| An Irretrievable Breakdown – Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley 02:13 - Apr 11 with 4578 views | HarryfromBath |
“So then, apart from the Church going up in flames, did the wedding go well?” It’s hard to piece a match report when one over-riding event at the conclusion overshadows everything that has gone before, but it’s worth taking time to look at how the wider evening played out…
I wanted to get over to Portman Road one last time this season not just to see the mother-ship, but to understand the wider context to how the relationship between our manager and some of our fans deteriorated so badly. The mood had been pretty amicable at Birmingham and Bristol but clearly less so at Brentford so I was intrigued to see how things might play out in a routine Tuesday home game.
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The evening started brilliantly. A visiting Barnsley supporter struck up a conversation with a few of us in the Greyhound. It ranged from Kieffer Moore via Dickie Bird and Neil Warnock through to the legendary Tykes folk hero ‘Skinner’ Normanton, who had a healthy tendency to send fancy-dan players careering into the stands. Our Barnsley friend worked with him in his later years in the collieries and confirmed that ‘Skinner’ was as gentle off the pitch as he was uncompromising on it.
“It looks like a 3-4-3.” When the line-up was announced, all talk was of former Limerick man Barry Cotter who would debut as a right wing-back. I was more relieved to see that Skuse was starting and that Mick had included Carayol and Celina. It was a balanced attacking line up with a Spence-Carter Vickers-Knudsen trio giving us a very solid base in front of Bart.
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“That pitch is looking a bit ropey in places.” MrsHfromB is a very decent gardener and winces for the grass when goal scorers perform their inevitable knee-slides on Match of the Day. Kieffer Moore was a clear and obvious target-man for the Tykes from the first minute and he came very close to getting to do one when his header crashed against the bar from an early Barnsley corner.
Moore has a knack of doing this against us. I remember him nearly dismantling a goalpost at Huish Park when we beat Yeovil a few years ago. One great sub-plot throughout the game was his ongoing duel with Carter-Vickers. It reminded me of the Luke Chambers — Bradley Johnson battles when we played Norwich. No quarter was asked or given as the two knocked lumps out of each other.
Carter-Vickers increasingly got the upper hand over Moore as the game progressed. The game itself was bright and open, with both teams playing positive football, albeit imperfectly, on the front foot. Celina and Carayol were altering flanks with Waghorn dropping back only to run at a high Barnsley back line at pace. Connolly was also industrious in midfield trying to thread passes where he could.
Cotter looks a natural. He was comfortable and patient on the ball, and it was clear that team-mates were trying to find him with the ball rather than protect him. He can beat a defender with a trick and has a long throw on him, something which caught Barnsley out after the break. He kept it simple at first but grew into the game once he realised that he had the measure of the Tykes’ Zeki Fryers.
Carayol was everything you expect from a winger really. He was occasionally wasteful with the ball or would mistime passes or runs, but he turned on the burners with one surging run late in the first half which unnerved the visitors’ defence. His clever earlier flick to Waghorn was squared to Celina who was clean through on goal, but the crowd applauded the move rather than criticising his miss.
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Half time was signalled by Mr Linington, who has never lost his knack for indicating to an absurdly precise degree where freekicks should be taken. Barnsley had marginally the better of what was an even and entertaining game and everyone was applauded off. The one funny moment was the cheer from the away end when “QPR 3 Sheffield Wednesday 0” was announced. We all have our rivals.
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The pattern of the early second half exchanges resembled everything that gone before. Both teams were still playing brightly and probing for openings but our moves had a growing urgency, fluency and quality in contrast to the Tykes. Some neat interplay between Celina and Kenlock on our left saw the ball fall to Skuse who had ventured far enough forward to have a crack on goal.
Carayol — Knudsen — Goal. Walking back to the car after the game I wondered if Barnsley fans rued the absence of a man on the back post. It was a superb header from a dash by Knudsen to the front of the penalty area and an equally superb delivery by Carayol. It was a moment of quality in a game distinguished more by effort and industry and it also hit Barnsley’s confidence for six.
They tried to hit back straight away but the header from their centre-half Adam Jackson shortly after the goal from a freekick lacked quality and typified an attacking threat that rarely troubled Bart. Mick wisely decided to take Cotter out of the fray and let Grant Ward have a crack at Barnsley’s flaky left-back Zeki Fryers. Cotter would have been mentally cooked by the intensity of that hour’s play.
