Town boss Mick McCarthy felt the Blues played very well for 65 minutes despite falling to a surprise 2-1 defeat to Belgian second division side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the final friendly of pre-season at Portman Road.

“I should be stood here waxing lyrical about a really good performance and a comfortable win, but then we gave away [two goals],” McCarthy said.

“By the way, [the first was] a good goal by them, they’ve broken on us, but it’s a dereliction of duty on the edge of the box and gross stupidity from our point that we’ve conceded.”

He added: “We played very well, I think it was a good performance. I don’t think they really troubled us in the first half and I’m not sure they troubled us much in the second half until we gave the goal away.

“We all know, putting the goal in the net is the hardest part of the game. Performance-wise for 65 minutes for great and I should be here talking about that rather than the stupidity of giving the first goal away and then conceding the second pretty softly.”

McCarthy, who was by no means as annoyed by the defeat as he was by Cambridge’s late equaliser in last week’s friendly, dismissed suggestions of defensive frailties, despite conceding three poor goals in the last three games.

“I wouldn’t call it a frailty, I don’t like that word, we’re not frail,” he insisted. “It was a mistake, and in fairness rather than frailty it was probably Jonas Knudsen wanting to go and compete for a ball he shouldn’t have.

“I love his attitude when he’s going to compete for it but he should have just let Dozzer do it and we would never have had that happen.

“But, the fact that it’s been highlighted by conceding goals, I’ve been able to speak to them about it and I hope it doesn’t happen to them in league games.”

Regarding trialist Roland Lamah, he says he’s not yet ready to sign him up, as requested by sections of the support during the game.

“He’s one of a few players we’re considering for that position,” he said. “But I thought he did really well, he contributed.”

The Town boss says the Blues are still working on making additions to the squad: “We’re still doing that, but I’m hopeful we’ll have somebody in before Saturday.”

Regarding injuries, he says Christophe Berra’s half-time withdrawal was planned rather than due to a knock: “He was always going off, him and Tommy were always having 45 minutes.”

McCarthy says he expects Brett Pitman (toe) and Luke Hyam (knee) should be fit for next week’s opening Championship game against Barnsley, while keeper Dean Gerken is set to return to training after his hamstring injury.

“I think so, they’re both improving, they should both be available. Let’s hope we don’t get any more injuries, but they should be available for the squad,” he added.

“Gerks injured his hamstring. I spoke to him before the game and he’s training on Monday.”

Photo: Action Images

Tractorboy1985 added 19:25 - Jul 30 I am 80/20 for mick in as I don't agree with his style but people WAKE UP!!!!!!!! This man is a good manager but he has his hands tied by the patheic man we call our owner MARCUS EVANS.. We all thought he was the shining light when he took charge (we're F'ing looooooaded) but this man is a true disgrace to this club! Yeah yeah saved us from liquidation blah blah blah but this is why all town fans are so pi$$ed off as we should be better and challenging more than we are as this man promised money and an expectation! I am not saying mick is a 10/10 manager (far from it) but we have to be realistic but EVANS is the man to blame and frustration should be taken out on this tax dodging faceless patheic excuse of a chairman #bringbacksheepy #truegent #caredfortheclub

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MattinLondon added 19:39 - Jul 30 Off topic but can somebody tell me why we didn't play fortuna Düsseldorf at home for the last friendly?
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surgery added 19:44 - Jul 30 No MM the only thing that you should be doing is fecking off out of Ipswich
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mickeyjb added 19:47 - Jul 30 Squad is stronger this year??? We won most of our games when Frazer was playing, I do not think bishop or Dozzell will have the impact he did (yet!) Well they haven't so far, as Frazer was actually was the difference in games we won, so imo we are weaker than last year...
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BrettenhamBlue added 19:54 - Jul 30 Squad isn't stronger. No Fraser, Pringle, Feeney, AMN. No Varney for cover striker. No Foley in the centre.
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Miles added 19:56 - Jul 30 I genuinely can't believe some of the stuff I read on here. So much idiotic behaviour! I can understand frustrations about the football we play and the the lack of investment but anyone calling for Mick's head is to me very insane! My first point would be to think back to what we were like to watch when Keane was in charge and the results were very poor. Not once did we even compete for a playoff position. Succeeding Keane was PJ. Did a slightly better job and was a nicer bloke for sure but had he remained in charge we would have been relegated for sure. Again the football wasn't attractive and results were shocking. Mick took over with us bottom of the league and kept us up. Fantastic job and a massive thanks. First full season finished 8th and were competing for the playoffs for 45 games falling just short. A successful season considering the previous years! Second full season and we finished 6th but losing out in the playoffs. Let's just think how nice it was to actually achieve our goal and finish in the playoffs! It was horrible to lose to those lot up the road but the campaign itself was a good showing for the fans and I know we were all excited all the way through the season. Last season again we fell just short finishing 7th but we were up there and still competing! In Mick's 4 seasons here he has 1) taken over when we were bottom and kept us up then finished 8th,6th and 7th. I would love for us to play better football and I agree and think we are probably 3/4 quality players short of a side ready to compete for the playoffs and promotion but anyone who thinks we are currently better off without MM is simply delusional and idiotic especially when you consider what we've had to go through during ME's era. The season hasn't even started yet which is the bizarre thing to me! MM and TC know what they are doing and have proven that in the last 3 1/2 years. lets get behind the 11 players that start next week and support the team regardless of how we feel about the current set up! COYB!!!

