Ex-boss Mick McCarthy has expressed his sympathy with his former Town players facing “hefty wage cuts” once relegation to League One is confirmed and insists he doesn’t want to stick two fingers up to his critics at Portman Road following the Blues' disastrous campaign.

Speaking at a press conference earlier in the week in his new role as Republic of Ireland manager McCarthy, who left Town last April after five and a half years at the club, was asked whether the Blues’ season has made him want to give two fingers to his critics in Suffolk.

“Not at all,” he said. “The people who booed I say, well, sometimes you get what you deserve. Be careful what you wish for.

“I still say that the majority of Ipswich Town fans were supportive of me. That’s the biggest part of it.

“I’ve no axe to grind with Marcus Evans or the club. I’ve still got very good relationships with everybody, some really good friends there.

“It summed it up for me when Joe Garner got the equaliser against Wigan and I texted him to say, ‘Well done, bet that pleased you today’ and he came back to me and he said, ‘No gaffer, I was speaking to Chambo [Luke Chambers] today and they all have wage cuts if they go down, and I feel for him’.

“And he is a centre forward who has just scored the equaliser and I get his sentiments. I have got players there who played for me who are going to take hefty wage cuts playing in League One, if that’s where they end up. So, no I don’t want to put two fingers up to them at all.”

Relegation clauses are understood to have been inserted into most if not all of the senior Town players’ contracts with the Blues facing a significant loss of income in League One. TV money will be down by around £6 million while other revenue streams are also likely to be hit.

Reflecting further on Town this season with attendances having been up despite the league position, perhaps a touch ruefully, McCarthy added: “Well, they seem to enjoy it. There were 23,000 there the other night [at the Reading match], singing and dancing, so you know…”

Photo: Action Images

Sparky85 added 10:02 - Mar 10 I get that this is true but this is very unprofessional from McCarthy. Shouldn't really go speaking about other people's contracts and wage cuts that are nothing to do with him. He still has to get the ‘be careful what you wish for' jibe in as well. Pint of bitter please
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raycrawfordswig added 10:04 - Mar 10 Its all about me I am bigger than the club.
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DublinBlue84 added 10:07 - Mar 10 So apparently he doesn't want to give two fingers to his critics and is not bitter but he turns around and says stuff like this. "The people who booed I say, well, sometimes you get what you deserve. Be careful what you wish for." "It summed it up for me when Joe Garner got the equaliser against Wigan and I texted him to say, ‘Well done, bet that pleased you today. “Well, they seem to enjoy it. There were 23,000 there the other night [at the Reading match], singing and dancing, so you know…” Completely unprofessional and is losing any respect I still had for him by carrying on the way he does, maybe he should stop focusing on the past and instead focus on filling the Republic of Ireland international team with actual people from Republic of Ireland instead of trying to find loads without any real connection to the country?

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hampstead_blue added 10:08 - Mar 10 A couple of back-handed swipes.......but I think he is right. "They seemed to enjoy it" when talking about the Reading game. Familiarity breeds contempt. That is at it's truest for us this season. We got used to doing well on a comparatively small budget and some vocal fans got bored.
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tomitfc added 10:08 - Mar 10 The year is 2084 and mick McCarthy is STILL being mentioned in relation to our club..
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DublinBlue84 added 10:10 - Mar 10 QUOTE The year is 2084 and mick McCarthy is STILL being mentioned in relation to our club.. Nobody forced him to have a dig, but I'm sure the Mick fanboys who want to be bored and sleep every week rather than sing and dance in the stands and see something exciting, will use it to attack their own fans once more. The guy is bitter pure and simple and if we get relegated he will be delighted and use it to have a dig at us forever more. You can start to see why him and Roy Keane had that massive argument at the World Cup, both of them have massive egos.

