Town boss Mick McCarthy says fans singling out one of his players for abuse are going to be disappointed if they believe they’ll influence him into making a substitution.

Jonathan Douglas, who the Blues announced has triggered an additional year on his contract yesterday having hit the 30-league start mark, was the latest in a long line of Town players to be jeered by some sections of the Portman Road crowd during Tuesday’s 0-0 home draw with Charlton.

“I think you know full well, anybody that starts to get abuse on the pitch, they ain’t going to come off, that’s for sure,” McCarthy said.

“Because I certainly wouldn’t appease the masses by taking one off and I wouldn’t embarrass one of my players by doing it. That’s not right.

“And probably that’s why we’ve got such a good atmosphere in here, that’s why we’ve got such a good feel about it and why everybody trusts each other and would work hard for each other.

“I’ve been at places before where one player gets singled out. It was Ainsley Maitland-Niles a few weeks ago. The poor kid’s only 18. Dougie’s 34, he’s big enough and old enough. He always puts a shift in.”

McCarthy, who wants everyone pulling in the same direction when his side face Brentford at Portman Road this afternoon, needing a win to stand any hope of reaching the play-offs, says fans booing their own players is wholly counterproductive.

“I’m not coming in here to have a go at our supporters, they’ve been wonderful with me for nearly four years,” he added.

“It’s frustrating, it’s frustrating for me and the players and it’s frustrating for them. But, it doesn’t help anybody.

“I’d imagine when you’re sat at home writing your reports and somebody’s giving it in your ear hole, it wouldn’t help either.”

Douglas, 34, seems unlikely to start today's match, Town's third game in eight days, having played the full 90 minutes of the two previous fixtures.

Photo: Action Images

SB1984 added 11:19 - Apr 9 I support Mick's policy. He's in it together with his players and that's why they've got such a good team spirit and love playing for him. Douglas wasn't having a bad game deliberately and the fans' reaction to his mistakes were over the top. Singling players out only makes them worse, it's clearly counter productive so don't do it. Since Douglas had played on Sat it seemed likely that he was pencilled in to be subbed on Tues. However, if Mick had have taken him off to cheers after people had been calling for his head that would have been harsh and detrimental to Douglas's confidence. It was obvious that Mick would support his player under those circumstances and leave him on.

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hogster1970 added 11:20 - Apr 9 The problem MM a good manager would soon work out whats working and what isnt, the center pairing of scuse a JD isnt working and hasnt been for ages, JD had a poor game thats for sure, so you should have seen that and subbed him at half time and brought on some one who would make a difference, eg foley or bru, but no you took of pringle who played ok and the only player to realy test the keeper and took him off for varney, so if you cant work that out then before long you will loose the supporters and you will loose the dressing room. players aint stupid, they all know if they had a good game or a rubbish game, and if they are not up to scratch on the day then they wont moan if they are taken off, how ever what will wind players up if they no people are not playing well whether they are on the pitch or the bench and know they can do better and should be on the pitch then eventually they will get peed off and before you know it you will loose them eg oar and parr. what you need to do MM is to fix problem either before they accure or if it isnt going well is to fix them, not buy pulling players off the park who are playing well or buy leaving players on the pitch who are under parr and then leaving players on the bench when they should be on the pitch. its quiet simple, but this situation has been brewing for ages now, and all what is happening is that fans will stay away and wont renew season tickets unless you start altering your approach, i would love to see you still here and take us up but we wont the way you are carrying on MM. so bite the bullet and admit you are wrong and stop having ago at the supporters because my friend with out us this team will be playing at witton united pitch lol

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Bluetone added 11:31 - Apr 9 @hogster1970 Oi Whitton deserves better than this. That is a horrible threat.
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blueherts added 11:33 - Apr 9 Some very strange stuff coming from MM 'Be careful what you wish for' and this comment are comments from a very 'defensive' in more ways than one person Our home form this season has been shocking - and since January just woeful If a player is having a mare - as Douglas absolutely was - he should be replaced He is almost implying even if someone is playing badly - he will never be hooked Douglas is a seasoned pro , mid 30s , just renewed a nice contract no doubt - he is not some 17 year old lad just starting out - He should know that if I play badly I wil be subbed Frankly today I would rather see the young uns out there - nothing to lose !! Put Emmanuel in at RB and move Chambers to the middle Bish and Dozzell on the bench Bru in the middle of midfield with Foley and Feeney and Dids Sears up top with Pittman We have one choice today - play on the front foot and take the game to them No other scenario matters

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blueherts added 11:40 - Apr 9 Newcastle wanted MacClaren - look how that turned out , be careful what you wish for Villa
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norfstanda added 11:41 - Apr 9 All this garbage about wanting mick out. Okay, and bring in who as manager???
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Bob7881 added 11:42 - Apr 9 I agree personal abuse is out of order but how are fans supposed to show their frustration. It seems to me the modern day football fan is required to turn up pay vastly overpriced admission prices spend money on food drink and merchandise watch the game and keep yer mouth shut. Applaud the team off at the end of the game no matter how poor the performance. Football used to be about passion and emotion the way i see it thats being slowly taken away.