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I had forgotten about the wider mood of the supporters and was more absorbed in the game, so the booing which came out of the blue for the switch caught me off guard. It did come from all around the ground but didn’t last that long as Cotter was correctly and warmly applauded off the pitch.
The reason for the booing was clear. It brought home how deep the breach of trust has become, as fans were convinced that Mick was shutting up shop and trying to kill the game. The fact that Cotter is technically a defender and Ward is a winger was pointed out by a friend but it mattered little. Even though the moment passed quickly it took so little for ill-feeling to rear its head in a game going well.
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Meanwhile back on the pitch, Barnsley were now chasing the game and it gave Celina and Waghorn time and space to try out a variety of ideas. Celina’s cat-and-mouse standing with the ball and daring a defender to bite is an entertaining motif, while one can’t fault Waghorn’s effort no matter where his shots might end up. At least Celina’s late effort was on target but straight at the Barnsley keeper.
Ward offered more of a threat than Cotter with his direct running at a tiring Fryers seeing the left-back eventually taken off. It worth praising Spence who dealt with the threat of Barnsley striker Olly McBurnie cutting in from the left wing. Knudsen grew into the game as it progressed, and he took a yellow card for the team after fouling the Reds’ Tom Bradshaw after a Skuse pass went astray.
Ben Folami’s introduction for the tiring Carayol shortly after Cotter’s withdrawal was very well received. He found increasing time and space to link with Waghorn and Celina or hold up play. Barnsley grew increasingly desperate raining ‘Hail Mary’ balls to the box by the end in a vain attempt to carve out a chance. Set pieces were the visitors only threat and these weren’t causing us worry.
“I still have a 100 percent record at Portman Road.” Mrs HfromB was justifiably happy with her work on the night and the players trooped off in great spirits. Everyone stood and applauded while Skuse gave Jonas the nod to fist-pump the North Stand after Cotter had skipped over to salute the fans. All seemed well as Mick and Terry stood by the players entrance thanking all of the departing players.
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Or so we thought. The first we heard of Mick’s departure was listening to BBC 5 Live in the car on the way back to the hotel. There was a jocular tone to the journalists’ radio chat with the “typical Mick” and “he has worked wonders” clichés being trotted out as they mentioned him apparently slamming a desk and finishing his press conference abruptly. The national journalists don’t know the half of it.
Mick was completely wrong to theatrically depart in the manner he did, as we inevitably now will be unfairly stereotyped as an impatient and petulant supporter base. It will be a simplistic and false interpretation if the media do this because I still believe that Mick mentally left the club when he put the phone down after his conversation with Marcus Evans a few weeks ago.
He has split fan-bases whenever he has left clubs and it's incapable of being amicable where he is concerned. Tonight’s self-righteous “I'm out of here” was a disproportionate and unnecessary reaction considering the mood of the home fans tonight, who were largely positive and supportive and who got fully behind the side in the brief periods when Barnsley had sustained pressure.
“That’s such a completely unfair thing to do to the players. Where does it leave them?” MrsHfromB’s spontaneous reaction in the car highlights one of the many damaging consequences of Mick’s walk-out. We have a rudderless club, a confused and split fan base and a confused dressing room. A part of Mick may have died when he left the club, but this has been one hell of a way to break up.
“When an irretrievable breakdown occurs, the situation exists where either or both spouses are no longer able or willing to live with each other, thereby destroying their relationship with no hope or redemption.” Sometimes it’s good to go to a definition as it can provide clarity. It is so sad that it has ended this way. The saddest part of all is that it will negate much of what has gone before the split.
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All of which takes us back to Marcus Evans, who in so many ways has been able to hide behind Mick and let him catch the bullets. This isn’t just about appointing a new manager now. It’s about showing some leadership, grabbing hold of the pikestaff and charting a positive and confident direction for the club. This sense of drift has gone on for too long now, Marcus. It really is over to you….
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 02:25 - Apr 11 with 4515 views | HurleyBurley |
Not everyone has the patience to make it all the way down to the end of these longer match reports, so please allow me Harry, to pull out what I believe to be the key paragraph now that Mick has gone:
"All of which takes us back to Marcus Evans, who in so many ways has been able to hide behind Mick and let him catch the bullets. This isn’t just about appointing a new manager now. It’s about showing some leadership, grabbing hold of the pikestaff and charting a positive and confident direction for the club. This sense of drift has gone on for too long now, Marcus. It really is over to you…. " |  |
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 02:32 - Apr 11 with 4500 views | Tendring_Blue |
You sum it up better than anyone else, I totally agree.
