Boss Mick McCarthy says the Blues have made almost constant progress in the right direction since he took charge in November 2012, but questions how long any side could maintain that sort of consistency. Town go into today’s game at Huddersfield looking to end a run of three successive defeats which has seen them drop to 10th, seven points off the play-off places following Sheffield Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Hull City last night.

“I think that as a team, as a squad, as a club we’ve been pretty good over the last three and a half years, maybe constantly batted above where everybody thought we were going to be,” he said. “I wonder how long you can do that for. I don’t know.

“We’ve done it pretty consistently so far but we’ve had a bit of a dip and what we have to be careful about is that suddenly not everything is wrong, we have to continue believing in what we do and hopefully get a few players back, get Skusey back, Ryan [Fraser] back and try and get Didzy back in the team come March.

“But what we really need is some results over this piece until the international break when those lads might be back.”

Having made the best of the resources available to him during his time with Town, does he believe there are discussions to be had with owner Marcus Evans in order for the Blues to continue to make progress in seasons to come?

“Perhaps, but that’s not for now, that’s for when we see where we finish up because I think everybody gets frustrated - the players, I could see that on Tuesday night,” McCarthy added.

“When it’s constantly been going up, it’s great, everybody’s coming in with a smile on their face, everybody loves it, the fans love it, I love it, it’s a lot easier to come in. But when it gets tough it really is tough, it’s difficult.

“People start questioning everything, but the answer just for now has to be within here, with me, TC and the players.”

He says he’s come through one tougher spell while with the Blues back towards the end of his first season in charge: “I think going to Millwall and drawing 0-0 and everybody else winning and us ending up being three points above relegation with Leicester to come next was probably the toughest part because we really were in a relegation scrap.

“But I’d say this is the second one because we’re going in the opposite direction at the minute, whereas always in the last three and a half years it seems we’ve been on the up. Unfortunately at the moment we’re on the slippery slope and we want to arrest that.”

Photo: Action Images

pennblue added 06:38 - Feb 27 Top teams that get promoted do have better quality and greater strength in depth period. That costs money. Mm has done great in transfer market but needs more funds to kick on. When we take a gamble on a free player, other teams like boro are buying proven quality, that is the difference. Where is the youth coming through, this question has to be asked as well
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GiveusaWave added 06:40 - Feb 27 I do genuinely feel that given the resources MM has had he has done a good job. The team on paper shouldn't be in the top half of the table and he should be congratulated for taking the club this far. I do feel sorry for him because I feel that if he had been given serious money to spend we would find ourselves in a top 6 spot, and maybe even in the top 2. It is hard to know where we go from here though. Our season is perilously close to being over. The entertainment on offer is given by the opposition not by us. Some of our back up players would look out of place in League 2 let alone the Championship. If I was Murphy et al I would be carefully looking at the long term potential of our club. Should I stay at a club that is most likely to have another indifferent season in the Championship or move on to pastures new? And we seem to need a big sale every season to be able to be competitive. Last season it was Mings, the season before Cresswell. Who will go at the end of this season? Pittman? Sears? The club has definitely gotten healthier under MM but we seem a bit in limbo without a long term plan. Finances do seem really tight and we are not inundated with talent coming from the academy. I am grateful that we are not in a relegation showdown, but where do we go from here?

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muccletonjoe added 06:55 - Feb 27 Mm talking sense for a change here. The team needed series investment last summer. Pitman and Fraser were two good additions but we needed another 4 or 5 quality players and that meant spending money, you can only go so far on free signings and loans. The quality we need to get out of this league we are not going to pick up for free. Good luck today to the lads, I hope they can bring back 3 points and keep the season going. COYB

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Penguinblue added 07:15 - Feb 27 Absolute rubbish. Only progress this year would be automatic promotion. To repeat for the umpteenth time The football is dire, he plays his favourites above anyone else, players out of position, persisted with the wrong goalkeeper, no mid-field, no creativity, suspect no decent player with choices would want to play for him. Myth about strong defence and good man management (where's the evidence for that?), contempt for supporters. Absolute drivel, and disingenuous at that, spoken at press conferences - where he is never challenged. McCARTHY OUT COYB

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peteswindon added 07:31 - Feb 27 Really fed up with these comments about MM playing his favourites. We have not got anybody to replace them with, so it really is a stupid comment. MM can only use who he thinks is the best option from a very limited choice. Would love to know who these non favourites are that he should be playing. The problem is ME will not invest anymore money into the club. So unless a rich arab or such like comes in to take over all we will ever do is tread water.

