Blues boss Mick McCarthy says he’ll continue to manage the club as if he’s going to be at Town next season even if that’s currently far from certain.

McCarthy’s contract with at Portman Road is up in the summer and, although owner Marcus Evans has an option to keep him for a further two years, most fans and pundits expect his time in Suffolk to come to an end after almost six years.

Despite the uncertainty, McCarthy says Evans doesn’t ask about his plans after this season when the two talk.

“He doesn’t because he knows while I’m here [I’ll continue to do the job], as I’m doing. I signed Barry Cotter yesterday. I don’t think he’s a first-team player yet but I think he’ll be a good player for the club.

“I’m sending Flynn Downes out to Luton so he’s going to be a good player for the club for next season.

“I signed Aaron Drinan because I think he’s going to be a good player for next season and beyond.

“He knows he can trust me to keep doing the job whatever I decide to do, or he decides to do for that matter.

“I might get something offered and I might say, ‘No, I don’t want to do it’. But he might not offer me anything.

“But equally, I’m not nipping his ear saying, ‘I want to have a chat to talk about my future’ and he’s not saying, ‘You better come in, I want to do something’.

“And I left it like that when I spoke to him before Christmas and I’m cool with that.”

He says he’ll continue to manage as if he were to remain boss next season whatever the summer might bring.

“Absolutely,” he added. “When I took my first job at Millwall, I was in the office and they brought me a big pile of papers in and I did the pre-season, I made plans going forward, I was looking at signing players, I was doing all that.

“I did it as if I was going to be there. I hadn’t got a clue whether I would be, I’d got 10 games and anything could have happened.

“And, of course, I did. I did the pre-season, I planned all that and I’ve continued to do that here.

“And I will continue doing that until the season finishes or whenever my future is determined. Whether it’s Marcus who determines it or whether I determine it. It could be either way at the moment.”

Evans has faced criticism for his lack of comparative lack of spending, does McCarthy believe the Blues owner shares his ambition to get Town back in the Premier League?

“Yes, he does,” the Blues boss insisted. “But how do you judge ambition? Is it by everybody having to throw shedloads of money at it and spending beyond what you think he can or what he wants to do?

“Or is it ambitious to keep trying to get players in and try and build it, trying to get better? I think on that score, yes. He’s very thorough with the academy and the scouting and all the things that we’re doing.

“But we haven’t thrown shedloads of money at it and we’re not going to start throwing shedloads of money at it, but we still want to be a success.

“And we’ll keep trying to be a success doing it with the, as people say, the model that we’ve got. We’ll keep trying to do it.”

Photo: TWTD

Cloddyseedbed added 12:39 - Feb 2 Sounds about right. You had a different team every season and built nothing over that time. Crowds are getting lower as is our league position. Please don't say careful what you wish for!
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Swn98 added 12:40 - Feb 2 Carefull what you wish for
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Blue041273 added 12:57 - Feb 2 The trouble is that we have, in a squad of say 19 players, a core of loanees (who will all go at the end of the season) and short term contract players. Add to that McGoldricks imminent departure and we are clearly in a bad place for next season. To imply that there is any management at all is risible.
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davidsc1971 added 13:22 - Feb 2 Dead man walking and he knows it. It would have been tied up by now and announced if he was staying and he may even be talking to other clubs already. Let's be very honest here, what is served up each week is boring and ineffective. Mid table mediocrity is as best as he csn deliver, so its tine for a change. Matt Holland for me, well worth a roll of the dive. Dino out!

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Theipswich added 13:24 - Feb 2 The last 2 years have been simply dreadful in terms of football played, ambition and atmosphere and clearly McCarthy's time is not only up but has been up in my opinion since the Portsmouth FA Cup defeat two years ago. Club needs a radical change and a statement of intent from Evans and this begins with McCarthy's removal ...time to go and now.
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1RWR added 13:40 - Feb 2 Evans knows that season tickets will tumble if he gives MM another contract, and even the blindest owner can see his business going slowly down the pan. Trouble is, Evans has always tried/had 'hig profile' managers, I'm not sure he's got the guts to try someone not 'tried & trusted'. I think we're all past the point of 'careful what you wish for' scenario, at the moment I'd take Stevie Wonder & Bungle!

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cat added 15:07 - Feb 2 Personally i cannot see MM being here next season, it's simply not good for business, and that what it appears to be all about with an owner such as M.E. Looking at the short term signings and the multiple amount of loanees coming in, it would suggest to me that this is going to be his last season. So relax all the youths on our books, cause your time might come after all. P.S, great to see the ‘court jester' has made a come back, hilarious humour is always welcome on here. 👌

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SheptonMalletBlue added 15:31 - Feb 2 If McCarthy signs a new contract PR will really be like a morgue next season!!
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Gcon added 15:47 - Feb 2 I am a big MM fan however I am no fan of the support that managers get here. I really cant see him staying - there are plenty of clubs that would be happy to have him and where he'll receive better financial support. He is generally very well respected, just not by Ipswich supporters.... Either way, its ridiculous to expect him to let us know now. Players are not going to put in 100% if they know he's off.

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blueboy1981 added 16:23 - Feb 2 ........ Gcon - clap, clap, clap, clap, and even more C--P - but that comes as normal from you. Where are the Clubs queuing up for him........ ???? - even lower division Clubs have ambition, something most Managers crave. But not this Dinosaur - he talks a good story, because he knows he can get away with it, with the likes of you and your crew of 'happy clappies'.
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Swn98 added 19:42 - Feb 2 Bluebore i hope you and your ilk dont have to eat humble pie when he finds another club and is appreciated and god forbid we are fighting relegation lets see what you have to say then happy clappy !!!!!!!......??????
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tallguy6767 added 04:36 - Feb 3 Micks zz tactics. Another quality articulate piece! Swn98...please shut up!!!.....bottom line anyone who treats paying customers with the contempt mm does would be shown the door! Only at the joke of a football club like ours is atm would this be allowed to happen on such a regular basis
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Bert added 09:52 - Feb 3 Most people are likely to think that it is time for MM to move on but most people will also think that MM has made some decent signings with a shoe string budget. Most people are also polite in their views about others but Blueboy 1981 stands out as a so called supporter who appears to only accept his own views and everybody else is deluded. No wonder there are fewer and fewer posters on TWTD.

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Swn98 added 10:45 - Feb 3 AGREED BERT
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liam88 added 13:21 - Feb 3 It would be unprofessional not to though
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toxtethblue added 13:53 - Feb 3 Should be staging ME out protests every week. Fight for your club damn ya!!
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