Hi Guys. Thought I would stop by and give you an honest assesment of Mick Mcarthy. Firstly Wolves were in a lot worse shape than you are when he took over. You have a good squad of players for Mick to work with, he had about 13 senior players when he walked in to Wolves. This seems to be his forte, ex prem clubs that need rebuilding. Ipswich, Coventry, Sheff Wed are all job's that suit Mick's skill set. He will get everyone working hard, closing down, and restore some pride and discipline to the club. Now for the negatives: Mick and his scouts un-earth some great young british talent, Wolves named this the young and hungry policy and after years over siging 32 plus somethings after one last big pay day from Wolves this was a breath of fresh air and really worked well for us at the time. Players who had never won anything, never been promoted and were desperate/hungry to achieve something in the game and make there mark on football. This was great but for every Jarvis, Kightly, Henry, Seb, Doyle and Fletcher was a Ward, Elokobi, Dave Edwards, Milijas, Manciene, Mcindoe, Shackell, Halford, etc etc. His transfer record could be split straight down the middle. This is not so noticeable in the championship as the hard work and closing down Mick demands will make up for any lack of quality. Sadly he persits with this transfer policy even in the premier league at a time when you really need that extra touch of quality. Mick had a saying at Wolves which made me heave towards the end of his reign, he called it "putting a shift in." The trouble with this is it seems to be at the top of his agenda when signing players, footballing ability comes second on his list. This results in a squad full of headless chicknes closing people down with little quality and little end product. This is not so much of a problem in the championship but it really get's found out in the prem. I believe technical ability should be a priority then work ethic and attitude. Sadly Mick get these two in the wrong order. Another big problem for me was he would not sign big house hold names that might dare to answer him back. Robbie Keane, Craig Bellamy, Tom Huddlestone were the kind of players we should of at least been bidding for but Mick wont sign them! Like I say he will un-earth some world beaters but expect 4-5 pid's in lipstick for every 2-3 gems. As I have said this is not so much of a problem in the champ and only really become a problem once you're promoted. Tactically he is very direct which really suits this division. Teams in this league can't defend direct power and pace, this does lead to Keegan type football. You score 3 we'll score 4 attitude, again great for this league but come's unstuck in the prem. He has no plan b either, he get's the ball out wide or up field and if that does'nt work the ball comes straight back at you and you end up under a lot of pressure. Teams like Swansea have done well because they keep the ball, this means they dont spend as much time defending the way Wolves did. Again all this is only a problem if and when you get promoted. I hope he has learnt from his mistakes at Wolves but he is a stubborn old goat and think's he know's best all the time. I have a funny feeling Mick's time has been and gone, abit like Paul Jewell who also had a good track record before going to Ipswich. Ian Dowie, Micky Adams, Phil Brown, Dave Jones, Paul Jewell and now Mick all seem to have success here and there then fizzle out. They eventually end up doing media work. I hope I'm wrong as Mick is a smashing chap and I wish him all the luck in the world(except for when he's playing Wolves), just a feeling I have. Hope that help's. Worst case he'll keep you up anyway. Up the wolves!
We haven't been in the premier league for over ten years. I wouldn't say MM was a premier league quality manager (probably for the reasons you mention, workrate over flair) but we aren't in the prem so I couldn't give a toss. What we need right now is a good championship manager, and that's exactly what we've got. We'll cross the whole premier league thing if and when we get there. Mick has taken all three of his club teams to the play offs at least in this division. Some at a time when parachute payments didn't exist but as you say, he has what it takes to get a team performing at this level and that's all I can ask for at the moment.
Completely agree We need to be in the premiership before we can start getting worried about staying in it! But thanks for the post, always interesting to hear constructive comments from those with experience
Good summary and is generally my thoughts on the man also. I'm dissapointed we haven't gone for someone with a bit more flair, in terms of playing style, and someone younger from the lower leagues (an ideological ITFC appointment) etc but as others have said we can't be picky and we have a manager who has a very good record at this level, and the situation we are in I don't think (I hope with hindsight I'm right) we could've asked for anyone better, I'm fairly confident he'll do well. I'm just slightly dissapointed that the club don't show any real vision with all their appointments. ME seems to look at the stats he saw that Keane had got Sunderland promoted with a decent budget instantly and was a big name, after this he wanted someone who had acheived success but also experienced failure and I would say Jewell experienced both ends of the spectrum and now he wanted a safe pair of hands, so appointed McCarthy who has a great record in this division. But he never goes for someone with a philosphy or a vision, someone who fits the Ipswich ethos, there's not alot of continuity between appointments.
Trouble ptc is that at the time when we've needed a new manager recently we haven't been in a good position and survival is the issue. The remit for the new manager is to keep us in the league and this doesn't suit an up and coming manager. If I was a young manager there is no way I would want to risk tarnishing my fledgling reputation by taking on a near impossible task at a higher level and failing. I hope MM will stabilise our club at the very least and at the time we come to replace him not be in the same predicament we currently find ourselves in. This would make it much easier to appoint someone younger without the huge risk of relegation (which could either be a blessing or disastrous for us, a gamble I don't feel like taking)
Yes perhaps this wasn't a time to take a risk, this seems a pretty safe appointment but then again looking at the Wolves team of last season they certainly weren't hard to beat!! The problems is on the whole when you come to replace a manager it's never at a good time, so does this mean that we'll always go for the steady option?? And if McCarthy gets us out of the situation and get us up to the top half of the Championship over the next few seasons I cannot imagine after what's happened since Magilton that the club would want to sack McCarthy and bring someone else in. My head says this is a good appointment especially given the situation we are in and he will likely do well here but my heart says we won't regain that ITFC indentity that I want us to strive for and also I won't be entertained half as much as I want to be. McCarthy no doubt plays better football than we would've done under Keane but I want to see my Ipswich team play with flair and good freeflowing football and intelligence and I can't see that under McCarthy. I understand sometimes we're not going to play well and are going to have to dig in and have a battling performance but I don't like the attitude win at all costs!! As many people have said McCarthy tends to go for workrate and application over quality. I want to see us have a mix of this, currently I'd say we have the quality but not the application and leadership!!
We will only be able to play football with flair if our owner decides to give the funds to buy such players (expensive as they normally are). I hope MM (or his scouts)watch more league one games than championship to help find some quality a bit cheaper. I see Holloway has joined Palace, I think we missed something there. As I said, I hope MM can stabilise us and leave us in a much better way than when he came in and I hope that when the time for him to leave comes it's because we are pissed off that we missed out on the play offs, not because we are at the foot of the table.
You've clearly just listened to what MM just said about flair players and players who can play good football with intelligence. But I disagree I'm sure there are plenty of players in the lower leagues who are good footballers, not just workers. It's generally all about a manager philosphy, the amount of managers who change the style of play with the same players. I think we probably atm have the players who can play the good football with a bit of flair as I've said before it's the consistency and the grit and determination that's been missing. I agree about Holloway, would've loved to have seen him here as I think he would have fit the club and also played the football I'd like to see us playing, although he probably would've been more of a risk in the situation we are in than McCarthy!! I think (hope) McCarthy will stabilise us but although he's not my cup of tea as a manager I'm not sure I'd like to see him get the sack because we finished just outside the playoffs but obviously it all depends on the situation!!
My point was that if that was the reason for getting rid of him then it would be easier to appoint a younger manager. Have heard what MM said about his previous teams but it's my own opinion and that's why I said I hope the scouts watch more lower league football for skilled players a bit cheaper than our previous transfer policy of bringing in ex prem players. MM has had some technically good players in his teams but to get there you have to be a solid unit first.