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Stato added 07:38 - Feb 27 @penguinblue completely agree but the other myth is about year on year improvement. Everyone has forgotten the fact that the points haul under Mick in first season would have put us about 6th . We didn't look like a promotion contender last season either we looked like a mid-table side who made the play offs. Our season is over and when you look at our last 5 away games I wonder if we may not even finish as high as 10th especially if our under performing home form continues. Pompey manager showed that a team on a much smaller budget than us can still play football so no point in us blaming the budget. This is all about McCarthy and he has to go before our fortunes will improve. Why did he leave AMN out of the squad last week and what did Wenger think when he wasn't on the bench but Tabb and Co were. Can't see us getting another loan from Arsenal anytime soon.

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tallguy6767 added 07:38 - Feb 27 The answer is your not the man to take us forward !! yes we all know you saved us that season and everybody appreciates that but we got into the playoffs last season all be it by freak results on last day! and we haven't kicked on after your own admission its the best squad you've ever had !! I used to be a season ticket holder for many but now I'm not going at all anymore as I cant bring myself to pay £30+ to watch garbage football which belongs in the dark ages!!

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jas0999 added 07:50 - Feb 27 Yet another hint MM is unhappy with the budget on offer from Marcus Evans. When you can only buy the likes of Coke and Toure, your not going far. Wouldn't be surprised if Mick leaves in the summer ala joe Royle. Evans needs to wake up and urgently review his strategy. No spin. Just honesty so fans know what they are signing up to at season ticket renewal time.
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bluefeast added 07:57 - Feb 27 He has had a tough job , he did a great job year 1 and 2 ,however has failed to change what is wrong. His best 11 ends up with 3 players playing totally out of position , thats why there is never a plan b. This season is done and dusted as there must be 12 sides in league better than us , those currently above us have really kicked on. If your car fails an mot you have two choices , fix the issues or scrap the car. This season almost each week we fail the mot ,but carry on driving the clapped out ,tired and broken vehicle . COYB prove me wrong

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tallguy6767 added 08:01 - Feb 27 Jas0999 no one forced him to buy them and what dross they both are. I agree with you on the Evans front hes clearly lost interest in the club and seems quite happy to bump along in the mid reaches of the championship.
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atty added 08:17 - Feb 27 He came in, he kicked out the overpaid,overrated,lazy, second rate playboys and posers, got us organised, fit and disciplined, and built a real team spirit. He got us out of trouble, and into the playoffs last season. We were playing some decent stuff at the beginning of the season, but injuries and lack of strength in depth took their toll eventually. Investment in 2/3 decent quality players in January have made a difference and we could still be in the top six. All be said but a decent RB,LB, creative midfielder, and decent striker would have made all the difference. However, with long term injuries to Didz, Bishop, Hyam, and Fraser(twice) lesser injuries to others and Murphy way below par,and very average back up, l doubt we were ever going to last the pace. We seem to have an owner who has now lost interest and has settled for mediocrity. Or maybe he believes in miracles. Last we nearly had one, so you never know. Money doesn't always talk, but solid investment in better players with a decent manager is more likely to bring success l think.

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blueblood66 added 08:49 - Feb 27 Our best manager since Big Joe. Mick has worked minor miracles since his arrival and the owner needs to realise what he has. The problem is Evans is not a football man, he is a business man, so he would be once again floundering to find a replacement if Mick was to leave, which I fully do not expect. Stop moaning, stick with him and we will come good again, he is too good a manager not to turn it around.

