Boss Mick McCarthy admitted the Blues’ dismal goalless draw with table-propping Burton Albion was “probably the worst game” at Portman Road this season and was his side’s “worst performance”.

Town never looked like getting more than a point out of what had been billed as a must-win match against the division’s bottom club, who claimed their first ever point against the Blues.

“It was [as frustrating as it gets for a manager],” he said. “Probably the worst game here all season and our worst performance when I consider how we played and won games earlier in the season. It was tough.

“Everybody is asking me why that was and I say maybe the opposition had a bit of a bearing on that as well because I thought they played well.”

He added: “I think it’s always a combination of both [how we play and the opposition]. I’m not going to blame any one thing but I would imagine [Burton manager] Nigel [Clough] has come in here and said he thought his team played well and they acquitted themselves well.

"I think you have to give some credit to them, but we were disappointing, it was a poor performance by us.”

After a poor first half, McCarthy was pleased with the way his team started the second period but felt they were unable to maintain that improvement.

“We started [the second half] well, but we didn’t get anything from it and it then fell into that malaise again unfortunately,” he admitted.

McCarthy was disappointed that the Blues were unable to build on last week’s 2-0 win at Sunderland.

“Of course. At the end of it though, you just make sure you don’t get beaten. We didn’t play well at all. It was a tough game, they’ve made it really hard for us today.”

The Blues boss had praise for keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, who made two crucial second-half saves: “He’s great, isn’t he? He’s a good goalkeeper.”

McCarthy was also pleased with Mustapha Carayol, who made his Town debut from the bench: “Very much, I thought he played well when he came on, Muzzy.”

The home crowd - the lowest for a league game in almost 20 years - made their feelings regarding McCarthy and his style of football clear on a number of occasions, as they have so often over the last year or so.

“I tell you every week, the only thing I can affect that with is if the team plays well and we win,” McCarthy said when quizzed on the fans’ reaction. “I’ll continue to try and do that.”

Should the players take some responsibility having failed to win a game which they went into as firm favourites?

“That’s the problem, isn’t it, 'firm favourites'?” he reflected. “That doesn’t do us any favours at all.

“We got two goals last week at Sunderland and we could sit in and catch them on the break and make sure it was tough for them to play against us. I thought they did that to us today, certainly in the second half.

“I’m more than cool to get stick for the team performance. There are times when some of the decisions we make with the ball or some of the final passes [aren’t what they should be], but they’re my players, so my responsibility. I’m cool with it. If it takes it off them I’ve no problem.”

McCarthy has often praised his side for their never-say-die spirit and keeping going even when things aren’t going well and says this afternoon's display was no different.

“And they did today, they kept going and a less together and committed bunch of lads could have got beaten in that game,” he added. “And I still go back to it, I don’t see Burton as being [whipping boys].

“I just see the players they’ve got on the pitch, they’ve got a lot of Championship players. And I would imagine they thrived on the fact that we were firm favourites today and there’ll be some suggestion that we took them lightly or we didn’t do it, which if anybody does questions my professionalism and that of the players.

“We didn’t, we haven’t played well and they’ve done well. It’s a combination of both unfortunately.”

McCarthy, who arrived unusually late for his post-match press conference, wouldn’t discuss what he said to his players after the match.

“I wouldn’t tell you,” he said. “That’s my private business. I wouldn’t allow cameras in the dressing room ever, unless we’d won the league and they come and see us popping the corks or we’ve qualified for a World Cup when we let them in, I think that was nice for posterity for them. Other than that, I wouldn’t. It’s private what I do and how I do it.”

Burton boss Nigel Clough was in no doubt his team deserved t win: “Of course, it’s two points dropped. The performance deserved three points. The performance at Aston Villa [when they lost 3-2] deserved something last week.

“To play as well as we have done in two games and only get one point is very harsh on us.”

Despite only picking up just a point and remaining bottom, the draw ended a run of five defeats on the trot in all competitions and Clough says his side is moving in the right direction.

“Of course, from where we come from from the Reading game 10 days ago,” he reflected. ”We keep harking back to it and how bad we were, and we were, to put in two performances like that away from home gives us a lot of encouragement, but only one point.

“But it’s nice to break the run of defeats and nice to keep a clean sheet that we thoroughly deserved today.”

Clough says Darren Bent might have taken his opportunity had he been playing more regularly.

“It’s his second game in eight months, nine months, so you can’t be too harsh on him,” he added. “But if that goes in I think we win the game. But there were numerous other situations as well today.”

Regarding Kyle McFadzean’s late header which Bialkowski saved superbly, Clough said: “I’m not sure if it came off him or the defender. But it certainly ricocheted and it was a brilliant save.

“Ultimately that’s what’s stopped us as much as chances, I think that save was a magnificent save.”

