Match Day: Mick McCarthy on Gillingham V Sunderland AFC

Last updated : 13 September 2004 By John Jenkin
Mick McCarthy
Back with a bang!
"It was a good performance, I'm pleased with it. We came here with only five points and we were getting a bit of a bashing.

We've started off badly from our standards from last season in terms of results and yes that was an emphatic performance.

We played very well down here last year but I can't say we play that well all the time. It's nice when we do. There are a lot of teams that come here and get a doing. It's a hard place to come.

We've played well today as we did here last year but when I was speaking to some of my peers this week they asked where we were playing and when I said Gillingham they groaned.

It's not like we were expecting to win 4-0 but it was a good performance.I hope it proves what I've been saying in that we do have good players and we are better than our league positions suggests.

I took Marcus Stewart off at Reading and he was not happy.

He was terrific in training yesterday and I told him so. He took that performance into today's game. I think that if you have a beef with the mananger the best way to answer it is by going out and playing well and he did that.

I'd like that reaction from every player. He's made his point in the right manner. Not only with his goals, but with his whole performance. He ran their back-four in places they did not want to go.

I'm pleased with Stephen Elliott, he's proved to people that he can handle this level. It was a good day."