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christiand added 11:51 - Apr 9 Certainly don't agree with the booing, but Douglas is one if those that MM loves and will select regardless of performance. I wish MM would concentrate more on getting the selections right and encouraging us to play a decent brand of football instead of trying to dictate how supporters should react. Supporters aren't silly MM and we can see if someone is having a difficult game, I question if you actually can? Make changes that are right for the team and gives the side the best opportunity to win would be my advice, concentrate more on those areas!!

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eMeM added 12:01 - Apr 9 Some of you here need reality check. Did you really expect us to be top six this year? Why? Last season was just lucky. Still far away from relegation fight and that is big achievement when you compare him to Keane and Jewell. McCarthy is doing great work with limited resources.
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blueherts added 12:14 - Apr 9 eMEM , norstanda - fair comments , but my main problem with the club we ALL want to succeed as we have been also rans for fat too long , is there has never been any idea what are goal , objective , planning is ? Without a goal and objective you have no chance I would 'presume' the club , ME , MM and us when he came in had a 'goal/objective' of being in the premier league in ? years - at least have some objective Because we never hear , see or understand where it is , as a club , we are aiming , we will all have different objectives We got in the play offs last season - just - having suffered another January onwards drop off so I believe most felt this was a good building blcck to move on We 'hear' there is money available - but none seems forthcoming I am not suggesting we do what Derby did or Boro with Rhodes and splash £8m on a player but I felt we lost our way in January with Bish , Dids , Parr and Oar gone or out Mick chose not to spend on nayne as no one was out here better ? Mings and Cresswell money 'was available' to reinvest - mostly on wages for people like Douglas coming in - I guess Transparency and communication is all most of us want and a direction At the moment we seem to be run , managed month by month - As football is a business - I think most on here will know that is not how a successful business is run We all want to see success but lets understand what the owner and manager measurement of success in their eyes is ? can anyone tell me ?

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TimmyH added 12:23 - Apr 9 You pay your money and largely expect to be entertained even if it means your team loses, if a player IS NOT pulling his weight it will soon be found out after a number of games or even a single game (this is what happens in a spectator sport). With 1 or 2 players of late this is clearly happening, every supporter in Portman Road has the right to voice their opinion at that game although booing an individual maybe is not the right way of doing it. This statement by McCarthy has just cemented what we all thought to be true, he is clearly a very stubborn arrogant man at his work (although what I've heard a fairly pleasant bloke away from Football).

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Bob7881 added 12:55 - Apr 9 Im not concerned with our current league position for me we are a million miles away from premier league standard. What i am concerned about is the football being played lack of home grown talent. The Facilities at playford road are topclass new pitches are being laid but why i wonder the ball is always in the air. In terms of money spent on transfer fees McCarthy has done a good job to get us to our current league position. In terms of entertaining football he is an absolute failure. Sir Bobby never had much money to spend in his time at ITFC but his teams always managed to play good football. I cannot accept that the current batch of players can only play kick it up the pitch football, Arnie Murhen used to play long balls but they were passes not hit and hope. I dont expect us to play like Barcelona, Real Madrid will do

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MrDiddle added 12:57 - Apr 9 Mick McCarthy arrogant... Really? Has anybody actually met him? - he's possibly one of the nicest down to earth people you'll ever meet. But no, he says something to protect his players from the very people who are supposed to be cheering them on and he's labelled as arrogant! Douglas did have a shocker on Tuesday but so did most of the team. There was absolutely no need for any fans to be jeering Douglas (yes @thebeat there were sections of the North Stand jeering him for most of the second half). I don't know what to call it but demanding McCarthy / Evans out, jeering and booing your own players - i'm pretty sure that is not being a supporter of the club. Anybody care to give us here in the 'rose tinted brigade' a reason why that is supporting ITFC?

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Surco72 added 12:59 - Apr 9 Keane said he didn't care what supporters thought or knew about football then he was gone . I find it incredible that MM thinks his view is better than 17000 others watching . And to say MM has been top level his whole career so knows more , I would question why has he never lasted anywhere and has always been sacked under clouds of despondency from the supporters ?
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Elto added 13:17 - Apr 9 Surco72 He has lasted a great deal longer than most managers do at all the clubs he has managed. He is the manager, so, he is right in thinking the views of the fans, particularly during the match, are irrelevant.
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eMeM added 13:18 - Apr 9 RE Blueharts: Our club tells lies to us every year to sell more season tickets, I'm surprised you still believe them when they say there are money to spend. Still I'm not going to criticise Evans, I think he knows financial side better than most of us. Players are overpriced, it's better to sell now. I'm surprised he didn't sell McGoldrick for 6m. In 4 years McCarthy didn't get any real money and he lost two very good players. Still we are in much better position than 4 years ago. Players really care about the club and give 100% percent. No more Shane Supple kind of story. Sometimes I read here "worst performance ever". Did they already forgot that we lost to Peterborough 7-1?

