Mick says Ipswich his only route to big time

Mick McCarthy says Ipswich represent his best chance of a return to the big time as he doubts a Premier League club will employ him.

Ipswich currently lie second in the Championship, a point behind leaders Bournemouth and two ahead of today’s opponents Derby.

Ipswich’s success this season represents a stunning achievement on the part of the former Ireland manager given he has spent a mere £10,000 in his time at Portman Road.

“I would love to take Ipswich to the Premier League,” McCarthy said. “Personally, I’d love to do it because I don’t think I’d ever get another job in the Premier League.”

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC, McCarthy also spoke about his managerial philosophy, coping with being sacked and working with the media. McCarthy famously fell out with Roy Keane before the 2002 World Cup so it’s little surprise that he’s keenly aware of the importance of relating to players.

“I start by treating people the way I would like to be treated,” McCarthy said of his philosophy. “It sounds like a bit of a cliche, but how true is it? As a manager I work hard and I expect everyone who works for me to work hard.

“I work very hard with players who cause me problems. Not necessarily just on the pitch, but off the pitch too. I think I have a lot of tolerance and patience for that.

“If you went and asked the players they wouldn’t be saying they are my mates or that Mick’s a soft touch.”

While McCarthy hopes to be managing Ipswich in the Premier League next season, his previous top-flight experiences ended unhappily as he was sacked by Sunderland and more recently Wolves.

The pain lingers.

“The word ‘sacked’ has a resonance to it that doesn’t sound particularly nice,” the 55-year-old reflected. “It’s like an Exocet missile, you know it’s coming, you just don’t know where from and when. I’m not knocking the media, but the speculation starts and it’s a story. It grows legs and goes further.

“Getting the sack is a horrible day. There’s tears, some of them are mine because I don’t want to go.

“At Wolves we lost 5-1 to our nearest and not so dearest rivals West Brom. I still think we would have stayed up with me and [assistant] Terry Connor at the helm. But it’s always embarrassing. Everybody knows you’ve been sacked. You’re suddenly on the outside, looking in. It really is a horrible feeling. ”

Referring to working with media, McCarthy added: “The first time I did it was with Jon Champion. He said, ‘here’s a bit of advice, I’ll tell everybody what’s happening and you tell them why it’s happening’. I thought that was great advice.

“I obviously did it okay because I got asked to do it more and more.”

Meanwhile, Ireland striker Daryl Murphy has been named Championship Player of the Month for December.

Murphy, one of six Irish players at Portman Road, scored six times last month and is the Championship’s most prolific marksman with 17 goals.

Derby will need to wary.