The whole thing since Brentford away 2 years ago has been a total farce. Some fans and Mick should be ashamed as I believe they are as bad as each other. The stupid chants were not right, I'm guilty as I boiled over at the Hull game, mick with how he has dealt with it all along was asking for a confrontation.
Thanks God it's over. No doubt pathetic squabbling will go on for a bit, but hopefully that's the beginning of the end of a saga like I have never seen before. The fact it dragged on for so long, made some quite positive supporters around me turn on him as well. Bizarre, really bizarre stuff. |  | | |
| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 03:45 - Apr 11 with 4391 views | SpruceMoose |
I love you, Harry x |  |
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"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
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| Spot on Harry... on 04:25 - Apr 11 with 4358 views | unstableblue |
I think this is the correct point of view:
“He has split fan-bases whenever he has left clubs and it's incapable of being amicable where he is concerned. Tonight’s self-righteous “I'm out of here” was a disproportionate and unnecessary reaction considering the mood of the home fans tonight, who were largely positive and supportive and who got fully behind the side in the brief periods when Barnsley had sustained pressure.”
I think in general the fan base have been very patient with Mick and the team. Micks response to the Hull game, which was more about a ‘resigned humour’ was completely over the top.
The thing that Mick has failed to address or understood is the strength of feeling against the style and quality of play. |  |
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 05:01 - Apr 11 with 4325 views | heavyweight |
Thanks for your thoughts on the game Harry.
Did you, in retrospect, see any indication that the players knew it was Micks last game?
I have I'm afraid got slightly cynical of Mick's selections and wonder also whether Cotter would have made his debut if it wasn't his last game. Perhaps one last chance to rescue his "brand" by playing a debutant and two wingers in his final match?
It is clear now that Mick really wanted to go a week ago, but something/someone persuaded him to stay on for an extra couple of matches. |  | | |
| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 07:23 - Apr 11 with 3997 views | bracknell_blue |
Great to chat with you and the Barnsley fan in the Greyhound before the game. You football knowledge is encyclopaedic! |  |
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 07:36 - Apr 11 with 3938 views | christiand |
I'm certainly not rejoicing in the news of MM's departure, but for me it certainly feels like a black cloud has finally been lifted from PR. This situation was never going to end well and if ME and MM ever believed it was a good idea, I'm flabbergasted. It just wasn't healthy for all concerned and finally someone has at least seen sense. I wish MM all the best for the future and thank him for what he has done, however now the club can finally move on and we can hopefully get back to the football traditions that are more in keeping with Ipswich Town. I am hoping to see a few of the young guns blossom under the right guidance and coaching. [Post edited 11 Apr 2018 7:44]
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 07:45 - Apr 11 with 3886 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Ex Barnsley miners and their families are generally the salt of the earth types...(especially when it comes to mock Thatcher burials!)
Great write up as ever although I think I may have even nore sympathy for Mick's reactions than yourself.
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 07:47 - Apr 11 with 3867 views | TractorWood |
| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 02:25 - Apr 11 by HurleyBurley |
Not everyone has the patience to make it all the way down to the end of these longer match reports, so please allow me Harry, to pull out what I believe to be the key paragraph now that Mick has gone:
"All of which takes us back to Marcus Evans, who in so many ways has been able to hide behind Mick and let him catch the bullets. This isn’t just about appointing a new manager now. It’s about showing some leadership, grabbing hold of the pikestaff and charting a positive and confident direction for the club. This sense of drift has gone on for too long now, Marcus. It really is over to you…. " |
I tend to just read Harry's last paragraph in his match reports.  |  |
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 07:47 - Apr 11 with 3873 views | Steve_M |
Shame I didn't make it back in time to get to the 'Hound pre-match then.
I thought it was a decent performance, in part because Barnsley attacked instead of sitting back like so many teams do here. As a result there was more space to attack into. Also their central defenders weren't very good.
That said, we were much more on the front-foot than in far too many recent home matches, two genuine wingbacks and the Connolly-Skuse axis looking to move the ball well. I thought we struggled with Carayol in the first half, he was out of the game too much, and a second striker would have given Waghorn the space he clearly craved.
