Mick McCarthy is not a man to trifle with: just ask Roy Keane.
And the Ipswich Town boss has never been backward in coming forward about what he thinks.
And now he has let rip at the critics of his team in a press conference rant best described as searingly honest.
After his side drew 1-1 with local rivals Norwich City in the Championship, McCarthy had this to say:
https://twitter.com/kierangill_DM/status/767355654214393857
Fans immediately questioned whether the quote was accurate, but Daily Mail journalist Kieran Gill insisted they were. "Yes. From his press conference half an hour ago," he tweeted.
After the match McCarthy also said: "I thought we were the better side and I am really pleased with the performance. I expected a scrap but there was also a lot of quality in the match from both teams. We played well and we were solid for most of the game.
"We started really well and I am delighted with how we have responded, against Norwich today and Wolves in midweek, after I was annoyed and angry at Brentford last Saturday.
"I am disappointed we didn't win. We played well enough to win but we didn't manage to get that second goal against a team who will be at the top all season."
All well and good, but that's got nothing on the rant above, which was presumably saved for the print writers.
You can't beat Mick for honesty, and it definitely beats anything you'll get from the carefully marketed, carefully stage managed Premier League, that's for sure.
Hopefully we'll see more of this kind of thing - Arsene, you're up next.
Meanwhile, we'll leave you with this from Mick's time at Wolves. It's a long one - but it's worth it.
Read more from SportsJOE:
The legend is back! Ronaldinho has come out of retirement at the age of 46 to sign for a third-tier Italian football team. Yep, that’s right- the Brazilian legend is coming out of retirement to sign for a Serie C side. The return to the beautiful game comes 11 years after he first hung up […]
There’s a good reason for it As you’re most likely glued to your TV screens binge-watching the World Cup matches, you were probably wondering why a country which was formerly known as Turkey has now a new name, which is Türkiye. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Türkiye is part of Group D, alongside co-hosts […]
Curaçao made World Cup history with just 155,000 people Written by Vesa Hyseni For Curaçao, the 2026 World Cup was about much more than the result on the pitch as the Caribbean nation made history by just being there. Located in the southern Caribbean Sea, Curaçao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of Netherlands […]