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Boot on the Other Foot for McCarthy
Saturday, 6th Feb 2016 18:18

The boot was on the other foot for boss Mick McCarthy as the Blues were beaten by Matt Phillips’s last-gasp goal at QPR, Town having won three of their last four home league games - including the Boxing Day win against Rangers - in the final minutes. There was more bad news for the Blues in added-on time when Ryan Fraser limped off with what looked a bad hamstring injury.

“They were miles better than us in the first half,” he admitted. “And we had a goalkeeper that was in world-class form, who has made save after save.

“But that’s not had any bearing on the game because it was 0-0 at half-time. In the second half we were far better and I thought we were the ones likely to win it in the last few minutes.

“So, I know how they feel, it’s always disappointing to lose but even more so with three minutes to go, eight minutes with the additional time.

“We should never have allowed [Sebastian Polter] to get out of the middle of the pitch, he did handle it, he did control it with his hand.

“That irks me a bit but I’m not bothered about that because I said to my players that they might not get a freekick from me in training for it and they’ve got to keep going. We didn’t deal with that in the middle of the pitch.

“In the second half we were much better and how we didn’t score in the second half, in the last knockings goodness only knows. So, whatever happened in the first half has got no bearing on it.”

McCarthy said the wind had a significant impact on the match: “I would say so. It wasn’t a great game, was it? It ended up being an exciting game because they’ve scored and we ended up with loads of chances at the end. It was a horrible affair because it was blowing and conditions were awful.”

Late on the Blues lost Ryan Fraser to a hamstring injury, the on-loan Bournemouth man having been a doubt with a tight hamstring prior to the game.

“It looks like a nasty hamstring, the way he’s pulled up,” the Blues boss said. “That’s not good. He’s been different class, the kid. That would be a real devastating blow to us.

McCarthy says he could look to the loan market with Town having picked up one or two injuries in recent days.


“Yes it might be something I look at, but I’m not so sure I’m going to get another Ryan Fraser," he said.

“We’ll assess the damage and see what it is first. Let’s put the horse before the cart, shall we?

“Skusey’s injured, I don’t know how badly that is, he’s hurt his ankle. Luke Hyam pulled up in training yesterday, he had a sore calf from Tuesday night.

“He trained yesterday morning for about 40 minutes, the warm-up and game, and he just pulled up.”

The Town manager says the injury Daryl Murphy suffered in the Reading game wasn’t why the Irish international was left on the bench.

“That was nothing to do with it,” he said. “He had a kick on his ankle, but I’ve said with Murph all along, if he plays all the games we’ll end up with him injured.

“My reason to play Luke Varney and Brett Pitman was that they came on and were brilliant coming on.

“And if there’s a time to give somebody a start when they’re in the ascendancy and in good form and feeling good about themselves - one comes on and sets us up, the other scores the winner - that’s the time to do it. And they’ve deserved it, so that’s why I played them.”

Town dropped down to seventh after today's results but McCarthy says that’s not particularly important at this stage of the season with 16 games left to play.

“If you look our history from last year, we lost 3-2 at Blackburn and we ended up in the top six after the last game of the season, so it’s not really that significant.

“It probably is in terms of when you look at the league as you want to be in the top six, but it’s where you end up in May that counts. The key is to try and end up in the top six, however it ends up.”

Keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, the Blues' man of the match for his first-half display in particular, said the late defeat was difficult to take.

“We’ve still got a decent team and we still believe we can make the play-offs,” he told Ipswich Player HD.

“Losing the game right at the end is really painful. It’s a hard one to take but that’s football.

"The next game comes around really quickly so we just need to learn our lessons and defend better, especially in the final stages of the game.

“In the first half they had a few chances, but in the second half we had a few chances so we’re really disappointed and it’s frustrating to lose the game in that way.

“Our away support was absolutely amazing today and I think there were around 3,000 fans so fair play to them.”

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was very satisfied with the win, his first at home as QPR manager.

“When you see the first half and you go in 0-0 you have done yourself an injustice,” he said.

“But I think we kept on being positive and kept on plugging away and kept on going and having the trust that we would be able to get that goal or get that chance. And we deserved that.

“I think if you look at the game overall, we already deserved to be 2-0 or 3-0 up. But you know how it is, it’s nothing about deserving. You have to put the ball in the net, that’s what counts, that’s what’s important.

“We kept on believing and we kept on plugging away and kept on going and it’s very satisfying that it came in the last five minutes because that tells me that the character is good and the organisation is good and they’re not getting in trouble as much.

“It was a difficult afternoon for both sides with the wind and the conditions. At stages you have to put the ball in the stands because you don’t want to give yourself too much trouble and I think we did that very well.”


