Town boss Mick McCarthy says he was quote some “mind-boggling” wages which shocked even him while looking to add to his squad during the January transfer window.

The Blues manager says he and owner Marcus Evans found some of the players they were targeting on loan beyond their reach wages-wise.

“We were looking but you see the state of the transfer window and I have to say some of the wages that I was quoted for people was just mind-boggling, and we’re not going to pay them, so let’s just cut to the quick,” he said.

“There’s no point in saying, ‘Well why…?’. I’ve had this before when people have said, ‘Why doesn’t [Marcus] just have a go and get that [player in]?’.

“Well actually no, because it would compromise everything else that we’ve ever done, everybody else in the dressing room. And I’m not convinced they’d make that much of a difference.

“We were looking but there were just none there, well aside from the one I’ve taken, Muzzy Carayol, and I’m delighted with him.

“Barry Cotter is to work with and hopefully we’ll get a first-team player but Muzzy will no doubt be in the squad.”

He says the market at Championship level has become hugely inflated over the last couple of seasons.

“It’s beyond what we will pay for some players, there’s no doubt,” he added.

“And I get that. There has to be a scale wherever it’s at. There are a lot of teams who have got the parachute payments.

“I was asking the other day about Sunderland, they’ve got £42 million, £36 million and is it £19 million? They’ve got £90-something million over three years. Wow!

“What have I spent over the last five years? Three million, is it? What have I brought in, £14 million? All right, I didn’t sign Cressy, but nevertheless, I’m not sure he was playing when I came, he got in the team and we sold him.

“Mings, Cressy and Murph. It’s comparing apples and pears. And I’ve always said, sat here, I’ve got no problem with that at all because working at the level I do I do it very, very well. We do. I’m not going to give you any figures [on wages he was quoted], but even I’ve gone, ‘No, really?’.”

The type of wages previously seen only in the top flight? “Yes. When I was at Wolves in the Premier League that kind of wage, 20s, 30s [grand a week]. Divide them into three and we’ll have three players for that money.

“But that’s all right, I get that. And then what we get with our lads and what they give me is brilliant, and I love them for that.

“And, do you know what, I always say to them as well, ‘Play well, get yourself a move, you go and get yourself 20 or 30 grand a week if it can happen’. And good luck to them because they give everything for me.”

McCarthy says there’s balance to be found when spending a few million to augment a squad without impacting on the team dynamic.

“It can have a really significant effect if it’s the right players that are brought in,” he reflected.

“And I go back to when I was at Wolves and we’d finished in the play-offs, then we finished seventh, just missed out, and then the following year [new owner] Steve Morgan came in and, fair play, he backed me, we took Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Christophe Berra.

“Sylvan scored 45 goals in 18 months, I think it was, and Christophe was just a rock at the back. And we were a better for that significant at the time - still people were spending more money - but it was significant investment on our part, which we hadn’t been doing. I guess at the right time it still can be done.”

He says that with the Championship having moved on significantly in the last few seasons, the types of signing which were key to his success at Sunderland and Wolves might not be there any more.

“I think the league’s got better, there’s better teams, there are better players, maybe there are better managers, different ideas, different ways of playing,” he continued.

“This league has certainly got better, the Championship, since I took the Sunderland job in 2003, and equally the Wolves job in 2006.

“And maybe there were more players around that I could get, the Gary Breens, Dean Whiteheads, Liam Lawrences when I was at Sunderland.

“I don’t know if they're still around that we could sort of 'nick', that were young and up and coming and you could galvanise a team. Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly at Wolves. I don’t know whether they’re still there, that type of player.”

McCarthy’s successor Paul Jewell said he regretted not pushing for more funds during his time in charge after leaving Portman Road.

“I bet he did,” McCarthy said. “Just as I’ve asked. But if it’s not there, then you don’t stamp your feet and pull your hair out and throw your toys out of the pram, you get on with what you’ve got and make the best of what you’ve got.

“Marcus is not doing it to spite me or spite anybody else, it’s because that is what he wants to do with the club. It’s his club, good luck to him, that’s fine, and I adhere to that and do the best I can.”

