Former Town boss Mick McCarthy says current manager Kieran McKenna is doing a remarkable job at Portman Road.

McCarthy, 64, who was in charge of the Blues between 2012 and 2018, has been hugely impressed by McKenna, who took over at Portman Road just over three years after his departure.

“An amazing job he’s done,” McCarthy told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast. “From getting them promoted and now to seven wins in the Championship, remarkable.

“They came back from 2-0 down against Wolves to win, they were 1-0 down on Saturday against Huddersfield and came back to get a draw.

“Plays great football, they’re flying under him. They’ve got a really good budget in League One, they’ve got it in the Championship, but nevertheless, he’s doing the coaching, he’s doing the managing. Remarkable.”

Photo: Matchday Images

ArnieM added 14:31 - Oct 5 Sexy football, Mick . It’s sexy football.
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freddo78 added 14:37 - Oct 5 Good old Mick. He could always spot talent!
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Dissboyitfc added 14:43 - Oct 5 He couldn’t really say anything different! It’s a fact! And it’s sexy
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Seablue added 14:50 - Oct 5 Careful what you wish for.
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runaround added 14:52 - Oct 5 Bonkers
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Wickets added 15:06 - Oct 5 He could not resist chucking in the budget bit could he , as if to say I could ha e done this if I was given a bit of cash !
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 15:18 - Oct 5 Thanks, Mick. I still appreciate what you did for Town. Now it's a new era and time to go even higher.
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Suffolkboy added 15:25 - Oct 5 W, it’s a significant fact that MM ( or/ and others under ME ) never had the sort of discretion ,budget or authority to implement SO much that needed doing ,or needed attention and change in and around Portman Rd . Cash was tight , business plans never much in evidence , and each year a scramble to more or less survive .BUT survive we did ( after a succession of Managers of dubious quality ) and MM’s ability and personal qualities remain under valued . No useful gains to be achieved by rehearsing the past , positivity and dedication epitomise ITFC now — long may that be the case ! COYB

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PutneyBlue added 15:51 - Oct 5 Wickets. To be honest, it is a fair point to make. Remember that Mick saved us from relegation and then took us into the playoffs, but had no budget to improve the team, and had to rely on loans (of varying quality) to keep us in the Championship. His focus was "not losing" so not attractive football, but I'm sure he would have had a much more positive outlook if he'd had a good budget. That being said, I think McKenna's the better manager.

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Bluearmy_81 added 15:57 - Oct 5 Totally thankless task trying to get Ipswich to succeed when financially we were set up to fail thanks to Marcus/Mr Evans/whatever other sycophantic name you want to give him!
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terryf added 16:14 - Oct 5 Fair enough he didn't have McKenna's budget and yes he probably kept us in the division but oh dear some of the awful football his Teams churned out week after week. Even when we were playing at home against the likes of Rotherham he always wanted to match up the opposition rather than going for the jugular and who will ever forget the mind blowing midfield trio of Skuse, Douglas and Hyam! McKenna certainly has a bigger budget but has used it thoughtfully and tactically is on another planet to dear old Mick!

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Clemcc added 16:21 - Oct 5 Looking back at MM stint as manager, I would shake his hand and say thank you. I think he was doing his best on the budget what he was given. It may not haven been sexy football at the end but we were in the second division constantly (than four years in the third tier).
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Gilesy added 16:26 - Oct 5 Bluearmy_81 - you need to let it go!
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ImAbeliever added 16:29 - Oct 5 Track record since he departed?
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Bert added 16:46 - Oct 5 Old school defensive minded manager but worked his socks off with limited resources. Decent guy. I really don’t know where to position KMcK other than probably the most intelligent, shrewd, astute, articulate, technical, attack minded manager that we have ever had. On a par with the great BR but in today’s world probably even better. We are sooooooo fortunate to support a club that at present has everything going for it.

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barrystedmunds added 16:50 - Oct 5 Would always acknowledge his contribution in the way he saved us from relegation in that first season but the football was never an easy watch. I would also add that under Evans we never had “football” people running the show. Ashton has to take a lot of credit for where we are just now.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 16:58 - Oct 5 Mick McCarthy is a genuine and decent, well liked bloke. He did his best for us at a time we were being run into the ground through indifference by the owner. I wish him all the best.
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pragmatic added 17:35 - Oct 5 This is 2023 McKenna/Ashton & Gamechanger time, Previous managers / owners did there best, not always working out, Marcus Evans, although heavily criticised did sell to forward thinking investors, a lot of clubs & fans would love owners like ours!!!!!
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Wickets added 17:46 - Oct 5 Joe Royle with a smaller budget tha MM still managed to play attractive football with some success . No excuse tor the tripe served up by Mick and so many fans voted with their feet as attendances down to 15000 . Thank heavens those days are gone .
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Wussinwhiteboots added 17:55 - Oct 5 You could tell he's from Yorkshire..... you couldn't tell him anything thing else!!! He told the fans to f off so 6500 season ticket holders did exactly that. Not one of our current squad would have come anywhere near Ipswich if they had to play under him.
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thevoiceofreason added 18:04 - Oct 5 The McCarthy debate will rumble on, I suspect. My problem with Mick was why, if he was so miffed at not having any budget to speak of, did he not push back or just walk rather than extending his stay. The longer it went on, the worse it got. He was effectively happy with mediocrity and that was probably why we ended up where we did in the end.
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mikemuhrenthijssen added 18:05 - Oct 5 Mick did a fantastic job …. Remember where we started when he took over and he kept us in the Championship on a shoe string. He has every right to mention the budget because ,I love McKenna and agree he has done a fantastic job, but would he have done it without the budget…. If he had played sexy football with the squad he had we would be heading for the conference. All those who conclude otherwise are naive or worse. When he left we were sent into league 1 wilderness. It’s thanks to the new owners and their budget , the wonderful coaching of Kieran that we are on the up. I thought time would dilute the memories of the end of big Mick and it would be concluded it was a consequence of the Marcus Evans project but no still people with no football knowledge offer their uneducated opinions.

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Wickets added 18:20 - Oct 5 Pitman, Waghorn, Garner, Lawrence, Fraser, and of course Dids and several others just can't be bothered to name . Boring football and throwing cup games that reduced our income and then not taking responsibility for his actions . 50 years and more a Town fan this was about the worst time for me . Someone has rightly said let it go and of course he is right but terrible terrible times .

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grumpyoldman added 18:29 - Oct 5 People keep going on about the budget McKenna has got, at present we have the 17th highest wage level & 14th highest transfer expenditure in the championship. When MM was here there were clubs finishing higher than us on a lower budget, but please don't let facts stand in the way!!
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ArnieM added 18:35 - Oct 5 Wickets: absolutely on it with your post.
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