Photo: Action Images



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jas0999 added 18:29 - Feb 6
So 'the goalkeeper' pulled off world class saves! If this had been Gerken, I'm sure MM would be purring over 'Gerks'!

We should have strengthened in the January window. Not interested in excuses, we like our competitors had ample time to improve. We didn't and now we must pay the price. Loan deals now would mean no availability in the unlikely event we make the play offs. Half season deals should have been secured or indeed transfer fees paid for some quality additions. Our bench today was painfully weak. MM and ME should be ashamed and disgusted with themselves. This laughable spin of having a great squad is now only believed by a deluded few. Our lack of ambition is frustrating.
18

boroughblue added 18:32 - Feb 6
zzzzzzzz
0

Ipswichlove added 18:34 - Feb 6
Same old Mick. Boring now.
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Spirit_of_78 added 18:36 - Feb 6
Ambition or money? Do we forget our club is broke? Ashamed disgusted or pleased we are still a championship club, some people are deluded and do not realise how bad things could have been.....
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 18:41 - Feb 6
Boot on the other foot? And they're both left feet. There is a real danger now the lack of investment in the squad will show now and if so that will be a disgrace given we were 6th. Have to hope injuries not too serious. In a way I'd rather we forgot about promotion and started blooding our youngsters and playing better football. But that ain't gonna happen .

And a word to those who call the disappointed "moaners". How dare anyone dismiss other people's views in this disrespectful way. People have a right to let of steam after a defeat and poor performance
13

Mark added 18:43 - Feb 6
Defeat and Fraser injury - a double blow. Annoying to be talking about loans just after the transfer window has closed meaning they have to be short term signings. I wish we could have strengthened earlier. We must now hope that Bishop particularly is able to get fit again.
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KiwiTractor added 18:53 - Feb 6
After the Portsmouth game none of those players were good enough to get in your best team Mick, but Varney gets a start after an additional couple of minutes play and 1 good cross? Is he better than Murphy, I don't think so.
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prebbs007 added 18:55 - Feb 6
Pathetic bull SH1T again from McCarthy. Can't get better than we've got. You're a joke man !!! Bart kept us in it today if you put Gerk the Berk back in you lose all support from fans who you will have lied to again. Frazer injured just about closed out our season. At least we have enough points to stay up hopefully.
0

Seasider added 18:56 - Feb 6
Mick said that we have had a goalkeeper in world class form;but it did not have a bearing on the game,as it was 0-0 at halftime?

Hang on a minute Mick,surely if Bart hadn't played so well we could have been 3-0 down at half-time and the game would have been out of reach.

6

Mystified added 18:58 - Feb 6
Don't blame the manager as he has performed miracles considering he hasn't been given nothing to work with, instead vent your frustration at Marcus Evans as he hasn't invested for the past two and a bit seasons. Ship out ME, we need a owner who wants top flight football at Portman Rd.
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blueherts added 18:58 - Feb 6
Spirit of 78 but not broke enough to give MM and TC nice long contracts - I said if we lose Fraser we are lost without any creative skill , ME give MM some money for Loanees , the bench today was probably the worst in a long time .
4

ITFCGloryDays added 19:10 - Feb 6
But we've got the best squad since MM's been here, so we'll be fine.
2

DannyITFC added 19:17 - Feb 6
A terrible first half performance with only Bart that could walk off that pitch with his head held high!

True the second half was so much better as Murphy has too start ahead of Varney it's a no brainer. Poor goal to concede there should never be a man unmarked at the back post in the 88th min?

Infact Ipswich had plenty of chances in the closing stages to win the game let alone draw it with Sears missing 2 or 3 golden opportunities.

This happens in football sometimes but the worry now is we have McGoldrick, Bishop, Fraser all out plus Hyam and Scuse suffering too. Sadly Evans has failed to back MM in the transfer window so unless through a miracle MM can secure at least a quality CM and Winger on loan from a prem league club who is as good or nearly as good as Fraser we won't get anywhere near the playoffs....it's impossible with the best players injured now.

Time to take a gamble 2 or 3 big players loaned in otherwise kiss goodbye to playoffs.

Personally if I feel it's time Evans either backs MM or back down and let someone come on who can lead the club with ambition and drive!

MM has done brilliant with limited resource it's Evans that is making our club a boring top 10 at best championship club...... 14 seasons or whatever it is in the championship us s joke tbh and I hate to say this but I can't see the day when will not be living in the shadows of Norwich.

