Boss Mick McCarthy says he and owner Marcus Evans will meet for talks once the Blues’ are assured their place in the Championship for a 16th successive season.

Town are currently 16th, seven points from the relegation places, despite having been undefeated for eight games, seven of them draws, including the last six.

The Blues, who will equal a club record of seven successive draws established in November and December 1990 if Saturday's fixture at Cardiff ends level, have nine more matches left.

McCarthy, who has said he will consider his future at the end of this season, his toughest at Portman Road, is the longest-serving Championship manager with three more bosses sacked this week, which he admits even surprised him.

“Steve McClaren I thought was brought in because he plays the ‘Derby way’,” he reflected. “

“It just shows you, you’ve got to get results. He started off on fire, I think he had six wins on the bounce and it looked like he was going to get in the play-offs, so that was a bit of a shock.

“Warren Joyce didn’t inherit great things [at Wigan Athletic] and it’s been tough for him. [And there was] Alex Neil [at Norwich].

“I just think more things are expected of them. Obviously that’s the case. Having been promoted and did a great job and everybody thought [Neil] was great. Just 18 months on he’s out of work again.

“I’m always sad to see it but then the other side of that is that if managers didn’t go, the ones who are out of work would never get another job. I’ve been the lucky recipient on a few occasions when I’ve got a job when somebody’s left.

“There have been a lot of stats thrown up about how many managers have gone over the last four years, there’s been something like 80 or 90 gone since I’ve been here. And I can hear a lot of them [reading this] screaming that I shouldn’t be here, but hey ho.”

Do their departures make McCarthy feel fortunate that he’s working under a more patient owner?

“No, it confirms to me that for four years I’ve done a really good job here and this year it’s been tough,” he said.

“That we haven’t spent Aston Villa money, we haven’t spent Norwich money, we haven’t spent vast sums of money and we’ve been competitive every season up until this season.

“So, no it doesn’t make me feel lucky. I’ve got a really good relationship with Marcus, it just confirms to me that I’ve been good at my job and I’m having it tough this year. That’s part of the gig as well.

“Maybe Marcus looks at it and thinks I’ve been doing a good job and if I hadn’t we might have been in a bit more trouble than we have been.”

Have the two spoken about McCarthy’s plans for the future? “We haven’t met yet. We need to sit down, and we will. But we need to have enough points on the board first, make sure we’re staying in this league and then we will sit down and talk.”

Photo: TWTD

grumpyoldman added 20:05 - Mar 15 Mullet totally agree with you Mick can't win, that's why some on here want him gone
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surgery added 20:17 - Mar 15 grumpyoldman....like it
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TimmyH added 20:39 - Mar 15 Lets be frank ME should have met 'for talks' with McCarthy after the Lincoln debacle and when form was really slipping out of the window not practically at the end of a wasted season - I imagine the talks would go something like this 'Mick I have no intention of letting you go this summer, you've done a good job of steadying the ship here even though there has been a 'blip' this season, you've made me some money on players we bought in cheaply and I've given you little to work with, don't worry about the supporters we all know they're fickle' - 'Cheers boss I'll give it my best shot come August on wards'...something like that. feel free to mark me down swn98

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Lightningboy added 21:04 - Mar 15 @walberblue Brilliantly put and the 100% truth. Can someone at TWTD get a copy of that post on McCarthy & Evans' desks asap please.
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midastouch added 22:05 - Mar 15 At this rate we may even have to wait until the Algarve Classic golf tournament before we know whether Mick is in or out as that's when Marcus and Mick seem to do most of their irregular ITFC discussion / business! Marcus is like a boss I once had who barely used to enter the building. It was great for the staff as it meant you could pretty much do what you wanted (just like Mick seems to week in and week out!) but professionally it was poor and it was blatant the reason the boss was never there was because he didn't really care. So long as things continued to tick over more or less he didn't give a damn! Sound familiar in relation ITFC? Just a bit!

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midastouch added 22:16 - Mar 15 And please could one of Mick's lovers forward him this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_points_for_a_win Just so Mick is aware that since 1981 in England you get 3 points for a win and not 2! I realise 1981 would seem like just yesterday to a dinosaur but I still think somebody should tell him. And don't expect TC to tell him as all he is good for is a making a lovely cup of tea. Believe it or not I've heard from a mole on the inside that TC stands for Top Cuppa or Terry O Cuppa. Apparently Mick loves Terry to brew him a hot cuppa of the Yorkshire variety.

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TrueBlue1998 added 23:54 - Mar 15 Really hope Mick stays. Not sure how you can argue he hasn't immensely over achieved with the squads hes had and the money at his disposal. MICK IN
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thundercat600 added 07:29 - Mar 16 Some of the reply's on here typifies the way some so called "fans" think, thank goodness these thoughts are not shared by the majority of the true Ipswich Town Supporters that turn up week in and week out to support their team. Every professional sport employs a strategy to each individual circumstance and football is no exception. MM has to adopt a strategy that suites the players that he has got playing for him to their strengths and not weaknesses. Please remember, if any player at Portman Road was exceptional he would be play at the highest level, not at Portman Road

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grumpyoldman added 08:11 - Mar 16 Trueblue1998 , not sure how you can support a manager who sends out teams designed not to lose, when playing struggling teams, instead of setting up his team to go for a win against a team lacking in confidence. Not sure how you can support a manager who continually plays people out of position, who struggle to perform to the detriment of the team. Not sure how you can support a manager who continually picks players so out of form they become subject to ridicule. Not sure how you can support a manager who says he gives youth a chance and even when they do well at the first opportunity he reverts to his regulars. Not sure how you can support a manager who when his team are losing substitutes one defensive minded player for a similar player when a more attack minded player is available. Your choice of course, I have made mine. MICK OUT!