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monty_radio added 10:18 - Mar 10 And some completely non-vocal fans too, Hampstead.
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Townly added 10:20 - Mar 10 I just wonder if he got a wage cut when taking over the Ireland job? I don't suppose he's bothered overmuch as he's certainly well loaded in any case, especially if it's true that he initially got £1m for saving us in the first place. Will PL get a wage cut too?
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Cheshire_Blue added 10:21 - Mar 10 The truth hurts. The numpties still don't get why we are heading for league !
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leftie1972 added 10:22 - Mar 10 With "HIS" Town players. Bloody cheek! I have got players there who played for me who are going to take hefty wage cuts playing in League One, if that's where they end up. No Mick you DID have players, not now, move on.
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Kirbmeister added 10:25 - Mar 10 Whatever Mick says in public of course he's having a little snigger to himself.
3

BroskiBeen added 10:25 - Mar 10 I get this but it's not as if Luke Chambers will be wondering where the next meal will come from is it. It's just life if you do perform well at work you either get demoted or sacked. McCarthy saying he doesn't want to stick two fingers up to us but in the same breath texts Joe Garner after he scored against us if it pleased him , a tad hypocritical that.
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Northstandveteran added 10:28 - Mar 10 Awww, will our players only be on £8,000 a week next season after being totally inept and p1ss poor all season? Perhaps we can have a whip round in the fanzone before the next home game? If the rest of us had produced such poor performances in our jobs we'd have been sacked. Talk about sticking two fingers up to the 1200 fans that travelled to West Brom yesterday. We're all in it together? With the exception of the players so it would seem.

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TimmyH added 10:35 - Mar 10 huh!?! - “It summed it up for me when Joe Garner got the equaliser against Wigan and I texted him to say, ‘Well done, bet that pleased you today' - Why should McCarthy do this? if this isn't self gloating then I don't know what is...anyway let's face it the majority of our players don't deserve to be on what they have this season (some 5 figure numbers a week) and will be a wake up call to have a pay cut in my opinion. As for McCarthy after what we hear he was on whilst here...

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Saxonblue74 added 10:41 - Mar 10 He gets asked these questions in press conferences and in true Yorkshire style answers with honesty, just as he dealt with the media when he was our manager. Whatever your opinion of his management style who can blame him for taking a swipe back? Given his platform I'm sure many of the "outers" would have used (and would continue to use) it.
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Radlett_blue added 10:41 - Mar 10 I don't think most of us will have any sympathy at all for players suffering wage cuts after winning 3 games all season.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 10:47 - Mar 10 Well the players have earned it!!!!
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north_stand77 added 10:47 - Mar 10 Disappointed that MM would speak in public about these things (Joe Garner), I thought he was better than that. It just makes him sound bitter, and classless
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Lightningboy added 10:57 - Mar 10 They're getting wage cuts because they haven't been good enough at this level Mick..they're pay will quite rightly be adjusted with third tier football. If they want more pay then they'll have the incentive to get back into the championship next year. Simple...bit like you Mick.
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DoseOfReality added 11:01 - Mar 10 Good riddance to bad rubbish. You bored us to death coz you were scared to end up with a relegation on your cv. Keep your mouth shut & Move on mr ego, league 1 & rebuild under lambert than total boredom with you any day.
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ShropshireBluenago09 added 11:18 - Mar 10 Bore off McCarthy, your football was sh*t. For as long as this guy is in football, he will never back down and will continue this cr*p to flex his ego. As for wage cuts, deservedly so. They will still earn much more than 'average joe'. My heart bleeds.
8

ernie added 11:20 - Mar 10 Good, they all deserve pay cuts after the way they have played for most of this season
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Wickets added 11:21 - Mar 10 20,000 odd Town fans supporting the new regime in a way MM cannot understand ! speaks volumes .
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UhlenbeekDownTheWing added 11:21 - Mar 10 Clearly it was time for MM to leave, but I don't understand why so many of us want to continually demonize him. He was asked a question, he answered it in a direct and Frank manner. No surprises there. Whilst the football we played under him in the last 3 years was often unispiring, the results he got and the transfer dealings he did were very good. As Meat Loaf says, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Given this season we have largely had 0 out of 3, I feel we should be thinking about sorting out the mess Hurst created (don't try and claim we'd be anything other than mid-table under MM, as that is a ridiulous stance), rather than bitching about MM.

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Mullysplace1 added 11:27 - Mar 10 Well said Mick. The numbskulls here deserve league 1, its them that has put us there. But they still cant admit it.
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