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McCarthy Weighing Up Changes
Monday, 26th Aug 2013 06:00

Boss Mick McCarthy has admitted he is considering making changes to his side ahead of next week’s trip to Birmingham after falling to a third Championship defeat in four games at home to Leeds on Saturday. The visitors hit back via Luke Varney and Ross McCormack to win 2-1 after David McGoldrick had put Town in front during a bright opening spell.

Aside from Tyrone Mings replacing the injured Aaron Cresswell in the opening game at Reading, McCarthy has fielded an unchanged XI in all Town’s league games so far, but that might not be the case at St Andrew’s.

“I’ve kept faith for four games, there have been virtually no changes,” the Town manager said.

“I’ve said to the players that I believe in having faith in them and we’ve played well enough. But once you’ve lost three out of four, that maybe changes that thought process slightly. It does, no question, and that’s all of them.”

McCarthy kept his squad in their dressing room for a lengthy spell after the match and says he gave them a pat on the back and a kick up the backside: “A little bit of both I guess, because we were excellent for parts of that game.

“I thought excellent tactically, certainly in the first half, the way we played and created enough chances. So there’s an arm around the shoulder and a well done for that.

“But there’s a kick up the backside for not being ruthless enough when we’ve played as well as we have and not getting a second goal.”

While feeling Varney’s equaliser was unlucky, the ball deflecting into the striker’s path with the initial shot going nowhere, he felt a catalogue of errors led to McCormack’s second Leeds goal, not least from keeper Scott Loach.


“We made a mistake with the pass in the midfield, we made a mistake letting him come inside and shoot,” he said.

“Tiny little mistakes but all that could have been repaired but Loachy has come in and held his hands up. He’s got no option, he should have stopped it.

“I’m not one for pointing the finger at players, but if it’s as blatant as that, he comes in and coughs it. But there could have been a lot done to it before it got to him.

“There was a bit of a kick up the backside because we didn’t finish it off when we should have done and a bit of an arm around them because they played as well as they did, they worked as hard as they did and in the last 25 minutes they’ve had corner after corner and attack after attack but to no avail.”

The Blues boss admitted that he was frustrated that once again his side played well but without picking up any points: “It becomes a bit of a recurring theme that becomes a bit boring, that we played well and got beaten.

“I’m not into that. But if you play well in more games than not, you’ve got more chance of getting results.”

However, he did feel there were pluses in the display: “There were lots of positives in that game, David McGoldrick was excellent again and scored a really good goal.

“It’s lovely that he’s got off the mark because he’d been playing well, but as we all know, strikers thrive on putting the ball in the net.”

With the transfer window closing a week today, McCarthy says he has received no interest in left-back Aaron Cresswell: “We’ve never had a bid, never had a bid at all. Nothing at all, zero, zilch, zippo, diddly squat. Not spoken to anybody about him and if they ring up I’ll speak to them.

“And if they make a bid to me, I’ll tell Marcus Evans, the owner, and that’s what makes the world go round.”

The Town manager, who reiterated that he currently has no intention of adding to his squad, says he doesn’t get overly concerned about the prospect of a player moving on: “I don’t worry about it because there’s no point. I don’t get into that at all, worrying about it.

“If somebody comes in and offers a huge chunk of money for somebody and the deal is right, whether it’s right for the club or the player, we’ve seen that happen at a higher level than us. It’s what makes the world goes round.

“But I’m not looking to get shot of any of them, I’ve only got 20, so I certainly don’t want to be losing any of them.”

Meanwhile, academy prospect Andre Dozzell, the 14-year-old son of former Blue and current youth coach Jason, has signed up with Jonathan Barnett's Stellar Management agency.

Dozzell junior, who has been eyed by the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton, has already agreed a two-year scholarship with the Blues which starts when he is 16.


