Should He Stay Or Should He Go?

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, we should reflect I think on what Mick McCarthy has already done for this club.

There is little doubt that if he had not taken charge on November 1st 2012, Ipswich were destined for the drop and he worked minor miracles that season to keep us up.

Few managers have the pragmatism to accomplish this and we should not take what he did lightly.

In the 2014/15 season we over-achieved again and actually made the play-offs and this was a remarkable achievement too, given the fact that the season before we were all but relegated, until of course the Yorkshireman arrived on the scene.

Deep in our hearts most of us knew we had probably punched above our weight and this was proved to be the case when we lost to our fiercest rivals over the two play-off games.

Last season we just missed out on the play-offs again but it was seen by most of us as a bit of a backward step. Injuries to key players did not help nor did a lack of investment from the owner.

This season Mick Mccarthy must have thought the tide had turned again when he was able to invest a considerable sum in centre back Adam Webster and acquire the undoubted skills of Grant Ward from Spurs but it appears to have been nothing more than a smokescreen.

The quality of our loan recruits Tom Lawrence, Grant Ward and Jonathan Williams had all the makings of a force to be reckoned with but that was before Daryl Murphy decided that if he was going to have one last crack at reaching the Premier League, then he had better do it with Newcastle United!

Since his departure we appear to have fallen apart. Since then, we have scored a measly three goals in seven games and have not found the net since that Luke Varney strike on the 13th September at Derby County!

Four successive games without a goal and three of those at Portman Road tells its own sad story and the question is, where does it all end? Mick won’t jump at the chance of doing the honourable thing and resigning but should he be pushed into it?

His negative style works more successfully when we have a full complement of players but with so many strikers out injured and the usual lack of goals from midfield, our creative spark is seriously lacking and as gate receipts continue to fall, how long can we go on like this I wonder?

Can Jonathan Williams provide us with that the energy and the wherewithal to change our fortunes – or will we face a relegation battle in the coming months? At least if he stays, Mick McCarthy is probably the best man to get us out of it!

But McCarthy must take his fair share of the blame. He has persistently played players out of position and his strategy of a point will do, will certainly NOT do anymore.

It is easy to see why the crowds are dwindling at home as well. It is not just a lack of goals but a lack of goalmouth activity – unless it is from the opposition so there are many reasons to feel very miserable at the moment and a lack of entertainment is certainly one of them.

McCarthy says he can understand supporters frustrations and yet game after game, he comes up with the same old excuses for our poor performances.

Is it any wonder, with both Cole Skuse and Jonathan Douglas occupying those central midfield berths, that are season is going backwards?

So the question tonight is simply this. If you were asked should he stay or should he go what would you suggest?


Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich