Town Know We Are All In This Together

Once again I think the down to earth attitude of manager Mick McCarthy goes a long way to influencing this but isn’t it good to see the caring side of the football brain.

First, if you recall, it was Tyrone Mings who was offering free tickets to jobless fans and then kindly agreeing to replace the football shirts bought inadvertently by supporters before the squad numbers had been released.

Then this week, after a supporter apparently put his fist threw his own ceiling ( strong man!) whilst celebrating the Town goal, it was Paul Anderson who offered to pay for the damages. He obviously understands what his goal meant to all of us.


These are extraordinary gestures of good will and it personifies everything that is good about Ipswich Town football club, under that hard nosed stewardship of the gritty Yorkshire man.

Sadly, I have never had the pleasure of meeting him but everyone who has seems to come away with a glowing report. He is hard on the outside but has a very soft underbelly we are lead to believe and the way the players respect him speaks volumes for the man.

I remember Ipswich Player’s very own Stephen Pearce explaining that McCarthy has time for everyone and treats everyone the same way from the medical staff to the tea lady they are all part of the same team. This is the way to run a football club.

Having supported Town for many decades, the only other manager I can recall who did things this way was the great Sir Bobby Robson so we are indeed blessed with a manager who also has a heart!

I met Sir Bobby once when I was interviewing some Ipswich players in a hotel in Liverpool and he was a real gent who took time out to go that extra yard to make you happy. I get the feeling that Mick McCarthy is a little similar.

He is respected by the players because of his honesty and this is reflected I think in the way the squad conducts itself both on and off the field.

It is perhaps no coincidence that Paul Taylor did not fit in when we track his off the field behaviour. McCarthy wants players who pull in the same direction and not against the tide and we have seen the benefits of this strategy over the last couple of years.

The players know their limitations too which is not always a bad thing. They are aware that they have to make up in sheer effort what perhaps they lack in technical ability and they put in a shift for each other week in and week out.

If the gaffer wants a quotation to place onto that dressing room wall maybe this one from Frederick The Great will suffice. ‘The most gleaming trophy a great man can claim is the discovery of a few truths and the elimination of a few errors.’

Under Mick McCarthy the players will never suffer from delusions of grandeur because he keeps their feet firmly on the ground.

They are an honest lot and have shown more recently another very admirable side to their character and that is their human kindness, which in itself, is a rare thing in the modern game.