McCarthy Stays Defiant After Rare Away Win

Manager Mick McCarthy was quick to point out after the blues 2-1 victory away at Sheffield Wednesday that it was as much as his side had deserved and that essentially there is not much wrong with his squad. ‘I thought it was a good display by virtually the same team that played last week.’

There was more than one hint in his post match analysis, that his decision-making has been largely vindicated.

He said defiantly, ‘I told you on Thursday that I don`t worry about my ability – or my confidence in the players and they`ve backed that up today with a really good performance.’

That much is true. It was indeed a good team performance and it was nice to see Freddie Sears back where he belongs and that is playing through the middle, where he gets most of his goals.

That said, to suggest for one moment that everything in the garden is rosy is very far from the truth. Playing square pegs in round holes has been a character trait of his and not just out of necessity, as we can see with captain Luke Chambers, who is still being played out of position even now!

The tendency of our manager to alway find a place in the team for either Cole Skuse or Jonathan Douglas and quite often both; regardless of how well they are performing, is another major talking point for true blue supporters.

As we witnessed last season with Dean Gerken, when he kept Bartosz Bialkowski out of the side, he certainly seems to have his favourites, regardless of how well – or otherwise they appear to be playing.

He is only too aware of his critics though and prefers instead to remind us all of just what he has done for Ipswich Town football club since he arrived on the scene.

“If anyone wants to judge me, crack on but that performance today and that result reflects my time at Ipswich, my four years and 202 games – far more than performances they choose to carp on about.’

The ‘They’ presumably means us but McCarthy must understand that as supporters we expect. If not results, then at least some entertainment and sadly this season especially, both have been sadly lacking most of the time.

They say that one swallow does not make a summer and to use a football idiom you are always judged by your next result.

With three of our next four games in the Sky Bet Championship at home, this will surely make or break our season and where we find ourselves at Christmas will probably be defined by it.

The jury is still out on the Mick McCarthy legacy it seems.

Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Football