Photo: Action Images



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bluesnightorg added 06:31 - Aug 26
Arm around shoulder, kick up backside, arm around, kick up backside... I rather fear that this post-match yoga/twister routine may lead to injuries. Not sensible with such a small squad.
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Len_Brennan added 06:42 - Aug 26
Changes are required, I'm just not sure we have the answers in the squad of 20 that Mick keeps saying he is happy with.
Quite a few of us have been expressing doubts about Loach as a number 1 since last year and if he wasn't a fan of the club he would have gotten a much harder time from others. I would not be against a loan move (or permanent if possible) for Henderson. Gerken looks alright, but no better than Loach.
I still think we should go for Stearman as he is a quality defender & at an age that would give value for a few years & a possible transfer fee when he'd move on. I do like Hewitt but he is better as an attacking full back & would even play him right wing ahead of Carlos at the moment.
McGoldrick is a must up front, but neither Murphy nor Nouble is the right type of partner for him. I do think a fit Taylor in behind would work, but still believe an out & out finisher is needed. A Billy Sharpe or Ebanks-Blake type, like DJ Campbell last season. I wonder if we looked at the wrong Bristol City players & ignored Sam Baldock, who would also do the job.
Finally, we have to be more creative in midfield. Unfortunately Skuse & Hyam is not the answer, especially when we need to get something out of a game. Hopefully a fit Wordsworth will get a run of games soon.
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Jimmy86 added 07:13 - Aug 26
Len brennan I agree with the majority of your post apart from bringing henderson back. Whilst he did improve during his spell with us he wasnt that much better than loach. Loach just needs to command his box a bit better and he would be a good keeper. Baffles me that people say loach aint good enough but seem to be so blinkered by the very limited, but localboy luke hyam. If he wasnt 1 of our own he would get a lot of stick. He isnt forward thinking or creative enough, but hey ho, onwards and upwards
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Popeye added 07:46 - Aug 26
Loach,Hewitt and Hyam all at risk of being dropped. Like to see MM sign another goalie on loan this week (Henderson?). Bit concerned about Dozzell being represented by Barnett though, always keen to see his players move on to bigger clubs!
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Karlosfandangal added 08:02 - Aug 26
I been reading on here about we must play Loach ever since we signed him.
He is a Ipswich lad loves the club, we don't need Henderson etc.
Yet against Leeds the north stands treatment of Loach was a disgrace, the lads confidence must be quite low
Hate to think what the Leeds fans throught.
So Loach is the new player to boo and we go on about changes are needed to turn the club round,
Think some mirror are needed so some of the fans can take a look at themself first
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Karlosfandangal added 08:13 - Aug 26
All the Peterborough fans say Taylor is very selfish and not a team player, have never seen him play so would not know, but sometimes a selfish player up front could be a good thing, however who would be our target man if we played Taylor McGoldrick up front
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bedsitfc added 08:34 - Aug 26
I think Tabb inside in place of hyam, Anderson on the right and Wordsworth or Murphy on the left if Taylor fit.
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bluefeast added 08:49 - Aug 26
There will be changes for sure . Fact is we cant stay with the same team .It plays well but its clear energy levels drop dramatically and then mentally concentration becomes an issue. Look at Reading QPR games ,played well but 2nd half goals meant losing the game. Hewit made an error in the lead up to the leeds game ,but as good a prospect he is , he is still a young guy learning his trade at this level. Hyam the same , but we know he can play better. The real problem is out wide. Edwards has done nothing , Tabb is a central player not a wide player. Loach does not dominate , I saw so many occasions on Saturday where Smith and Chambers had a go at him for not be commanding. The answers clearly have to be in the current squad. Tunnicliff has to start.
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Dissboyitfc added 08:50 - Aug 26
karlosfandangal...i agree with you about about the fact we couldnt play taylor with mcgoldrick as we need a target man, i would like to see taylor murphy have a game or 2 together.

Bit concerned about 14 year olds having agents, his dad can offer the right advice at this stage of his career... coyb
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chevvymalc added 09:11 - Aug 26
come on Loach makes one mistake and he,s crucified its the other end the problem lies 4 games and 3 goals scored by ipswich players only 1 by a forward. No matter what the final score is the idea is to score more then the opposition not forgetting thats what they want as well so a shuffle round up front a bit of patience by us the fans because at times they have shown a bit of class and lets start our judgement April/ May time.
I will be at Birmingham Saturday keeping the faith.
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WeirdFishes added 09:24 - Aug 26
There's something fundamentally wrong with a 14 year old having an agent.
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WeirdFishes added 09:24 - Aug 26
There's something fundamentally wrong with a 14 year old having an agent.
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MathieandMarshall added 09:26 - Aug 26
Jonathan Barnett! Same made who engineered Richard Wrights move too early in his career. Won't be seeing much of young Dozell in a Town shirt then if Barnett sees a chance to make some £££s elsewhere
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MathieandMarshall added 09:27 - Aug 26
*same man (not made!)
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Mark added 09:40 - Aug 26
Who will come into the side though from our current squad? Tunnicliffe is the only one I can think of who deserves a chance, as Anderson and Taylor have been poor when brought on as subs. Nouble didn't score in pre-season and was apparently awful at Stevenage, as was Veselli. I'm not sure bringing Berra to disrupt Chambers and Smith would add much. In goal, is Gerken any better than Loach?

