Town boss Mick McCarthy says it’s his job to manage his team over a 46-game season and his decision to rest his regular starting XI for Tuesday’s FA Cup replay at Portsmouth ensures that they are fresher for today’s crucial game away against fellow play-off challengers Birmingham, even if he can’t guarantee a positive result.

McCarthy famously made 10 changes to his Wolves team when they travelled to Old Trafford and lost 3-0 in December 2009 three days after a 1-0 win at Tottenham, a move which saw his former club fined £25,000 by the Premier League.

Similarly, he switched his entire Town side for the 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat at Manchester United in September.

“I’ve done it in the past,” McCarthy said reflecting on Tuesday’s line-up. “I still go back to the time at Wolves when I changed the team when I went to Manchester United and we’d played Spurs away and we beat them, we played Manchester United away and lost 3-0 and we beat Burnley at home [2-0].

“And to this day I still say that if somebody offers you six points from Spurs away, Man United away and Burnley at home, you’d take it.

“I had to manage that process and it was the right thing to do. It put me under helluva lot of pressure playing Burnley, I have to tell you!”

On Tuesday he says his biggest disappointment was that the team which played didn’t give a better account of themselves in front of the 796 Town supporters who made the trip to Hampshire.

“I felt more for our fans that they hadn’t seen our youngsters play better and have a better performance and give them more of a threat and a scare than we did,” he said. “That was what frustrated and annoyed me.

“Believe me, I don’t like doing that, and I’m the last person to take liberties with anybody. But I’m not going to take liberties with Birmingham either.

“And that is my job, to manage the team over 46 games and try and get the best out of them, which I think I’ve managed to do pretty well.

“I’ve got to do that physically as well as emotionally and mentally, that’s part of my job.”

He says the first-teamers would have been more than happy to play at Fratton Park had they been asked to.

“I think as a footballer I wanted to play all the time,” he added. “I definitely played in a different era, I could roll the ball back to the goalkeeper for five minutes if I wanted to and he could pick it up and I could have a breather. There was a helluva difference there.

“After a games on Tuesday and Saturday last week when I think they put in such an effort, they put in a helluva lot of effort - which they do every week, to be fair - I was asked, if they can keep going at full pace. I would say so on Saturday because they didn’t all play on Tuesday.

“And there’s another element to that as well. As much as I would have loved to have won the cup game, the worst thing that could possibly have happened to us on Tuesday night was going to extra-time and penalties and getting back here at half-past three in the morning and then me having to whip them on Friday to go up there.

“I can’t guarantee that we’re going to beat Birmingham or what we’re going to do, but I can guarantee you that we’re going to be a lot fresher, a lot fitter and a lot more able to play against a really tough Birmingham side. I believe that is my job, to manage that, that is part of it.”

McCarthy believes much has changed since his time as a player, in the days before players were rested for cup games, and believes games are more physically demanding now.

“We all played over the Christmas period,” he recalled. “We didn’t have sports scientists. There are some clubs who have sports scientists who tell them not to run them and that you’ve got to be careful with them. We work them hard, we work them hard in training.

“We did play all the time, but there weren’t six or eight balls around the pitch so that when you booted it in the stand it didn’t come back.

“You kicked it into your own fans when you were 1-0 up at the end of a game and they kept it throwing it up and down the pitch.

“Now you do that and it’s back on, there’s multi-ball at a lot of stadiums. You can’t roll it back to the keeper.

“It’s a quicker game, although it’s still the same game, fundamentally - we have to have it and put it in their net, get it off them and stop them putting it in our net.

“All those things are the same, but it is different, there’s no question. The offside rule. I could step up and it didn’t matter where he was I could play him offside if they played the ball forward.

“It didn’t matter if he was interfering with play, he could be sat on his bum injured and he was still offside.

“You could get so many more stoppages. You could throw it back to the goalkeeper, you could pass it back, run up, go back.

“Of course it annoyed all the crowd. You can’t do that now. It is far more physically demanding, definitely.”

McCarthy agrees that if Town make the top six then the criticism regarding his team selection will be forgotten.

“Yes, I know, but if we don’t they’ll look back on the FA Cup and we did this and we did that,” he said. “That’s the job, getting more decisions right than wrong.”

He added: “Nothing guarantees you a result but I’ve a fair bit of experience in knowing how to manage the team and knowing how to get the best out of them.

“Let’s hope it works and we’ll be sat here and talking about it and there’ll be all sorts of other discussions going on.”

Photo: Action Images

SheptonMalletBlue added 12:14 - Jan 23 Bang on Keaneish!!
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Granthamblue62 added 12:40 - Jan 23 Christiand - I totally agree with you. Few people seem to have picked up on the news that Jonny Williams has gone to MK Dons - MK Dons!! A team whose sole ambition is probably just to remain in this division. I am seething that we havent even tried to get him in. It was plainly obvious that whilst at Town he made us a different prospect. He is the type of player that can turn a game - can that be said of any of our current midfielders? Milne says there is money to spend, the Mings cash for a start. MM claims there is no one out there better than he has - well what about Williams then, head and shoulders better than what we've got. We didnt strengthen a year ago, and we wont now. So, another year of 2nd tier football awaits until this club makes their ambition known by investing in real quality. I trust MM to do that better than Burley last time around, but this stubborness of his is self-defeating.

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TimmyH added 12:43 - Jan 23 @stormypetrel - so that business not a charity ethic didn't stop him collecting that easy £1M bonus when he kept us from 'certain' relegation a few seasons back? (which was far from a done thing in November). Personally feel your looking far far too deeply into what you think Mick is now doing for the club and supposedly what others haven't considered other than the usual tasks of management in training/contracts and getting results on the pitch. But do agree with you regards the demise of the FA Cup due to other forces.

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craigyboy10 added 13:33 - Jan 23 Everyones has there opinions it annoys me that people say we ain't good enough for the top six. Just because our style of football. We are where we are for a reason.. It's not about how you play it's about the point tally at the end of the season. If we go up this year which I think is more possible than last year.. Will people be moaning about our playing style then. No..

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Bob7881 added 13:44 - Jan 23 Ipswich Town FC was bought purely as an advertising vehicle for the Evans Empire sadly for him his judgment in managers has let him down to get to the promised Land of the Premier league. Evans had his fingers burnt with Magilton, Keane, Jewell and Clegg. Hes Learnt his lesson, MM has done a brilliant job with no large transfer fees paid. I make no secret that i don't attend matches because the football is dross in instead travel around Europe visiting the great stadiums and being entertained also the ticket prices are lower. ITFC will always be my club im happy to live with the memories of the Sir Bobbys, Burleys and even Joe Royels teams . If people on here accept the quality of football currently played im pleased for you. As much as i would love to see ITFC in the premier League with the current squad we would be a laughing stock. I have spent absolute thousands over the years following Town so i feel i am entitled to an opinion muppets on here making statements about being informed etc make me laugh football has always been about passion and wanting the best for your club. Anyone who has a clue about football finance knows to by a football club in the modern day is black hole for their money. Sound business judgement dosent even come into it. The biggest clubs are owned by men with bigger egos. Im happy to have lived in an era when you could meet yor heros after the game and have beer with them. If MM gets us up i'l be the first to congratulate him but i still wont be at the games.

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