We were better in the second half, the early goal helped - and Jonas took that superbly - but we also found more space as Barnsley pushed forward. I don't think it was a coincidence that that was Celina's best game for months, he just hasn't had that space in congested midfield battles.
Given I was in two minds about going mid-morning then I'm glad I did. An enjoyable performance, another impressive debut this season and a nice goal to win it.
On Mick, I don't blame him for that reaction. Saturday was horrible and the reaction to the Cotter substitution (given it was five minutes after we had taken the lead was pathetic). Yes, he takes some of the blame for the overall deterioration but there's been no need for such bitterness from fans since it was announced he was leaving. He never was the biggest problem at this football cub.
Evans has no plan for the club, no feel for the club and has let McCarthy take the heat whilst holding the club together over the past few years. The utter mess we were in under Keane and Jewell could easily return with the wrong appointment. [Post edited 11 Apr 2018 8:13]
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 08:01 - Apr 11 with 3813 views | powinswitch |
As ever Harry an excellent piece.
The lack of club leadership while the relationship between manager and fans and vice versa deteriorate to irretrievable depths is a huge concern. McCarthy’s initial outstanding work, has progressed to a legacy which includes a much better squad that he inherited, a significantly better base to build on than he started with, a real good blend of exciting youth and experience, a divided fan base, and apparently key players who may leave because the manager has gone.
Let’s get the blood letting between inners and others, snowflakes and numbskulls done and dusted quickly. Unfortunately I suspect that won’t happen as personal vendettas between fans stretch out forever more. We need somebody like Terry Butcher, a football man with ITFC running through his veins to step forward, not as manager, but a short term bridge between fans and owner to galvanise and unite the fans behind the club. Cos whatever our view of a former manager or whatever else divides us, we need a united fan base to get behind every facet of the club quickly.
As a final note, I can’t see that leadership coming over the hill anytime soon. | | | |
| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 08:07 - Apr 11 with 3774 views | sparks |
| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 08:01 - Apr 11 by powinswitch |
As ever Harry an excellent piece.
The lack of club leadership while the relationship between manager and fans and vice versa deteriorate to irretrievable depths is a huge concern. McCarthy’s initial outstanding work, has progressed to a legacy which includes a much better squad that he inherited, a significantly better base to build on than he started with, a real good blend of exciting youth and experience, a divided fan base, and apparently key players who may leave because the manager has gone.
Let’s get the blood letting between inners and others, snowflakes and numbskulls done and dusted quickly. Unfortunately I suspect that won’t happen as personal vendettas between fans stretch out forever more. We need somebody like Terry Butcher, a football man with ITFC running through his veins to step forward, not as manager, but a short term bridge between fans and owner to galvanise and unite the fans behind the club. Cos whatever our view of a former manager or whatever else divides us, we need a united fan base to get behind every facet of the club quickly.
As a final note, I can’t see that leadership coming over the hill anytime soon. |
Penultimate segment spot on Harry. Unprofessional and, I have to suspect, either recklessly or delibertaely (and spitefully) damaging to the team and club. I was talking about this with our mutual acquaintance on Saturday and last night. MM seems to have this effect on a chunk of support by the time he leaves a club and almost seems to actively court it. |  |
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 09:01 - Apr 11 with 3654 views | ITFC_Forever |
The Busy One hitting the nail on the head with unerring accuracy once again.
Hard to add anything to that to be honest. |  |
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 09:39 - Apr 11 with 3552 views | No9 |
Thanks for that Harry. We shouldn't forget two things 1/ MM always said he understood the 'gig' when he signed up & 2/ he has been well rewarded for fronting up the playing side at PR.
Unfortunately your last but one para indicates MM's shortcoming & one which I believe has been his downfall in the past. | | | |
| (No subject) (n/t) on 09:53 - Apr 11 with 3498 views | HarryfromBath |
Edit: I typed responses to several of the above posts only for the hotel wi-fi to go down and lose the text. I will log in from a more reliable source and reply to some of these replies later. Many apologies.
