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McCarthy: We Were Awful and Stevenage Deserved to Win Tuesday, 9th Aug 2016 22:41
Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted his side were “awful” as League Two Stevenage claimed a deserved 1-0 EFL Cup first round victory over the Blues at Portman Road.
“I think Stevenage were excellent, deserved to win and I thought we were awful,” McCarthy said.
“I don’t think we improved in the second half, to be honest. I don’t think the first half was that bad.
“I think they were better in the second half. They’ve been the best team, they deserved to win.
“Their keeper, did he make some good saves? Saves you’d expect him to make, I think. I thought they defended well, they’ve got blocks in.
“I don’t want to take away from their performance as I thought they were good, but the other side of that is that we weren’t very good.”
Why was the performance so poor? “I’ll be looking at it tomorrow morning to find out why it didn’t happen.
“As teams from lower leagues do, they come and are totally committed and have a right go and if they get something to hold onto, they made it extremely hard for us. They’ve worked their socks off, they’ve deserved to win.”
McCarthy picked a more senior side than in cup games in the last couple of seasons - “I wish I hadn’t!” - which he said showed he was looking to progress in the competition.
“In terms of experience and games played, it was a stronger team than in previous cup games,” he continued. “I certainly didn’t set the team out to get beaten, did I?
“We’ve not played well, but, as I keep saying, I don’t want to take the credit away from Stevenage, who have played well.”
Reminded of Town’s poor cup record since he took over as boss, he said: “My league record’s been pretty good, so you can talk about the cup, we’re out of it. Am I happy about it? Hell am I happy about it. I’m livid about the way we played.”
He added: “I think the team I picked spells out [that I was looking to progress], I wanted to be in the competition, but I wished I’d have picked a youth team, I wish I’d picked them all and if we’d have gone out with a team that’s got no experience in it I could be sat here thinking I deserved it. But I don’t think that’s the case. We’ve not performed tonight."
Stevenage boss Darren Sarll was delighted with his team’s performance and victory: “It’s been a good night, we were resilient and determined throughout and we’ve shown that Stevenage are still alive and kicking.
“We were great at all the honest values a team should have and we stood strong at the end.”
“There’s not a player in my squad that I don’t look forward to working with every single day.
Regarding winning goalscorer Ben Kennedy, he added: “I found him in Belfast four years ago and I brought him over when I was academy manager.
“He had a troubled time with injury last season and needed hip and knee operations, but now he’s back to his old horrible, horrible self - horrible to play against that is. He doesn’t care for reputations or the stage he’s on.”
Photo: Action Images
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@Essex57: You have voted down my comment, fair enough we all have our opinions and are entitled to disagree with each other and I have disagreed with comments you have posted from time to time. That's what boards like this are all about. Just out of interest in this particular case though, what do you think I have gotten wrong in my assessment of the situation with Sears, who I think should be consistently played through the middle as one half of a partnership, the forwards in general & the make up of our defence over the last 3 years?
Sears worked his nuts off but kept getting played in with long balls or pushed out wide, with the right ball played through at his feet could of been a very different game McGoldrick came on in the second half started holding the ball up well but by this time we were soon 1-0 down and started going for hopeful shots from outside the box Ward looked good at times but didn't create many chances, he looks comfortable and confident on the ball though no doubt he's a great signing just needs to play other players in more Grant looked decent to my eyes although I would of liked to see him put the ball in the box a bit more Bru trying to push forward but high balls for sears and lost the ball in Midfield too often Dozzell thought he had an absolute stinker no doubt he has ability and will come good but playing the wrong passes very often certainly lobbing the ball in the air too often Douglas Where do I start I don't like slating players but he's way off the pace he's unfit, disorganised and I just cannot understand why we're playing him at all. Bishop Came on and immediately made an impact, good with the ball at his feet and trying to create chances the problem was that by this point league 2 Stevenage have a goal up and a clock to run down it's difficult to create chances with 11 men behind the ball no matter what league they're in Chambers Anyone saying Chambo didn't want this must of been watching a different match his frustration set in and that played a part but you could hear him screaming at players all game (particularly Knudsen) Agree Chambo could of been more attacking down the right though Digby Bang average I don't think him and Smith play well together probably due to lack of experience playing side by side. there were times we were very open Smith I think Smith played well although again the communication errors with Digby caused problems Knudsen I am disappointed to say this but Knudsen looked lazy, half arsed, out of position so many times. watched him lose his man god knows how many times. All you could hear for alot of the game was Chambo screaming JONAS!! If I were Mick he'd have a size 11 up his arse after that effort. Gerken I thought Gerken looked good in goal tbh, to watch him play you would never believe he's a second keeper I think every town fan is happy with our goalkeepers. Gerken made a couple of saves that you'd expect him to make and the goal was an unfortunate one but not one you could expect him to save.
