Boss Mick McCarthy says owner Marcus Evans remains firmly behind him, despite Town's disappointing season and a significant number of fans calling for a change of manager at Portman Road. He also reiterated his intention to see out his contract with the Blues.

Asked what his message would be to those supporters who believe he is no longer the man to take Town forward, McCarthy said: “You expect me to sit here and argue my corner?”

Pressed further, McCarthy said he’s become increasingly weary of talking with the media about his position, the matter never having been discussed with Evans or club MD Ian Milne.

“Over the last month, and I’ve thought about this actually, [I’ve got] a little bit tired of speaking about my position, my job, and answering questions from you or from anybody else about my position and what I think and what I’m going to do.

“Because I’ve never had that discussion with anybody else, like Marcus or Ian Milne. It’s just other people questioning whether I should be the manager.

“At the Supporters Club AGM, I said to them that my contract runs out in 18 months’ time and I’ll continue to do my best and that’s all that’s ever going to happen.”

Has Evans remained firmly behind him when the two have talked? “I haven’t spoken to him for a couple of days, but in answer to your question, yes, I believe he is, I don’t doubt that.”

He added: “That’s probably the last thing I’ll say about my job and we’ll just see.”

McCarthy said at the end of October that he was in his most difficult spell since taking over at Town in November 2012 with matters not having got any easier since then.

“We’ve hardly been ripping it up," he admitted. "It has been the toughest spell, I don’t think I need to spell that out for anybody.

“If you look at just results and the way it’s gone in the past from 14th, ninth, sixth, seventh, we’re in run of games that we’ve not suffered really in terms of results since my first season here.

“It is the toughest period, but we’ve not been out of games. It’s been crazy really because when we had seven clean sheets out of 11 games we could score, we had all our better players, in inverted commas, our creative, scoring players missing.

“Now we’ve got them back we can’t keep a clean sheet to save our lives, we just keep making mistakes.

“We made two against Rotherham, two against Forest and we made a mistake on Saturday. And it really does make it extremely difficult to get back in the game.

“If you’re not on top of your own game when you’re conceding like we’re doing it makes it doubly difficult.”

Is he concerned about the situation with the Blues yet to record back-to-back victories this season and in 17th only five points off the relegation zone?

“And seven points off the play-offs,” he was quick to point out. “That’s just the way it is. And I look at other teams that are probably on around 30 points, which is not an insurmountable amount for us to get back, five points, that are supposedly having good seasons and doing really well.

“I’m always worried when results aren’t as good as I’d like or performances aren’t as good as I’d like.

“That wouldn’t change if we were in the top six and I thought we were just dropping out of the top six. Yes, I’d like results to be better and we’ll continue to work to do it.”

Given the negativity surrounding the club at present, among supporters at the ground, in the media, on social media such as Twitter, does he feel it’s easy for his players to concentrate?

“I don’t know whether they’re interacting with fans on Twitter or reading [the media], I’ve no idea,” he said.

“If they’ve got any sense, which probably most of them haven’t, they wouldn’t read it and they wouldn’t interact with fans.

“I’ve always tended to find that it’s better to isolate yourself. It’s doesn’t make you feel any better hearing anybody else’s comments because I’ve always felt worse than anybody else could make me feel if I’m not playing well or results have been going badly. That was as a player and it’s the same as a manager.

“Having other people telling you it’s not going well when it’s as plain as the nose on my face it’s not going great, you just don’t need that. It doesn’t make it any easier.

“I didn’t think the atmosphere was bad on Saturday at Portman Road, to be honest, and I thought right to the very end they stayed with us, and coming off after the game.

“But I get it, it’s not going to be the most positive atmosphere in the ground, around the town, in the media, in the local media because everybody wants Ipswich to win, everybody who is an Ipswich fan. Me included.”

