McCarthy: Everything Has its Cycle and I Think it’s Run its Term Thursday, 29th Mar 2018 16:53 Town boss Mick McCarthy spoke to the media at lunchtime after the club revealed he and assistant Terry Connor will be departing at the end of their contracts in the summer, here's a full transcript of that press conference. How do you feel now the decision's been made and everything is out in the open “I’m a bit relieved that it’s now done and everybody knows. And sort of excited now for the future, for something else, because no doubt I’ll go on and manage another club. Well, I hope I will. Expect it to come to a head when you met with owner Marcus Evans on Wednesday night? “I knew it was coming to a head, I forced the outcome. I asked to go and see him, it had been going on long enough and it needed to be sorted. “It needed to be sorted for me, for the club, for Marcus, I guess for my family, for my missus, long-wearied, especially this season, not other than that, it’s only been this season. But we needed to know, so that’s the reason I asked to see him.” Marcus keen for you to stay on? “It never got to that discussion. We both had our say on what we thought and it really never got to that in terms of asking for a contract, offering a contract. “It was really that it’s come to a head, let it finish, its natural end and that’s where we’re at and I’m cool with that.” Marcus disappointed? He's always been a big supporter of yours. “Yes, and he still is. Of course. I guess both of us are happy the decision’s been made, by both of us and maybe both of us are a bit disappointed as well that it’s come to this. But the club’s got to move on and so have I.” Are your family relieved, they must have known how you’ve been through the ringer? “I guess Fiona, my wife, she’s said to me for ages, ‘Mick, why don’t you just pack it in? Why would you be taking that kind of abuse?’. “But no chance, I was never going to pack it in, and she knew that, so we’ll not fall out over it. She has an opinion and I have an opinion.” Is this the first time you’ve considered leaving the club? “I’m leaving, my contract’s coming to an end, that’s where it’s at. It’s kind of a natural end. And I think everything has its cycle and I think it’s run its term.” Why now? “We both made the decision, Marcus and me, not just me. It’s the right time. Come on, you’ve been to the games, it’s the right time, I’ve done my stint here and I’ve done a blooming good stint and all, by the way. So, I think it’s time for somebody else to have a go.” Has your relationship with fans played a big part in the decision? “No, not really. If I’d have sat down with Marcus and everything had been how he wanted it and how I wanted it, I could still walk out and do the job because a small section of the fans isn’t going to drive me out, it hasn’t done. “Brentford away nearly two years ago was the first time and I’ve continued to do my job and do it professionally, kept my head and done a good job, I think.” How do you look back on your achievements in your five and a half years, proud? “Absolutely, certainly from coming in when we, the club, were on seven points from 13 games and looked like they were going to go out of the league. I think we got 54 points that year, that was a really good result, a lot of points to stay up. “And we made progress then, but then we sold players, we sold Tyrone Mings and Murph and different people and we’ve gone out then and tried our best then to scout and get the best we can get. And I guess it’s a bit of a decreasing circle doing that. “We had a tough time last season, this season’s been a bit mixed, we’ve had some good, we’ve had some bad and we’ve had some pretty indifferent.” Think you’ve had the respect you deserve? Should have been banked more of that for what you did in 2012/13 and the 2014/15 play-off year? “I don’t know, you’d have to ask the numbskulls who have been giving me the abuse because I think that’s what they are, to be quite honest. It’s not everybody, that comment is for the people who have been doing it and actually have been I think ruining games at Portman Road and making it a hard place to play. “You’d have to ask them. They probably don’t give too many people respect, let alone the manager.” How disappointed you didn’t kick on after 2014/15?"" “That would have been nice, but perhaps we would have had to invest in the team and get other players and get players in but we were still on the same remit, getting players in on frees and Bosmans and loan players. We just didn’t get the chance, I guess.” Should that have changed? Have you been managing with a handbrake on? “I tell you every time, I get the job and whatever my remit is I do it to the best of my ability and that’s what I’ve done. “Let’s hope somebody else gives me the opportunity and I can do a good job elsewhere.” Eight games left, difficult to focus on them? “Driving up the A12 at five o’clock this morning I thought, ‘What the hell am I doing driving up here?’