IPSWICH BOSS MICK McCarthy is currently the bookies’ favourite to take the vacant Ireland manager job, so we decided to ask some of those who have watched him most closely in recent months to give their assessment of his managerial qualities.
Chief Football Writer for the Ipswich Star, Stuart Watson, admits there is a considerable level of uncertainty as to whether he will leave the club in the near future, especially as McCarthy has refused to confirm or deny being interested in the Irish role.
“I don’t think anyone’s got the answer,” he says. “Fans are obviously concerned because people are applying their own interpretation to his words. There’s also a grey area in terms of whether Ipswich would be able to flat out deny an approach and how much compensation they’d be asking for. So no one’s really sure [what will happen] at this moment in time.”
“He came in to a team that were rock bottom in The Championship last November. I think they had seven points from 13 games after Paul Jewell left. The turnaround was pretty spectacular. They ended up finishing comfortably in 14th place. A number of clean sheets took them back to basics and the fans really took to him because of it. This year, in terms of how they’ve pushed on, it’s not quite turned out that way so far after the first 12 or so games, they’re mid-table. I guess the question mark would be can he take them any further with the budget that he’s got, which is quite small.”
Watson sees McCarthy’s man-management skills and his ability to get the best out of his players as being the former Wolves manager’s main strengths.
“He’s done it throughout his entire career, hasn’t he? He’s got the best out of what he’s been given. He’s never worked on a huge budget, if you look at his time at Wolves, Sunderland and places like that. He was asked the question — has he got a problem with the budget? I think he signed about 10 or 11 players in the summer with barely a penny spent on transfer fees. People have questioned whether that would be an issue with him. But he says he’s been aware of the budget from day one and he’s not got a problem with it. So I don’t think that’s a reason that he’d be looking to get out.”
He continues: “You speak to the [Ipswich] players and they all wax lyrical about how much they enjoy working for him. And I think Terry Connor is worth mentioning as well — his assistant. They seem to have a really good partnership going. Terry’s great on the training pitch with them, coming up with the drills. And Mick’s very much the management guy — the one that puts his arm around them when he needs to, and gives them a kick up the backside when they need one as well. He’s just a very honest manager — whether it’s speaking to us as the media or dealing with his players. I think it’s that straight-talking management that gets the best out of players.”
And while the majority of fans are eager for McCarthy to stay, they have not been averse to complaining during his time in charge.
“In terms of the fans — I guess the only question mark against him would be the style of play. He’s been a staunch 4-4-2 man. I think some have felt that the style of play has been a bit negative at times. He’s got this mantra that there’s no such thing as a bad away point. He’s always been delighted to get a scrappy 0-0 draw away from home, which hasn’t always resonated too well with the large number of travelling fans who obviously pay a lot of money to go and see the away games. But on the whole, the majority of fans would be pretty gutted to see him go.
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“It’s a very workmanlike style. The buzzwords with Mick have always been ‘putting in a shift’ and ‘hard work’ and that sort of thing. It’s not always been great on the eye but no one can argue with the end result.
“The fact of the matter is that he’s got 68 points from 45 games which, if you translated that into a normal football season, that would be play-off form in the Championship.”
(Ipswich fans have a far more positive view of Mick McCarthy compared with former manager Roy Keane — Nick Potts/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
However, he adds that while fans are hopeful of challenging for the play-offs, finishing mid-table would represent “progress” and that anything beyond that would likely be more of a long-term project.
As he was during his time as Ireland manager, McCarthy has been fairly amiable with the press, despite his proclivity for a rather direct style of language.
“Everyone I’d spoken to beforehand said ‘what you see is what you get with Mick’ and he’s lived up to that. He’ll say it how he sees it. He’ll throw in the odd comment that gets a few chuckles at press conferences. The astericks key on the keyboard is starting to be worn out with the number of swear words that get thrown in. I think he deals with the media the same way he deals with his players — quite up front and honest. And I think everyone respects that.”
And while Watson believes Ireland would have a very good chance of reaching the 2016 Euros with McCarthy in charge, there is one other candidate who he feels would be less likely to fare as well in the role.
“It didn’t work out for Roy [Keane] here unfortunately for all the reasons that have been much discussed about him over the years. I think he couldn’t quite accept that the standard of players here weren’t up to the sort of levels that he expected of himself as a player. And he couldn’t quite get his head around why players wouldn’t prepare or do the same things he did as a player, and ultimately that’s why it didn’t work out here.
