MICK McCARTHY SOUNDS A WARNING FOR JOHN TERRY

Former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy is still pulling no punches as he bids to make a mark on the new season with Ipswich

ASK Mick McCarthy to describe the Championship and the adjectives come tumbling out in his familiar Yorkshire delivery. ‘Fantastic, exciting, brutal, tough, uncompromising, relentless,’ say the Ipswich Town manager before pausing for breath.

‘The Premier League is supposed to be the blue riband event but some of it is as bland and beige as anything, teams sitting back and waiting to counter-attack.

‘In the Championship, pretty much every team has a go at it, so the games can be more entertaining. There was great football played last year, some of it from Fulham who mullered us twice.’

If anyone is qualified to talk about the new Championship season, which kicks off on Friday, it is McCarthy. He has led Sunderland and Wolves into the Premier League and celebrates five years at Portman Road in November, some achievement in a division where the second longest-serving manager has done barely two.

This season’s offering is particularly attractive, with Wolves and Middlesbrough leading unprecented levels of spending, Harry Redknapp resuming his managerial career at Birmingham and Chelsea legend John Terry signing for Aston Villa. ‘John adds an extra element. We’ll all be watching closely to see if he’s a success or falls on his backside. Either is a story,’ says McCarthy, who tried to sign him for Millwall. ‘I hope for his sake he’s not under any illusions what the Championship is. There will be no grace and favours because every striker will want to show him up at 36.

‘I hope my players aren’t thinking, “Ooh, that’s John Terry”. When I started out at Barnsley and came up against a Premier League player, that was reason in itself to start a war.

‘But John has to be a right shrewdie at football with all he’s done. He is probably relishing the challenge and if he’s physically right, he’ll be hard to beat because he’s a bloody good defender.’

McCarthy finished last season at a low ebb when Ipswich, who have spent the past 15 years in the Championship, were a disappointing 16th and knocked out of the FA Cup by nonLeague Lincoln City.

However, the 58-year-old manager goes into next Saturday’s opener against Birmingham with renewed optimism, despite Ipswich traditionally being one of the division’s low spenders.

This summer, the purse strings were loosened enough for McCarthy to sign Rangers striker Joe Garner and Cardiff midfielder Emyr Huws. Defender Adam Webster will be like a new signing after missing six months with ruptured ankle ligaments. ‘Come the end of May, it was tough. We weren’t good last season and it wasn’t particulary enjoyable. But I am back on it and it’s enjoyable again,’ says McCarthy. ‘I’ve been on the training ground growling and snapping and coaching and encouraging. I tell the lads I know I’m grumpy but I am only trying to make improvements I know they are capable of. When I stop that, you might as well put the lid down on me.’

Ipswich are not fancied to trouble the big-hitters, with McCarthy wavering between indignation and acceptance at the forecasts. ‘I want to be a success. We want to win as much as Sunderland and Aston Villa do but they spend a damn sight more money. I don’t want to be 10th or 12th or 18th, I want to be battling in the top six, which would be batting above average.

‘Last season, I was hearing chants that I’d be sacked in the morning but I am back again trying to have a better one. It’s worth remembering there are three relegated teams who would love to be in this division now.’

The match-up with Redknapp next weekend will be fascinating. The former Spurs and West Ham manager is 70 but was not able to resist taking the Birmingham post after answering a late SOS last season to help them beat the drop. ‘It doesn’t surprise me Harry is back. I know how I felt when I was out for seven or eight months between jobs,’ says McCarthy. ‘It was heads or tails if Birmingham stayed up and they got two unbelievable results.’

McCarthy, who captained Ireland as a player at Italia 90, has managed three of this season’s Championship teams besides Ipswich. He cut his managerial teeth aged 32 at Millwall, now back in the second tier under Neil Harris. ‘I am delighted for them. It was a tough first gig but I loved it and still live near the training ground,’ he says.

‘Their fans are so passionate. I could go to watch a game on Tuesday and people would shout “Awright Micky boy, you’re a legend”. Return a few days later as an opposition manager and the same people give me absolute dogs’ abuse. They want their team to win and I can identify with that.’

After a successful spell managing

the Republic of Ireland and reaching the knockout stages of the 2002 World Cup, McCarthy spent three years at Sunderland, winning promotion to the Premier League in his first full season.

The Black Cats finished bottom in the top flight last season but McCarthy is certain their fans will demand manager Simon Grayson gets them back up at the first attempt. ‘The supporters were great with me but they are demanding. They will be expecting the team to do what Rafa Benitez did at Newcastle,’ he says.

‘Newcastle has a higher profile nationally because they have an airport and people don’t go to Sunderland for a weekend. But that’s where it ends for Sunderland fans. They don’t believe there is any difference between the size of the two football clubs and the stadiums, they see themselves as Newcastle’s equals.’

Wolves, the other club where McCarthy was once manager, have spent a Championship record £15.8million on highly-regarded Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves. The influence of super-agent Jorge Mendes on the club’s Chinese owners has caused controversy. But McCarthy says he would regard interference on team selection as a more serious problem than being offered good players to sign.

‘It depends on what was said at the time you took the job because it’s no good the goalposts moving afterwards,’ he says. ‘I was told when I took the Ipswich job there wouldn’t be big money for players so I’ve never moaned about it.

‘If somebody had said they would give me a job and players who cost £15million, I might give it a chance! It isn’t the worst situation to be in but I will never be told what team to pick. If that happens, it’s time to go.’

McCarthy has had his own unhappy experiences with two overseas players when Russia internationals Sergei Yuran and Vasili Kulkov signed for Millwall from Spartak Moscow.

‘I thought all my birthdays, chocolates, flowers had come at once,’ he admits.

‘But though they were good players, they turned out to be a waste of time. They first time I tried to have them running at Calmont Road [Millwall’s training ground], they weren’t having any of it. After a game against Grimsby, one of them was on the loo having a fag.

‘It was a good lesson for me as a young manager. I was told they were partying all the time and it affected the spirit in the dressingroom because they were on a lot more money than the other lads and wouldn’t run for the team.’

One of the trends of recent Championship seasons has been the success of foreign managers. Promotion-winning David Wagner at Huddersfield followed on last season from Slavisa Jokanovic, who is now at Fulham having previously led Watford into the Premier League.

But McCarthy believes there is also a lot of home-grown managerial talent to get excited about this time. ‘I like Gary Rowett at Derby and feel they could be a real threat,’ he says. ‘What happened to him at Birmingham was bizarre. They’d just beaten us and his staff were expecting money for new players, then he was sacked the next day. I gave him a call and said: “Thank goodness I hadn’t won.”

‘If he can engender that same workrate and team spirit at Derby, they’ll be up there. Mark Warburton had a similar experience at Brentford. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on at Nottingham Forest.

On an individual note, there is also one opposition player McCarthy will be keeping an eye on over the next nine months, Iceland striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, who signed for Reading from Wolves.

‘I thought I had him on loan and the next minute he was going to Reading for £3m.

‘I sort of hope he scores 20 goals next season, and sort of hope he doesn’t.’

In the Championship, anything is possible.