Town boss Mick McCarthy praised skipper Luke Chambers’s performance during Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Derby County, which came on the same day as interest from his former club Nottingham Forest, and expects the 31-year-old’s displays to continue in the same vein despite the uncertainty regarding his longer term future.

Asked whether Town are going to offer Chambers a new deal or whether it’s inevitable he’ll move on this summer, McCarthy said: “The club has an option on him and the option is an option to sign him. At the end of it, it’s down to the club.

“And I guess it’s down to Chambo. I really felt for him the other day because of the stuff with Nottingham Forest and I thought out of all the players he was one that stuck right at it on Tuesday night and kept going and I thought did remarkably well considering what the day had been like.

“And I think then he’s got to continue with that. And then if the club decide to give him his contract, great. If not, somebody will take him, they’ll snap him up because he’s a good defender but he’s a bloody good captain and a great bloke to have around the club.”

Is it frustrating that the club is unable to offer him a three-year deal now whereas Forest might, given he has to look after himself and his family?

“Of course and I guess that was the case with them being interested in him now,” he added. “But they’re a competitor of ours in that bottom half of the table, so I can’t understand why we’d want to help [them] unless we could do anything else to replace him, and that wasn’t the case.

“That’s why the option’s there. The club’s put them in. I remember being a player and if anybody offered me an option it was the last thing I was going to take.

“I only took them twice, when I was at Barnsley and I was a kid and I had no option but to take an option, you have to take it.

“And then when I went to Lyon and I was coming to the end of my career and if they’d have taken the option up when I was 35 I’d have been delighted, but I didn’t get that far.”

He says it’s not just a matter of him telling owner Marcus Evans that he wants to keep a player: “There’s mitigating circumstances, there’s the cost of it, the length of it, the age of them, so it’s not just quite as simple as that.”

Asked whether he has told Evans that he wants to keep Chambers, he continued: “Chambo’s been a right-back for us for the last four years and he certainly won’t be staying on for another three years as a full-back, so he’s got to compete at centre-half with Christophe, Tommy and Webbo.

“It’s not just as simple as [that], he’s been a full-back for the last four years since I’ve been here.”

He added: “All those things I’ve just mentioned are in the mix in terms of whether people are re-signed or not.

“It’s the same with Christophe Berra, his is running out, we’ve already talked about him, he has intimated he’d like to go back to Scotland but there’s still an option on him.”

McCarthy admits it’s not an ideal situation to have two key players whose futures are uncertain at an important stage of the season.

“Not it’s not but, as I said, I thought Luke Chambers was excellent the other night, considering everything that had gone on,” he said. “And he’ll continue to be.

“Bearing in mind, if they want contracts here or contracts elsewhere they have to continue playing and they’re both really good pros, so I’m not worried about them."

McCarthy has no doubt that their heads will be in the right place for the remainder of the season: “Absolutely.”

Has he chatted to Chambers, who he says has been a key man during his time at the club and one of the players he’d least like to lose, since Tuesday's game, the skipper having seemed downcast after the final whistle?

“I should f***ing hope he was, we’d just been beaten 3-0 by Derby County!” McCarthy continued. “If he walks off smiling I’ll slap him! Somebody said to me afterwards, ‘Mick seems down’. Really? Really?”

He says he’s not talked to Chambers on the subject: “No I haven’t, I expect him to play and get on with it, just like I’m going to do on Saturday and get on with it, like everybody else.”

Did he want to leave? “There was an offer in, they wanted to have a talk to him, we didn’t [let it happen] because we need him.”

He added: “I dug my heels in, Marcus did, the club did because he’s playing. We want to make sure we’ve got the best team possible to stay in the league, to make sure we’ve got enough points, make sure we’re competitive and not getting wrapped up in anything else.”

So no fee agreed between the clubs? “I’ve said all I’m going to say to you. I’m not going to answer your questions about it.”

Does he understand why fans might be getting concerned about stability, the Blues boss himself having recently said he’ll assess his own position in the summer?

“I don’t think anybody should be concerned about my future,” he added. “I keep saying pretty much most of them would have me out the door anyway, so I doubt they’re all shaking with worry about that.

“I’ve got a year’s contract to run at the end of this season and that’s just what it is. I’ve no intention of going anywhere, but let me see, I don’t know.

“It depends how everybody feels about me come the end of the season. It’s not a particularly pleasant place for me to be at the moment, by the way. Let’s not make any bones about it.

“I don’t like turning that sort of performance out and getting beaten. And the last thing I need is the abuse I get. It’s not particularly nice for me, so I will consider what I want to do.

“Whether it’s a year either way, I can’t just decide I’m going to walk off and go somewhere else. I’ll have a chat with Marcus at the end of the year."

Photo: TWTD

ronnyd added 16:01 - Feb 2 Sometimes Micks comments seem at odds with with each other, i,m confused.
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MVBlue added 16:02 - Feb 2 Lets make it clear how we feel until the end of the season. This ship is a bloody mess.
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Pumpee1980 added 16:05 - Feb 2 Let's hope you DON'T continue in the same vein despite the uncertainty of YOUR long term future!
2

theblueginger added 16:05 - Feb 2 Chambers is blatantly leaving in the summer then. Else we would have offered him a new deal the moment Wolves were linked weeks ago.
2

bostonusablue added 16:09 - Feb 2 I can't believe that MM is still commenting on the team. He should be out on his ear by now. I abhor how he has nicknames for the players; anyone know of any other manager like this? MM out!!
13

cat added 16:10 - Feb 2 Looks like the foul mouth Dino is trying to adhere to the fans again!!!. God, I sincerely hope we don't have to endure another season with him at the helm and his prehistoric hoofball tactics.
10

hello66 added 16:14 - Feb 2 ITFC its now a floating ghost ship without any one at the helm, with a dinosaur in the engine room who thinks his managing a great ship .......but the minds and soles of his crew mates are all at sea (thinking about next season !) I wish it was funny........but it really isn't !.......the above is reality :(
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runningout added 16:20 - Feb 2 Yawn...
0

