MICK’S STORY WILL CONVINCE NEW RECRUITS
KERR GIVES BOSS HIS FULL BACKING
‘You cannot dispute Mick’s love of his Irishness’
FOR 12 weeks, Mick McCarthy has been a king of the road, travelling to and from his Bromley home, observing Irish players, from the past, present and possibly the future.
Not all his motorway marathons have gone to plan.
For example, McCarthy left St Mary’s, a notorious bottle-neck, with 15 minutes to go as Southampton were leading Derby in the FA Cup.
The game finished 2-2 before Derby won 5-3 on penalties.
More recently, McCarthy ducked out of Villa Park where Sheffield United were 3-0 up with only minutes left. Glenn Whelan, who had just come on as a substitute, helped spark an unlikely comeback to 3-3.
Could there be another comeback for Whelan on March 7 when McCarthy names his first squad for the opening Euro 2020 qualifiers?
Possibly, especially now that one holding midfielder, Declan Rice, has officially bolted, which the Ireland manager probably suspected was already the case when he was appointed.
‘Dexit’ is already history and by now, the veteran boss will have identified the players he can trust inside the Irish tent, not outside.
So, what does McCarthy look for in a player, and what are his strengths as a manager?
Brian Kerr, who followed in his footsteps as Irish manager, has an inkling of what makes him tick, and mostly puts it down to ‘a good eye’ and ‘sound judgement’.
‘If you’ve been at a very good level — as Mick was as a player — you see players come and go regularly,’ said Kerr.
‘You see how they train, and then they play a match and you see how someone who may have been awkward in training, could have ended up prolific in a matchday scenario.
‘Mick, himself, may not have looked the most silken fella but when he was put in the (Irish) team, with the No5 shirt on the back, everybody could see the defence looked better because he was shouting and roaring, he was brave, he was heading everything away.
‘As a manager, Mick’s experience and judgement, his hunch for what he really likes, is a clear skill. But in addition to that, it’s also his ability to manage a player, to extract something from him, giving him the confidence to go and develop. Mick does that really well.’
Kerr also feels McCarthy’s background as an English-born Irish international will help persuade some second generation players to declare for Ireland.
‘Mick’s heritage and background would help when it comes to speaking to second generation players, in the sense he can say, “Look, when I was a young fella growing up in Barnsley, I might have sounded Yorkshire in terms of the accent, but I always felt Irish”.’
When Kerr was overseeing an underage revolution 20 years ago, he leaned on players born in England of Irish parents and made sure they felt welcome.
‘When Andy Reid would get the guitar out, I’d turn to the likes of Liam George or Shaun Byrne and say, “You ever hear any of those songs before?’ And they’d say, “Ah yeah, at funerals and weddings and things like that”,’ added Kerr.
‘Mick would be able to identify with those fellas, their link, and that gives him a better chance (of recruiting).
‘Mick’s English accent, his Irishness mixed with the fact he is English born and bred, is something second-generation players would recognise.
‘And yet, you cannot dispute Mick McCarthy’s commitment or affection for Ireland, his love of his Irishness.’
Kerr predicts McCarthy will be thorough on the training ground and in the dressing room, that he will leave little to chance to ensure every player knows their role.
‘Mick likes to coach himself, to be out there. There’ll be instruction and there’ll be clarity,’ said Kerr.
Was that perhaps a weakness in the previous regime?
‘I’ve no doubt that there was far too much off-the-cuff instruction,’ observed Kerr.
‘There was confusion about the role of the players in almost every position.’