Overall I think it was an awful performance and one we need to learn from but lets not give up yet ;-) all these folks talking about Mick out need their heads read. Saturday he was a hero for signing Wardy ffs. Last night was terrible absolutely but lets get behind the lads and bounce back though :D COYB!!
I feel sorry for Sears, he's had goalscoring beaten out of him and now when he does get a chance he naturally drifts onto the wing. We effectively played last night's game with no strikers so no surprise we didn't score.
Success breeds success. Why change a winning team if you are interested in winning the game? I didn't go last night as it was all so predictable and I will not go to any cup game until the management takes them seriously. As last season proved there is nothing to be gained resting players.
Durham Town - are we saying this website is the barometer of fan opinion. The negatives always shout louder..
Wasn't there last night - I was at MUFC & Portsmouth last year(both games) & agree MM doesn't care about cups. If you look at the results every year most of the championship managers don't care either..
Big two months for MM. Young players with flair and win is the way forward. Otherwise the negatives shouting might be loud enough to see a change. In the meantime I will get behind the team and hope MM can deliver..
Burnzer gerks throws put defenders in pressure as he put it behind them and he was so slow to react. Without Knudsen you wouldn't see as much attack down the left. I guess he could play safe and stay bk like Chambers. Crosses need work.
Dozzell was good given his age. Showed he wanted it more than some.
I am a firm supporter of Mick but to be knocked out in this way is just plain embarrassing. We have 3 things to play for during the season. We now have 2. Digby appears to be a liability at the back and given that performance should be nowhere near the first team.
I couldn't believe it that M M puts out another team to lose a cup game. Just wish I'd have bet on Stevenage! He's ruined Sears in trying to convert him into a wide man when he was looking like 20 goal forward. But then that's typical MM playing guys in wrong positions Ie Smith Chambers just because he wants them in the team. Same with Douglas, he just has to play him when it's obvious he's worse than Skuse and just slows the whole team down. I'm just wondering how long it'll be before he messes up Ward and Grant like he did with all the other wingers!! He doesn't understand that the ball needs to be delivered to one of our players not hoofed up anywhere. We have the players but not the system so please resign before its gets really embarrassing.
Pilgrimblue relishing a defeat to give him a chance to slate the manager again.
So, he put a team out to lose did he? How? The mixture in the team was a balance of youth and experience, and the players poor performance on the night is down to the individual players. MM is not running a kindergarten, these are adults/professionals who have an obligation to give 100% every time they wear the shirt. To blame the manager yet again is down to personality issues you seem to have. You ask when will he mess up Ward and Grant? but conveniently give absolutely zero credit to him for bringing them in in the first place. Too many squeaky wheels like you on this forum. Waiting for each opportunity to spew your vitriolic ranting at the manager.
How very sad it was to see the result, and I do wonder whether this side rely too much on the strengths and character provide by MM and TC; where's the spunk and desire to ALWAYS eke out a win,even if this means some occasional on field improvisation . It's a sorry state when so early in the season wild comments at either end of the spectrum are already recorded. BUT I do think Luke Chambers interview technique needs improvement, watch it and be unimpressed by the demeanour and poor diction and general impression: good to know he was clearer on the pitch! Let's hope for better coordination and results hence forth !
The current attitude to cup competitions is costing the Club money. Look at last night's attendance. Whilst I don't generally agree with the owner interfering in team matters it is time ME told MM to treat ALL games seriously for the benefit of the paying supporters. I will not be going to any cup game until the attitude changes.
honest assessment from Mick and more of what i want to hear when we are actually poor to watch which is a lot of the time. I'm hoping he changes his mentality this season and actually balances lambasting players with praising them. Too much complacency in recent years.
Lets not let a win or lose through this season cloud the actual performance and judgement though. People were hailing the win on Saturday and whilst it was a win, it was pretty horrific at times as was last night. Players and the management need to step up to the plate and quick. The season has started and we look way off the pace.
People can make excuses and sweep it under the carpet as much as they like, but the vast majority can see this was unacceptable. We fielded a strong team with decent subs but weren't good enough. Very poor indeed and shouldn't be overlooked how poor we were or how ow the crowds are getting (I'm comparing in respect to League cup attendance).
I think the main ire of Town fans is that it's all a case of more old...old playing style, old tactics, old excuses ,old bad habits. We are barely into the new season and already we are picking up where we left off last season with dire hoofball tactics, players playing out of position, favourites keeping their places, never a plan B, laying over to all teams in the cup matches. On that last point, I think McCarthy shortchanges the public by deliberately playing weakened formations and the club should compensate the paying public who pay good money to watch a falsified match and a team under which the manager takes away any integrity the cup deserves. 2 wins out of 13 in cup matches since he took over....he should be ashamed of himself. No attacking vim at all..just plain hoofball and there is no prospect in sight of any significant improvement. Time for him to walk as he is slowly dissipating any passion supporters have for this club, judging by the drop in attendances and season ticket sales and wasn't he going to try and win back the hearts and minds of fans ? You're kidding..... more a case of more old.
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