Surco72 added 16:22 - Feb 2 MM should have gone at start of January to allow a new manager time to sort this mess out , now we are in limbo with both the manager and captain leaving in the summer , why waste any more months with him in charge
11

Michael11 added 16:25 - Feb 2 I feel sorry for Chambo. I really don't rate him as a full back but he shouldn't have been made to play there for as long as he has. Despite his poor performances in that position, he's never once let us down for desire and effort to do well for us. For that, I'll always like him and think he's been a great captain over a tough for years. If you take away Chambers, Berra and Lawrence from our side at the end of the season then there's going to be a real lack of quality and leadership for a new manager to come in and take over. That's why I fully expect McCarthy to leave at the end of the season, so he avoids any responsibility in this mess he's going to leave behind.

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StowTractorBoy added 16:26 - Feb 2 Well thank you McCarthy for boosting our supporters' morale That interview is a load of nothing and gives no encouragement whatsoever for us fans. The issues of Berra and Chambers should have been sorted in the January window instead we have a Manager not bothered whether or not he leaves a sinking ship and the best two centre backs available at the moment probably on their way out. The Manager really does not help his relationship with the fans and I no longer trust the bloke to pick the right team anymore. This really is a low ebb for our Club and just hope we can stay in the Championship ready for a new start next season but am really concerned for the rest of this season as the leadership of the Club is non existent.

10

blueblood66 added 16:28 - Feb 2 Sack him now be done with it, get the fans back onside and move forward with Rowett or someone younger and more enthusiastic.
9

Cookycrew added 16:29 - Feb 2 This is vey worrying. The manager does not want to stay (& I can understand why). This is transmitting on a daily basis to the players. The players are uncertain as to their futures & not fully focussed on playing now. The players (& their family's) are worrying where they will be in the Summer. While we now dangerously drift into Relegation & League 1. No wonder we are sliding down the table. Please, Please, Please all of us Blues fans really must NOW FULLY STOP THE BOOING & shout & encourage our team to ensure our Championship status is fully secure.........

2

TCisdynamite added 16:35 - Feb 2 Well said Mick.
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beornioblue added 16:37 - Feb 2 not very nice for you!!!!!! I hope that was a joke because how do you think we feel you're ruining our club sick of all this now MM out you haven't a clue
8

battyblue added 16:42 - Feb 2 So he needs lot more abuse then he might sling his hook after destroying our club as we knew it.
3

Len_Brennan added 16:42 - Feb 2 Extraordinary interview. Chambo has been full back for 4 years, but won't get a contract to play there again, he'll have to compete as a centre half. What the hell has he been doing playing at full back for the last 4 years so, when he was in his prime years for playing centre back? Aaaargh!
13

Kesgraveblue57 added 16:45 - Feb 2 Whatever McCarthy says he is attacked by fans who are all professional managers !The problem is not McCarthy its Evans
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rgp1 added 16:49 - Feb 2 @ Ronnyd perhaps we should be sponsored by confused.com now that would be apt!
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Count_Arthur added 16:55 - Feb 2 All this tosh about sticking together and getting the fans back on board doesn't seem to be playing out quite as the club wants! I mean, has anyone noticed the lines of stewards that surround the Bobby Robson stand and the stretch of ground from the dug out to the players entrance at the end of some matches!? How can the club keep supporting MM when they fear for his safety by his own club's fans!?! It's not showing much confidence in the manager and it's a bit insulting to the fans — as much a most seem to be in the ‘Mick Out' camp I don't think we're going to physically attack him! How low have we sunk, and how much deeper are we going!?

11

jutever added 16:58 - Feb 2 Is MM not the club? If he is not who is picking the squad. I always back MM (budgets, injuries to key player in last 18 months and ME) But I do think this season it hard going what must it be like to play for him......
0

madmouse1959 added 16:59 - Feb 2 The more McCarthy spouts out the more I feel sorry for ITFC and its supporters. Evans is prolonging the suffering by keeping this poor management team in place. McCarthy is buying time and hoping results will change public opinion. He can waste time talking about how good his players are but hardly a word about the pathetic football they are producing. He has done very little in 4 years to connect with the supporters and now resents them even more because of the poor football on offer which has caused all this discontent.

9

cat added 17:07 - Feb 2 I am sooo pished off with this idiot and this artical, I feel compelled to comment again.... “If he walks off smiling I'll slap him"! You would slap him would you Mick?????, 30 years ago you would have got away with that but not in these times you stupid DINO CANT!!! Love to give it the big one don't you Mick, but like your ancient hoofball tactics time has moved on and that ain't acceptable!!

1

jas0999 added 17:20 - Feb 2 Reading between the lines this is about Marcus 'I've learnt from past mistakes of letting players contracts run down' Evans. I have no doubt he tried to cash in on Chambers. Wouldn't be surprised if he wants him off the wage bill and then sign cheaper options. Interesting MM constantly states 'it's down the club' now. Distancing himself from this debacle perhaps!
6

happybeingblue added 17:28 - Feb 2 after the defensive HEADLESS CHICKEN display the other night, lets be honest our back 4 is league 1 standard at best. berra chambo knudsen blimey wtf!
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