McCarthy: Mings is Different Class
Tuesday, 8th Oct 2013 06:00

Left-back Tyrone Mings was back in action for the Blues as a late sub at Sheffield Wednesday having been out since suffering a knee injury at Reading on the opening day of the season with manager Mick McCarthy delighted to have the 20-year-old, who will play for the U21s at Millwall today, available again.

“Mings is different class. He’s come back and trained like he hasn’t been away, he’s a fabulous guy,” enthused the Blues boss.

“To play for 70 minutes with a medial ligament injury which puts you out for eight weeks, how do you do that?”

The former Southampton trainee, who has made two Blues starts as well as his brief weekend sub appearance, was signed in December from non-league Chippenham Town, where he had been playing alongside former U18s coach Russell Osman’s son Toby.

McCarthy recalls being immediately impressed with the 6ft 3in tall defender after Osman senior got him in for a trial: “We got the heads-up on him from Russell Osman. I remember I walked through the training ground with Russell chatting about him.

“We walked across, I was talking and he went into one header, a tackle and a pass, all down this side. We hadn’t even got to the pitch and I said ‘I’ll sign him now, just on what I’ve seen’.

“And I remember, later on I took him off. He went into a tackle and some geezer left his foot for him and he kicked right through him, so I took him off. It was after about 70 minutes.

“He came off and he was chewing away. I said ‘What’s up with you?’. He said ‘I don’t want to come off’ and I said ‘I want to sign you, that’s why I’m taking you off. You’re in. You’ve got a knock and I want to sign you’. But he was still grumbling and still didn’t want to come off!”

McCarthy has a history of looking beyond the Football League for players at his previous clubs with a number of them making the grade.

“We’ve done well with them, the Michael Kightlys of this world,” he said, the winger having joined Wolves from Grays Athletic during the Town boss’s time in charge at Molineux.

“We had to pay for some, Dean Whitehead and Liam Lawrence at Sunderland, we got Stephen Ward from Ireland when we were at Wolves.

“Daryl Murphy, we signed him from Waterford when we were at Sunderland for not a lot of money and he’s had a good career. It’s nice when it works, and you’re not gambling too much of the club’s money.”

In addition to Mings, who extended his Town contract until at least 2015 earlier in the season, McCarthy brought in another Waterford United man Jack Doherty and ex-Crawley youngster Jordan Adekunle in the summer, while 19-year-old Kingstonian midfielder Dan Sweeney is currently on trial at Playford Road, hoping to make a similar impression on the Blues boss.

Photo: Action Images

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sereneblue added 07:52 - Oct 8 I am more than sure Mings will be a great left back. However is MM just smoothing the way for Cressell's departure?
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Michael11 added 08:36 - Oct 8 @sereneblue I agree. I think he's filling Mings with confidence in case he suddenly has to step in for Cresswell. If he really thinks Mings is that good then i'd like to see him cone into the side and push Cresswell to left wing.
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Karlosfandangal added 08:37 - Oct 8 The only way we will keep Cresswell is if we go up, can see him being here this season but think we will be lucky to hold on to him in the summer. Would like to think that Mr Evans would not push MM in to selling any of his players, would like it to be MM decision who stayed and who left.
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tractorboyz82 added 08:56 - Oct 8 He hasn't got cressys creativity but against reading he was quality won headers over lapped was solid if he plays like that every week and cresswell is sold then it wouldn't hert so much I'd love to see mings at lb and cressy at lm
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bontcho added 09:10 - Oct 8

I'm pretty sure Cresswell will go in January or in the summer. And this is how it should be. We scouted him well and now we pass him on to the Premier League. Then we should use that money to pay off a little debt, get a few other young promising players in (well scouted) and invest in the academy. And the circle of a well run club is complete. We should be looking to that model more than experience pros (who have their place but you don't need too many, which we did a couple of years back). Also it encourages players like Mings that if they do well they can get that big move if ITFC don't get promoted.

Oh and I like Mings too. In the end we all know the kid gives his all and is a credit to his profession on and off the pitch. May be those coming through non league appreciate their chance more? May be we should loan out our kids to Lowestoft, Bury and Leiston to give them a sense of realism?

Davin44 added 09:21 - Oct 8 bontcho sorry i have to disagree, with all the money we have saved we do NOT need to sell cresswell. i agree we should look to the lower leagues but if we can we need to keep our best players not become prem feeder club.
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dirtyboy added 10:05 - Oct 8 Davin, like it or not, clubs like us will have to sell players on for a profit when they can. You simply cannot rely on an owner, it's not a sustainable business model. If ME ups sticks and leaves, we need to be well run and not loss making otherwise we'll end up down the pan. Unless we reach the PL. That's a game changer.
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spanishblue added 10:21 - Oct 8 Well said dirtyboy that's 95% of clubs it's a shame but sad fact of life
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MaySixth added 10:22 - Oct 8 Cresswell, Berra and McGoldrick are our three Premiership quality players. You can't stop anyone moving on to a higher level but if we lose any of those three to injury/transfer then it's a blow to us.
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backwiththeboysagain added 12:31 - Oct 8 If we're close to the top of the league come January we may well keep Cresswell, otherwise I fear he'll be off to Villa.
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