Photo: TWTD

hampstead_blue added 09:08 - Dec 13 I am sure the owner does still back him. After all, there is no-one else any good who will do the job under the current constraints. We forget that MM and TC have their hands-tied! He is one of the best managers out of the Prem, no doubt. However, when he is forced to sign players like Varney, Best, Douglas, we all blame him! If he had a better budget them of course we would be in a better place. Having defended him, I do think it is rather stale and either we get a truly top class Champ striker and Central Midfielder, or he has to go.

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grubbyoik added 09:14 - Dec 13 SHUT THE F@@K UP MCCARTHY.. WE VE HEARD ENOUGH FROM YOU.. I WANT TO HERE WHAT MR EVANS HAS TO SAY ON THE CURRENT SITUATION.. .. SO SOME KIND OF REACTION.. ANY KIND OF REACTION.. BECAUSE SKIPPY HAS WELL AND TRUELY FALLEN DOWN THE MINE SHAFT DONT YOU THINK
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Mick_Mills_Tache added 09:17 - Dec 13 Burnzee1991, you're having a laugh! I won't regret anything when he eventually goes. I never wanted him here in the first place as he's really not that good of a manager! Yes, he has a couple of promotions on his CV but then so did Jewell and Keane...Mick also has 3 relegations tied to him - Millwall, Sunderland and Wolves. He's outdated and the game has moved on big time and left him behind. A dip in form? Mighty long dip, don't you think? It's been like this for the past 2 years or so. As for competitive, how are we exactly competitive? Scraping draws against the likes of Rotherham (certain to go down), Cardiff, Blackburn. Getting a hiding from Newcastle, Brentford and Forest. Being 5 points off the relegation places and not scoring anywhere near enough goals. You call that competitive? If we gave Mick funds, nothing would improve. He has better, more creative players at his disposal and yet we still play dire hoofball to a target man that has been gone 4 months. He still believes Douglas and Skuse are better than Bishop and Williams. We've had two really poor performances on the trot and yet he'll still pick the same team tonight to go and put in another poor performance. Nothing changes, it's too predictable.

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Juggsy added 09:23 - Dec 13 The f@ckwit admits to several mistakes being made per game yet is incapable of dropping those who make the same mistakes over and over again. Instil some fear for their places into the players and they might up their game a bit; too many players know they won't get dropped whatever happens.
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iaintaylorx added 09:28 - Dec 13 Currie10 and Burnzee1991, are you two sane? Throwing minus votes around like there's no tomorrow! How can you agree with Mick and support his decisions!??!
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dirtyboy added 09:43 - Dec 13 How different our season would look with a 15 goal a season striker....simple at that.
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brittaniaman added 09:51 - Dec 13 As I have said before he will still be here this time next year due to his Arrogance and Delusions, wether there will be many Fans, we will wait and see ?? As for saying the fans were with him at the end of the game, Did he not hear the Boos ???? they were for HIM. As for saying Bishop is injured Well it will make no Difference because he only plays him for TEN minutes, Hardly time to get his second breath !!!! All we can say is that 1 year of his extension has gone.

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legal_blue added 09:54 - Dec 13 It's not Mick that needs to go, it's Marcus Evans who needs to properly fund the team. Mick can't do any more with the hand he's been given. He has not decided to go for loans and freebies, that's all he can get. So, on match day he puts together a squad which is the best of what we have. He makes tactical decisions based on the players' abilities and limitations. He has years of experience and is best qualified to do it. A new manager is unlikely to be able to do any better, and will likely flounder. The irony is, Roy Keane and Paul Jewell were given the funds and screwed it up. Mick hasn't been given the same chance and it's unfair to attack him this way.

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ArnieM added 09:58 - Dec 13 The ring is the crux of the problem. If MM and Evans/ Milne have never discussed the Club's current predicament then what hope is there of securing any changes. Same old crap.....same old drivel. Well Mr Evans be prepared for your team to be playing in an empty ground because the fans are doing the only thing they can .......vote with their feet. And it's turning into a stampede.

