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: More Pressure on Me After Cup Changes Friday, 22nd Jan 2016 14:00
Town boss Mick McCarthy admits there’s greater pressure on him ahead of Saturday’s game against Birmingham at St Andrew’s after he switched all his starting XI for Tuesday’s 2-1 FA Cup third round replay defeat at Portsmouth. The seventh-placed Blues go into the match one place and two points above the Midlanders.
“It puts more pressure on me, I don’t know about the players, they’re under less pressure,” he said.
“They’ve not played this week, they’ve trained, the ones that could train. The ones that have needed a rest through injury have had it, so it’s me who I think gets the pressure for changing the team, not them.
“They’ve got no say in that whatsoever, they played Tuesday against Leeds and won and had a really tough game last Saturday against Preston and we earned ourselves a draw with a really tough performance coming back from behind again.
“So they’re ready to go, it’s me that gets the cosh, not them, and I’m delighted because it doesn’t affect me.”
Birmingham boss Gary Rowett and his staff have just been handed new one-year rolling contracts, having made a significant impact since taking over at St Andrew’s in October 2014 when the Midlanders, with whom he was a defender between 1998 and 2000, were in the Championship's relegation zone.
They ended last season 10th and have continued that progress this season with last week’s 3-0 win at Derby perhaps their standout result of this campaign so far.
“Thoroughly deserved, good for him,” McCarthy said when told of Rowett’s new deal. “He’s been brilliant. I really only met him for the first time at a hotel when we were playing Fulham and he was down in London as they hadn’t got a game. I liked him instantly.
“I think I’m giving him a compliment, his teams are like mine and he’s very similar in terms of him being pragmatic about the way they play - play when they can, don’t get beaten, be hard to beat, be tough and organised.
“I think first and foremost they make it hard for you to play against them and then they’ve got that smattering of players like we all try and get that can make a difference.
“And with Jacques Maghoma and Jon Toral, Clayton Donaldson’s a really big player for them, they’ve got threats.
“They’ve also got threats from freekicks and corners. I know Stephen Gleeson [from Wolves], he puts good deliveries in. They’re a lot like us, I think.
“I think he demands from them and he seems to get the best out of them. I’ve the utmost respect for him.”
The Town boss says Birmingham are a club back on the up after a difficult period like a lot of sides in the Championship.
“That’s a cap that fits a lot of us,” he reflected. “They’re coming back because Gary Rowett has been that stabilising, consistent influence, I think.
“They seem to have entrusted it with him and I think they can see that it’s in good hands.
“And if they’re rewarding him with a new contract, then he’s earned that. That’s why they’re doing well.”
McCarthy says there’s currently a mini-league on the cusp of the play-off zone involving Brighton in fifth, then Sheffield Wednesday, Town and Birmingham. But he says other sides below that are also pushing towards the top six.
“I wouldn’t discount the advances of Cardiff, of Wolves,” he warned. “Who knows over 19 games what can be achieved because we’ve seen what’s happened before.
“Teams will have good spells and bad spells. But there is a mini-league that we’re in and it’s going to be a helluva tough scrap to get in the top six.”
Town are currently undefeated in seven away from home in the league - two draws sandwiching that club record-equalling five-game winning run - but McCarthy says his team aren’t the only ones in good form on the road.
“Birmingham had a wonderful win at Derby last week and one of the reports I’ve got says they’re a really good away team,” he continued. “They can soak up pressure and they’ve got threats on the break.
B'HAM (A): Current #ITFC sales for tomorrow's match stand at 1,737. Tickets are available on away turnstiles tomorrow, CASH ONLY.– ITFC_PlanetBlue (@ITFC_PlanetBlue) January 22, 2016
“Well, that’ll be interesting if it ends up that we have to play like that as well. We don’t set up to play that way but we’re comfortable if we have to and we’ve got our own threats, Freddie, Ryan, Murph, Kevin Bru and Dougie from midfield.
“So, similarly, I think we’re a good side [away from home], which is an improvement. In league games we’ve had five wins and a draw out of the last six and I think Birmingham will be conscious of our threats.”
McCarthy celebrated a 1-0 win in his first game in charge of Town at Birmingham in November 2012 and he says it’s a ground he enjoys visiting.
“St Andrew’s is a good stadium, I like it,” he said. “I like going there, the atmosphere is generally good because it’s hostile. You’re playing away from home and they support their team. I like that.”
At Portman Road in September the sides battled out a hard-fought 1-1 draw and McCarthy admits that he wouldn't be too disappointed with the same result again.
“I won’t be that unhappy if it’s the same up there, to be honest with you," he added.
"We’ll be going there to try and win, but a point away from home is always a precious one.”
The Town boss will revert back to his regular league side with Cole Skuse (hamstring), Luke Chambers (calf) and Christophe Berra (shoulder) all over problems suffered in the Preston match.
