McCarthy brings his Ipswich Town side to Hillsborough on Saturday.
Mick McCarthy as Millwall manager
Not since Mick McCarthy was Millwall’s manager midway through the 1990s has one of his sides suffered defeat against Sheffield Wednesday – his first ever encounter with the Owls.
It’s a run which has stood for 13 matches at two more clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, of which he has won seven. But could Wednesday have the last laugh when McCarthy brings his troops to Hillsborough on Saturday?
Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium
The Owls – reeling from Saturday’s defeat at Derby County, in which Adam Reach was denied his first goal for the club by the arm of Rams defender Richard Keogh on the line – will know that in securing a better result than two of the three sides directly above them they’ll make an immediate return to the Championship’s top six.
In contrast, Ipswich, who finished a place below Carlos Carvalhal’s side in seventh last season, could end the next round of games only a point above the bottom three if results go against them, and McCarthy is feeling the pressure.
The 57-year-old, who grew up 15 miles up the road from Hillsborough in Barnsley, was booed by some sections of the Tractor Boys support following Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Rotherham United, and told the BBC defiantly on Monday that he won’t be going anywhere of his own accord.
Wednesday, whose supporters won’t be at all sympathetic of the Irishman’s plight, have rarely had a better chance to end their McCarthy hoodoo – and perhaps none with the consequences so grave.
Sheffield Wednesday fans
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