. But I’d got to come and tell everybody, of course. “And maybe I might be thinking that again at some stage. But probably not, the lads have trained today and I’ve said to them I’m still going to be barking at them, so they shouldn’t think we can all down tools. “Jonas Knudsen, who wants to get in that Danish squad, there’s Bartosz who has been in the Polish squad and wants to play, we’ve had some young lads in the squad. “The older pros, the Chambos, the Skuseys, the Waggys, they are great lads and it might affect them a little bit but I think they’ll get back at it and if they want to show their disappointment to anybody do it by playing well and seeing if we can get in that top 10.” You must feel you’re leaving the club in a healthier position than the one you inherited in November 2012? “Oh I’d say so, there are a few teams in that bottom three who would be taking my position at the minute, or even in the bottom six, seven or eight that have got certainly bigger budgets and more funds than we have and have come down from the Premier League. I inherited the club with seven points.” Clearly feel you’ve got more jobs in you, a number of years still in football. “For sure, that’s not in doubt, not at all, whenever that should come up, if that’s in the summer, then fine, I’m ready to go. And if it comes up in October or November in the silly season when somebody wants a safe pair of hands who knows how to do the job, I’ll be ready then as well.” Anyone been in touch already? “If they had, I wouldn’t tell you.” Is the Town job one in a million in this day and age, Marcus having given you so much time, as he has with previous managers? “I think it was a bit of a heavy heart from both of us last night when we were talking about it. But I’ve said before, he’s given me time, I’ve been doing a good job and I think he recognises that and he appreciates it, so that’s why I’ve been given time. “When you say I’ve been given time, it’s like a suggestion I’ve been hanging on, but that’s not the case.” Some owners do get rid of managers all too quickly, that’s never been the case here. “No, I think he’s been very good to all the managers who have been here. We’ve talked about this before, some other clubs and how many managers they’ve had while I’ve been here and it’s not made them any better.” Have you learnt in your time here? “I always like to think I would get educated wherever I am in something and learnt something and continue to develop. “I think I know less now than I did when I got the Millwall job back 26 years ago whatever it was because I thought I knew everything then and now I realise pretty much I don’t.” Still going to continue planning for next season? “No, not now. That’s not my remit any more now, for next season. I’d been putting together who I thought should be around, who should stay, who should go. “I won’t be doing that onerous task, telling people that, no chance. And pre-season, that’s pretty much down to somebody else, I’m not arranging something that somebody else might not want, although I do believe the trip to Ireland has been booked.” When you got the job Paul Jewell had recommended you, if Marcus asks you the question in terms of who he should go for, would you enter into that discussion with him? “I’d give him my opinion managers, of course I would, yes. Why wouldn’t I? We’ve had a great relationship all the time and that remains the same. And if he thinks my opinion carries some weight then I’ll give it to him.” You must be desperate to end on a high by getting a fair number of points and getting as far up the table in these final eight games. “Of course, we’re going back to the scene of the first crime, where I had my first game at Birmingham, the irony is that I’m announcing that I’m finishing going back to Birmingham. “We’ve got some winnable games but they’re scrapping for their lives, they had a great result last time out. “Millwall are coming here, that’ll be a great game on Easter Monday because I would think they’ll bring a lot of fans, they’ve been flying. So, we’ve got some good games and ones we’ve got to compete in.” Were you surprised discussions hadn’t happened previously? “No, not at all. Marcus owns the club it’s up to him to do it how he sees fit and I’ve always abided by those rules as the gaffer. “But it got to the stage where I’m coming in here [to press conferences] when there’s actually two or three in here, so there’s obviously something going on today [because there were a lot more], and I get asked by the lads and they’re almost embarrassed asking because I’m saying, ‘I’m not going to talk about it’ and I felt for them a little bit. “So I wasn’t going to let it go any further, that’s why. I thought, come on, we’ve got eight games left, we’ve got five in two weeks, let’s make it be known, whatever’s going to happen, let’s make it for public consumption. You’ve talked before about wanting to protect your brand but people don’t often think about protecting your family as well. “I think I’m being normal when I’m at home, but perhaps I’m not. Perhaps I’m affected by it. I’m sure I am. “It’s like driving up the A12 when we’ve lost and Fiona doesn’t speak to me, then I say to her after about half an hour, ‘What’s wrong with you?’. She just looks at me, she knows how to handle me thankfully after 38 years. “It does take its toll, of course it does. And it’s the right time, it’s the right time to move on.” Has this club been different as Marcus takes a back seat, has that left you with a huge vacuum to fill? Left you exposed? “I’ve handled it well, I’m an experienced manager who has dealt with that. I’ve not been left hanging with signings or anything like that. “As I’ve said before, whatever I get thrown at me in terms of how the job is, I deal with it, and to the best of my ability. “This has been a different one compared to others, it’s been no more difficult, he’s been very supportive in his way, and I’ve had a great relationship with him and still have.” More golf now? “For sure. I’ve been asked to play once or twice before the season ends and I’ve tentatively said yes. It’s absolutely nailed-on now, that’s for sure.” Why is now the right time to go? “I think I need to go off and do something else. I’ve done my shift here, I’ve done well here, I’ve enjoyed every bit of it, to be quite honest. “But we’re not progressing. We’re pretty much standing still and I don’t want to do that. I’d like an opportunity to move forward wherever