He put Ireland on big stage and was more popular than the Pope, says Coyle

JACK CHARLTON may have been a World Cup winner with England — but the ordinary people of Ireland didn’t hold that against him.

Indeed, according to Paisleyborn Owen Coyle, who played under him during his reign as the country’s most successful manager, he was more popular in Ireland than the Pope.

Not only did he take them to their first major finals at Euro ’88 (a feat enhanced by their 1-0 victory over England in their group), but he also guided them to the World Cup quarter-finals in 1990 and followed that by leading them to the knockout stage four years later in the

USA, beating Italy along the way.

Charlton could do no wrong with the Irish public by that stage but his appointment was not universally welcomed, as Coyle (right) recalled yesterday.

‘He was the most charismatic man I ever met,’ insisted the former Airdrie, Bolton, Motherwell and Dundee United — to name just a few — striker. ‘He was the man who put Ireland on the international stage. I’m not sure if anyone else could have done that.

‘Jack was also very brave. One of the first things he did after taking over in 1986 was to drop Liam Brady. Liam was a world-class midfielder who had played for Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan and was still starring in Serie A at the time.

‘However, Jack was fair and respectful about it — he took Liam aside and said: “There’s no doubting your ability but that’s not the way my team’s going to play”. He took stick for that at first but Jack always believed that the team was more important than the individual.’

The criticism washed off him. Charlton was always his own man, an eccentric, someone who liked a pint and a fag and going fishing. Like fellow Geordie Sir Bobby Robson, he had a habit of forgetting a player’s name.

Coyle added: ‘He’d do that in team talks. He’d say: “Watch out for the big lad up front — you know who I’m talking about!”

‘But he was always clued up and knew the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses inside out.’

Coyle didn’t have as stellar a representative career as fellow native Scots Ray Houghton or Tommy Coyne but he played for Ireland’s Under-21 side and the ‘B’ team before breaking through against Holland in 1994.

‘Big Jack was at every game and he took the ‘B’ team as well as the senior one,’ he said. ‘He was great at creating team spirit. He loved taking the whole squad out for a few drinks and the pubs were always glad to have us there because we’d been doing so well.

‘At the end of the night, Jack would say: “This is on me” and go to settle the bill. He was smart, though, because he always got his chequebook out, knowing that the landlord would be more likely to frame his cheque than cash it because he was more popular than the Pope in Ireland at the time!

‘Some people gave him stick for the way the Irish played. Everyone would love to have the best players in the world and to play in that purist way but it doesn’t mean you’re less knowledgeable if you don’t do that. It’s sad news to hear that he’s gone and my thoughts are with his family.’

Pat Bonner (below) was the Republic’s mostcapped goalkeeper until Shay Given overtook him following his retirement. The former Celtic star made most of his 80 international appearances for Charlton and he appreciates more than most the protection he received on the way to three major finals due to the manager’s diligence.

Bonner believes that Charlton was severely underrated as a coach, claiming that his attention to detail on the training ground played a huge part in Ireland’s success.

‘Under Jack, we had a strong defensive unit, with Kevin Moran and big Mick McCarthy in the middle, Chris Morris at right-back, either Chris Hughton or Steve Staunton at left-back and Paul McGrath in front of the back four,’ he explained.

‘Whenever the ball went wide, Jack told the full-backs that their job was to get tight on their man, not to worry about what was behind them but chiefly not to let their opponent lift their head and get a cross in.

‘If the ball was played through the middle, then one of the centre-backs was allowed to bring it out in the knowledge that Paul would drop back into his slot.

‘When we were attacking, Jack told us never to play the ball to our strikers’ feet but to pass it between the centre-half and the full-back on either side.

‘It meant our centre-forward would peel away, taking his marker with him and creating the opening for Ray Houghton or Andy Townsend or Roy Keane to run into.’