McCarthy: Out of Form Players Need to Get Back to Basics Saturday, 17th Oct 2015 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy says going back to basics was his approach when trying to play himself back into form during his playing days, and that's his advice to those in his team currently not at the top of their game. McCarthy, who is expected to make one or two changes to his side for today's game against Huddersfield, says he wasn’t often dropped during his career with managers usually considering him a first-choice defender, knowing that he would ultimately get back to his best, and he has learnt from their examples and his experiences. “I can remember being left out at Barnsley because I’d been suspended for two games and Nicky Law got in and played well and I was left out of the team,” he recalled. “I subsequently ended up leaving Barnsley, so you can tell how I felt about that one! But I had been Player of the Year for three years on the spin and played 272 games in six years, so I’d had a pretty good run. “I learnt from my time with Ireland more than anything with Jack Charlton, and Manchester City with Billy McNeill. “When I’d had a tough time, they knew who the best defender was. Sometimes you leave them out and [then] you’ve got to go back to Plan A and it reveals itself that they are your best players. “I’ve learnt loads of things, I make my decisions based on everything I’ve learnt over my career, which has been a pretty long time.” Striker Daryl Murphy is yet to score this season and it’s the back to Plan A approach he recommends for last season’s 27-goal Championship top scorer. “He’s worked this morning [Friday] with TC on the training ground in his finishing drills. Him, Didzy, Freddie, Brett, Ainsley and Tommy Oar were all excellent, we were watching them. “So you’ve got to keep doing that. I think you’ve got to maintain the belief in yourself. I talked about me not being left out at Manchester City. I tried everything, training harder, training less, having a beer, not having a beer, changing my diet. “I tried everything and it came down to one game at Oxford playing against Joe Cooke and I decided I wasn’t even going to try and play, it was just going to be head it and kick it and snarl and bite. “I had to get back to basics and if that’s me heading, kicking, tackling and doing nothing else, Murph has to get back to what he does, his running channels, sticking it, being brutally tough against people, flicking things on and doing all the dirty stuff that they all did last season. “And then you’ll get one. He can’t do anything about any chances he’s had, all he can do is score the next one, so there’s no point in worrying about the ones that have gone by, but I don’t think he’s had that many chances this season. “Sometimes you have to go right back, strip it all the way back to basics. Did Murph get 27 goals last season because he was playing like Messi? No, he didn’t. He got them because he ran across people and he got his head on things. “You get a couple of scruffy ones and the good ones start coming then. Then you start getting through. Probably for all of us, the whole team, don’t worry about playing and how you play and looking good when you’re playing. “Get in about the opposition, get in on the front foot, get in a position of strength in a game and you’ll get chances and you’ll be a better player for it.” Regarding Murphy's current lack of goals, he added: “We know it happens, I had a similar period, I once went 122 games without scoring!” The Blues boss says he’s been pleased with the way central midfielders Jonathan Douglas and Cole Skuse have combined, feeling that the summer signing from Brentford has played a different role since moving to Portman Road. “I think whoever plays with Skusey generally plays well,” he said. “But I do think Dougie and Skusey have been good. “We’ve had the wingers on the pitch and the two centre forwards and probably tried to hold the two midfield players a little bit and maybe that’s something we can look at because he’s got a goal in him, Dougie. But I think their partnership has been excellent. “[At Brentford last year] they played in a three, [Toumani] Diagouraga sat and Dougie ran on with whoever he was playing with and I think he got eight goals last season. It is different, he’s playing in a two and not in a three.” The Town boss says he’s hoping his side make a strong start against the Terriers. While gaining an early lead would be ideal, not conceding in the opening minutes, as has happened on a number of recent occasions, is perhaps more important. “A good start is if we score but it would nice not to be chasing it, that’s what we don’t want to be doing,” he added. “We can’t keep chasing it. We’ve played well on the back of conceding goals. Sometimes you play well because the opposition are sat in and get penned in and you think you’ve got a lot of the ball but the reality is it’s nonsense. We don’t want to be behind and that’s down to the whole team.”
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