Can the sort of approach which brought him success at Sunderland and Wolves still work? “Still doing it, aren’t we? Still doing it.”

But is there a limit to how far it can take a team these days? “I’ll keep hoping we can and keep going for that, hoping we can and striving for that.

“It might be that at the right time if there’s somebody that you can get that you know is going to make you better and you can afford it, then if at Christmas you’re in the top eight, to get somebody that will get you into the top six, that is the time.

“And if you can do that and that makes a real difference, then that would be a really good investment.

“But if you’re mid-table and you’re not going to go anywhere, you’ve got to be conscious that you don’t upset the applecart with wages.

“You don’t want three or four players in here that are suddenly earning significantly more than everybody else when all those others have been the soldiers for me, the warriors, scrapping and fighting and playing for the last four or five years and suddenly somebody swans in here and he’s on twice as much. It tends to have a big effect.

“I saw Steve Cotterill talking about that with his Birmingham side. And he seems to have sorted that out. I watched them on Tuesday night [when they beat Sunderland 3-1] and they’re not going down, that’s for sure.”

Photo: TWTD

midastouch added 20:01 - Feb 1 “You don't want three or four players in here that are suddenly earning significantly more than everybody else when all those others have been the soldiers for me, the warriors, scrapping and fighting and playing for the last four or five years and suddenly somebody swans in here and he's on twice as much. It tends to have a big effect." Have to agree with Mick here. Look at Sanchez at Man Utd. Remember what happened when we got in Finidi George. It has to unsettle the squad and cause resentment from those that feel left out. You don't mind quite so much if the new player is a cut above and is pulling up trees but if they are no better or not that much better than the best players already in the squad it's very hard to justify. Football is just going mad. It's hard to be enthusiastic in such times.

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The_Romford_Blue added 20:08 - Feb 1 ‘If at Christmas you're in the top eight, to get somebody that will get you into the top six, that is the time. And if you can do that and that makes a real difference, then that would be a really good investment.' And yet for the two season we were in this position under mick in January, we spent 100k on Freddie Sears in the first season and nothing in the second. EVANS OUT!

0

Northstandveteran added 20:18 - Feb 1 Excellent post midastouch. I remember getting most excited when Burley signed big foreign names. An older more knowledgeable fan wasn't so sure. "How will all the players that got us promoted then gave us the best top flight finish in many years feel?" He said. So right. Previous to their arrival, we had no big stars, just a team that gave their all for each other then their moral was totally shattered and we went down. It's very hard to support players earning in a week for one game of football that many people earn in a year. And that's average players at an average championship club. The n have the audacity to complain the crowd were booing them! I'd happily stand in the centre circle at Portman road for an hour and a half with 15000 jeering me for ten grand. Alexis Sanchez on £500,000 a week. I wouldn't support that out of principle.

15

The_Snake added 20:19 - Feb 1 Mick has his faults, but we can't question his efforts with the budget he's worked with.
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carsey added 20:24 - Feb 1 I accept Evans isn't spending a lot of money and for that reason McCarthy has his hands tied BUT it doesn't excuse his poor tactics, poor team selection and abnoxious arrogance towards supporters. I for one hope he is not here next season.
2

norfolkbluey added 20:27 - Feb 1 Absolutely right midas. The whole situation of money in the championship is sickening. But how did we get in this situation? There is nothing inspiring in the way we play. How have other championship teams managed to make it to the premiership and do quite well, like Huddersfield? Managers usually with european experience in the transfer market. We did it in the seventies getting in Zondervan et al from Holland. With respect to our Irish contingent we are devoid of creativity. Slow, predictable and little guile. I just hope that after MM goes we get a talented young manager from the continent.