“The accusation was that he ruled through fear alone. It was all criticism towards the players and not enough well-rounded man management, which Mick has. I’m not sure Roy did the arm round the players as well as the kick up the backside. You have to say his dealings in the transfer market weren’t great. There were far too many misses rather than hits. Especially when it came to spending big transfer fees — people like Tamas Priskin and a few others. So it’s a spell that won’t be looked back on too fondly by Ipswich fans.
“If Mick left tomorrow, fans would be disappointed, but they would also look back on the McCarthy era as a positive one in which he took the club forward. If you ask most Ipswich fans about the Roy Keane era in years to come, they’ll say it was one that was quite damaging and left a lot of work to be done. So Ipswich fans will be hoping it’s Roy [who gets the Ireland job] rather than Mick.”
Meanwhile, Liz Edwards of the Ipswich Town Supporters Club agrees that most fans feel McCarthy would be a big loss.
“I think the vast majority of Ipswich fans fear that Mick McCarthy will be offered the Ireland job. No one seems to think he would turn it down if offered — how can you turn your back on the opportunity to manage your country, especially when he did a really good job last time. So our main hope is that he maybe won’t be the number one choice — after all, it would be a bit of a brave decision for the FAI to turn the clock back.”
She is also confident Ireland would be strong contenders to qualify for tournaments with McCarthy at the helm.
“I think it is fair to say that Ireland do not have as many talented players nowadays as a few years back, but the next Euros is the first-ever tournament with 24 teams, so not far off half of all UEFA members will qualify — that has to give you a really good chance, and then we can all enjoy a party in France!”
Edwards says the ex-Ireland international is regarded as “a real people person” and points out that several of the club’s recently acquired players joined “because of Mick McCarthy”. However, she backs up Watson by suggesting fans aren’t overly enamoured with his, at times, overly defensive style.
“After a particularly grim 0-0 draw at Huddersfield last season, he stated “I’ve never had a bad away point in my life”. That’s an attitude that saved us from relegation, but, for some, an away point will always be two points lost.”
Some critics have expressed their reservations with McCarthy’s tactics, but Edwards suggests this is somewhat unfair.
“It might be easier to assess if he had a team full of talented Champions League megastars. Mick McCarthy has always had to work within a bit of a budget, or, at national level, with a group of players who are good but not great. At least we can work out how Mick sets the team up to play — it might seem a bit predictable, but the opposition rarely take us apart, and we have been playing some good football.”
She reiterates Watson’s point that Ipswich fans would be far happier to see former boss Roy Keane take over as Ireland manager.
“Of course Ipswich fans would be quite happy to see Keane become your national manager, but I just cannot imagine how it could happen, not after the [World Cup] 2002 experience. Mick McCarthy would be the far safer choice, but maybe Tony Pulis could be your new Jack Charlton.”
And if McCarthy does leave Ipswich, his time there will be remembered fondly, according to Edwards.
“He saved us from relegation last season. When it was put to him [by a fan at the club's annual Player Awards Evening] that he is a miracle worker, he replied simply: “I don’t do miracles, I do hard work.”
Would Mick McCarthy make a good Ireland boss? Here's the view from Ipswich
IPSWICH BOSS MICK McCarthy is currently the bookies’ favourite to take the vacant Ireland manager job, so we decided to ask some of those who have watched him most closely in recent months to give their assessment of his managerial qualities.
Chief Football Writer for the Ipswich Star, Stuart Watson, admits there is a considerable level of uncertainty as to whether he will leave the club in the near future, especially as McCarthy has refused to confirm or deny being interested in the Irish role.
“I don’t think anyone’s got the answer,” he says. “Fans are obviously concerned because people are applying their own interpretation to his words. There’s also a grey area in terms of whether Ipswich would be able to flat out deny an approach and how much compensation they’d be asking for. So no one’s really sure [what will happen] at this moment in time.”
“He came in to a team that were rock bottom in The Championship last November. I think they had seven points from 13 games after Paul Jewell left. The turnaround was pretty spectacular. They ended up finishing comfortably in 14th place. A number of clean sheets took them back to basics and the fans really took to him because of it. This year, in terms of how they’ve pushed on, it’s not quite turned out that way so far after the first 12 or so games, they’re mid-table. I guess the question mark would be can he take them any further with the budget that he’s got, which is quite small.”
Watson sees McCarthy’s man-management skills and his ability to get the best out of his players as being the former Wolves manager’s main strengths.
“He’s done it throughout his entire career, hasn’t he? He’s got the best out of what he’s been given. He’s never worked on a huge budget, if you look at his time at Wolves, Sunderland and places like that. He was asked the question — has he got a problem with the budget? I think he signed about 10 or 11 players in the summer with barely a penny spent on transfer fees. People have questioned whether that would be an issue with him. But he says he’s been aware of the budget from day one and he’s not got a problem with it. So I don’t think that’s a reason that he’d be looking to get out.”
