Brett Pitman has emphasised that under-fire Town boss Mick McCarthy has the total support of every one of his players as he struggles to arrest a slump in form.

McCarthy has taken most of the flak for Town’s failure this season — they have won just four of their last 16 league games — and there were even calls for his head following the dismal display in losing 2-0 to Fulham on Boxing Day at Portman Road.

Asked for his views about the treatment dished out in McCarthy’s direction, 28-year-old Pitman said: “It’s not nice and none of us want the manager to go. You can’t label this group of players as trying to get the manager sacked — far from it.

“Everyone’s fighting for him. He’s got a thick skin, he’s been around football [for a while] and I’m sure we will come out the other end of this.”

Pitman acknowledged that McCarthy’s future rests with the players but added: “He put a team out on Boxing Day that was more than capable of beating Fulham — but we just didn’t perform on the day.

“There are probably some teams that you can label as not playing and fighting for their manager but I don’t think that’s the case here at all.

“I think everybody, to a man, is behind the manager and supports the manager, as well as his staff, and is fighting and pulling in the right direction to turn things round.”

Most fans’ number one gripe appears to be Town’s brand of football but Pitman pointed out: “Ideally, every team would like to play the Barcelona style of football. Realistically, how many teams in the country actually play it? Probably not many.

“Yes, we [the forwards] would like slightly better service and for more chances to be created, but I would say there are probably a lot of teams in the country who want the same thing. We’ll just keep working hard together and hopefully the results will turn round.”

Pitman also admitted he was feeling the pressure at Portman Road due to the continued unrest in the stands. He said: “It’s tough playing at home and I think we’ve struggled, probably, throughout the whole of the season at home.

“That’s something we’ve got to change because you’re not going to be successful if you don’t get good home form.”

The striker was asked if he had any concerns about Town, currently 16th and eight points above the Championship drop zone, being sucked into a relegation battle. He replied: “You can never say never. It would be foolish to say we can’t get sucked into it but obviously we are hoping that we’re not going to be.

“We’ve got two massive games on Friday and Monday against teams that are below us. You get six points out of them and all of a sudden, because it’s such a silly league, you’re looking up again. Like I said, they are two massive games.

“We’re not looking as far ahead as QPR on Monday. We’ve only looked at Bristol City and we’ve worked hard on what we’re going to do to try to beat them.

“We haven’t looked at QPR or the games beyond that one. We’re focused purely on Bristol City on Friday night.”

Meanwhile, next Saturday's FA Cup third round opponents Lincoln City quickly sold their final allocation of tickets this morning, taking the total of Imps making the trip to 4,833.

The Vanarama National League side have been given virtually the whole of the Cobbold Stand.

Photo: TWTD

baldman added 11:46 - Dec 30 Fair play Lincoln great support be more of them then us
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Michael11 added 11:47 - Dec 30 Of course they're all fighting for the manager. They have the easiest lifestyle possible. Play crap every week with no repercussions! In my opinion it's exactly why change is needed so they have to fight for a place like they used to.
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cornishblu added 11:48 - Dec 30 ....that's just the tea lady left then to say they are all behind him .......sadly pointless interviews as no one publically says their boss is rubbish if they want to look after themselves yet we should take it as they are supporting him...... ....have a funny feeling that if wages were to be threatened based on performance standards then a few might stick their head above the parapet and start to question....while their 5-10k a week is secure they just toast the manger ......strange but sadly predicatable world COYB for the next two games, #supportingtheblueshatingthestyleoffootball #wewantouripswichback

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RoyalAscotBlue added 11:55 - Dec 30 I think that there really will be more Lincoln fans than Town fans at Portman Road for this year's exit... My god that's embarrassing! WAKE UP Mr Evans.
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midastouch added 12:15 - Dec 30 Lincoln were 13/2 yesterday best price, tempting! And as for fighting for the manager, you can fight as hard as you like, but all the fight in the world can't make up for a lack of quality. That's not directed at Pitman especially as he's nowhere near our worst player, but there are way too many players in our squad that despite showing passion and heart just aren't up to the job. Chambers springs to mind! We need to clear out those that are falling short of the required standard and replace them with new hungry signings (not loans please!) from the lower divisions with both the potential and calibre to step up. And also give some of the younger players a chance, for example Ben Morris can't be worse than Varney, in fact I'm certain he's a lot better! If McCarthy got sacked this would start happening much sooner rather than later I expect! If we got another manager in and they started with both Douglas and Skuse then I think the fans would turn on them almost immediately! It would take a serious fool to repeat the same mistakes again!