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ChestnutSe added 13:18 - Apr 9 I'm pretty sure MM is the longest serving manager in the Championship (not counting Karl Robinson at MK who are new to the league) so he must be doing something right in a notoriously short term business. Everybody wants instant success but our best periods have always followed sticking with a manager for the long term and slowly building I.e. Robson and Burley (I wasn't around for Alf). So stick with it. Each season under MM he has improved the team. This season has been marred by injuries to some key players otherwise I am sue we would be higher up the league. Having said that we are a lot closer to the play offs than the relegation spots and an awful lot of clubs would love to be in our position.

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thebeat added 13:18 - Apr 9 Mr Diddle what do you expect us to do when every time he touches the ball he loses it or balloons it out for a corner from the centre circle like he did on Tuesday? Chant his name? And this has been building for a long time, he has been awful all season but he gets picked every week to the detriment of the team. Its like playing with 10 men. People bang on about the team spirit etc, what must Bru, Hyam and Foley think every week when hes out there contributing zero and they are sat on the bench? That cant be good for team spirit. Parr and Oar had enough and got out when they could. If he picked the right players in the right positions and we played half decent football and we were 7 points off the play offs nobody would be moaning. But we all know thats not the case hence why Portman Road will be a poisonous cauldron today.

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Bob7881 added 13:18 - Apr 9 I think most managers come across a miserable in interviews with the exception of Kloop. McCarthy is pretty good with the press and straight forward with his answers. How ever sometimes he comes across as he likes the sound of his own voice and what he says.
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joepublic added 13:20 - Apr 9 Can you imagine Sir Alex Ferguson keeping a player on the pitch who was having a nightmare in a must win game to keep your season alive. Just to prove a point to his own fans!!! I just find the timing and the statement very strange. Everyone knows picking on a player during the match is detrimental to the team performance but driving a wedge between yourself and the fans is hardly sensible. I think MM is looking for a way out which may say quite a bit about what is happening behind the scenes.

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MrDiddle added 13:46 - Apr 9 Instead of assuming you know how any of the players feel thebeat, why don't you actually question them on it. I'd be very surprised if any of them agreed with what you're saying. The only reason Portman Rd will be a poisonous cauldron today is because of 'fans' like yourself jumping down the players throats whenever they make a mistake.
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SpiritOfJohn added 14:05 - Apr 9 Douglas has become the focus for the anti-Mick brigade this season. Last season it was Tabb. With the standard of football falling way short of expectations this term it is no surprise that more people have joined the anti-Mick lobby but no town player deserves to get the bird unless they are not trying.
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thebeat added 14:43 - Apr 9 MrDiddle so if it was you you would be happy sitting on the bench knowing full well you are better than whats on the pitch based on him being shocking all season and even if you do get on the pitch no matter how well you play he will still be picked ahead of you? Give over.
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MicksZzzTactics added 15:03 - Apr 9 And BTW Mr. Dinosaur, have it ever remotely "dawned" on you and your stubborn arrogant ego who it is that MAINLY contributes to the very existence of your very own lofty salary cheque at this here football club and workplace, you stupid f**k??? And the ultra hard 60 Billion £ worth answer is...... It's US the fans!!! Without any fans -- including those that may or not take there right to freedom of speech etc. a bit too far for your personal liking!!! -- there wouldn't be any money, including money to allocated into your personal pocket ... and obviously there would eventually be NO football club (ITFC) either!!! And still you happily and eagerly continue to go almost out of your way to disrespect US .... in any way imaginable (not including you trying to SOME degree standing up for your personal "Ballon D'or" candidate Mr. Douglas here today, although even a blind fan have been able for some time to "6-sense" how poor he has been of late, and particularly in that specific game!) .... off as well as on the filed! Yep also on the field! As I am one among many that haven't forgotten how you didn't even "bother" to at the end of the game properly salute and thank US at a recent excruciatingly poor -- even by your anti-football standards Mr. Dinosaur! -- away match! Likely because you also quite childishly let THIS the "Goes-with-the-Territory/Occupation" criticism get under your skin then that there at that game also was a notable amount of booing/groaning .... including quite a substantial amount directed at the one in charge of this here now weekly recurring ultra uggggly and turgid mess you call 21th century WORTHY-TO-PAY-FOR football, namely you!!!) The Dinosaur out!!!!!!!!!!

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Mick_Mills_Tache added 15:09 - Apr 9 ChestnutSE, Keane and Jewell both had proven track records of promotions and look what happened there..... A successful businessman will recognise trends, put plans into place and will take a gamble on decisions. I don't understand how the MM lovers can see into the future and say if MM goes, we'll be relegated. Can I have next weeks Euromillions numbers please?

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