McCarthy has no issue with succession plan
NEW Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy says he hopes to hand over a strong side to Stephen Kenny when he takes over the reins from him after Euro 2020.
Speaking at his unveiling at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, the Yorkshire man said he was happy to accept a deal that saw him take charge for the European Championship qualifiers, which get underway in March, before making way for the former Dundalk manager ahead of the next Nations League and 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.
‘When I went to meet John (Delaney) and Ruud (Dokter) on Friday it was put to me so I knew about it from the off,’ he said of the succession plan.
‘Of course I considered it but I get the succession and I think it should be a feather in the cap for the League of Ireland. What way are they going to get an Ireland national team coach out of the League of Ireland without doing it? Maybe if they don’t do it now with Stephen then he might drift away and do something else.
‘If that’s what they want to do then I’m cool with it. Sometimes you go into a negotiation and that’s what it is. I was quite happy to accept it but I get the chance to manage for the next two years.’
McCarthy admitted he needed little time to decide to take up the Ireland job for a second time when it was put to him, despite the proviso that there would be no option to extend his deal beyond the next campaign.
‘At the time I wasn’t so sure because I thought I might get two terms and who doesn’t want two terms but the reality is I think an international manager should only be given one term.
‘Perhaps they should be given the chance to take it into the next term if they do well but I knew that wasn’t the case and I was fine with it and accepted it.
‘I did well in the World Cup in 2002 but I should have went away and got a job elsewhere. I didn’t and it went on too long and we lost two games and suddenly I’m walking for a different reason. I’m happy with this arrangement and relationship.
‘If we do badly and we don’t qualify you guys won’t want me and nobody would so it’s not such a bad thing. Good luck to Stephen. I don’t particularly know Stephen that well but I’ve looked at his list of achievements and it’s pretty damn good. I think it’ll be great for Irish football if he can take over a team that is doing well and if he can progress it then great.’
McCarthy also dismissed the idea that Kenny’s presence in the background would be a threat to him if he made a bad start in the job next March.
‘If we lose the first two games, they’ll not remove me and put Stephen in because he’ll be be unlikely to qualify and he’ll be tarnished with that brush of not qualifying.
‘He wouldn’t want to take it because they might blame me for the first two defeats but if we don’t qualify it’s Stephen Kenny that’s got the job. I don’t see it as any added pressure at all. You get 11 months as a Championship manager. That’s pretty much the average tenure but I’m getting two years.
‘I had all those questions about what happens if we do well but I’ve just got to accept myself that even if we do well I’m gone. I sort of squared the circle in my own head that I’ll get another job elsewhere and go do something else and also it’s probably right that you do.
‘I hope I leave him with a good team.
‘Wouldn’t that be lovely for me to hand it over (in a better place). If I am doing that I might be thinking ‘aww really’ but I’ve agreed and what I’ve agreed will be done,’ said McCarthy.