Blues boss Mick McCarthy says that while summer signing Tommy Oar has made a slow start to his Town career, he has been impressed with the Australian international during training.

Oar, 24, joined the Blues on a free transfer in August having left Eredivisie side FC Utrecht at the end of last season, but his only league start so far came in the 0-0 draw with Huddersfield when he was forced off at half-time having suffered a concussion.

The 28-times-capped former Brisbane Roar player also started the 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat at Manchester United and has made three Championship appearances from the bench.

“He’s doing great in training, he trained really well today, I was delighted with him, and I have been whenever he trains,” McCarthy said.

“But he himself has said that getting up to speed playing at what we play at, the pace that the game’s played at, has been difficult for him, and the sheer physicality of it. The tempo of the game, he’s just not used to playing at that.

“And then, of course, he played and he got concussed and played for 40 minutes not knowing where he was. I kept having to keep telling him his name’s Tommy Oar and he’s at Ipswich, he wasn’t quite sure.

“And then he got injured again, he hurt his knee, but he’s doing great in training, I’m delighted with him.”

McCarthy believes Oar will bring quality to his side when he gets his chance in the first-team again.

“I do,” he said. “I’m pleased with him, he’s been unfortunate, and we’ve played well, of course.

“We’ve had Ryan Fraser playing there and Freddie Sears has gone and played there and been the star of the team from there, so it’s been difficult for him to get back in.”

Photo: Action Images

hoppy added 06:51 - Dec 23 So with Fraser back now, will we actually see anything much of Tommy, Oar not?
1

iaintaylorx added 06:59 - Dec 23 thought he did alright against united in the cup if i'm honest. has a quality set piece delivery and with our height and presence from corners etc, I think he's a good addition. but with AMN, sears, varney and fraser, it shows we have good depth on the wings!
3

alexsmith111 added 07:36 - Dec 23 if hes impressing, give him a 20 min sub run out, especially over a busy xmas
4

battyblue added 07:48 - Dec 23 doesn't look like we will be seeing much of him then.......he has to learn the McCarthy style before he will be allowed near the squad..ie runaround like a headless chicken and just thump the ball as far as you can down there end if it comes back do it again and again forget the pretty stuff we dont play that game here anymore .
0

bohslegend added 08:13 - Dec 23 Like any good player in (what is now) a squad with real depth Tommy has to wait for his chance and then really take it when he does get on the pitch. In fairness, when Fraser has been on he's been class, Freddie has been a revelation there and to be fair to Eamonn he's been mostly very good too. Managers can't just chop the team up every time something goes wrong, there has to be some element of support for the players for the longer term which inevitably has a more positive impact on our league standing over a full season (last season being case in point).

-2

Stato added 08:54 - Dec 23 There is little point to having strength in depth if you're going to play the same starting eleven each week. Same tactics each week, just about the same formation each week and most of us could name the starting eleven each week once the injuries are known. Opposition managers have an easy time preparing to play us.
10

IpswichT62OldBoy added 09:08 - Dec 23 He will be a good replacement for Fraser next season.
3

MattinLondon added 09:50 - Dec 23 Henshall impressed MM in training as did Stewart and neither has been given much of a chance in the first team. Until MM calls him by a nickname I doubt he will be given a run-out in the first team.
6

Currie10 added 09:52 - Dec 23 " Opposition managers have an easy time preparing to play us. " Perhaps if we're so easy to prepare against I would suggest they haven't done a very good job considering we're 6th and ahead of 3/4 of the division.
-1

muccletonjoe added 10:11 - Dec 23 We are 6 th at the moment, but I don't see us staying there for much longer without shaking up the starting 11
2

christiand added 10:26 - Dec 23 Would love MM to revert back to how we started the season, play with out and out wingers with AMN and Fraser out wide - after all we were playing some decent stuff then before the injuries. Get Sears in the middle where he is a threat. Oar hasn't a divine right to walk straight into the side, but with his pedigree he should be more of serious contender than either Henshall or Stewart.

4

greenkingtone added 10:33 - Dec 23 Hoppy----er, No!
0

Stato added 11:52 - Dec 23 @currie what odds will you give me on am unchanged line up on boxing day unless an injury causes a change.
0

blueboy1981 added 17:03 - Dec 23 ........ won't be seeing much of him then - hope he's not showing 'flair' in training, otherwise he'll soon be on his way. The magic word is: HOOF .............. not 'flair' or 'creativity'.
3

Fatcatevans added 19:17 - Dec 23 Agree with blue boy . There's something seriously wrong if he can't get on as sub when Coke is released to show us his version of the beautiful game
3

TimmyH added 21:00 - Dec 23 Crikey!...I forgot about Oar, one of the few players Mick hasn't 'bigged up' even though he's hardly played at all or started...so big him up in training, why not Mick! :)
0

warktheline added 22:09 - Dec 23 Yet to see a wide man under this management to make the grade, he's hoping Oar learnt of requirements before joining! I wonder what McCarthy would of made of George Best!
0

GiveusaWave added 23:35 - Dec 23 If we were using long ball tactics, Oar could prove useful. However, with hoof ball it's going to be much harder to get Oar into a game. Long ball relies on players being able to pass it down the wings or forwards over distance. Hoof ball relies on the ball getting from back to forwards as quickly as possible, even if we lose possession. It's hard to know how much of the ball Oar will retain with hoof ball, and I have no idea how good he is at tackling (the most needed skill when teams are playing Hoofball). Certainly this brand of football is working, even if it's not entertaining.

0

ozzie added 02:24 - Dec 24 TBH I the 9 games I have seen this season I am disappointed at the lack of low balls firing into the box, all the games I have seen 1 time was there a low ball put into the box and Sears scored from it, that tells you that he needs to use the wingers as wingers and use the width of the pitch . You never know it may happen again this season but I am not holding my breath.

0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls