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Town Out to Bounce Back From Derby Disappointment Against Cardiff
Tuesday, 20th Feb 2018 19:30

Town will be looking to bounce back from their last-gasp East Anglian derby disappointment when second-placed Cardiff City visit Portman Road on Wednesday evening.

The Bluebirds go into the match very much in form having been unbeaten in seven league games since New Year’s Day, winning their last two, a 2-0 home victory over Bolton having been followed by a 1-0 success against Middlesbrough, also at the Cardiff City Stadium.

“About time they did then, isn’t it? That’s my view on it,” McCarthy responded when told of Cardiff’s recent run.

“They’re a good side. They’ve got good players and they’ve got a very good manager, who knows this league very well.

“I didn’t realise that, I haven’t seen their stats. I don’t look at them, except for the games. I went to watch them against Millwall when they started very well and they were 1-0 up inside three minutes.

“But Millwall were excellent and ended up pinning them back. But even at the end there was controversy about scoring a goal and then a penalty and Neil Warnock was able to come on and growl at everybody, which he’s good at. I look forward to growling at him tomorrow.”

Earlier in the season the Blues were defeated 3-1 in Cardiff but were the better side for much of the first half having conceded early on. The same then happened at the start of the second half.

“We played well and we came in and had the team talk about going out and starting really well but we were 2-0 down before I’d put my backside on the seat,” McCarthy recalled. “That’s disappointing when we’ve done that. We certainly won’t want to start like that.”

A rip-roaring performance and a win would do much to help fans put the disappointment of the 1-1 draw at Carrow Road and recent poorer home performances - most notably the 0-0 stalemate with Burton - behind them.

“In the end it was like a defeat, it was ridiculous how we felt afterwards. But it’s only to be expected. It was criminal that we gave a goal away,” he added.

“It would help everybody, we’d all feel better about it, we would as well. It’s not like we haven’t been trying, we’ve not planned to do anything different to earlier on in the season.

“But as I was at pains to point to other people, there are two sides in it. Maybe [other teams] saw us and maybe they treated us lightly in the first five games [of the season].

“We’d just lost 6-1 at Charlton and I don’t know whether people thought we were a bunch of mugs and it turned out we weren’t because we won the first five.

“But the league’s settled down, we’re playing against a very good team tomorrow night and they are kind of bedded in, they’ve taken a few good signings in and Neil, who I’ve known for years, is a past master at it.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Neil and I’m looking forward to a really good game. I hope we play as well as we did on Sunday.”

McCarthy and Warnock go back to their days as players together at Barnsley. The Blues boss says his Cardiff counterpart has always been the same.

“Yes, a pain in the backside,” he laughed. “He’s a good pal of mine, Neil. I get on really well with him. I might be one of the few that says that, I have to be honest, but I do and I respect him and the job he’s done everywhere he’s been.

“What’s he had, seven promotions? And he’s going to be in the mix for one now, whether he gets in second spot or not remains to be seen. But they’ll be in the mix.”

Is it true McCarthy used to clean Warnock’s boots back at Oakwell? “He likes telling everybody that. But that’s true because he’s considerably older than I am. I was an apprentice and he was a very senior pro at the time.”

McCarthy isn’t surprised that Cardiff are among the division’s higher flyers: “Not from the start of the season, no. I think he made some really astute signings in the summer.

“Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Juniot Hoilett, and he’s got Kenneth Zahore and then he took Gary Madine just before the window closed. It suits him to have those players.

“I think the lads at the back, Sol Bamba and Sean Morrison and Bruno Ecuele Manga, the three of them, whether they play a back three or a back four, I think they’re excellent. He’s got a good squad.”


He says Cardiff have a battle to stay in second and believes his former club Wolves - who lead the Welshmen by 11 points - already have top spot sewn up.

“Yes, there are some good teams there,” he reflected. “There’s none of them are going to catch Wolves, that’s for sure.

“I thought Derby would take the second spot when we saw them here, even when we saw them up there. We beat them I know, but they were a good side.

“Villa have been flying but they’ve had their wings clipped by a very good Fulham side. There really are some really good sides up there, it’s going to be a great fight for it.”

With the Cardiff match the second of three in seven days, McCarthy has confirmed changes of personnel are likely, while he has to decide whether to switch from the 3-5-2 system utilised at Norwich.

The Town boss was happy with how the formation worked out against the Canaries but equally it’s a system which means it’s difficult for him to fit in wide players such as Bersant Celina.

Questioned about his plans for Wednesday, McCarthy responded: “You’ll have to see what a wonderful scheme I come up with tomorrow.”

Bartosz Bialkowski will continue in goal with the Blues probably returning to their 4-2-3-1 system, a formation which Cardiff have also played in recent matches.

Jordan Spence could come in at right-back - McCarthy has tended to switch the former West Ham man and Dominic Iorfa when games have been coming thick and fast - with Jonas Knudsen on the left.

McCarthy faces a dilemma whether on-loan Tottenham man Cameron Carter-Vickers or Adam Webster will partner skipper Luke Chambers at the heart of the defence.

In midfield, Cole Skuse and Callum Connolly are likely to take up the deeper roles, while Martyn Waghorn will probably to take up the central role in the trio behind lone out-and-out striker Joe Garner.

Bersant Celina, David McGoldrick, Grant Ward and Mustapha Carayol - who would be making his full debut - are all candidates for the wider roles.

Bluebirds boss Warnock is expecting an eventful night at Portman Road: ”I’m sure Ipswich will have something to say and usually at Ipswich something will happen, whether it’s Sol Bamba assaulting me or something else, something will happen. The fans always give me a rousing reception.

“I could have managed them a few years ago, I thought I was going to manage it but they went with a young manager!”

He says McCarthy has done an admirable job at Portman Road: “He’s done well. If you’re not the big five or six with the wage bills they have, it’s a very difficult league.

“He’s got them with an outside chance of the play-offs and, because I know what it takes, I know how difficult it is. You have to be careful what you wish for and you won’t get much better than Mick.

“If I worried about what people said, crikey, I wouldn’t sleep at night. I think we’re providing entertainment at the minute, home and away.”

Regarding his former Barnsley team-mate’s four-letter goal celebration on Sunday, he added: “It’s just passion. You don’t carry on if you don’t have a bit of passion, you’d be sat at home.

“We’re at the situation where we care and you score a late goal against your rivals, it’s a fabulous feeling and you get carried away at times but that’s what we’re in the game for. You guys wait for us to do something silly like that!”

Cardiff midfielder Craig Bryson is closing on on a return after an achilles injury, while Kadeem Harris is also making progress after an ankle problem.

Striker Gary Madine isn’t yet ready to return from a broken nose and defender Jazz Richards is out with bone bruising.

Town have the upper hand historically, winning 21 (19 in the league), drawing 14 (14) and losing 15 (14).

In the Welsh capital in October, Celina was on target for the Blues but his late goal wasn’t enough to prevent Town from falling to a 3-1 defeat.

Hoilett put the Bluebirds in front on 12, then Omar Bogle doubled the lead seconds after the break.

Celina’s final minute goal threatened to set up an unexpected grandstand finish but Danny Ward’s injury time goal ended Town’s hopes of gaining a surprise point.

Last time the teams met at Portman Road in December 2016, Luke Varney netted an equaliser just after half-time as Town drew 1-1 with the Bluebirds, who had central defender Bamba sent off for abuse towards the fourth official during a bizarre second-half temper tantrum before turning on his own manager.

Gunnarsson put the visitors ahead following a Bialkowski error in the 38th minute, Varney levelled on 52 but despite the one-man advantage the Blues were unable to find a winner.

Former Town keeper Brian Murphy joined Cardiff in the summer of 2016 having been released by Portsmouth. Murphy was with the Blues between January 2010 and the summer of 2011 making 25 appearances.

One-time Town loanee Liam Feeney is on loan with Cardiff from Blackburn. The 31-year-old made seven Blues starts and two sub appearances, scoring once, towards the end of the 2015/16 campaign.

Cardiff midfielder Stuart O’Keefe, who is currently on loan with Portsmouth, was an academy schoolboy with Town, while the Bluebirds’ Icelandic midfielder Aron Gunnarsson had a trial with the Blues' youth set-up when also a schoolboy.

Emyr Huws joined Town from Cardiff in the summer following his successful loan spell at the end of last season having made only two starts and two sub appearances in one campaign with the Bluebirds.

Tom Adeyemi was with the Welshmen between August 2014 and his release last summer but made only 13 starts and 10 sub appearances, scoring one goal.

Blues U18s coach Alan Lee joined Town from Cardiff in January 2006 after two and a half years as a player at Ninian Park.

Tuesday’s referee is Andy Davies from Hampshire, who has shown 74 yellow cards and three red in 19 games this season.

Davies’s last Town game was the 0-0 home draw with QPR on Boxing Day in which he dismissed visitors midfielder Josh Scowen in the closing stages for a second yellow card and booked Knudsen.

Davies also took charge of the game between the Blues and Rangers at Loftus Road in September last year when he booked Connolly, Flynn Downes and one home player as well as making an error for Rangers’ opening goal when he failed to spot an obvious handball by Massimo Luongo as the home side ran out 2-1 winners.

A month earlier he was the man in the middle for the 2-1 Carabao Cup defeat at Crystal Palace in which he again booked Downes but otherwise kept his cards in his pocket.

Before that he took control of the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on the final day of last season in which he cautioned Christophe Berra and Josh Emmanuel.

He also refereed the 3-0 home victory over Wigan in April 2017, in which he yellow-carded Ward, Myles Kenlock, Toumani Diagouraga and two Latics.

He was in charge of the 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield three months earlier in which he booked Berra, Kevin Bru, Tom Lawrence, Jonathan Douglas, Paul Digby and no home players.

Davies has only taken charge of two other Town matches, both of which ended goalless and saw the opposition reduced to 10 men.

He officiated in the 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in September 2016, in which he showed eight yellow cards, two of them and then a red to Seagulls midfielder Dale Stephens. Chambers, Emmanuel, Douglas and Lawrence were the Town players cautioned.

Prior to that, he was the man in the middle for the 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield in October 2015 when he red-carded Terriers striker James Vaughan for a second bookable offence in the final minute.

Squad from: Bialkowski, M Crowe, Spence, Iorfa, Kenlock, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Carter-Vickers, Webster, Skuse, Connolly, Hyam, Bru, Gleeson, Ward, Celina, Carayol, Waghorn, Garner, McGoldrick, Sears.


Photo: TWTD



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jas0999 added 19:43 - Feb 20
Due to change in date and work commitments, it's going to be tight as to whether I make kick off in time. Should I go? Opinions welcome!!
2

dirtydingusmagee added 19:48 - Feb 20
go on ,you know you want to .
2

dirtydingusmagee added 19:51 - Feb 20
we always seem to bouncing or hoping to build ! would be nice to read we hoping to maintain,! but that only happened on our amazing run of wins at start of season , against the bottom dwellers .
8

poldark added 19:59 - Feb 20
Give Super Muck HELL
0

blythburgh_blue added 20:19 - Feb 20
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
3

poldark added 20:26 - Feb 20
Looks like lots of ITFC youngsters in the squad and only 5 loan players wow and 3 short term signings going to do the world of good for our youngsters.
1

bobble added 20:32 - Feb 20
a dead cat bounce ?
2

poldark added 20:33 - Feb 20
I love when people on here vote you down and don't give a reason for doing Blythburgh
1

ronnyd added 20:37 - Feb 20
Looking at the squad it would seem that we,re not near enough to the end of the season for our youngsters to be given a chance then.
1

Karlosfandangal added 21:27 - Feb 20
Another good interview by MM honest point of view but yet again poor questions from those interviewing him

Going over the same old ground trying to cause a bigger rift and even after he had answered the question someone asked it again and next match interview someone will ask will you still be here next season Mick and he still won't tell them.
0

Blue_Meanie added 21:48 - Feb 20
Well done Evans and McCarthy; I just don't care anymore.

