McCarthy set for Ipswich job

Mick McCarthy is expected to be named the new Ipswich manager this morning.

The Tractor Boys, who parted company with Paul Jewell last week, have interviewed several candidates in recent days.

While reports of a three-year deal already being agreed may be premature, it looks likely McCarthy is set to be handed the task of steering Town away from relegation trouble in the npower Championship.

The 53-year-old, who has also attracted interest from Crystal Palace, has been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in February and looks set to beat off competition from Owen Coyle and Alan Shearer for the role.

McCarthy will be joined at Portman Road by his former Wolves assistant Terry Connor, while one-time Ipswich skipper Matt Holland, who played for Ireland under McCarthy, will also be part of his coaching staff.

Town find themselves cut adrift at the foot of the table following a 12-match winless sequence and a club-record run of 10 league games without a home victory which stretches back to March.

Meanwhile Blackburn will unveil former defender Henning Berg as their new manager at Ewood Park this morning.

Berg won the Premier League title as a player with Rovers in 1995 and the 43-year-old will succeed Steve Kean, who resigned to end a troubled spell as manager of the npower Championship side a month ago.

Berg, who made 297 appearances across two spells as a player with Rovers, will take on his first coaching assignment in English football following spells leading Lyn Oslo and Lillestrom in his native Norway.

The 43-year-old’s appointment concludes Blackburn’s protracted search for a successor to Kean after he left the club last month.

Berg, who works as a television pundit for Norwegian broadcaster TV 2 Sporten, was an outspoken critic of owners Venky’s this summer following Blackburn’s relegation from the Barclays Premier League.

In a widely referenced quote that he appears set to hear plenty about in the coming days, Berg said of the top job at Rovers: “There are no real managers with credibility who would accept a job like that.”

Blackburn currently lie fifth in the Championship.