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Mick McCarthy aims dig at Aston Villa transfers
By Alex Stevens
Mick McCarthy has had a dig at the high level of Aston Villa spending as he explained why he had not been sacked by Ipswich.
The Suffolk club are 16th in the Championship table, just seven points ahead of the drop zone, after a season that has failed to match their recent campaigns.
McCarthy, who was appointed at Ipswich in November 2012, steered the club to the play-offs last season.
In the last week, Norwich have fired Alex Neil and Derby have sacked Steve McClaren even though both sides are ahead of Ipswich in the division.
Wigan also followed suit by dispensing with the services of Warren Joyce as they sit five points from safety in the second-from-bottom position.
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Asked why he had not followed the string of managers who have been sacked, McCarthy told BBC Radio Suffolk, as quoted by the BBC Sport website, that the fact he is still in post confirmed that “for four years I’ve done a really good job here”, although he conceded that “this year it has been tough”.
McCarthy compared Ipswich’s spending on new players with the mammoth £76million paid by Villa in the last two windows.
“We haven’t spent Aston Villa money,” added McCarthy to the BBC. “We haven’t spent Norwich money. We haven’t spent vast sums of money.
“And we’ve been competitive every season up until this one.”
Villa have had two managers this season, with Steve Bruce and ex-boss Roberto Di Matteo overseeing campaigns in which there has been a vast turnover of players.
Despite a recent revival, the Midlands giants are only 12th in the table and just three points ahead of Ipswich.
McCarthy has secured promotions from the Championship at Wolves and Sunderland during an impressive managerial career.
In other Aston Villa transfer news, a senior figure has joined the Midlands giants after completing a switch from Scotland.
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