that might be. “I’ve done my job, but look, people are getting bored with me anyway, I’ve said that before. So, let them have somebody else and see if they get bored with them.” No discussion with the owner about a new contract or whether you would want one? “No, there wasn’t. Really I just wanted to see him to see how he felt about everything and he me, to be quite honest. “And having had that discussion it was quite obvious to both of us that it was probably better than I moved on.” How much of a factor was the abuse you’ve had to put up with from some fans in recent games? “None at all. None at all. If we’d have had our chat and he’d have turned around and said ‘We’ll do something’, I wasn’t even certain about that. I said to him months ago I wasn’t certain about whether I wanted to stay, under any circumstances. “But, no, it’s not the abuse I get. Wow, I’ve been having that for nearly two years now, so I just keep smiling at them, they don’t know what I’m thinking.” How do you look back on your achievements at Ipswich, just the last year or so it’s not gone to plan? “Yes, that’s quite clear. We got to the play-offs and then just missed out and then perhaps the sale of Murph [in the opening month of the 2016/17 season] and not replacing him with an adequate replacement caused us a big problem. “We did have a real problem scoring goals then, so that season was a real dull one for everybody, for me included. “And I think that was the start of it, the demise of my relationship with a section of the crowd. “You all ask about that, but I’ve had amazing support here, that’s what should be said. And a small section of it wouldn’t drive me out and I would never be walking away. "I’m not walking away, the contract’s coming to an end and really both of is, Marcus and I, both think it’s the right time, I certainly do.” You’ve made the club money in the transfer market but haven’t had a lot of money to spend, a small budget compared with a lot of Championship clubs. Has that hampered progress? “What do you think? It’s strange that that Jose Mourinho was complaining after spending £300-odd million because somebody spent £500 million, so you get what you pay for, I guess. “But I’ve said to you, the gig I get, I do the best I can and I look at our recruitment with what we’ve been doing and I think it’s been pretty good, especially this year. “And, of course, the ones that came in, Joe Garner and Martyn Waghorn have been good successes, same with Webbo and Grant Ward. People that we’ve gone out invested in a little bit we’ve had some success. “And when you’re taking in free transfers and Bosmans, you know what, some you win, some you lose. Fortunately we’ve had some good ones, we’ve had some not so good ones. “Loan players, Jonny Williams, different class. Tom Lawrence, different class, Ryan Fraser, different class, Bersant he’s had eight goals. Our recruitment’s been good where we’ve been working, in our budget.” What’s next for you Mick when the season comes to an end? “A holiday, some golf, bit of downtime and hopefully the phone will ring and somebody will offer me another job.” Would you have any advice for the owner on who might succeed you? “Only if he asked, and that wouldn’t be advice, it would be my opinion on what I thought of somebody as a manager or as a coach. I would have an opinion on them, I guess, if I know them, of course.” It's not a parting of the ways relating to league position, a different issue, a complicated issue, can you get your head around how this stage has been reached? “Well, it’s the strangest thing, I’ve never experienced it, so I’m having to work through this one as well. I was asked whether I learn and of course I do, I’m learning now. “I left Sunderland and there wasn’t a bad word about me from inside the club or the training ground and I guess Wolves was the same. “But this is the first time when I’m leaving a job when I’ve got eight games to go and I think you’ll find if you asked anybody in there they’re all pretty disappointed. I think if you went down to Portman Road you’d find that they are as well. “And actually, I keep saying, with the budget that I have got here, I’ve done a good job and continue to do a good job this year. “Some people have got a bit bored with me so that’s changed the atmosphere. So it does seem bonkers when lots of things are going well and are going in the right direction, and yet I’m now going in the other direction!” You and Marcus had a very amicable chat last night, did he explain why it’s not working for him? “Yes, he did. It was very amicable and [he told me] what his plans are and I said what I would l like to do. And I guess they didn’t marry up, they didn’t meet in the middle. But no disagreement at all, very amicable.” No regrets? Nothing you’d do differently? “I guess over the course of my time there might be some players I might not have signed and some I wish I had signed. But none that just spring to mind, if I sat down and thought about it. “None in terms of what I have done, decisions I’ve made, how I’ve managed the club. No, not at all.” Feel sad the way it’s reached this point as there was so much positivity in first few years? “I don’t feel sad, I feel proud that it’s got to this stage because if you check the managerial record of other people, there are some who have had three jobs this year. “There are some who only last, what is it, 11 months is the average tenure of a Championship manager. Well, I’ve lasted nearly six years. “So, no, I’m not sad or bitter or twisted or upset about it, I’m actually quite proud that I’ve had that time. “And to get back to a question I’ve already been asked, it’s not because I’m Marcus’s bosom buddy and he’s just kept me in a job, it’s