8

CavendishBlue added 20:31 - Feb 1 I blame the digger himself...
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Hessleblue added 20:34 - Feb 1 Nonsense from Mick about Cresswell, trying to take the credit for him by saying he wasn't in the team when Mick arrived. Cresswell started every game that season and only missed two the season before.
6

Northstandveteran added 20:36 - Feb 1 Agree with both the above posts. Yes his hands are tied financially but the 'survival first' insipid, boring, uninspiring, negative football is just unbearable, hence the massive drop in attendances. Football is about entertainment. The last half a dozen times I've been I have found myself watching crisp packets blowing around and looking at seagulls flying over the stands. I think fans would warm to McCarthy and understand his situation if he went out to win games or at least attempted to play attacking football. But unfortunately, watching a game of football at Portman road just doesn't represent value for money, no matter how much you love the club or how long you have been a supporter

11

Superblue95 added 20:40 - Feb 1 "McCarthys successor Paul Jewell" Good grief when did I miss that announcement?
2

Simonds92 added 20:44 - Feb 1 Like the way he's taken credit for Cresswell. 'He wasn't in the team'
3

IpswichFuture added 20:56 - Feb 1 "It's his club, good luck to him". Isn't this at the heart of the problem with the club today? I'm pretty sure that the Cobbolds never viewed Ipswich Town FC as belonging to them.... our owner Mr Invisible, his MD, Mr Ineffectual and his manager Mr Irritable all seem to think differently.
5

Dissboyitfc added 21:33 - Feb 1 Cresswell was already a first team regular! when mm came. Really excited about MM going!
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heathen66 added 22:22 - Feb 1 I am not sure that you were the one that first brought Murphy to the club neither, so to claim Mings Cresswell and Murphy is a bit rich imo !!!
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Taricco_Fan added 22:44 - Feb 1 Premier League money has inflated the market everywhere. Parachute payments only exacerbate the problem in the Championship. Parachute payments don't equate to success (as Sunderland, Hull and Norwich are ably demonstrating) but they give teams a leg-up they don't deserve.
7

blueboy1981 added 22:56 - Feb 1 ...... I very rarely agree with McCarthy, but the money paid to players in the higher leagues have become absolutely crazy. One has to ask oneself if it is morally right to condone such craziness by spending hard earned money following such mentality. Think about it twice - and we probably wouldn't do so. There has to be a tipping point - when the paying public questions their own sanity , especially when the entertainment value just isn't there.

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Vanisleblue2 added 01:40 - Feb 2 It's his club and he can do what he wants... football for the supporters is dead. Money rules
5

smithy0981 added 06:35 - Feb 2 I did this I did that I bought this player in I made this much money I'm not sure cresswell was playing before I came. F-off mick you make me sick I bet you have mirrrors all around your office so u can look at yourself all day
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Garv added 08:39 - Feb 2 Ah, so Mick spotted Cressy, did he?
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Pip50 added 10:46 - Feb 2 Spot on Mick. But you pay Div 1 money you get Div 1 players and eventually Div 1 football. It's no coincidence that the richest and biggest spenders are more or less top of Premier and Championship leagues, nature of the beast!!
1

BlueBlood90 added 10:54 - Feb 2 Parts of that were infuriating to read. Why the hell should he tell our players to go and earn a move somewhere else to earn £20-30k. How about they all knuckle down, give it their all to get us promoted and earn them wages here! He can brag all he likes about the money we've taken in transfer fees but we got something daft like £3m for Cresswell (who he never even signed). No one in their right mind would accept that kind of fee for a player of his quality at any other club in this league. Plus it wasn't McCarthy who found Tyrone Mings either, it was Russell Osman.

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The_Great_Cornholio added 13:22 - Feb 2 I read this article and all I think is we have - in Mick and Marcus - a couple of chaps who can't handle the fact that football has moved on. Whether we agree or think it's crude and offensive, the level of spending we exhibit along with the attitude and tactics of the manager is from a different age. Sadly I don't think Marcus is willing to pump in the required amount to be competitive and Mick has no other methods than those he uses, and constantly talks up, currently.

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Bigboyblue added 15:13 - Feb 2 McCarty to his player: play well and earn yourselves a move to a club that can pay 20-30 grand a week. That's where we are now folks.
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Surco72 added 16:20 - Feb 2 MM was most successful with Jewells squad . It takes no amount of money to reach tactics of passing the ball on the floor with attacking full backs as we always play 2 holding midfielders . He plays negative football with numerous players put of position , this has nothing to do with Evans. Get rid of both
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