He added: “We tried to make positive substitutions to try and win the game and tried to win it right up until the last minute with the freekick. We couldn’t have done any more today apart from score.”

Photo: TWTD

baxter7 added 22:04 - Feb 10 I look at the comments on here regarding the dinosaur isn't it time for us to show Evans Milne we have had enough of mcarthy by protesting at the next home game or even better don't turn up if this was happening at any other club mcarthy would have gone long time ago mcarthy out mcarthy out mcarthy out
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KiwiTractor added 22:16 - Feb 10 Going by that performance it looks like McCarthy has lost the dressing room too. You are hated here McCarthy, just go.
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barrystedmunds added 22:25 - Feb 10 Suppose the chances of Monotonous Mick delivering that elusive first win over the carrot crunchers at Constipation Road next week are even slimmer now based on that debacle today? Ah well, only another two years!!!!
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GiveusaWave added 22:58 - Feb 10 Biggest surprise for me was our style of football...after having seen so much progression this season (in relation to passing) we completely forgot how to do it against Burton...
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shakytown added 23:14 - Feb 10 Perhaps if you had the brains not to take passing the ball out of our game plan we might actually play well as a team. It's truly amazing how an experienced manager can rate players like Skusey and Chambo as premier class players when neither one of them can pass water properly let alone a football. Please sod off to Barnsley or anywhere for that matter and we might actually see a game better than pub league standard.

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Lower_North added 23:14 - Feb 10 When a fish is rotten it starts at the head
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norfolkbluey added 23:18 - Feb 10 Must agree with cfmoses! It's not just MM it has to be with his sidekick and any others with them. Sack em all. It's an insult to all the supporters who turn up every week away and at home. The current set-up is just not working. Of course we can beat the occasional lowly placed team like Sunderland but very soon we are facing Norwich who have some bright young players and a decent manager. Result today for them away to Derby says it all. Being a blue living in Norfolk has been the worst season to date. Please go MM et al and give us some hope for the future before the supporters all but disappear. Not a very good business plan ME!!!

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MicksZzzTactics added 23:37 - Feb 10 @Bert Obviously it's not ALL Mick's fault every single time we fail *emphatically* in some or more aspects or another. Obviously it ain't! And I for one don't treat him as such ...but you are right *some* fans (but I disagree with it being "most" fans) do apparently think along those lines. And that's genuinely unjust & sad . HOWEVER what is at least equally unjust & sad imho is the FACT that many many members of this here awesomely objective website alone (some of them usually stick to making their inputs in 'The Forum') immediately starts showering Mick in kinds of accolades , almost sounding as if Mick is the best thing happening to Mankind since the invention of bloody ****Viagra****!!! :-) :-), just about EVERY single time we get a "good result" and/or 3 points (occasionally even disregarding how especially ITFC's creative & offensive part of that performance REALLY was in said game, just as long we got that "good result" or 'em 3 points). ...A bit like last week on TWTD for instance where a very renowned 'brick-size novel writer':-):-) here wrote a unmistakable *smug* piece on 'The Forum' titled "I Guess THAT'S Why Mick is the manager..." which imho made it sound ehmmmm just a tiny-itchy-bitcy-bitty-bit like according to the writer Grandmaster Mick should immediately become eligible for the Noble Prize in "Display of Strategic & Tactical Genius" or equivalent! :-) :-), not merely for the good result but for the changes he made to the starting XI and formation etc. against the current awesome awesome juggernaut team known as Sunderland ... well when in reality it was blatantly *obvious* (and thus not exactly rocket science nor Pep Guardiola-esque!) that these changes made for a clearly better way to play against LOWLY & dysfunctional them, with the players they currently have & use now and how they likely set-up. But back to your point @Bert, where I will like to add these two conditional things: 1) In most cases it's probably most fair to say that it's an entangled combination of things including even what's happening (or not happening rather!) at the ITFC training sessions! (Thus potentially making for not just 2 but 3 "culprits"!As in MM, the players *and* TC!)... but plenty, and by that particular chosen word I mean = as in far too many of the REST of the cases!, it's pretty much predominantly if not entirely on Mick from outset ...due to his often mishmash of prehistoric, 1-dimensional, hedgehog, negative and wimpy mindset & tactics, incl. the setup & the often mind-boggling substitutions. 2) But the bottomline is and always will be this one: Even in the cases where it's visible to all spectators that predominantly the failing was due to all or the vast majority of the players (except our fantastic goalie of course!) didn't' "show up" or couldn't "be bothered" ... The RESPONSIBILITY and thus ultimately The ACCOUNTABILITY (regardless of whether it's 100% completely fair or unfair to him) of what you called "getting the players act together from the first minute", lies with the manager!!!!!!!!! As frankly speaking is a fairly LARGE & PIVOTAL *very basic *part of Mick's or any other professional football manager's job description.

