Boss Mick McCarthy has praised owner Marcus Evans for not putting him under additional pressure during the Blues struggles this season and being “consistent and neutral in his attitude" towards him regardless of Town’s position in the Championship table.

Tuesday’s 3-0 home win against Wigan saw the 17th-placed Blues move nine points clear of the relegation zone with six to play, a position in which they would appear to be all but safe.

McCarthy admits he’s happier now that the gap to the bottom three has increased and also due to the performance against the Latics.

“Of course, I feel a lot better because we played a lot better as well,” he said. “Maybe if we’d have scored against Birmingham we might have gone on the rampage there and scored another couple. I don’t know. But we didn’t when we had our chances.

“But I thought it was a really good performance the other night and a great result. It certainly took the pressure off and walking off and seeing the other results certainly helped.”

He says he has talked to owner Evans since the game: “I spoke to him yesterday and I think for the first time Marcus admitted that we’d been in a bit of a dogfight. I said ‘I’ve been telling you that for weeks!’.

“It’s nice that the owner, the boss of the place is not on [at you] because it only adds pressure - ‘We’re in a dogfight! We’ve got to get results!’.

“There’s never been any of that whether we’ve been going for the play-offs or down near the bottom.

“Completely consistent and neutral in his attitude towards me, which is great, he’s always the same, and I appreciate that.

“But it’s taken the pressure off all of us because it could have gone the other way. If we’d got beaten and the others had won on Tuesday, the gap would have been three points and we’d got Fulham, Burton and Newcastle, that would have been a tough task.

“They’re still going to be tough but they’re a damned sight easier when you’re nine points clear of the bottom three.”

Photo: TWTD

Swailsey added 16:31 - Apr 6 Well good for Evans.
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hampstead_blue added 16:31 - Apr 6 Regardless of what people think about Evans, I'm pleased he at least patient and not like many other owners. Look at clubs like Derby, Forest, Blackpool, Leeds. All of whom sack the manager, cause instability through ultra short term goal setting, and waste money. Part of me is happy we are stable. I do want more, of course I do, but at what price?
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Gcon added 16:35 - Apr 6 'neutral' - disinterested, more like.
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ASAx added 16:40 - Apr 6 Evans consistent attitude is a large part of the problem. I'm not suggesting that an owner who changes manager after 6 games is anywhere near healthy, but if McCarthy was under any kind of pressure to deliver then he may in turn put pressure on the players to deliver. McCarthy is completely comfortable knowing he's safe whether he achieves or not. The likes of Chambers, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, McGoldrick and Sears know they'll continue to get picked most of the time regardless of how effectively they are or are not doing their jobs. Everything about ITFC is completely comfortable. Unreasonable pressure on the manager or players is not helpful. But some degree of fear for their jobs or places and expectations to actually deliver are usually met with an increased level of productivity. I have no faith in anybody in this squad to deliver purely because of their professional pride.

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ernie added 16:41 - Apr 6 It reflects indifference more than anything else
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hoppy added 16:46 - Apr 6 The consistent attitude of Marcus Evans Holdings, or 'meh' as it's otherwise known...
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OldClactonBlue added 16:47 - Apr 6 Evans out, Milne out, McCarthy out
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Michael11 added 16:51 - Apr 6 Consistently pointless and anonymous you mean.
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battyblue added 16:57 - Apr 6 Paul Jewell used to come out with this b00loks just before he was sacked,,hope the same happens to you asap
4

therein61 added 16:59 - Apr 6 By Christ does this club need a huge shake up it appears that the owner is blind to the fact that our manager is taking us on a rapid downhill journey and has failed miserably yet it looks like he will be here next season unless he does the honest decent thing and resigns(which he won't)
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warktheline added 17:00 - Apr 6 There must always be pressure from the top to achieve success, nobody should be allowed to feel comfortable, something that often leads to complacency, which is abundantly evident in McCarthy's attitude towards the safety of his position! How embarrassing for our club to be told by a manager, and let's be clear about this, has failed miserably over the last two seasons, to state, HE would decide HIS future at the end of the season! How laughable, would Evans allow a failure to dictate to him in business! I'm totally amazed by posts recently, after beating a poor Wigan side, in which McCarthy played a team and formation, the vast majority of Town fans have cried for, for ever and a day, to suddenly tone down viewpoints! Evans and Milne are clueless about football, McCarthy and his 'cozy club' are abusing this with not a care in the bloody world!