Dean Gerken will return in goal with McCarthy having confirmed his usual backline of skipper Chambers at right-back, Jonas Knudsen at left-back and Berra and Tommy Smith at the heart of the defence.
Skuse is again likely to be partnered in the deeper lying central midfield roles by Jonathan Douglas with Kevin Bru ahead of them.
Ryan Fraser will be on the left and Freddie Sears on the right with Daryl Murphy the central striker.
Kevin Foley will be in the Town 18 for the first time if his international clearance has come through but Piotr Malarczyk is suspended for one game having been red-carded at Portsmouth.
Birmingham, unbeaten in their last four in the league, winning three, are likely to utilise a similar 4-2-3-1 system and will probably be unchanged from the Derby victory.
Jacques Maghoma (illness) and Maikel Kieftenbeld (hip) have missed training this week but are expected to be fine.
Defender Neal Eardley is a long-term absentee having damaged knee ligaments while winger David Cotterill has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem.
Another winger Koby Arthur has returned to training after a thigh problem but is not yet ready to return to match action.
Historically, Town have had the better record in fixtures between the sides, winning 34 times (31 in the league), drawing 15 (15) and losing 27 (21).
In September at Portman Road, Brett Pitman netted a 32nd minute equaliser from the penalty spot as the sides drew 1-1, David Cotterill having put the visitors in front 10 minutes earlier.
Last time at St Andrew’s, in August 2014, Christophe Berra netted two goals, the second deep into injury time, as Town grabbed a 2-2 draw having twice been behind.
David Edgar put the home side in front on the half hour, Berra equalised for the Blues five minutes after the break, Clayton Donaldson put Birmingham back in front before the Scottish international’s late, late leveller.
Later that season at Portman Road, in February last year, Freddie Sears scored twice and Tyrone Mings and Kevin Bru once each as the Blues won 4-2.
Mings headed in his first senior goal in the 24th minute, Sears made it 2-0 four minutes after the break, before David Davis pulled one back on 57.
Sears netted his second on 64, Davis grabbed another for the visitors on 79 before Bru sealed it in injury time with his first goal for Town.
No player in either squad has represented the opposition, although Birmingham defender Michael Morrison hails from Haverhill.
Saturday’s referee is Michael Bull from Essex, who has shown 25 yellow cards and three red in 10 games so far this season.
Bull’s only previous Town match was the 2-2 draw at AFC Bournemouth last season in which he booked Tyrone Mings, Luke Hyam and Christophe Berra as well as two home players. It will be his first Birmingham match.
Should be interesting all round after fielding weakened team at Pompey and poor performance against Preston . Need a win really to keep pressure on teams above and think MM needs it personally as getting more stick each week. COYB !
Our strikers and wide men can cause any team in this league big problems and score a lot of goals! just give them the ball to feet instead of them having to battle for hoofs in the air 70%-80% of the ninety minutes 3 points please town COYB.
If there is any pressure - M Evans does not seem to care - it is because: Outdated hoofball manager Plays favourites not best players Disrespects the Club's proud tradition (now gone) of good football, the fans and the FA Cup (some dubious comments about non-favourite players as well) Is deluded to think there are no better players than his favorites Actually speaks nonsense, disingenuous tosh about what the transfer situation is No decent creative player would want to play for a team hoofing the ball in the air all the time Could he handle any player who does not follow his one track methods? Please go MM - your work is done I will be supporting our team at Brum tomorrow despite the frustration of this 'manager'
essex57 - are you MM's missis in disguise, his car cleaner or Chambers - or are are you just a really well meaning, generous loyal fan? Sorry - I respect your view
Fair play to Mick because the away firm this season has been great but at Portman Road we need a completely different approach as hoof ball isn't bringing the results or the fans through the door.
You stated: Disrespects the Club's proud tradition (now gone) of good football, the fans and the FA Cup (some dubious comments about non-favourite players as well)
I have no idea how long you have been a Town fan but, just for the record, the notion of Ipswich being a 'footballing' club is really based around a period of football from the early Eighties (and also under Burley)
Sir Bob's early teams were direct at times, very direct. It wasn't until the arrival of messrs. Muhren and Thijssen and their bemoaning of watching the ball in the air did Sir Bob make use of their talent. Under Duncan's reign the quality of football on offer was, at times, turgid to say the least. More recently we've watched both Jewell and Keane teams play some awful 'football' in the sense you are talking about.
So, this proud tradition of being a football club is actually a misnomer - we've had managers and teams over the years that would have given Wimbledon a run for their money in the long football stakes.
What I see, currently under Mick, is a team that first and foremost is hard to beat and makes use of direct football (and when not playing well long ball stuff) but that can and has played some very good football, certainly more football in the sense you are talking than I saw under Keane and Duncan for example.