I've been a season ticket holder, on and off admittedly, for the last 30 years.

This current administration is rotten from top to bottom.

Where else would a failing manager (my opinion) get to decide his own fate.

Where else would a chairman allow a manager to continue in his role following the managers clear profanities toward the clubs supporters.

Where else would a ‘CEO' remain silent to the above outcry from supporters.

I will not return until Evans and McCarthy have gone, I will return of course, because remember Evans, this is our club not yours. COYBS
17

bluesman added 23:00 - Feb 20
MM has had £4m to spend in five years. Can anyone explain how any other manager could have kept us from League 1, where, on expenditure, we belong? It is very easy to moan and ruin hard working people's motivation and happiness. You owe your victim a few seconds rational consideration.
-4

onemarcusstewart added 23:22 - Feb 20
He's not the Mesiah. He's a very naughty boy!
8

MicksZzzTactics added 23:33 - Feb 20
@jas
1) The entire awesome Regime of this here moribund club, which most recently include the apparent shocking silent acceptance of the owner (i.e. no firing or even reprimanding!) of a manager who yells "f@ck off" & uses the "Up Yours" gesture towards portion of the club's life-blood their fans, very OBVIOUSLY don't give a hoot about you @jas!!!

2)Their "consumer product" i.e. 'Mick McCarthy's Proper Blokes XI' is (despite likely having a handful of players currently on it that excites you & whom you would like to watch every time) OBVIOUSLY not a unit nor a complete product that gives very many sane or let alone objective spectators what is known as "FULL SATISFACTION" for their hard earned money ....and nor for their time! and this on any remotely regular or stable basis. Especially if you disregard the very Dino-atypical (fluke) but also unmistakably fairly fortuitous start of this campaign.

Thus as mentioned many times before by others here: The one & only way to EVENTUALLY make the otherwise utterly indifferent Mr. Evans react, is hurting him financially, up to the point where he simply can no longer appear idle on invisible!
Noooo that doesn't mean you skip going to Portman Road once in a merry RARE while, but more or less systematically imho!
In other words: If you are the notorious complacent Suffolk type , who can also wait seemingly INDEFINITELY for good & positive changes to come around ...well then by all means go as much as you can and support "The Lads" ...they surely need it! (Although imho giving their far too frequent lackluster or "didn't really bother" performances most of them "Lads" far far from **deserves** being supported in attendance EVERY bloody week! ).
But if you like me want changes not tomorrow, but YESTERDAY! then I once again strongly suggest not to put your money in ME's tax-deductible circus here at all or at least not on any regular basis.
Instead I would suggest you predominantly go to selected away games if you need really really BADLY need that ITFC "fix" :-) :-) ....which for the past 5+ years particularly away from Portman Road UNFORTUNATELY overwhelmingly equals = Mick's Hedgehog Tactics galore! & Gung Ho with 0-0 or just any to quote the Dino: "excellent! 1 point on foreign soil".

So in closing if the above can't make you decide .... well simply follow your heart as a 'Once- an-ITFC-fan-Always-an-ITFC-fan', HOWEVER in that regard I would also strongly suggest you & your heart (and that goes for anyone else too btw!) stopped living in our once glorious & always ultra entertaining past!
Cause although we sometimes either simply succeeds with our 1-dimensional anti-football tactics or OCCASIONALLY even perform surprisingly well , imho go first & foremost for the sheer & wonderful tribal experience of a 'Day Out' with your fellow good-spirited ITFC fans , as for as long as 'Mick The Nick' is in charge ALWAYS take anything else that happens of a **positive & entertaining** nature (i.e. on the field from an ITFC perspective) as a pure BONUS!!! :-) lol :-)
6

blythburgh_blue added 03:21 - Feb 21
When are we going to start bouncing back from 5 years of disappointing derby games, FA Cup losses, League cup knock outs and big game wash-outs?