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Kesgraveblue57 added 10:29 - Dec 13 I've said many times before Marcus Evans owns Ipswich town football club, he has in charge who he wants that's a fact we have to live with,calling for McCarthy's head is absolutely pointless .
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Bluetone added 10:40 - Dec 13 Quote McCarthy He also reiterated his intention to see out his contract with the Blues. Can be interpreted as never mind about my lack of ability to do the job I'll stick around and collect the dosh.
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Mick_Mills_Tache added 11:00 - Dec 13 Kesgraveblue57, that's also rubbish. I hate this analogy as we don't see ourselves as customers as it means a lot more to us than that, however, ITFC is a business and any business needs customers to be successful. If those customers are unhappy because of the service being provided or the picking is dire, then they won't return (as we're already seeing). Thus, it'll hurt the business and force the owners hand to change it.

6

alfromcol added 11:09 - Dec 13 Phil Is there any way of finding out how many half-season tickets have been sold? Can't be many, but interesting to know.
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Lightningboy added 11:16 - Dec 13 McCarthy should never have set foot anywhere near our club in the first place..it's only ME's utter incompetence when it comes to choosing the right manager for OUR club that's holding us back. All those years of supporting a club renowned for bringing through youth,spending little & still managing to play,attractive,attacking exciting football & punching above our weight is just getting dumped on. We seem to have an owner and board who are all half asleep & a manager who has nothing but contempt for the club and it's fans - if we had a whip round over the festive period I wonder how much money we'd raise to pay McCarthy off?!

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TimmyH added 11:28 - Dec 13 Sad thing is he will be here to see his contract out - his utterly tiring comments now are all about what he's done in the past at this club, if you look at the statistics from early 2015 our results have been very average indeed (I think we've only won one more game than what we have lost in all competitions). McCarthy you have to live in the here and now and considering how much you get paid it's not good enough!

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BillBlue added 11:29 - Dec 13 hampstead_blue - Are you kidding us or what? MM one of the best Managers in the Premiership! You are crazy. He failed, miserably, at Sunderland and again at Wolves, just as he has failed here. Football Manager, I do not think he ever even seen one.
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TimmyH added 11:34 - Dec 13 Does anybody know what McCarthy's salary is?...H1960 has quoted £3M a season surely that cannot be correct or was that said in jest?
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BillBlue added 11:38 - Dec 13 Do you think Burnzee is Mick himself? He is saying the same things, "I am doing a good job"?
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Knightsy added 11:45 - Dec 13 Stop talking the talk, the fans needs to turn the attention to Marcus Evan's, as well as M.M
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jas0999 added 12:23 - Dec 13 Of course Evans does. Mick gets on with the job happy to bring in cheap clapped out players. This allows Evans to make great sums on interest payments, offsetting tax, premium ticket prices and cashing in on players. He then spends time developing spin to convince the fans why he won't spend anything on the playing squad - completely ignoring the fact he actually bought the original debt for a fraction but has in the past claimed significant interest payments on the full amount. Evans is destroying the club.

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Carberry added 12:26 - Dec 13 Shouldn't it be the owner who says he still backs him. Where is the owner? WHERE'S EVANS?
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itfchorry added 12:38 - Dec 13 You do t have our backing - Once again deluded comments - Please Go
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itfcbam added 12:38 - Dec 13 The bigger question is whether he is performing at the level of the resources given to him and the answer at mo is in question. The last 3 seasons undoubtedly he exceeded that. Despite what many think we are not regarded as a big player in this league. In fact our resource level, attendence size, budget, etc is somewhere around 15th which gives us no devine right to be at the top. However this season he is struggling to find the right mix, when the players the supporters want play we leak goals and invariably the results are no better (if not worse) than when he plays the 'less creative' line up. Ultimately that is the area he is struggling with and what will probably cost his job.

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Wickets added 12:47 - Dec 13 Clean sheets yes 'cos we don't attack even at home we set up like an away side.
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dukey44 added 13:39 - Dec 13 Our club is really turning into an f...ing joke now? If Marcus watches the games he does remember we play in Blue at home and white away? As he seems to be watching a different team to the supporters? It's a disgrace this man is still our manager??
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