What a disappointing start to the season, especially after all the talk of "if only McCarthy has been here from the start of the season" last year!
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cooper4england added 09:49 - Aug 26
Alexharban- not as fundamentally wrong as your picture!
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oldelsworthyfan added 09:50 - Aug 26
Well said Len Brennan.

The experienced Stearman (yes, STEARMAN!) is the man to shore up the defence (any value of Edwards is lost by having to support young Hewitt). This would take much of the pressure off the goalkeeper.

Creativity in midfield is 'a must', so let's see Wordsworth on (at least as a sub until he gets fully fit).

I don't see Murphy or Nouble as being the answer as one of the two men up front. MM has other options with Taylor, a signing or (if desperate) a loanee.
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algarvefan added 09:55 - Aug 26
Loach Hewitt and Hyam have been mentioned as being dropped, the common denominator here is age, they are all young players. All young people make mistakes, we all have, get off their backs and start supporting them! Booing and being abusive to your own players is not a good idea....surprisingly. We will come good, it will take time and these players need to grow in confidence, sticking with players like Tommy Smith has worked for him and us.

Midfield in my opinion needs a tweak maybe Tunnicliffe or Wordsworth BUT we do not need to return to the days of wholesale changes that happened week in and week out under the last 2 idiots. Keep the faith!!!!!
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Sospiri added 10:00 - Aug 26
Yup. Time to replace Hyam with Tunnicliffe, who is more robust, will burst into the box, and will get us goals from midfield. Also be better balance alongside Skuse. I 've never liked seeing players out of their natural position, so would like to see Tabb off the wing. Of course, we have no natural replacement, excepy maybe Anderson, who would have to show more. Without Murphy as a target, we would need to play in a different way, as McGoldrick et al will not get those high balls, but would a be a nice change to see the ball on the ground for a change, IF Mick will tolerate the gamble. But most of all, Mick will need to change team mentality. No more trying to get our noses in front, and then hanging on for a win or a draw. It's horrible to watch, it usually fails, and it won't get us promoted. Time to change Mick.
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RetroBlue added 10:41 - Aug 26
Could we be about to see a diamond formation used ?
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Kesgraveblue57 added 10:52 - Aug 26
The team we have is far better than last years BUT we have nothing as an attacking force, if you make changes up front it will be no better!
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Michael11 added 11:01 - Aug 26
@karlosfandangal

Why do we need a target man? Having Murphy on that pitch is a big reason why we lost on saturday. First 20 minutes we passed the ball lovely and it wouldn't have mattered if we were all 4ft tall the way we bossed it. After their equaliser, we just lumped it to Murphy every time and he didn't win one header all game.

I think Tunnicliffe should play instead of Hyam or Edwards on saturday. I'm a big fan of Hyam but just because he's a home grown fan favourite doesn't mean he shouldn't be dropped if he plays s**t for 4 games. As for Edwards, I just don't understand how he gets in our starting 11 every week. He should NOT be our captain neither. Tunnicliffe brought energy and power to the midfield when he came on and demanded the ball more. Same goes for Loach really, I think us fans have let him off the hook big time because he's a fan. If he supported Coventry for example, would we really have so much patience?

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lezoad added 11:15 - Aug 26
Gerken in!
Tunnicliffe in!
Anderson in!
Taylor in!

Loach out!
Hyam out!
Edwards out!
Murphy out!
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brazil1982 added 11:22 - Aug 26
Wonder if Dozzell Jnr will be as overrated as his father?
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MickMillsTash added 11:43 - Aug 26
I looked at Wikipedia- Murphy has his best goals /game ratio playing for Ipswich 17 in 94 beating his record at Celtic 3 in 19 and Sunderland 14 in 110.
In that sort of form how can you drop him?

If Taylor is fit - physically or mentally I would try him up front, Tabb in the middle, and Murphy left mid. Edwards seems to be the latest boo boys favourite but I thought he was quite good for the first 30 on Saturday, it must be hard playing on the wing with a roll of delivering crosses when no-one from midfield gets in the box and McGoldrick is dropping deep. Edwards does give some cover to Hewitt as well who is learning his trade.
My kids want Jet back
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