"We were hopeless," McCarthy said after the 1-0 defeat.
"Let's cut to the quick, the way we played we were hopeless, dreadful.
"We didn't deserve anything from the game.
"That performance is well below the standards we expect and I'm not blaming the players because that performance is my responsibility.
"We gave them a goal, let them sit back and we didn't play well.
"We didn't deserve to win - Plymouth did."