Even the lovely Joe Royle used direct football tactics to allow Bent and Shefki to get in behind defenses at times.
I expect to see the lack of respect given to the supporters and the F A by fielding a weak side justified on Saturday. Anything less than 3 points from Birmingham makes a mockery of the whole exercise.
You certainly are Mick. While you continue to tell us all you can't get better than you currently have you are inviting pressure when we don't win. If you can't improve the squad we should be top. Everyone around us is strengthening so the risk is we go backwards by standing still. We are still weak in a number of positions. We don't have a top 6 championship keeper, we are dreadful in both full back positions. We have no creative central midfielder without Bish and as close early proven in 2 games against a league two side, our back ups are totally below required standard
Strongest squad for years ?? Debatable Mick. And if we lose to Brum tomorrow you will rightly get criticised and we will be dropping away from the pace !!!
Absolutely correct Mick - anything less than a win will now be seen as a very poor result. Pressure on to attack and win the game. Even a draw would be poor after throwing away a potential lucrative cup run mid-week.
The FA cup competition is over let's move on McCarthy picked his side for the Birmingham game a week ago this is a must win game to obtain the dizzy heights of the play-offs nothing else will do, if we fail to do this please Mr McCarthy don't insult us with your excuses
I wouldn't go as far as to say I was expecting us to win tomorrow after "resting" the first team the other night BUT I am expecting one hell of an effort and performance right up to the final whistle.
Nobody remembers or cares which round of the FA Cup Bournemouth or Watford went out last season, but everyone knows which league they play in now. As sad as it is that plenty of Managers clearly view the league as a priority over the cup, if resting players / saving them from potential injury in the cup so we are at full strength in the league then I understand that decision. A win tomorrow would be a huge 3 points! Coyb
Still moaning about the FA cup then. Mick is doing the right thing resting the whole first team and going out of a cup we wont win. I fancy us to win tomorrow much better away from home this season. Theres nothing lucrative about an fa cup run really in comparison to getting promotion to the premier league.
The game against Bournemouth was worth something in the region of 300,000 (profit).
Agree, nothing compared to Promotion. But God that's a lot of money that we wasted. Even if we had got beaten 6-0 at home by Bournemouth it doesn't matter. We lost 300,000
Prebbs007 is spot on when he talks about our back ups. You look at our squad (above) and you just have to pray we don't get any last minute injuries.
MM has done some great things for our club. He saved us from League 1 football. He has brought in players like Pittman, Sears, Fraser, Bru, AMN, Williams and has converted Murphy to a proper centre forward. He got good money/deals for Cresswell and Mings. He's brought through Bishop into the first team.He deals with the players well and seems to have a sense of humor when it comes to dealing with the media. He's also dealt well with finances given what seems a shoe string budget compared to many other managers in the Championship. I'd hate to think of the free transfers Keane would have brought in.
But there are negatives. The Hoofball isn't entertaining. Some of his transfers this season: Digby, Toure are questionable.And what is Coke doing that gets him in the first team week-in, week-out? What sort of message does that send to youngsters who want to break into the team? His performances, except MAn U, have been shocking to date. I'd say the 2 Hunts, Parr and Chaplow were superior fringe players. So why are we signing these kinds of players?
I just hope we beat Birmingham and put the Cup behind us. And of course not get injuries between now and the end of the season. We need our first 11 fully fit between now and the play-off final.
Jas099 - a draw would be a poor result? No it wouldn't it was be a good result away to a decent Birmingham side. What happened midweek is totally irrelevant.
Homer123 Completely agree, but you forgot the Mick McGiven era. The WORST football I have ever seen at PR. The notion of any club outside enjoying 'a proud football tradition' is suspect. Look at West Ham and all the rubbish talked about their 'traditions'. This is the same club that employed Sam Allardyce and Lou Macari as managers. McCarthy has a proven track record - that's why he got the job. Slowly but surely we're moving to a position of strength, on a budget. If anything that's our 'tradition' - a manager building a decent team on a budget, just like Robson and Burley in his early days.
The stick Mick gets on here is ridiculous. We're 4 points off 3rd! Win tomorrow and we're 5 points above 8th. If the top 7 can pull away I would fancy our chances of getting into the top 6, which would be another great result and give us a shot at promotion.
The only thing I don't like is him saying he wouldn't mind a point. I don't think he's wrong as such, a point wouldn't be bad, but I don't really like the message. The message to the players should be to go and win, anything less is disappointing. We're playing Birmingham not Barcelona. Away draws are fine if you can beat the likes of Birmingham, Bristol City, Preston and Huddersfield at home which we haven't been capable of. Our away form has kept us at the right end of the table.
In Mick we trust though. COYB go and get 3 points tomorrow and shut up the doubters.
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