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Palestine added 08:19 - Mar 16 Oh well, at least he admits that things have got worse.
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big_gaz67 added 09:11 - Mar 16 No you haven't done a good job. The year we finished six (not on our own merits but by Wolves losing at home on the last day of the season) we were in the top two at Christmas but continued to play a goal keeper who couldn't deal with crosses and a right back who....wasn't. How many goals did we concede in the second half of that season by teams who doubled up on Chambers and then put in high crosses knowing Gherken can't deal with them. In my mind Gherken's last game for town ever should have been against Norwich that season when he failed to catch a ball right in front of him at waist height. Last season we finished seventh by playing OK once there was no chance of making the top sixth and finishing top of the rest. MMc supposed man management skills were proven to be awful when he sent Bart home to see his critically ill father and then didn't put him back in the team when he returned. The Australian cricket team made exactly the same mistake in the last Ashes series here in the UK. They won the first test - allowed/encouraged the wicket keeper to go home to attend a family crisis in the second and then dropped him when he returned for the third and England easily won the last three tests.. This season the football has been awful - and if it is true that we could, but chose not to, swap Gherken for Huws then.........

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martin587 added 09:22 - Mar 16 thundercat600, I appreciate where your coming from,but you cannot say supporters are not true if they voice there opinion against MM.There are a great deal of supporters who are not happy with MM,the owner and the dire games we watch week in week out.Not everybody posts on here,remember that. I have been a season ticket holder for 55 years and I go to most away games as well,does that make me "not a true supporter."! I am very unhappy with the way this club is being run and although MM had two good seasons the last two have been dire and the club is now going backwards. The only person to blame for the way Town are playing is the manager,nobody else.Need I go on.!! As a post script,everybody who sits in my stand has had enough and there are at least 100 people who have said they are not renewing season tickets next season,but that does not mean they are not true supporters. The owner needs to show his cards and explain why this club is stagnating and what his intentions are for next season with regard to MM,funding,etc.

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TrueBlue1998 added 13:19 - Mar 16 Grumpy old man... I get your points and sympathise with your disappointment, obviously i too want to see us back in the top flight, but i think its a matter of getting the best out of a bad situation. I think finishes in the last 3 season of 9th, 6th and 7th are a success given what he's had to work with. As for this season I agree that, perhaps due the the pressure, he did lose the plot a bit before christmas, but i can see a few positives now. For instance the 2 players he's brought in this year (Webster and Ward) are good ball playing footballers. I also think he's given the youth a bit more of a chance, e.g. Webster, Ward, Kenlock and Emmanuel (Bish has been injured and Dozzell not overplayed perhaps due to fear of burning him out, as seemingly happened with Bish in 2014 15 - this could be an example of learning from mistakes). As for playing negative minded midfields this may be due to Bish, Bru, Williams and Huws being injured at the moment. Also remember at Barnsley he brought Ward on for Diagouraga with the score at 0-0. Just think its important to offer another perspective, but I do sympathise with you and don't mean in maliciously.

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Seasider added 14:21 - Mar 16 Think he had a little dig saying about Steve McClaren being brought in to play the Derby way,and then sacked because of poor results. Then to say that he is still at the club because he has been doing a good job for 4 years, intimating that the last few months have been a blip,shows that he is still so self assured. That is good trait; but I am sure that Kim Jong Un thinks he is doing a great job,and always getting a hole in one on the golf course lol!!!Then we have the USA president Trump ???!!!.A lot of the folks stateside thinks he is doing a good job,not sure about the North Koreans;but they dare not demur in case they suffer a similar fate to his brother. I am not comparing the greatest living Yorkshireman with the above,far from it.However just saying there is a slim line between confidence, becoming over confident ,and arrogant. I have never heard a manager before saying he will decide whether to go at the end of the season,and he will speak with the owner when the club is safe from relegation. We are only now 7 points from safety,so who's to say we will be safe,with the worst goal scoring record in the Championship? I think that as well as losing revenue with season ticket sales, Mr Evans, by delaying, is risking relegation,as think the competence of MM & T C's current coaching ability should be called into question as in the majority of games this season Ipswich have been outplayed by the opposition

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cat added 14:51 - Mar 16 Martin587 - well said, and with your credentials it would be hard to disagree with you, I certainly do not!. Thundercat600 - I think you must be very confused if the stragegy employed by MM is to suit the players and not his style. After all, his played the same type of negative hoofball pretty much all his career in management. I know some fans from his previous clubs, inc Eire, and they will all tell you the same. The philosophy being, resolute, hard to play against, defend in numbers and stifle the game. Check out numerous post match remarks from opposing managers and you will read this time and time again. You are very much in the minority with your thought regarding MM, I suggest a reality check might be in order. It would also be worth knowing how you judge a TRUE fan as you refer to them, I bet that response will be as delusional as your extremely daft and pointless post. No minus from me though, more of a sympathy vote. Ps It's not all about the results fella, it's to do with the ENTERTAINMENT also, or the lack of.

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Walk_the_Wark added 16:04 - Mar 16 I hope I never meet this man in person
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madmouse1959 added 14:34 - Mar 17 We are losing more supporters week after week. I do not honestly know anyone who wants McCarthy here at this club anymore.
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norfolkbluey added 16:25 - Mar 17 I have this horrible feeling MM will still be in charge next year. I don't think ME has the b***s to sack him. No, lets get used to another year of boring play and disappointing results after all this has been what we have come to expect from this manager. There is no A for ambition in Ipswich Town as the word football has been deleted by MM. Thank God I was supporting the club during the 70's, 80's, 90's and during the last decade. At least my fellow supporters experienced some wonderful football.

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