GOING BACK TO MICK’S FUTURE
McCarthy to draw on past as he tries to get Ireland into the Euros
MICK McCARTHY hailed the ‘magic fingers on the computer’ as the Republic of Ireland got bumped out of steerage and suddenly found themselves with leg room in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
One moment, McCarthy was cursing his luck as Ireland appeared to be lumped in with Holland and Germany in Group C, the next he was thanking the small print in the draw which determined that only two of the 12 host nations could be drawn in the same group.
Instead, Ireland were quickly moved along, to face Switzerland and Denmark in Group D while the poisoned chalice was passed to Northern Ireland, prompting manager Michael O’Neill to lament: ‘It’s cruel.’
‘It’s the worst possible draw. I understand the rationale behind it but I think that it’s unfair,’ said O’Neill.
For McCarthy, there was another break to come as he dodged the long-haul bullet of Baku in Azerbaijan for a shorter trip to Gibraltar, thanks to the same ‘host nation’ criteria — John Delaney must be chuffed the FAI threw their hat into the ring to stage matches in Dublin.
McCarthy admitted he had ‘a moment’ where he felt the worst.
‘They explained before what could happen, of course, but it was still a bit of a surprise when it did, and we were moved on.
‘I think there was a collective sigh of relief, but I think it was a bit premature when you’re looking at Switzerland and Denmark in the group. It’s hardly made it easy,’ said the Ireland manager.
With 26 years of management under his belt, including three gruelling campaigns with Ireland, that all went to play-offs, McCarthy is long enough in the tooth not to get gung-ho about a draw.
He recalled yesterday how everyone felt he was drinking in the Last Chance Saloon before the 2002 World Cup where Ireland needed a top-two finish from a group including Holland and Portugal.
But he also knows, deep down, this draw was probably about as encouraging as it could be.
Based on the Nations League standings, Ireland will face one team from League A, the Swiss, one from League B, Denmark, who they’ve just drawn with twice, and two from League D, Georgia and Gibraltar, teams Ireland will be expected to beat.
It’s a five-team group of just eight matches for each which will allow McCarthy wriggle room for two friendlies to try out new players or perhaps let others recover from injuries.
A glance at the fate which befell the other third seeds scattered across the other nine groups illustrates the breaks that went McCarthy’s way in Dublin’s Convention Centre.
Ireland avoided world champions France, runners-up Croatia, as well as Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Russia and Euro 2016 holders Portugal.
Among the booby traps in the long grass of the lower seeds were McCarthy’s old pals from Macedonia and their pesky new neighbours, Kosovo. Ireland skipped both. From a position pre-draw where McCarthy may have felt his prospects of automatic qualification were slight, he finds himself in a group where Ireland, if they land running in March, can challenge for a top-two finish.
‘There are times that you have to do that. When I went to Ipswich, they were bottom of the league on seven points. I arrived on a Wednesday, we were playing Birmingham on the Saturday and we beat them,’ he recalled.
‘It is the same now; it’s a matter of getting the lads going and see if we can get a result.’
On a personal level, there will be no lack of motivation for a manager whose recall of events, as a player and manager (particularly ones which went the wrong way) runs deep.
He made his competitive debut against the Danes in 1984 and recalled yesterday how Ireland were bombarded in Copenhagen by the ‘red arrows’ of Preben Elkjaer, Soren Lerby, Michael Laudrup and Co in a 3-0 defeat.
His last engagement with the Swiss in October 2002, a 2-1 loss in Dublin, pre-empted a decision to voluntarily cash in his cards as Ireland manager.
He makes no bones about seeking ‘revenge’ for that defeat.
‘It was my last match, wasn’t it? I didn’t lose many competitive games so, this is a chance for revenge,’ he said.
‘I’m not joking. Every game I’ve ever lost rankles. And funnily enough, I remember those better than the ones I won.’
The Swiss and the Danes are inside the world’s top 10 but perhaps because they have only one major tournament title between them — the 1992 Europeans won by Denmark — they don’t have the aura of a Germany, Italy or France. Nonetheless, those teams pose a threat the Ireland boss will not be taking lightly.
‘My worry is that when you play against Switzerland and Denmark is that they are as good as those other teams but without the special status, the “glamour” that is given to others,’ said McCarthy.
‘But they are bloody tough opponents and have good players, so they are the teams that concern me more than the others.’
Asked whether he was more optimistic now than he had been pre-draw, he quipped: ‘Well, I couldn’t be optimistic before as I didn’t know what was happening.
‘I’m always optimistic about getting into the top two and I go back to when we qualified with Holland and Portugal, we were written off as both the opening games were away, and people said I’d be out of a job but that didn’t happen, we got two results and we ended up in the World Cup in 2002.
‘I’m looking to do exactly the same now,’ he vowed.