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Surco72 added 20:37 - Jul 30 I would ask the question that if a manager picks the same back four/five most weeks without change who concede the same goals over and over again and don't seem to improve how is that the chairmen's fault ? It is poor coaching / management . Our forwards scored only 10 less than promoted Boro but we conceded nearly double . Both full backs are very average lower championship and cost us on numerous occasions , Foley and Parr were both better than MM S favorites

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mickeyjb added 20:38 - Jul 30 Of course the true supporters will support the team, I do and always will, you can't just switch off. I just don't think we will be anywhere near the play offs this year which means two years of regression, surely that is not a good thing. If bishop and Dozzell shine this year, they will be gone next year, so building a team round them won't even matter. We should be beating teams like this and the others we are playing as I'm sure it's their pre season too! Any new players we get now will have no time to bed into the team and probably will not have much of a pre season either unless we nick someone from the lower leagues I hate being pessimistic but I just can't see any other outcome than regression at the moment.

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HarryS_H added 20:46 - Jul 30 It was a friendly!! We haven't lost the fa cup final!! Friendlies are for trying stuff out and seeing what needs to be worked on. We're trying to play better football and get new signings in so we can't judge until a serious competitive game has been played
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Tractorboy1985 added 21:04 - Jul 30 Another superb post by @miles 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 why people slag off mick is beyond me! The man has had his hands tied from day 1 as I get fed up of stating! Without financial backing what more is the man spose to do??? He has always been known as a manager who's teams are hard to beat with a few qualify players to supply the animation for players to stick the ball in the net.. While Evans remains content to keep his hands in his pocket the current crop will always punch above their weight and play dull yet over achieving football!!

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poldark added 21:23 - Jul 30 Please tell me what's so great about McCarthy please please enlighten us cause all I see is complete rubbish hence no season ticket this season When the scum thrash us please tell us why he is so great
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FromIpswichToPhoenix added 21:25 - Jul 30 In other surprising news, the sky is still blue and the earth is 90% water. Same story, different season. No money spent, losing to teams we should be shutting down and the same players injured. Hate to be be a pessimist, but not much to be excited for this season.
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Tractorboy1985 added 21:33 - Jul 30 Nothing is great about McCarthy poldark but he isn't doing a bad job with F all funds!! I spose u are in the 'get Karl Robinson in brigade' who plays 'entertaining' football.. Look where he is now....... Say no more
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Brownie added 21:39 - Jul 30 I might get splinters but I am sitting on the fence... Wasn't there today but pre-season is fitness and nothing else. There is no relevance to pre-season form and the season that follows BUT there is no way MM can honestly believe we are good enough to challenge. He said so himself at the end of last season. 6th & 7th for the last two years sounds good from where we were pre MM but we all know last season was terrible. New players required and then we can see what he can do. Personally I think he deserves that chance but we need to strengthen big style and not just youth players that he never plays anyway..