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Wickets added 17:01 - Apr 6 I'm pretty netural as to why a manager could pick Douglas before Dave or before anyone who can run!
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Mark added 17:02 - Apr 6 Neutral...says a lot. I would hope the club would be passionate about getting ITFC promoted from top to bottom. The pressure should not be off because it looks like we are staying up, surely the pressure should be on as we are not going to make the play-offs?!
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jas0999 added 17:11 - Apr 6 That sums up for me what we have been saying. Evans is clueless and doesn't care.
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Taricco_Fan added 17:12 - Apr 6 Not sure what Evans is in it for. Terrible owner.
4

yungblue added 17:26 - Apr 6 People really need to step back and have a look at the bigger, Marcus Evans bought our club, took over all the debt, continuously puts 7 million + a year with no return which allows us to watch our football club every week. Without him ITFC would not be here and we'd be all down the road watching Colchester every week. The man has a plan of bring in youngsters to develop like Webster and The acdemy which is great idea considering we don't make any profit, look and youngsters to progress into big stars. He never shines like light or gets involved with managers (Michael Ashley, Massimo Cellini) and most importantly whether we win lose or draw he allows us to go watch Ipswich Town every week and for that I say thank you Evans. And he will get rid of MM at the end of the season no doubt, he's actually clever not sacking him whilst In a dogfight because MM is the type of manager to get you out of relegation scrap. He'll be gone at the end of the season and we can have fresh start next year.

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BlueArrow added 17:27 - Apr 6 Evans :- no face, no guts, no interest, no comments
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cat added 17:33 - Apr 6 Surely no business would be run like this????, but who would blame MM for winding us the fans up in the meantime, I'm certainly not buying into anything our Dino says! so - "DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE!!" The big debate now is whether our Dino will stay or go, I'm 80% confident he will go, but you never know with these leather skin Yorkshire folk!, they breed them tough up there!! and MM is certainly of that mould, and certainly not adverse to dishing it out to us fans, so maybe, just maybe he could "tough it out"???? I do not however, even want to contemplate him staying, as the mere thought of that puts me on a complete downer! 😩😫😩

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madmouse1959 added 17:33 - Apr 6 You could not expect the same result or "rampage" v Birmingham because you picked the wrong players and the wrong team once again. It is fairly obvious Evans only wants the supporters money whist McCarthy continues to drive fans away from the club with his attitude . He has seriously strained the relationship with the supporters and the long term fans are now walking away.

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martin587 added 17:35 - Apr 6 These comments just about sums this club up.Clueless.!!😩
5

blue75 added 18:10 - Apr 6 Let's hope Evans is consistent in lining up a manager before he sacks just like he did with Paul Jewell. Your days are number and I for can't wait to see the back of you!! McCarthy Out.
5

BillyBaxterwasbest added 18:54 - Apr 6 Be careful what you wish for ME is British, stable, and a sensible man, would you prefer someone who wants to change the teams colours, sack 4 managers a year. It is obvious to me that there is a section of the supporters that are Idiots, daft, bonkers. We have the best chairman in the league, the best manager who is able to buy very well on a small budget. He is one we should keep. Some of our fans need to grow up and stop moaning.

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midastouch added 19:41 - Apr 6 The only thing Marcus has been consistent of in recent seasons is happily selling our best players and replacing them with freebies and cheapos! I realise it's not realistic to hold on to all your best players in this league but please when you sell one of them at least reinvest half of the funds into the squad to give us a fighting chance! To do anything less shows zero ambition and frustrates the hell out of me!

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Spanishblueblood added 20:38 - Apr 6 Billybaxter Hahahahhahahaha, nice try budgie boy but nobody is falling for your attempt to wind people up!
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wayway added 21:13 - Apr 6 Can anyone explain to me WHY Evans is still here? He obviously has no interest now that he knows that the riches of the Premier league are a world away. The myth that he is putting his own money in to keep the club afloat has been exposed by the non investment of the Cresswell, Mings, Murphy money so I will pose the question again WHY? It is, I suspect some kind of corporate tax fiddle which his accountants have devised to pay less corporation tax. I await to be convinced otherwise

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