Who’s laughing now? Mick’s gone and Ipswich are bottom
MICK McCARTHY spent the last season at Ipswich being pilloried: negative football, players out of position, the criticism became a maddening drone. Having said he would stand down at the end of the season, he quit with four games to go, following a 1-0 win over Barnsley. A substitution after 56 minutes got the bird. ‘I won’t have to listen to that again — I’m out of here,’ said McCarthy, and quit. Ipswich were 12th at the time, top of a rump of teams that were not in the mix of the play-offs, yet in no danger of going down. Considering the club were 19th in the Championship for wages, and transfer funds were close to non-existent, McCarthy was doing a highly creditable job. Still, freed from his negative football and baffling decisions, Ipswich are now able to realise their full potential. They’re bottom.