Friday 31 October 2014 17:08, UK
Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy says he refused to be 'blackmailed' when it came to Tyrone Mings' future over the summer.
Crystal Palace made a late approach for the highly-rated full-back, with a reported £3.5million offer put on the table.
Ipswich, who had already offloaded Aaron Cresswell to West Ham United, refused to budge, though, and knocked the bid back.
McCarthy claims Palace then tried to force the issue by suggesting that they would not sanction another loan move for Jonny Williams, but the Portman Road boss was not for turning – with Leicester City also rebuffed in their efforts to land striker David McGoldrick .
We are always looking at players. Let’s see if we can get ourselves back in the position we were in a few weeks ago, in the top six, ahead of the New Year.
He said when pressed at a Supporters’ Club AGM on whose decision it was to keep Mings out of the clutches of a rival: “Marcus (Evans) rang me up about Palace’s bid for Tyrone and I said ‘no – where are we going to get another left-back at this time?’ He said ‘just think about it and I’ll ring you back in 10 minutes’. He did and I said ‘still no’.
“They then said ‘we might not let you have Jonny Williams if you don’t sell him’. Now, excuse my French here, but I said b*******. I wasn’t going to be blackmailed. So yes, ultimately, it was my decision.
“I think if the bidding had reached eight or nine million then we would have had to say yes for Didzy, but in the end Leicester walked away from the deal as they felt they’d spent enough.”
He added: “There’s a misconception that support from an owner is throwing money at things. Well Marcus has tried that and it didn’t work. That hasn’t been the case for me (financial backing), but that doesn’t bother me. I have quite enjoyed doing it that way.”
While reflecting on events of the summer, McCarthy admits he has also started to turn his attention towards potential January targets.
He said: “Absolutely – anybody who doesn’t cost anything or want paying! We’re pretty good at that though aren’t we?
“We are always looking at players. Let’s see if we can get ourselves back in the position we were in a few weeks ago, in the top six, ahead of the New Year.
“Then I can ask the question (of Evans) ‘can we spend a little bit to help strengthen the squad a bit?’ We have to get in that position first though.”
