see what Skuse brings to the game ,other than knocking it backwards 99% of the time (I could do that).
Gerken fills me with zero confidence and can't kick to save his life..it's no surprise that they were the two at fault for today's goal..thankfully Norwich didn't take their chances cos it could've been 5 or 6.
We should rename ourselves Hoof Ball Utd. Sad thing is I saw us win 2 headers throughout the game. Aside from Mings and McColdrick, we looked outmatched in every position. Frustrating to hear that Taylor put in the Man of the Match performance at Rotherham too.
Sensible signings by Rotherham, by signing Taylor and Wordsworth they have taken our creativity.
Gutted. A truly terrible defeat that should have been a whole lot worse. Fear we may in reality be relegation candidates this season.
Second bottom above hapless Fulham at this rate. No target man so keep ball on ground. Defence split open too often so go 5 at back and play defensive until attacking players found that can create and score, other than set piece headers. Backwards and downwards since Joe Royle had even less budget. Very sad.
This was the worse game i have seen in 2 years, absolute disgrace from a derby game. My monday night team would have put in a better shift then the whole team combined. Mings was out of his depth, back line was not disciplined, midfield was non-existent and strikers has terrible first touches and next to no touches. We looked like a mid-table league one side. serious changes need to be made.
I was actually more hurt with our style of play today, if you can call that style, than defeat from Norwich. And defeat from Norwich does sting mind you.
I know it's not been good enough and we are all disappointed but does anyone actually truly believe we will be better of by sacking MM? Some would argue that 4 points is a good return given the complete lack of a midfield. I'm a realist, and as realist I know that we are not getting promoted with that team this season. I also know that realistically, sacking our manager will probably leave us vulnerable of leaving this division via the back door. It is however unrealistic to think that if ME was to revert back to chucking money at players that we would be any better off than we are now. Basically, I can't see a reliable solution other than to put some money into securing season long decent loan deals for ONE or TWO midfielders who miss out on their prem squad, sign Collison and maybe even Garvan because they can't be a step backwards, 'keep the faith' and pray to every TOm, Dick and Harry in the sky that miracles can happen. Burnley, palace, Stoke, Norwich, Blackpool. You don't have to be that good to get out of this league.
On another note entirely, the Millwall game has turned into a "must win" game. Simply can't see us getting anything at Derby.
On the tactics front, our team at present reminds me of the old Wimbledon Crazy Gang. Only we have no Vinnie Jones in the centre of the park and no Lawrie Sanchez up front. Same tactics though; hoof it forwards. I remember many years ago Graham Taylor doing exactly the same thing with the England Squad. After analysing thousands of games he realised that a majority of goals are created through using the "hoof ball" method. He failed to see the obvious though: that a mix of tactics were needed to win a game of football. Taylor stuck to his hoof ball and England lost game after game. They were simply too predictable, as are we now.
We really are losing our way. I long for a return to REAL football at Portman Road. The days of Peralta, Stockwell, Taricco etc. When we do get "real" footballers at PR we send them away or give them away (look at Paul Taylor, Anthony Wordsworth, Luca Civelli etc). Aside from Williams we have had nobody like that in some time. We are crying out for a creative midfielder and crying out for a mix of tactics. Interestingly the crowd yesterday started chanting "hoof hoof hoof" whenever we got the ball (albeit very quietly- can't believe how quiet they were..).
I for one am sick to death of our hoof ball. Can any of our team PASS the ball?
Btw...don't know if anyone has been keeping tabs on Civelli. He now plays for the top club in Chile which has regular attendances of 47,000. Though not a top goal scorer, he was nominated for player of the year and is a firm fan favourite. I have family links in Chile and he's considered one of the most gifted footballers there and is regularly on TV for interviews etc. He also scored recently in their surprise 2-1 win over Boca Juniors.
And we paid off his contract. He's come back phenomenally from his injury. Good on him.
Well Taylor and Wordsworth seemed to do alright for Rotherham today playing the full 90 mins. and achieving a good away win? funny how players can play for certain managers who believe in them and give them confidence to do so!
bohslegend Where have you been all day,Have you got over that garbage. Dont come on here and defend that tripe on the pitch and from our manager.It was a disgrace at best and its not a money problem or the fair play rules you have been going on about. NO EXCUSES
Nothing coming up front, negative midfield and poor defending, most championship games will be like this one with a handful of teams in the league being miles ahead of us and the rest being exactly the same. What's the point? Midtable is calling already and the best we can hope for is not losing both derbys.
I had high hopes of building on a half decent squad from last season.... BUT we have sold our best player, used the money to .. Um no idea where the money has gone, we have loaned out any creativity that we may have had and have brought in some way below average players that are simply not good enough. Our squad is probably the weakest I have seen it for some time yet I read absolutely no players to be signed before the windows closes... It's like having a beloved old car that you know you can't invest in anymore so you just keep patching it up to hobble along until finally it stops completely. I am usually the optimistic one on here but after yesterday I can't see a way forward I'm afraid. Mings was good but not good enough, Hyam was better than skuse but where was his game changing defence splitting pass or threat on goal? Samon is average at best, Tabb runs his socks off but do you really think our competitors look at our squad see his name and quake in their boots?!!!!!
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
