I admire someone who is brave enough to compliment the opposition but sometimes I feel that manager Mick McCarthy is almost patronising in his complimentary dialogue, which motivates the opposition even more!
We all know that he is buddy pals with Ian Holloway and that their friendship goes back a long way but does he have to go so ‘over the top’ in his praise for him?
” We get on very very well, I think it`s nice to have a bit of mutual respect for the job each of us have done and do and I know they’ll be coming here breathing fire and brimstone, having beaten Norwich last week. It`ll be a tough game.”
OK, that is perhaps stating the obvious but his next statement to the press will be uplifting – not only to the new incumbent at Queens Park Rangers but also for the players themselves!
When asked whether jovial Ian Holloway took the game seriously enough he said, ” Without any shadow of a doubt he`s better than that. He’s deadly serious about his football and he loves his football – you can see how enthusiastic he is about it.”
He continued,’ His teams are well coached and well organised and he’s a good manager – who seems to get the best out of people.’
Very complimentary comments and worthy I guess of some praise but if, as he suggested, swords are sometimes crossed in the football arena, then these comments suggest that our manager’s desire to win is perhaps not as great as the new manager of QPR?
Truth be told and it is another must win game. This is not to get within sniffing distance of those play-off places but simply to restore some pride back into the side and keep the wolves from the dressing room door.
McCarthy may say he has the complete backing of owner Marcus Evans but another defeat would really put the cat amongst the pigeons!
McCarthy has massive respect for every team in the Championship it seems so with that in mind, does it give our players some sort of inferiority complex? Would for example the hugely successful former Liverpool boss, Bill Shankly fall into the same trap?
McCarthy must be more positive tomorrow and pick a side that will overrun the visitors and for this to happen we need dedication and commitment and an attacking strategy. I fear anything else will end in abstract failure.
Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich
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