Former Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy has revealed that he feared the way his tenure at Portman Road ended would hit his chances of getting another job.
McCarthy, 62, enjoyed a fine start to his Town career, guiding the Blues to the play-offs in 2014/15 against the odds, but things turned sour as his relationship with fans deteriorated.
He famously walked out of Portman Road mid-press conference following a 1-0 win over Barnsley in April 2018.
And, in an interview with TalkSport, McCarthy said he thought his exit had an impact on other opportunities in the game.
He had a spell at the Republic of Ireland and a very brief stint at APOEL in Cyprus before taking over at Cardiff City, who he's guided to a rapid rise up the Championship table.
Asked if he thought his time in English football was over, McCarthy said: “I hoped not, but I did wonder because I’d waited a long time from my time at Ipswich.
“That was kind of sad. I left there with maybe a bad rap which I didn’t deserve because TC (Terry Connor, his assistant manager) and I did a great job at Ipswich.
“With the budget we had, we always finished in the top half, we’d be in the play-offs and it just went sour towards the end.
“I think that did affect my chances of getting a job. I waited and waited, nothing came up.
“APOEL appealed to me. I went to Lyon in 1990 to try that as a player and I thought I’d try it (moving abroad) as a coach.
“Unfortunately it didn’t work out under mitigating circumstances. Whether it was me not being good enough or maybe it was the 19 players with COVID-19 that had an effect on it.”
And McCarthy, who took over at the Bluebirds in January, admitted that he still has a fondness for Town.
“It was sad the way it ended there because I had such a great time – I loved it at Ipswich and I still wish them well," he explained.
“I get personal satisfaction in what we’re doing at Cardiff now and not as much as proving anybody wrong.
“Throughout your career, if you ask every manager, they’ve had some criticism. They might have had a job that’s gone wrong and they’ve come back and done better.
“I’ve had all the dinosaur tags. So my new emoji is the laughing dinosaur face which is pretty good!
“I’m getting real satisfaction from being at a fantastic club. What surprises me is nobody has ever said to me how good a club it is and how professionally run it is. I’ve been delighted with it.
“So the satisfaction I’m getting is the fact I’ve helped turn it around and we’re now hopefully on that upward curve and we’re going in the right direction.”
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