EYES ON THE PRIZE McCarthy nets ¤2.4million deal with Euro 2020 target
MICK McCARTHY will complete 1,000 games in management if his rapid return as Republic of Ireland manager pays off for the FAI.
The former Ireland captain, 59, has agreed a two-year deal worth ¤2.4 million with the FAI to replace Martin O’Neill in doublequick time and will be formally unveiled in Dublin tomorrow.
He has been hired to lead Ireland to the Euro 2020 finals and, if successful, will have the option to continue for the 2022 World Cup.
With 965 games on his managerial CV, including 68 in his first spell with Ireland from 1996 to 2002, he has all the motivation he needs to smash the elusive 1,000-game mark.
McCarthy’s backroom team includes Terry Connor, his assistant manager at both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, along with Robbie Keane, who is taking his first serious step into coaching.
Ireland’s record goalscorer and most capped player is eager to play his part to help the side banish the Nations League blues.
Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny was last night weighing up a specialist role in the senior set-up under McCarthy after turning down the Ireland Under 21 post.
Dundalk sources last night believed he
THERE were five pictures pinned to the notice board above Mick McCarthy’s desk – one of celebration, one of caution, one of a mentor, one of happier times, and one of a shark.
In the top left was Norman ‘Rimmo’ Rimmington, a stalwart at Barnsley who helped nurture the promising centre back during his formative years in the 1970s. Such was the bond between the pair, McCarthy read a eulogy at the 93-year-old’s funeral last year.
Alongside that was a moment of joy; McCarthy and his trusted assistant Terry Connor — who will be his No2 with the Republic of Ireland — embracing after a 90th minute winner scored by Noel Hunt.
Then there was a laminated copy of the Serenity Prayer, which McCarthy reeled off without hesitation. “‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference” — I think it sums up perfectly what a manager should be,’ he explained, when we sat down in his office at Ipswich Town’s training ground last season to mark the 25th anniversary of the start of his management career.
Returning as Ireland boss 16 years after resigning, re-opening old wounds and debate in the process, certainly takes courage, but whether it is wise will only be known once the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign is over.
Below the Serenity Prayer were two photographs side by side. This was fitting as they are intrinsically linked to how McCarthy, often a bawling, hot-headed presence on the touchline, actually goes about his business away from prying eyes.
The first was of the Lyon team which McCarthy was part of during the 1989-90 season, and where he encountered his favoured custom of players shaking hands with each other every day before training. The second was a cartoon of a 500lbs great white shark.
‘The players, I’m sure they sometimes walk past the door and go, “Nah, I’ll avoid that”, but I shout and say, “Come on, let’s have you”. It does create a nice atmosphere. I don’t see friendliness as a sign of weakness at all,’ McCarthy explained.
‘In any walk of business you can be an absolute ghost if you want to be. Let me tell you, you can come in, do your bit, and go and no one knows you or what you’ve done. Footballers generally are insecure; about their health, fitness, position, contracts, wages and being cold and hard with them.
‘Managers don’t shake hands with players, some don’t talk to them. You can do what you like with them then, ignore them, show you’re a tough guy who’s not bothered. So are they going to be bothered about you? I’d rather call them into the office, tell them I’m not picking them, listen to him telling me I’m wrong and explain why,’ he continued.
‘Fans know, if we go out and we were s***e, they know. And I will come out and say, “Yeah, we were s***e”. Not everybody likes it.
‘So behind that smile is a 500lb shark that’s got sharp teeth,’ he said, acknowledging the cartoon. ‘At the end-of-season dinner they flashed it up on a screen and said, “The gaffer’s door is always open and he’s always happy to see ya”.’
Some will be smiling at the thought of his return with Ireland, while others will be grinning as they circle their prey in the water.
This week began with Martin O’Neill as Ireland manager and in the space of just a few days the FAI have reverted almost two decades with McCarthy’s imminent appointment. Rather than herald the beginning of a new era and embrace the prospect of shaping a different type of future, the Association have turned to a safe pair of hands which they clearly feel offers the best chance of immediate success with qualification for the European Championships — the top brass see no farther than that.
McCarthy is not the dinosaur some perceive him as, that much he made clear a year ago. ‘If you evolve with [the game] you don’t notice the change. So how have I lasted 25 years if I don’t change? I must have. I have, there’s no doubt.’
Regardless, there remains a sense that Irish football is fractured with the groundswell of support for Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny based on a desire for a more sustainable overhaul of the international team.
Instead, a familiar face is tasked with inspiring confidence in a beleaguered squad of players. McCarthy, 60 in February, is set to be confirmed this weekend with his unveiling even scheduled for as early as tomorrow afternoon. It will be then that he’ll get a chance to paint a picture of Ireland’s future under his stewardship.