Boss Mick McCarthy says he'd "love to be competitive in the league playing wonderful, free-flowing football" but believes that may take more than the sort of money he has had to spend at Town.

Despite the Blues having maintained a play-off challenge for a second season, Town’s direct style of football has been condemned by some supporters.

Quizzed on the criticism, McCarthy said: “I’d like to keep winning games, me. I’d like to finish in the play-offs. I can see teams who play some lovely football and we’ve played against them and beaten them.

“I want to be competitive in this league. I’d love to be competitive in the league playing wonderful, free-flowing football. Maybe that takes [spending] more than £500,000 over four years. Does it? It does.

“I can see a team who have spent £25 million and we’re six points behind them, I think it’s six.

“I admire my lads and my team and respect them for what they do and how they do it.

"And we constantly try to improve on how we play and if we can be a bit more subtle, great. But not at the expense of getting beat.”

Reflecting on this year’s home form, which has been poorer than last year’s, the joint-best in the division and the platform on which the sixth-place finish was built, he added: “It was great last season, it was a really hostile place to come and play. If you could call Portman Road a hostile place, it was because of the way we played, the results that we had, the crowds, the support that we got.

“But they all come on the back of us playing well and winning games, and we haven’t done enough of that this season.”

With season ticket renewals set to go out next week, the Town boss admits home fans haven’t had the same value for money that they did last season, although he points out that the Blues have done better than in the campaigns prior to that.

“Not as much as last season, no,” he said. “More than the season before? Yes. More than the season before that. Yes. More than the season before that. Yes. More than the season before that. Yes. Season before that. Yes.

“If I’m saying we haven’t had the same entertainment value I’m sort of having a dig at my team, and I’m not in that sort of mood to be having a dig at my own team.

“I don’t like being hard on myself and my team because plenty of others do it far more often and far better than I can.

“I think we have tried to entertain, we’ve not done it overall, but we’ve still got a chance of getting in the play-offs.

“And I wonder what entertaining is, actually. I think entertaining is winning games, if you’re a supporter, and we haven’t won enough here.”

Looking back over his four campaigns since taking over at Portman Road in November 2012, he added: “All the four seasons I’ve been here have been different. They’ve all had a modicum of success, up until this one which won’t be as successful as last season unless we finish sixth or above. But they’re all different, that’s just the way it is.

“I would think that Derby and Burnley and Middlesbrough, they’ve all been fairly different. I can’t guarantee the same sort of effect that we had last season.

“And we have had mini-periods in the season when it’s been up and down. And generally it’s been down when we’ve lost players and we’ve not had the full squad to pick from, which does make it difficult. But as has been pointed out, Nottingham Forest have had similar.”

Forest were booed off following their 2-1 home loss to Bristol City last week, their third successive defeat, having been on a 13-game unbeaten run in the Championship prior to that.

But McCarthy says fans would react similarly anywhere: “Is it any different from here, in terms of having to win games? Or anywhere else, Manchester City, where I played, or Millwall, where I played and managed, or Sunderland or Wolves.

“There’s no difference. Fans want to see their team play well. They want to see them win first and foremost, then they love to see them playing well and winning.

“And I go back to entertainment. I know a few teams which really entertain and they’re not getting anything at all, so I don’t get that.

“Is it a good time to play Forest? I’m sure Huddersfield thought it was a good time to play us last week.

“There’s a different side to every single story. Our side, we came back we feel a lot better than we did last week.

“We’ve not had great home form, although apart from the Hull game we’d had good results prior to that.

“Forest, I don’t know how they’re feeling, I’ve no idea. They’ll be coming to us saying things like ‘Not been great at home this season, it’s not been a fortress, if we can keep them quiet, if we can nick a goal early on’. All that will be said in the Forest dressing room.

“All we can do is be us. I said that to the lads today, just be us, just play like we play and play well at how we play and if we do it we’re capable of beating anybody here.”

Regarding fans and renewals, he hopes there will be a similar uptake to last year with the club currently having just over 14,000 season ticket holders.

“The supporters have been brilliant this season,” he said. “I know we had a great take-up of season tickets last year. I think that was very positive, that was on the back of how well we played and that we looked like being in the play-offs.

“All I can do is make it worthwhile for them to do it and I’ll continue to do that, as will the players. And I hope they do take them up because I think our supporters are terrific.”

