Mick McCarthy shows former club Sunderland no mercy - 7M sport

Mick McCarthy shows former club Sunderland no mercy



Posted Sunday, February 04, 2018 by PA

Mick McCarthy shows former club Sunderland no mercy

Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy insisted there was no room for sentiment as he plunged his former club, Sunderland deeper into the relegation mire.

McCarthy enjoyed some of the best days of his career at the Stadium of Light, leading Sunderland to the Championship title in 2004 and also guiding the Black Cats to the semi-final of the FA Cup.

Those days seem like an eternity ago now, with Sunderland struggling in the Championship relegation zone and seemingly careering towards League One.

Their relegation worries intensified after a first-half strike from Joe Garner and an own goal from Adam Matthews condemned them to a 2-0 defeat to Ipswich, but McCarthy was not about to start feeling sorry for his former club or their manager, Chris Coleman.

McCarthy said: “I have no sympathy for anybody, regardless of who I or my teams play against, and I’ve always been the same.

“We all want to win for our team. I am sad to see the plight this club is in and I know how hard it is to turn around. I had it myself when I was here. It’s like trying to turn round an oil tanker with a canoe paddle in your hand.”

Ipswich’s win was only their second in the last nine matches in all competitions, but after weathering a strong Sunderland start, McCarthy felt it was thoroughly deserved.

He said: “It was a very decent away performance, just print that. I’ve done my job again. We had to weather a real storm for the first 20 minutes, which felt longer, and they were excellent without putting ball in the net.

“I had to change it so we were more solid, then we frustrated them and they couldn’t play through us. Joe got a fabulous goal and the two wide-men created the second, which was a real killer blow.”

Coleman included all three of his deadline-day signings in his starting line-up, but having conceded three goals at Birmingham on Tuesday night, Sunderland’s defensive fragility was once again apparent.

Coleman said: “It was the second game running where we conceded a minute before half-time, but it is what it is and we are where we are.

“When we go a goal behind, we just don’t come back. That’s a worry because we’re not always going to go 1-0 up. There’s only us can change that.

“I didn’t have a complaint in the first half an hour, but we didn’t recover from the all-important first goal. It’s the second goal, seconds before half-time, incredible.

“For us to concede like that knocks the life out of you. In the second half, we tried but we looked naive in certain situations.”

Coleman was, however, unhappy that referee Darren England failed to award a penalty when Jonas Knudsen appeared to block George Honeyman’s cross with his arm midway through the second half.

He said: “With 25 minutes to go, it’s got to be a penalty. Its handball. If he was two or three yards away, you might say he couldn’t get his hands out of the way.

“But that wasn’t the case.”

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