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manualthetisfanclub added 21:39 - Jul 30 Still a load of bullocks!
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essexbluey added 21:41 - Jul 30 Very poor and yes i did go like a mug, after the game i saw milton and his other hanger on mates haveing a good laugh with each other. OUR club is full of people just happy to pick up a big wage for not doing much.
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blueboy1981 added 21:53 - Jul 30 Do us a favour Mick - and take the job of Caretaker at the Dinosaur Park. You should have no problem getting an interview.
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MicksZzzTactics added 22:13 - Jul 30 Tractorboy1985: In response to your now 2nd from last post here on this page: Ehhh 1st of all does someone FORCE, at gunpoint or similar, the ultra stubborn dinosaur to play (regular season) this 90% of the time hyper unentertaining very Hedgehoglike (or even "Park The Bus") way his "favoriteZzz" have been playing in the league throughout his tenure here??? Secondly while MM obviosly has been largely penniless (before the "massive" :-) 700,000 he apparently was allocated to spend on Webster ... a defender btw ... despite the rest of the planet knowing we have much more pressing areas to address. Not that I have anything personally against Mr.Webster mind you!) does someone FORCE him to nevertheless still LARGELY acquire the same type of hard-grinding "Defend 1st, Attack & Create 2nd .... maybe!!!" types of players which thus usually leaves a quite a lot to be desired of, whether ex-wolves and/or way -over-the-hill or not, on loans and on frees again again??? ..... All the while there imo are several real talented creative offensive-minded players in places like Division 1 for instance (and even in some 2nd tierish clubs of several EU countries abroad) that could fairly likely be lured to PR on a permanent basis for not that many Pesos i.e. without Scrooge Evans needing to file for bankruptcy anytime soon! :-). But alas the vast majority of the these ones appear not to even show-up on neither MM's nor ME's clearly "malfunctioning" radars! Thirdly does someone FORCE Mick to continuously play folks out of their best position, even real talented ones like Sears, i.e. "The Square Pegs" fetish??? All the above is the core of a sufficient amount circumstantial evidence -- backed up by his likewise up-to-this-2016/2017 season reluctance to give 99% of The Young Ones (again including the offensive-minded ones!) any remotely fair chance/leash or fair run to establish themselves as usable parts of the 1st team, but rather simply kept loaning them to out to lower level teams or else simply gave up on them altogether, in some instances way too prematurely imo -- that convinces me that The Dinosaur & his sidekick TC simply in large parts WANTS to plays this way at Ipswich.... this Hedgehog and often anti-football way, which during the last regular season resulted in -- apart of being quite sleep-inducing -- countless of matches with between ZERO or ONE "shots on target" the first about 70 minutes!!!, or at the very least he previously did up til now .... regardless of whether he in fact had very little funds or not! Period.

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The_Kinks added 22:19 - Jul 30 I have had enough of you budgie crows just fly back to Carrot road . And die
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inghamspur added 22:26 - Jul 30 It all seemed to go awry when Lamah & Bishop left the proceedings. This probably says a lot about depth of the squad. Owners need to realise that can't expect McCarthy to try and perform miracles with free transfers & kids. Money is at the root of all this and I'm afraid we may be looking at a Blackpool, Bolton, Charlton, Sheff Ute scenario developing here.
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MicksZzzTactics added 22:27 - Jul 30 Surco72: Nice post and very fair-to-be-asked questions ..... but I will ONCE AGAIN let the mucho renowned Mr. Einstein answer this one for us: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results!" :-)
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BluedanW added 23:02 - Jul 30 To be fair under magilton and Keane and later on Jewell we cruised through pre season beating teams and it masked the Fact our team wasn't good enough, so it is a blessing that we are failing badly as we know the team isn't good enough. But sadly nothing will happen to strengthen the team, McCarthy will make excuses for the team and lack of investment. The same old super die hard fans will call anybody who hasn't renewed not real supporters. There are many fans like me who cannot be asked with having season long rows with the Mrs just to sit in a stadium with no atmosphere watching dross week in week out. Taking my daughter to the zoo, the park etc is much more rewarding

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howdonblue added 23:08 - Jul 30 Didn't see the game! Sell up Evans please please please !!! I've always trusted in MM but sorry I've lost faith now Total clear out needed board management everything!!! This is not panic we need new direction everywhere
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midastouch added 23:18 - Jul 30 took my 6 year old, brought him a shirt in the club shop. he shouted out "you stink" to teddy bishop when he fluffed two clearances in the first half! give the lad a chance i said! after i reprimanded him and told him to get behind the team he got on board and started to cheer the boys in white (rather than the expected we're at home blue). however, after 90 minutes i have to confess, i was coming round to his way of thinking as the boys in white stunk the place out! not sure about all this "we passed it better" stuff either! berra for example hoofed it at just about every opportunity! lamah looked fairly livley. of our players, skuse was prob the best of a bad bunch although i'm picking at straws! mick mccarthy is clearly a menace to suffolk society! as for marcus invisible evans, surely it's reached a point of put up or sell up! i'm going to take my lad next sat but i doubt i'll be going much this season as i want to be entertained, not bored to tears!

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howdonblue added 23:43 - Jul 30 Evans is the menace to Suffolk society
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