IPSWICH HAVE STARTED the new Championship season with a bang and are joint-top of the table after four games owing to their 100% record.
They beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday with summer signing Martyn Waghorn scoring his fourth of the season while another new acquisition – Joe Garner – grabbed the second.
It means that Mick McCarthy’s side sit alongside Cardiff City at the summit – three points clear of nearest challengers Wolves and Nottingham Forest.
The Welsh side are managed by Neil Warnock, a friend of McCarthy’s for over four decades.
The pair met at Barnsley in the 1970s when a teenaged McCarthy was an apprentice and cleaned Warnock’s boots.
“He was the biggest 16 year old ever, I think he was shaving at 12, he is a tough nut but is also a great guy,” said Warnock, who, at 68, is ten years older than the ex-Republic of Ireland manager.
After today’s victory, McCarthy was quizzed about how well he and Warnock had started the campaign.
“Two old farts who know f**k all about the game, hey?” he said.
“I’ll have to get my iPad out now.”
McCarthy, who has come in for plenty of criticism from Ipswich fans throughout his five-year spell with the club, was also asked about the ovation he received from the supporters.
“I treat it with the same contempt as the boos,” he replied.
“It shows how fickle football is.”
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