Photo: Action Images

HackneyBlue added 06:44 - Mar 5 You do not need money to play good football-ask Portsmouth and Exeter city.This is my last season because i can not cope with the poor entertainment,win lose or draw .35 years a season ticket holder and never have i been this bored.
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muccletonjoe added 06:57 - Mar 5 I would be first to say mick has his faults. But the fact remains we are a half dozen points behind teams who have spent seriously more than us. Maybe a bit more respect should be shown to the manager and the players for achieving that. A win today and we are once again on the doorstep of the play offs. The style of play and tactics are not to everyone's liking. Myself included. But until our owner loosens the purse strings we can only support what we have

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Sir_Bob added 07:05 - Mar 5 When Mick was given the job, I knew what type of football he played & I stated 'It's what he does for the football club that counts' And he did a great job in getting us out of the bottom 3 & into the play-offs, which was a fantastic achievement on a small budget, I will be honest about that. But I have never, ever seen this type of football played anywhere in my life, either at Portman road, on TV, or at the many, many away games I've been to. It quite frankly is barbaric to ruin a game of football how he does. Yes, ultimately, it's about 3 points, I get that, but FFS, it's not hard to keep the ball on the floor. It's not difficult to tell the midfield to come & pick the ball up from one of the back 4. It's not hard to pass the ball to another midfielder while the striker is making a run into the channel. It's not hard for another midfield to run up field to get the ball from the striker. FFS you old dinosaur, play some F****ing football.

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markytitfc66 added 07:21 - Mar 5 Money eh? A decent Manager/coach would be able to coach free flowing football into are very below average players! Why do people always blame everything on money. NHS failings down to lack of money, public services shortfalls down to lack of money. It's all a load of scrotum contents! IT'S BAD MANAGEMENT ££££££££
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footyblue added 07:22 - Mar 5 no you need to be able to coach it Portsmouth havent spent any money and yet played us off the park football wise, we have played football in phases so the players we have are capable but obviously not coached too play the game that way.
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christiand added 07:41 - Mar 5 We'll see if your right MM, but seems like many of us are now becoming quite disgruntled by this style of play, what is it's shelf life? Imagine if we did get promoted, we're all currently laughing at how poor Aston Villa are, I'll doubt we would even get half their points total. It's just embarassing!! I've given my tickets away for today's game, I've also given them a couple of neck braces in preparation for the aerial assault. The fact we aren't getting many through the academy and we sign 30+ journeymen to boost our squad - just despair where we are heading! Brian Clough always said, 'if football was meant to be played in the air he'd put the pitch up there.'

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Currie10 added 07:43 - Mar 5 Like the style or not beat Forest and Bolton Tuesday, things could look quite good for us...
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Dissboyitfc added 07:56 - Mar 5 At least MM agrees the football isnt very good, will the MM lovers slate him, like they slate those of us who want to see a game of football? I stll dont and never will understand the policy of just kicking the ball up field in hope, i have nothing against a long pass, it can be considered skill but what we witness does not resemble a long pass, its a hopeful punt( even that has its place if you need to clear for tactical reasons, eg under pressure) and nothing else, it is woeful how the defence just take a touch and lauch it! That is not entertainment! I wonder how many players have decided against coming because of our style? Passing to a team member seems to be scorned upon at portman rd, but i think we should it,it could catch on. Other teams try it and i have seen it work! If MM thinks entertainment is winning then a good place to start Mick is lose the square peg in round holes policy, could lead to us getting in the play-offs.

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Dissboyitfc added 07:59 - Mar 5 Should say try it.
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Suffolk_n_Good added 07:59 - Mar 5 Here we go, more spin & sound bites! I hate how McCarthy takes us for idiots, & try's to justify the crap we are served up by comparing us to other clubs. Firstly, I have never heard or read an Ipswich fan asking us to spend £25m, as fans we understand this is not realistic, all we are asking for is a calibre of player who is fit to wear the shirt!! (Look at our bench, last week) Secondly, we understand that in some matches you have to grind out a result by any means, it's part of the game, but this constant hoofing the ball forward is not what we want to see, McCarthy clearly doesn't know us very well if he thinks the be all & end all is 3 points! We want to be entertained, & genuinely we Ipswich fans are a decent bunch, we give managers time, if we can see an attempt to play quality football, we are not glory hunters that demand a trophy every season!!! Thirdly, we pay some of the highest ticket prices in the division, therefore we are entitled to expect a level of entertainment to match the cost we are being charged!! I wouldn't go out & pay £30,000 on a BMW & then expect it to drive like a 5 year old Vauxhall Astra!! (Don't be offended, I used the Astra as that's what we have!!) Lastly, I wouldn't go & buy a potato masher to knock nails into a wall, would I??? I would buy a hammer as that's the tool for the job, but McCarthy seems content to constantly play players out of position, Sears being the most frustrating example. I could go on, but this is just a genuine attempt to put, what I believe are most fans opinions into writing, I will still be hoping for a win this afternoon, but please don't keep speaking this drivel!!!

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Benters added 07:59 - Mar 5 Currie10 the syle of football the town play is bloody awful.. shocking to watch at times. If you complain you get told it isnt a entertainment buisness and f'off to the cinema ! Well i think it is a entertainment buisness as surely people want to go and enjoy watching the town play ? I can tell you now what it will be 3 or 4 passes across the back then a bloody hoof as always .