5 years and we still haven't won a big game yet. Pathetic MIck.
10

therein61 added 07:04 - Feb 21
Be careful what we wish for Colin!! which down marker do you post in disguise on hear then??.
1

BrettenhamBlue added 08:15 - Feb 21
Hope we win it. Might make the last few games marginally interesting.
2

muhrensleftfoot added 08:39 - Feb 21
To think we nearly had Neil Warnock as manager. Instead Evans chose the "poor mans Neil Warnock" in Mick McCarthy. The problem with Evans is that he can't get it right. Following our last ever win over Norwich, he sacked the manager Jim Magilton. We then suffered years under his next appointments, Keane & Jewell, & compared to these, MM looks good. What makes us think his next choice is going to be any better. The state of our club is down to our silent owner, no-one else.
11

carlo88 added 09:52 - Feb 21
I think some posters need to look at the state of some arguably bigger clubs than us in this league; Leeds, Sheff Wed, Forest, Sunderland, Birmingham, even Boro. You get out of this league with money or a very ambitious owner/setup - or preferably both. To have had neither in the last ten years makes Mick's performance not too shabby in my eyes. I've felt frustrated this season and the cup performances are a major bone of contention but to see how we could have improved much is difficult. Twenty years ago we had a far more ambitious and passionate chairman, those days have gone.
6

black_shuck added 10:16 - Feb 21
Beware the ides of March.
0

midastouch added 11:55 - Feb 21
I fear a dead cat bounce. To be honest even if we did win (which I'm not expecting but you never know!) it will still be little consolation after letting the precious lead slip in the big one Sunday! I remember when several seasons ago (I'd rather not remember!) Norwich beat us just before Xmas and we then beat West Ham away on Boxing Day with a Counago goal, think it was 1-2 in the end. While the win on Boxing Day was still welcome it was still little consolation for losing to Norwich just before Xmas. While at least we didn't lose to Norwich this time around, letting that goal in the dying seconds almost felt as bad as a loss still! I'd still too numb from Sunday to care much about tonight! That was the game that mattered, this game feels irrelevant in comparison!
2

midastouch added 11:58 - Feb 21
I was never a big fan of Warnock but after reading his book I've had a change of heart. He'd of done a much much much better job here than Mick has I'm convinced of it.
6

Karlosfandangal added 12:15 - Feb 21
Carlo88

And the fans wanted him out too after we sold Gaardose if I remember correct and they got their wish and we now have Evans.

As I have said before getting rid of MM may make no difference at all unless Evans starts investing in the playing side.
MM has shown what he can do at Sunderland and Wolves when there was money to spend.
1

bobble added 12:27 - Feb 21
hopefully the online rumors that mick is going to china are true.....
0

blue75 added 13:23 - Feb 21
love to be told by Warnock careful what you wish for!! Like McCarthy Warnock is a character from football both decent blokes (no pun) when it come s to football style nothing like we expect at Ipswich. Warnock could never have managed us after what happen when he was a Sheffield Utd. He will always be the manager of the Naaridge of the north to me!!

jas0999 I wouldn't go if I were you racing around trying to squeeze footy in is all well and good when you're watching an entertaining team but our usual standard of dross on a night game means I won't make the effort tonight. I might miss a cracker of a game but I certainly won't lose any sleep over it, sad how my attitude has changed there was once a time when I'd go to a night game whatever usually meant getting 3 hrs sleep before starting a 15hr shift how times change!!
1


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