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brittaniaman added 09:12 - Feb 27 Sorry Phil but it is 8pts we need now to get in to the Playoffs ????? The task is getting harder each game !!!
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tallguy6767 added 09:13 - Feb 27 Blueblood66 seriously deluded !! Wake up and smell the coffee! ! Going nowhere under this regime! !
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PhilTWTD added 09:54 - Feb 27 brittaniaman It is seven, although realistically we'd need to go some on the goal difference front while making up that gap!
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dirtydingusmagee added 10:21 - Feb 27 YES Mick ,you are right to question how long we could continue to make progress WITH THE TEAM WE PLAY, yes the team that didnt need strengthening in transfer window even though we had injuries and are always playing players out of position,The same team that players left to play elswhere .Sorry Mick ,if you could see that and hadnt got the desire to get any further you really need to be gone .

1

ssmith added 11:35 - Feb 27 Think the club are in for big shock this summer , many long term fans are on verge of stopping their season tickets , fed up with poor long ball game and same old excusses , apparently there's on better players available but but we all watch other teams turn up and out play us while we just graft
4

battyblue added 11:58 - Feb 27 Poor team selection poor tactics,poor substitutions all down to you Mick,will not give youth players a chance when 18 year olds are very capable in the premier league but not for Ipswich town under MM I am fed up of posting negative posts I want to be positive but I find it almost impossible to find something positive to post right now except Barts performances since he got his place back and we are not in a relegation scrape but on second thoughts even that may add a bit of excitement which we haven't seen for quite a while here now.

2

bluelodgeblue added 12:21 - Feb 27 The younger players only appeared last season after failing category 1 status, this year they have disappeared as we are supposedly awaiting guidance on the new rules.........what a joke , we seem constantly trying to do things on the cheap?
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battyblue added 12:37 - Feb 27 Sears i was excited when he joined us last season ,quick /skillful/match winning STRIKER...now a shadow of his former self stuck out on the wing or in midfield by confidence sapping manager with little time for anything but HOOFBALL and stopping ,,,or should i say trying to stop the opposition playing football........one a lighter note good luck today boys you will certainly need it with this man in charge.

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StirlingArcher added 12:55 - Feb 27 Leicester are doing well with players other teams didn't want, Some of these comments are toys out of prams at best Grow up
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Mark added 13:44 - Feb 27 Mick has done a very good job, signing the right characters meaning we have a hardworking side who are not easy to beat. The trouble is, how will those players get better than they already are? Most are late-20s or early-30s, not the age where they will improve. Fraser and Maitland-Niles are younger, but both are only here on loan for a few more weeks. It'd hard to feel optimistic for next season at the moment. Let's hope we get 3 points today to give us an unexpected lift.

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TimmyH added 14:25 - Feb 27 I agree with some of the sentiments that Mick says above and yes money is tight and he has done fairly well to kick out the 'hangers-on' and assemble a more organised better team spirit since 2012 and has generally got the most out of the majority of the players regularly near the starting 11 but it has to be said some of our failings also goes down to Mick. Some of the players are consistently out of position from week to week and can we really get any further than sixth in this league setting up the way he likes to play? the majority of teams that have been promoted in recent years and I'm not talking 'big' clubs largely play passing football - Bournemouth, Burnley, Watford, Leicester (although they now play counter attack in the Premiership), Palace etc...promotion can be achieved and in a fairly small time frame which has been proved by some of the teams above and others but I just don't see it with Mick's style of football. Get a few injuries to his trustful 12/13 players (which is really the squad strength) and we're in limbo coupled with the almost non existent January transfer window and we are never going to sustain a promotion push.

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Gcon added 16:03 - Feb 27 Cheapskate owner convinced himself that under Mick we could get promoted on the cheap. He now needs to step out from the shadows and publicly declare his commitment, or lack of it, to supporters.MM should not become the scapegoat.
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grubbyoik added 17:42 - Feb 27 Because our owner has no face or voice .. It feels like MM is running this club.. He decides if he is doing a good job.. Lucky man..
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