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geminimustang added 08:01 - Mar 5 I think MM has elaborated and answered the question i've seen asked on this forum all season,"for the money he has to spend".While the owner is owed £70M+ by the club,while fair play is only observed by ITFC,while the gate is around 20k for the match,while parachute payments for Premier League clubs being relegated are obscene,while players earn more in a week than most of the public earn in a year,you've got what you've got at Portman Road.Let's blame MM and make ourselves feel better,everybody likes a scapegoat!

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evansblue added 08:04 - Mar 5 At the end of the day if people don't like it they can vote with their feet and stop coming. I personally don't think the football is as bad as some people make out. It's a tough league and the finances do play a part. Keeping us competitive in this league is down to Mick and TC and they really should get more credit for that. Roll on 3pm. It's a long awaited Saturday home game and I can't wait. Come on town!!!!!

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peteswindon added 08:12 - Mar 5 A truthful interview well said MM.
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Suffolk_n_Good added 08:16 - Mar 5 I love how some people so readily accept mediocrity....... Oh well.....
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blueherts added 08:19 - Mar 5 Whilst I disagree with MICK re our style of play I do feel the average fan does get wowed by stats possession and tick a ticka .if Leicester win league this ,and I hope they do , they have done it with a style very much their own .if u look at their possession stats it is one of the lowest likewise Chelsea were nor exactly pleasing on the eye - if u ask most English fans which club over past 10 years has played "best football' many will say Arsenal -

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Penguinblue added 08:21 - Mar 5 No confidence in this Manager. Only knows hoofball. If we kicked our way to promotion he would be found out (again) immediately. Entertainment value low, he can't get his story straight from one week to the next - its boring to go on about his favourites etc but its true. Any player, manager, pundit who does not subscribe to the mutual appreciation club knows he's a one trick pony, hoofball. McCarthy out (for the sake of ITFC) COYB

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PortmanTerrorist added 08:22 - Mar 5 Style is due to money now is it ? I am a supporter of MM & ME but the sound bites increasingly sound like pathetic excuses you can drive a bus through. £25m really ? Portsmouth anyone ???
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atty added 08:25 - Mar 5 Murphy on form, with Freddie up front, Fraser playing, decent wide man on the other wing, and one decent creative midfield player and it could just work. However, there'll always be injuries and loss of form. So, if the squad is not strong enough you're in trouble. Free flowing football? Just a hardworking, competent team keeping the ball better would be start. We're not asking for mazy runs, and killer passes every couple of minute FFS ! Incidentally guess you all saw the clip of U21s 49 consecutive passes.

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blueherts added 08:25 - Mar 5 Oops went route one before I had finished! Of course arsenal won little in that time I manage football for U16s and have done for 8 years , we have always told em to play out from the back and through midfield. I would say 90% of teams we play have one style big lad up front straight down the middle Until grass roots learn that winning at younger ages is not the key we as a nation will struggle Finally I do think if fit we would have had bishop DIds Sears fraser AMN and Bru all in our squad week in week out and our play would have been different

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essexboy added 08:31 - Mar 5 MM,it's the way you educate the players.Most of the players we have can play good passing football as we have seen in some games,BUT it's the way you set your team out and the style of play you drum into them.Possibly some of the players you have tried to sign don't like our style of play and hence decline to sign for us.I don't agree with your comments that if you have more money you can get better players.It's about education and training.!!

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Dissboyitfc added 08:35 - Mar 5 Suffolk and good... great post very honest and correct. Evansblue... football not as bad as some people make out! really? its shocking and your answer if people dont like it they should vote with their feet, i think many will! What good will dwindling crowds achieve? In the short term i think it will lead to less atmosphere reduced revenue and potentially could be quite damaging. But long term may make certain people stand up and listen. In 40 years of following town, i dont think i have been less interested in going to portman rd, i dont think i am alone in this thought.

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essexboy added 08:41 - Mar 5 Dissboyitfc,I agree with you,I have been a ticket holder for over 40years,and yes sometimes I feel like chucking it in,BUT,I love this club and come Tuesday or Saturday I just could not miss going to a game.We just have to ride through these boring times and just hope that some day it will all change(or is that just wishful thinking.).Three points today will help though,but deep down I think the season is over for us now.

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jas0999 added 08:42 - Mar 5 I think you can play football with any group of players, our team could. However, if they did, whether we would win many games is another matter. It's certainly fair to say, in defence of Mick, that the woeful budget on offer doesn't help. Interesting this is now the third such interview in as many weeks where MM seems to be unhappy with the budget. Quite right in my opinion.

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happybeingblue added 08:50 - Mar 5 my brother cant go to many games as work commitments he got a rare saturday off ..and he described it as ANTI FOOTBALL i was a bit saddened to hear that said and wonder what other fans think as we were always known as a footballing team
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