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BrettenhamBlue added 23:56 - Feb 10 Is it just me or are we seeing a lot of headlines these days with "worst performance of the season", "dreadful performance"? Great result going into a crunch game against Norwich (who seem to be flying since reinforcing in January). Awful, awful, awful football. We didn't deserve to draw and were (frankly) hanging on at the end.
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Blue_Fred added 00:12 - Feb 11 When MM arrived I remember thinking ‘oh good, he'll be determined to succeed where Keane failed' Little did I realise that would mean totally destroying our club ..........
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Lightningboy added 01:38 - Feb 11 How anyone can still have the blind stupidity to defend this clown is now totally beyond me. He was the correct appointment 5 1/2 years ago - BECAUSE WE WERE DESPERATE. He should've been sacked after the Lincoln game over a year ago. The only reason he's still here is because he dislikes the fans as much as the majority of them dislike him and his awful brand of football - if he had anything about him he would've resigned an age ago and taken his useless sidekick with him. We are now SO far away from being the club we were that i've pretty mich lost all interest and that's heartbreaking & unforgivable of the current shambles in charge. The last 10 years has been a total disaster under this owner..even winning next week would be an insult to the fans that really care and really want big changes..i will just drag this current nonsense on even further I fear.

20

bobble added 05:11 - Feb 11 things are so bad i might just chuck $50 on town to beat norwich...
2

prebbs007 added 07:21 - Feb 11 Defend that Swn !!!! Oh wait sorry I'm just a moron !!!!
7

warktheline added 07:30 - Feb 11 @sillybilly, do yourself a favour, stick to down arrows! Forget posting.....you've eclipsed 'there's a good chappie' SWN!
3

therein61 added 07:49 - Feb 11 If it's down to the players when they cross the line then why do you persist in selecting your under performing favourite so called pro footballers who are not up to championship standard week in week out!!?? without them I feel we would be higher in the league due to people playing for the shirt instead of going through the motions knowing full well that they will be picked come hell or high water

10

brendenward35 added 08:02 - Feb 11 Sounds to me the players have seen that Mick might be here next season and doing their best to get rid of him downing tools.
5

carsey added 08:19 - Feb 11 Can't wait to see what the club puts in the highlights package this week. Bywater didn't even get his kit dirty.
6

brittaniaman added 09:33 - Feb 11 It might be better if Dino sat down the whole game instead of standing on the touch line waving his arms around like a windmill confusing the players and the fans ????? We might have got a better result ??? There was enough wind out there without Dino making more than necessary !!!!!
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buryblue77 added 09:40 - Feb 11 I haven't posted on here for ages because I'm so bored of the team I love but feel I have to. As has always been a problem for me due to work I don't get to many games but I'm not sure I'd want to now even if I did have time available at evenings and weekends. On one hand, McCarthy has done a decent job with no money, we could have faired worse under different management, in fact look at the Keane and Jewell years when we did have more money we were always fighting off relegation. However football isn't just about league position (think about it, mid table isn't bad for where we are financially) it's about entertainment and I don't see much of that going on. We do have players with technical ability but McCarthy seems to want to play an old fashioned way hoofball. Good managers adapt with the times, look at Big Sam, he was always known for his hoofball but he seems to have adapted to get his teams to play so why can't Mick work this out. I feel it's time for change but who. Would we be happy playing decent football but struggling at the bottom, somehow I suspect we would be moaning about that too. I just hope we see a new manager next year and that Evans gets it right this time.

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blythburgh_blue added 09:50 - Feb 11 84 days and counting............
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Orraman added 13:30 - Feb 11 Second lowest Championship crowd of the day - only Brentford drew in less than us and that is debatable if the TRUE attendance was published. Sad days indeed.
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Northstandveteran added 14:21 - Feb 11 Cat, Blue75 and myself queried attendances yesterday on the 'its a huge game' post. Some differing opinions started a good debate, which is why this site is so enjoyable. Good to get differing thoughts from the wider spectrum of fans
4

Battyboy added 16:59 - Feb 11 There's a bundle of talent in the 23s, never given a chance to progress in what is clear a very poor first team squad. The youth need to be given an opportunity over the coming fixtures! Can any of them play any worse than yesterday????
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therein61 added 17:12 - Feb 11 Battyboy promoting under 23's means Mick might have to omit some of his under performing overpaid newly contracted favourites and that will just not happen the youngsters at our club must wonder if it's worth the bother under this so called manager.
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blueboy1981 added 17:37 - Feb 11 Battyboy .......... he's let most of them go out on load for the remainder of the Season...... !!! - so they don't put pressure on his 'real blokes' for a team place.
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