#OnTheWarpath [Post edited 11 Apr 2018 9:59]
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 10:01 - Apr 11 with 3469 views | Swansea_Blue |
| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 02:25 - Apr 11 by HurleyBurley |
Not everyone has the patience to make it all the way down to the end of these longer match reports, so please allow me Harry, to pull out what I believe to be the key paragraph now that Mick has gone:
"All of which takes us back to Marcus Evans, who in so many ways has been able to hide behind Mick and let him catch the bullets. This isn’t just about appointing a new manager now. It’s about showing some leadership, grabbing hold of the pikestaff and charting a positive and confident direction for the club. This sense of drift has gone on for too long now, Marcus. It really is over to you…. " |
They should have the patience. It's a cracking report that. I'd encourage anyone to make the time to read it either to get a flavour of how the game went if you weren't there or to reminisce if you were.
Quality, quality stuff Harry  |  |
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| (No subject) (n/t) on 14:22 - Apr 11 with 3289 views | HarryfromBath |
| (No subject) (n/t) on 09:53 - Apr 11 by HarryfromBath |
Edit: I typed responses to several of the above posts only for the hotel wi-fi to go down and lose the text. I will log in from a more reliable source and reply to some of these replies later. Many apologies.
#OnTheWarpath [Post edited 11 Apr 2018 9:59]
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Having found a reliable wi-fi connection….
Heavyweight, I picked up nothing watching the game or the players’ reactions at full-time to suggest that they had any inkling that tonight was Mick’s last waltz. There were the usual handshakes and hugs at full time for players from both sides and the officials. It helped to accentuate the sense of surprise when the news of Mick’s departure came through on the radio.
BankDebsterSlave, we played Barnsley in a league game shortly after Margaret Thatcher died and I spent time digging around on their forum. Whereas Phil wisely decided to excise some outspoken threads on our message-board, the Tykes’ forum was no-holds-barred. Barnsley fans are peaceable and friendly, but their anger with Thatcher was palpable.
Steve, you would have loved the pre-match chat in the Greyhound. The Barnsley fan, a retired chap called Alan, was knowledgeable and friendly and he had none of the arrogance found with Leeds or Sheffield United fans. I know they had a volte-face over Heckingbottom but I hope they stay up this season. Their magnanimity after the 2000 Play Off Final was in no way misplaced.
That said, the Tykes didn’t look to be on Birmingham’s level organizationally or quality-wise and our front three will have fewer easier Championship games. Zeki Fryers was also a perfect opening opposite number for Cotter and I felt Ward exposed him far more ruthlessly when he appeared after an hour.
I was worried early on when Barnsley started brightly that Skuse and Connolly might be outgunned by Barnsley’s central three but this didn’t happen. Skuse’s positioning and Connolly's clever tempo-building passes gave us a foothold in the middle and facilitated our attacking strength out wide.
I felt that Carayol took time to get into the rhythm of the game, and it was only after his clever flick to Waghorn ahead of Celina’s miss and his lung-bursting run shortly afterwards that he really began to establish himself. Confidence may be a part of this but our strongest period of the game matched his strongest period of the game most closely before he eventually tired.
I suppose Mick’s reaction needs to be measured in a wider context than last night’s crowd. I wasn’t at Brentford but felt that his response to the evening’s broadly supportive gathering was inappropriate. There is no doubt that there was a tangible breakdown in trust between him and the fans given the “what’s he up to” suspicious reaction to Cotter’s withdrawal and this confirmed what we all knew.
My annoyance was around the risk that the media, who can go for simplistic generalizations, would stereotype this as Mick’s being hounded out. This would be a complete misrepresentation and very unfair to a group of supporters who continue to be patient as a whole. Mick does hold grudges, but I was taken aback at the extent to which this may hold true. It also undermines his good work.
As for Evans, I profoundly share your concerns. It is now just him and us in the same boat and that is not a good boat to be in. I hope he gets this right and especially that he doesn’t procrastinate, given that every other Championship team is already thinking about the summer window. I want to see some clear, confident thinking behind his decisions and I want to see this properly communicated.
Tendring Blue and powinswitch — I really hope that we can unite as a fan base and just as equally protect the bond between the dressing room and the supporters. These are dangerous times for the club. A poor managerial appointment coupled with poor communication between the club and the fans could reinforce the sense of a loss of direction and confusion. We badly need leadership now. [Post edited 11 Apr 2018 14:42]
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| An Irretrievable Breakdown — Reflections on Tonight’s Win Over Barnsley on 16:44 - Apr 11 with 3123 views | Ryorry |
Another brilliant, beautifully written piece - thank you Harry, and totally concur with your and Mrs HfB's comments re MM & ME.
Some excellent comments followed from others too  |  |
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