And while the majority of fans are eager for McCarthy to stay, they have not been averse to complaining during his time in charge.
“In terms of the fans — I guess the only question mark against him would be the style of play. He’s been a staunch 4-4-2 man. I think some have felt that the style of play has been a bit negative at times. He’s got this mantra that there’s no such thing as a bad away point. He’s always been delighted to get a scrappy 0-0 draw away from home, which hasn’t always resonated too well with the large number of travelling fans who obviously pay a lot of money to go and see the away games. But on the whole, the majority of fans would be pretty gutted to see him go.
“It’s a very workmanlike style. The buzzwords with Mick have always been ‘putting in a shift’ and ‘hard work’ and that sort of thing. It’s not always been great on the eye but no one can argue with the end result.
“The fact of the matter is that he’s got 68 points from 45 games which, if you translated that into a normal football season, that would be play-off form in the Championship.”
However, he adds that while fans are hopeful of challenging for the play-offs, finishing mid-table would represent “progress” and that anything beyond that would likely be more of a long-term project.
As he was during his time as Ireland manager, McCarthy has been fairly amiable with the press, despite his proclivity for a rather direct style of language.
“Everyone I’d spoken to beforehand said ‘what you see is what you get with Mick’ and he’s lived up to that. He’ll say it how he sees it. He’ll throw in the odd comment that gets a few chuckles at press conferences. The astericks key on the keyboard is starting to be worn out with the number of swear words that get thrown in. I think he deals with the media the same way he deals with his players — quite up front and honest. And I think everyone respects that.”
And while Watson believes Ireland would have a very good chance of reaching the 2016 Euros with McCarthy in charge, there is one other candidate who he feels would be less likely to fare as well in the role.
“The accusation was that he ruled through fear alone. It was all criticism towards the players and not enough well-rounded man management, which Mick has. I’m not sure Roy did the arm round the players as well as the kick up the backside. You have to say his dealings in the transfer market weren’t great. There were far too many misses rather than hits. Especially when it came to spending big transfer fees — people like Tamas Priskin and a few others. So it’s a spell that won’t be looked back on too fondly by Ipswich fans.
“If Mick left tomorrow, fans would be disappointed, but they would also look back on the McCarthy era as a positive one in which he took the club forward. If you ask most Ipswich fans about the Roy Keane era in years to come, they’ll say it was one that was quite damaging and left a lot of work to be done. So Ipswich fans will be hoping it’s Roy [who gets the Ireland job] rather than Mick.”
Meanwhile, Liz Edwards of the Ipswich Town Supporters Club agrees that most fans feel McCarthy would be a big loss.
“I think the vast majority of Ipswich fans fear that Mick McCarthy will be offered the Ireland job. No one seems to think he would turn it down if offered — how can you turn your back on the opportunity to manage your country, especially when he did a really good job last time. So our main hope is that he maybe won’t be the number one choice — after all, it would be a bit of a brave decision for the FAI to turn the clock back.”
She is also confident Ireland would be strong contenders to qualify for tournaments with McCarthy at the helm.
“I think it is fair to say that Ireland do not have as many talented players nowadays as a few years back, but the next Euros is the first-ever tournament with 24 teams, so not far off half of all UEFA members will qualify — that has to give you a really good chance, and then we can all enjoy a party in France!”
Edwards says the ex-Ireland international is regarded as “a real people person” and points out that several of the club’s recently acquired players joined “because of Mick McCarthy”. However, she backs up Watson by suggesting fans aren’t overly enamoured with his, at times, overly defensive style.
“After a particularly grim 0-0 draw at Huddersfield last season, he stated “I’ve never had a bad away point in my life”. That’s an attitude that saved us from relegation, but, for some, an away point will always be two points lost.”
She reiterates Watson’s point that Ipswich fans would be far happier to see former boss Roy Keane take over as Ireland manager.
“Of course Ipswich fans would be quite happy to see Keane become your national manager, but I just cannot imagine how it could happen, not after the [World Cup] 2002 experience. Mick McCarthy would be the far safer choice, but maybe Tony Pulis could be your new Jack Charlton.”
And if McCarthy does leave Ipswich, his time there will be remembered fondly, according to Edwards.
“He saved us from relegation last season. When it was put to him [by a fan at the club's annual Player Awards Evening] that he is a miracle worker, he replied simply: “I don’t do miracles, I do hard work.”
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