Bored of the lack of ambition #TimeToGambleEvans
10

Orraman added 19:20 - Feb 6
How does he work out that a world class performance from Bart had no influence on the first half. MM really does talk some utter garbage and once again he is not worried about today, only where we are in May. Well it looks to me mid table is where we will be in May. The guy is totally deluded. My biggest worry now is not the inevitable slide down the league but the fact that we have this one dimensional dinosaur here for at least another two years.
10

RRanger added 19:35 - Feb 6
We were awful today in the first half - marginally better in the 2nd.QPR deserved the win as they at least tried to keep the ball on the deck and pass.Why people seem to think Gerks will be back in the team when he is fit I don't know. He got injured last year and never got his place back and I'm sure only an injury to Bart will make him lose his place. MM is consistant about this.
3

siebdykstra added 19:42 - Feb 6
So many people blaming Mick, it is definitely the heirachy that are to blame. MM has a budget of the square root of zero to work with, yet we are close to being in the play offs for two seasons in a row. Which clubs in the top six can say they haven't spent? What do you want him to do? Get brilliant skillful players who can pass it around for nothing? They don't exist. If Evans won't put money into investing into the squad, Mick can only play big lumpers who play average football and get surprising results. That's where we are. Having watched only a handful of games this season I can see our football is particularly boring, which is why I'm amazed at our league position. It is thanks to Mick and Terry that we are there, and thanks to Evans that we are not closer to the top two.
0

pastystringbean added 20:02 - Feb 6
It were a proper load of tat, the best thing about this day was the bus replacement service to ingateston where I got to talk to strangers. Up at 6:20, still on the road, great support its a shame Mick didn't thank us for it.
5

Hegansheroes added 20:28 - Feb 6
More lame excuses from the numb skull. Doesn't he know that to win matches you have to score goals but perhaps that is beyond him. Did praise Bart how ever which means he'll be dropped when Gerkin is fit
1

TimmyH added 20:36 - Feb 6
Hahahahahaha! - "did the wind have a significant impact on the match"? " I would say so." (Mick) - so just like my 8-irons onto par 3's then and the hoofs onto Varney's barnet! :)

Well the 'boot is on the other foot' today Mick and we've been lucky a few times this season when it's been us scraping the games at the end so maybe this is to be expected during a season, shows just how many games are so close (and a lot of these narrow win games have been against largely mid-table teams - Reading, QPR, Leeds).
1

Europablue added 21:30 - Feb 6
Fraser injury is way worse than a loss. If he had a hamstring concern before the match it was pretty reckless playing him.
3

StowTractorBoy added 21:41 - Feb 6
An awful drive into central London with everyone seemingly travelling by car. An awful drive out with a million sets of traffic lights and the disappointment of watching us get beaten again at Loftus Road. Our fans deserved better today as in the first half we mustered just one shot on target which is nothing short of disgraceful. We were lucky not to to be 3 down after 20 minutes but take note MM it did have a bearing on the game and should have been the springboard to win it. Sorry but this season is slowly dying on its feet. Thank goodness Norwich lost. The trouble with that is we could get to play them next season in the Championship of course and get beaten twice again. Going to sit in a dark room as very very down tonight.
4

bluefeast added 21:47 - Feb 6
Is he the right man to take us forward ,he cannot identify squad weakness , he cannot provide entertaining football philosophy , tactically there seems to be bits of the jigsaw puzzle missing. His fear off the transfer market exists due to all of the players he has released that he signed. Our home gates are in decline and its very hard to find a positive. We are 7th we have a chance of the play offs ,however our squad looks very over stretched with shed loads of games to come. Our 1st 11 if fit are capable of generating a result ,but not convincingly , our 2nd 11 are simple not championship standard. Very worrying that we seem to be bandaging the players up and kicking them out and expecting something other than dire performance . Something in my opinion is very wrong , this may well be the start of a very bad run , if that ends up with MM leaving then good ,as we need fresh attitude in the club. I would like the portsmouth coaching set up.
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Westy added 22:20 - Feb 6
If Frazer was chanced when he wasn't fully fit then he should not have been in the squad. If the hamstring injury is bad, he could be out for six weeks. Not happy.
8

blueherts added 22:42 - Feb 6
Without fraser we have no spark
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ian_marshall added 23:20 - Feb 6
I'm right behind mick, We could of been in league one if it wasn't for him. We are what we are and in my opinion without MM and TC we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are! Yeah MM does talk bollo!!s but what do you expect him to say ? If ME is reluctant to give him wonga then he's hardly gonna say is he! And yeah my neck hurts a lot watching the dogsh!t football BUT it gets results and a playoff place last year! Under Keane and Jewell we were no one near that! I don't want to suck micks nuts but I do feel greatfull for what he's done/doing!

I'm going to have some shreddies with hot milk.

Thank you
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