McCarthy calls it a day but will go on his terms
‘I’d never pack it in over abuse from numbskulls’
IF THINGS had taken a different turn for Martin O’Neill back in January, Mick McCarthy might have left Ipswich Town by now and returned for a second stint as Republic of Ireland manager.
Once O’Neill stayed put with Ireland after talks with Stoke City, it ruled out speculation on his successor, at least for another two years.
McCarthy’s name will no doubt surface when the Ireland job next becomes available, for he would jump at another Ireland gig, a post he held for over six years from 1996 to 2002.
Since then, the former Irish captain has been employed almost non-stop on the English League managerial coal-face, at Sunderland, Wolves and Ipswich.
Out of contract at Portman Road this summer, he was in danger of becoming stale had he stayed on any longer.
There was also the growing level of abuse from the terraces which was gradually taking its toll.
On BBC Radio Suffolk yesterday he was asked if he had been given the respect he deserved for taking the club to the 201415 play-offs. McCarthy growled: ‘You’ll have to ask the numbskulls who’ve been giving me the abuse, because I think that’s what they are to be quite honest.
‘Fiona, my wife, she said to me for ages “Mick, why don’t you just pack it in? Why would you be taking that kind of abuse?”
‘But no chance, I was never going to pack it in and she knew that.’
Instead, he will leave on his own terms when the season ends, taking him up to 278 games with the Tractor Boys, comfortably the longest serving manager in the Championship. In the summer, there will be some down-time with family, some cycling and golf and then McCarthy will get the itch to return, for football is in his blood.
He has been in management for 26 years and, in his 60th year, is not ready for his pipe and slippers by a long chalk.
His body of work at Ipswich has been credible as he took over in November 2012 when the club were seemingly on a crash course for relegation.
He steadied the ship by finishing 14th and has since overseen decent final placings of ninth, sixth, seventh and 16th.
This season, Ipswich are 12th, and barring a late push for the play-offs, set fair to complete a 13th successive season in the Championship.
McCarthy knows he has brought Ipswich as far as possible, especially with budget restraints.
He met with Ipswich owner Marcus Evans on Wednesday, with the pair deciding a change was ‘in the best interest for all parties’.
McCarthy said yesterday: ‘[I] loved my time here and I am proud of what I have achieved over the last six years — and the relationship I have enjoyed with the players and all the staff at the club in that time.
‘I won’t be leaving with any regrets. I have given everything for Ipswich Town and I will see out my contract in the same way.’
He was, is, and always will be, a players’ man, which was reflected in comments by Ipswich defender Luke Chambers yesterday.
‘We’re very disappointed to see him go as a squad, we wanted him to stay, there’s no secret about that,’ he said, as he reflected on the season.
‘We haven’t made the playoffs, so yes, we probably have let him down, but whether we have any given right to be up anywhere near the play-offs is another question for another day.
‘I don’t want to always talk about money but yes, I do feel his hands have been tied a little bit.
‘It probably shouldn’t have got to this point. Things maybe should’ve been a lot clearer sooner and decided which way we were going to go.’
McCarthy has chalked up 961 games in club management and it won’t be long before he joins the 1,000-game club.
As for a possible Ireland reunion, that will have to wait but if, and when, the call comes, he will be ready.