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midastouch added 12:18 - Dec 30 And what if Lincoln turn us over, does that mean McCarthy gets the sack? Surely it should! I wonder if he'll be quite so cavalier in his 3rd round line up this year now he's not sitting so comfortably in his chair!
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midastouch added 12:20 - Dec 30 And as embarrassing as it would be to exit the FA Cup against Lincoln at home, if that's what it would take to get Mick removed, then I expect some might think that it's a price worth paying!
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heathen66 added 12:39 - Dec 30 So it is your turn this week is it Brett So you 'think'everyone is behind the manager, and he 'thinks'the players are playing for the manager. It may be just a mis-interpretation but he does not seem sure this is indeed the case. Unfortunately it does seem to be us, the supporters fault for the bad home form and not the 4-5-1 (6-2-0-1-1) formation the the manager sends out in order not to lose games even against teams in the bottom three. We as supporters are not entitled to see our team win every game or play like Barcelona, however we are entitled to expect our team to try to win a game of football. We are also entitled to voice our dis-approval when obvious things are happening time and time again but the manager is too stubborn to accept this as apparently he knows best

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Sixto6 added 13:03 - Dec 30 Of course you are all fighting for the boss ! He's the bloke putting lots of league 1/2 players in a championship team and paying the good money to do it ! And those players get to play no matter how bad they are ! I'm not surprised you all love him !
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martin587 added 13:19 - Dec 30 So BP is the frontman today.Be honest,are you really trying for the Manager.Well it's taken 3months and nothing has changed apart from us getting worse by the day.As the Teacher says"Must try harder".!! Wonder what the gate will be tonight.🤔
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prebsa added 14:48 - Dec 30 So great that Lincoln City for selling all their tickets. They kept taking every ticket they could get. Don't see why we don't give the, 10/15 thousand, probably some excuse to do with police and safety. But they deserve all the tickets they want!
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Bob7881 added 15:17 - Dec 30 Don`t have a good feeling about the Lincoln game feel there is much more embarrassment in store for the fans of ITFC when will this nightmare end.
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ChopraHasGone added 16:36 - Dec 30 Fighting for which boss.......? Haven't seen any 'Fight' in this 'Team' since the Playoffs v the chirpers up the road. Pitman is very poor at best and so lazy it's unreal. I fear a defeat in the fog tonight.....
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Surco72 added 16:39 - Dec 30 If I was getting a big wage to play crap with no chance of being dropped i would back my manager or would I want to have some pride to win games , play better football , entertain the thousands of supporters paying hard earned money ? Fed up with these weekly verbals coming from the players telling us how good everything is and don't care if we win ,lose or draw tonight , only want MM out so I can again take my family to watch Ipswich and enjoy it

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Mick_Mills_Tache added 17:42 - Dec 30 ***king hell, if the Boxing Day performance was them 'fighting for the boss' then I really don't want to see how they'll play when they've had enough of Mick too....😳
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Miles added 17:53 - Dec 30 It's embarrassing that we can't even get behind the team during the game. We as fans aren't helping the side by adding to the nerves. If you're fed up and don't enjoy it then just don't go rather than going and making it more difficult. We should be the 12th man not helping the opposition. I am not suggesting they are all performing the way they should - far from it really but we aren't doing our bit either.

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sereneblue added 17:57 - Dec 30 Please don't.
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therein61 added 18:11 - Dec 30 Instead of fighting for him get together and knock 7 bells out of him to change his ways(of course the creeps won't join in) I cannot see the blind deluded failure change otherwise.
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MonterreyBlue added 19:04 - Dec 30 Dear Ipswich, I have been a loyal supporter for over 30 years. I am from Lincoln. If you f$&k this up, i will never live it down. You are already walking on thin ice with me, this would crack it. All my love, J
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Kesblue66 added 16:12 - Jan 7 They be "fighting"for the manager,they are certainly not fighting for the fans.
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