because he thinks I’ve been doing a good job.” You instigated the chat, should it have happened sooner? Would that have prevented the events of recent times? “I’ve no idea whether the events would have happened. I think I’ve said before, what happens if I’d have instigated this chat at Christmas and the same decision had been made, Marcus said then, ‘You’ve got another 23 games to play’. “That could be a right royal relegation that couldn’t it, because I don’t know how that would affect the players but I certain it would. “What happens if it had been that and I’m still staying to the end of the season, I would not be doing the January transfer window, I would be trying to motivate players that know I’m going. "I think that would be bonkers. There was no way I was going to even try and instigate it before then. “But I did think the international break, I thought I’d wait and see what happened and it needed to be sorted out.” Have you changed your mind several times over the last few months? We kept quizzing you and didn’t know which way it was going to go. “I know, that’s why I kept doing it! I’m not as green as I’m cabbage-looking, me. I’m not as daft as I look, believe me.” Were you swaying towards certain things in the back of your mind at times? Sometimes you came in here fired up and keen to stay on to prove people wrong. “That was probably when I’d been getting slightly more abuse the week before that I was more fired up to stay. I’ve got a job to do, I think sometimes you miss that. “I’ve got a job to do, I’ve got a group of players in there, a squad of players that need me to be motivated and fired up and to be ready to get them ready to play. If I came in here and I was as dull ditchwater, they’d think I was a right old maid, what would I get out of them? “And you know what I get out of them every week? Fire and brimstone, that’s what I get. We might not be great, we might not play well every week, but I tell you what, they go out and give me everything, and that’s reflected in my personality, so that’s how I need them to be. “That’s how this club needs them to be because without that collective spirit and that team spirit that they’ve got in there, we could be dragged into that bottom half of the table. And it’s because of that that we’re not.” Regret some of the things that have been said or the Norwich celebration, things which have chipped away at the relationship with the fans? “That’s my personality and can I say, as I said two weeks ago, I haven’t changed. Since I walked in through this door on November 1st 2012, I haven’t changed. My persona, my personality hasn’t changed. I’ve dealt with all you guys the same every time I come in. “So who’s changed? It’s not me. It’s not my personality. I’ve been exactly the same, so I’ve not turned on anybody, have I? It’s been quite the opposite. The turn, it’s the supporters - not everybody, I’ve had great support from people - but the ones who have turned, it’s them, not me. “I haven’t changed in any shape or form. Still the same bloke that they were giving the old stupid ‘Super Mick’ chant, which I thought was equally as bonkers. But I preferred it some of the others I’ve had, I have to be honest.” Was entertainment value something that was raised in the meeting with Marcus? “Results. He’s never questioned my way of playing, my way of setting up teams. I think he probably thinks he pats me on the back a little bit more because he understands the budget that other teams have got and the ones he gives me, the restrictions that I have. “And I think he appreciates the fact that I get results. And he is probably the one person that looks back at November 2012 when we had seven points and didn’t want to be in that situation again and but for a little scrape last year we’ve never been anywhere near it.” You’ve said be careful what you wish for, how big a job is this for your replacement? “I don’t know. I don’t want to put the fickle finger of fate on anybody but I left Millwall and took the Ireland job and they got relegated. “I left Sunderland and they got relegated. That’s probably a lot of my fault as well, they gave me £6 million to spend in the Premier League, that was always going to keep us up. “I left Wolves and they’ve been relegated two divisions. I’m not saying it’s all down to me, but there’s a common denominator, that’s for sure.” After six years here, will Ipswich Town always have a place in your heart? “Oh yes, absolutely yes. It’ll have a big place in my heart. If I come back with another team I’ll want to slap them!” Is this likely to have an impact on Bartosz Bialkowski’s decision regarding the contract he has agreed but not signed? “Absolutely. In what way? Well, when I was the one in discussions with him he wanted to know what I was doing, and at the time I didn’t know and said that that is to be decided. “Yes, it’ll probably impact on Jonas’s decision as well, he’s signed a year’s option but he was another one that was asking me what I was doing. So yes, I’m sure it will have an impact.” So, in other words, some of these players might end up following you out of here to your new club! “I haven’t got a new club, so I don’t know.” I think it’s likely you will have a new club, though. “I appreciate your faith in me, thanks.’ So you’re saying Bart and Jonas might not stay here? “Can I just say I’ve spoken to the players and the staff this morning just to tell them I won’t be here, but I’ve not had any further discussion. "But I’m being brutally honest in saying when I was discussing it with them at the time, they asked, ‘What are you doing, gaffer?’ and I said I don’t know, I can’t give you that answer, nothing’s changed.”
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