Is Mick going from £25 pub talk to €1.2m job?
SO will it be Captain Fantastic or the League of Ireland maestro?
Mick McCarthy is the strong favourite to return to the position of Republic of Ireland soccer manager – but also vying for the role is homegrown hero and Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny.
It is expected McCarthy will travel to Dublin this weekend to discuss a deal understood to be worth in the region of €1.2million a year for two qualifying campaigns. Martin O’Neill’s initial contract was for the same amount.
McCarthy was the immediate favourite to replace O’Neill and his assistant manager Roy Keane once news of their departure was announced on Wednesday.
The fact that he is readily available, having left Ipswich Town in April, also represents a plus for the FAI as it means they will not have to buy out his contract.
Former Ireland striker Robbie Keane is rumoured to be on the ticket to form part of the coaching team, though reports that he would be assistant manager seem unfounded. However, with the FAI keen to make a swift appointment, McCarthy will have to see off the other contender, Kenny.
The Dundalk boss – who has won the domestic league title in four out of the last five years – yesterday reiterated his desire for the position, saying it would be the ‘ultimate honour’. ‘If you offered me the job of managing Real Madrid or Barcelona or Ireland, I would choose to manage Ireland, because it’s the greatest honour you can have as an Irishman,’ he told the Dundalk Democrat.
Kenny, 47, doesn’t have the same calibre of CV as McCarthy, but is viewed by some fans as the more progressive choice, given his deep knowledge of the domestic game.
While the FAI previously received financial assistance from Denis O’Brien to help pay O’Neill’s estimated €1.9million contract – after his pay was raised from the initial €1.2million – the businessman ended that arrangement earlier this year.
However, the Irish Daily Mail understands another businessman has since stepped forward to boost the FAI’s finances.
McCarthy, 59, managed Ireland from 1996 to 2002 and brought the nation to the last 16 of the World Cup in his final year as boss. His success at the tournament was overshadowed by the Saipan incident, which saw Roy Keane return home before Ireland’s first game following a row with McCarthy over training facilities.
Ireland legend Liam Brady told RTÉ Sport yesterday that whoever gets the role will face a tough task. ‘What worries me above anything else is the lack of players we have coming through,’ he said. ‘I’m no expert in that regard with the FAI but I know whatever has gone on hasn’t worked.
‘We’re simply not seeing the talent that we once had in the years gone past. The likes of Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Shay Given – all topclass
‘Greatest honour you can have’
players. We haven’t replaced them with anybody of the same quality.’
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin deputy leader Pearse Doherty yesterday called for a united Ireland soccer team. Speaking in the Dáil, the Donegal TD compared the huge success achieved recently by the all-island rugby team to the poor form of the Republic’s soccer squad. ‘We already have all-island teams that demonstrate that we can achieve great success when we work on an all-island basis. The fantastic result of the Irish rugby team against New Zealand at the weekend is just another example of that,’ he said.
‘I don’t think it makes sense that on our small island we have two separate teams, splitting the pool of talent, splitting the resources available. A number of surveys
have shown that those North and South support the idea of an all-Ireland soccer team.’
Mr Doherty noted former taoiseach Enda Kenny had raised the matter a number of years ago, suggesting an all-Ireland soccer team should take on England every two years with the money raised going to children’s charities. ‘Is it not time that we started this conversation following what we’ve done in rugby, boxing, hockey and other sports?’ Mr Doherty asked
Junior Sports Minister Brendan Griffin said the situation was a matter for the relevant football associations, the FAI and the IFA, and not ‘a political matter for us to comment on’. But he added: ‘I do want to acknowledge there is really enhanced cooperation between both football associations in recent years. That’s something I think is very positive and very encouraging.’
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan quipped: ‘I was expecting Deputy Doherty to in some way blame the Government after the lack of success on the part of the Irish team, or indeed for the departure of Martin O’Neill!’
MICK McCarthy has never shirked responsibility when it comes to the big moments. As a key defender at Euro ’88 and in the glory days of Italia ’90, the man formerly known as ‘Captain Fantastic’ went on to manage the Irish soccer team from 1996 until 2002.
That latter year is best remembered for his very public row with Roy Keane prior to the World Cup, when McCarthy sent the Irish captain home from Saipan. Big Mick also, of course, took the Irish team forward to the last 16 in the competition that summer, narrowly missing out on a quarter-final place after that heart-stopping penalty shoot-out against Spain.
Now, following the departure of Martin O’Neill, McCarthy is back in the frame for the Irish manager’s job and regarded as the frontrunner in what seems like a twohorse race between himself and Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny. Undoubtedly it would be a coup for McCarthy to take up the managerial mantle again. Yet whoever is appointed boss has a difficult task ahead.
The glory days are long behind us and the new manager must look not to the past, but to the future.