Mick McCarthy

[jbyrne]

Bringing him back would be way too divisive & would immediately and constantly distract attention from the real issues: performances & qualification.

it wouldnt be a given that it would immediately be divisive in my opinion. if results and performances were good then peoples problems with mick would soon be forgotten.

as i said earlier there are problems with all the people being mentioned. i honestly believe that mick has better proven credentials to manage us than any of the other realistic candidates

[dr_peepee]

Yeah!! McCarthy made mistakes.. It's too easy to highlight them, but the fact is he cut his teeth in management at our expense (A breif stint at Millwall aside)... Which Is why I hate the thought of young managers at international level...

But it can be said without doubt that he was a better manager leaving us in 2001 that he was when he got the job, and it could be argued that he's better again since given what he achieved with Sunderland with literally a fraction of the support Keane has now..

McCarthy wouldn't be my first choice by any stretch, but he's no where enear as bad an option as some make out..

[Stuttgart88]

it wouldnt be a given that it would immediately be divisive in my opinion.
I think we'll agree to disagree on that point jb. I think there are many out there who think that Mick is the devil incarnate and will never change their minds. Just like people will always think that Robbie should be dropped, that O'Shea is literally our "worst player ever" etc.

[Dr. Ogba]

Not to mention leaving his father on his deathbed to take charge out in Cyprus in March '01. How people (not suggesting Bill here) can "hate him" is beyond me.

Curate's egg of a manager first time around. A lot more that can be said about Stan.

Bringing him back would be way too divisive & would immediately and constantly distract attention from the real issues: performances & qualification.

A different approach is needed.

exactly, and that should be the end of it. It's obvious that we all have our (mostly conflicting) views of McCarthy the manager and that we're definitely not going to agree at this stage but I think that most of us can agree that bringing him back would not be the best move for Irish as it would drag up the remnants of Saipan and would be far too divisive....

The whole debate is just getting repetitive and boring at this stage....

[ShamrockIreland]

I wouldn't want or think Mick will get the job but the man sweated blood for us and was a fine captain and manager. He made mistakes like all managers do and stuck with Kilbad like all the others since when Duffer was on top of his game for Balckburn etc. He won't get the job I reckon its Houllier but then again it wouldn't suprise me if El Tel rides into town

[jbyrne]

I think we'll agree to disagree on that point jb. I think there are many out there who think that Mick is the devil incarnate and will never change their minds. Just like people will always think that Robbie should be dropped, that O'Shea is literally our "worst player ever" etc.

thats what debate is about! agree with much of what you say but i think the anti-mick "fans" would soon be won over if things went well

[Billsthoughts]

..or no defeat in 4 games except on penos, including draws with two world powers (Spain and Germany) in 90 minutes.

In 90 minutes? Unfortunatley in a knockout tournament that isnt good enough. Spain had two goals disallowed and Ireland were given two penos. Spain also were down to ten men for most of extra time.



..
Think we won that game.

Andorra werent exactly famed for there scoring prowess at the time…



No one, even if he plays for MANCHESTER UNITED, is entitled to automatic selection even if he is about to be released from Man U in his mid thirties apart from the fact Mick didn't say that. WHat he said was "go and prove me wrong" and that is a very different thing than telling him to go out and prove himself.

Come on…he wasn’t in his mid thirties….and he was a very good player still at the time….
.


I'll take that hammering anytime for an Irish team notoriously dodgy on its travels.

Well conceding two goals away to malta wouldn’t suggest the team was sent out with the right attitude by the manager?




Quite a funny expression really.

Once was a mistake, twice is just careless



That's a criticism?

It is when most of your players were playing outside of it….



Nothing ventured.....

…………nothing understood….



If he doesn't want to be there in the first place and already had spit the dummy twice, why not?

mmmmmm…managers job to look after everyone and have the best players available out on the pitch. Players job to look after themselves…



Bring back "fans" running after the team bus and spitting at him.

No idea what your talking about but if its as accurate as …..


Bring back players calling him English

He is English….and no player ever called him that.



Bring back the second manager only to qualify us for the World Cup.

No…please don’t…..we shouldn’t waste another 6 years before he can get us to another one…


Bring back the only manager who cared enough to shed tears when his country lost in a play off. Bring back an upright and honourable person.

Well if he cried he must care!!!! Ha ha!!!

Only question is with him…..why are wolves so keen to get rid of him?
Other than the fact that he is touting for other jobs while still in a job……mmmmm……not unlike his time with Ireland then….

[Stuttgart88]

Spain had two goals disallowed correctly, for offside.

[Torn-Ado]

2 He didnt practice penalties, so what, penalties are a lottery we all know that

This statement is a joke. Why is it that some players hardly ever miss a penalty. Or why in the WC final last year, all penalties were scored except for one that hit the underside of the bar.

It was a knockout phase of the biggest tournament in the world and the chance that it would end in a draw after 120 minutes was high. Therefore, practicing penalties is extremely important at that stage in a competition and not just a 'lottery'.

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

[Drumcondra 69er]

This statement is a joke. Why is it that some players hardly ever miss a penalty. Or why in the WC final last year, all penalties were scored except for one that hit the underside of the bar.

It was a knockout phase of the biggest tournament in the world and the chance that it would end in a draw after 120 minutes was high. Therefore, practicing penalties is extremely important at that stage in a competition and not just a 'lottery'.

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

Scored 5 out of 5 in 1990 without any formal practice other then the bets as to who could put one past Quinn in goal. There was easilly as much practice undertaken in 2002.

England practiced penalties in 2006, didn't seem to do them much good....

[tetsujin1979]

Wasn't there a large amount of press dedicated to the fact that England were spending time practising penalties in their training camp before the World Cup? Didn't do them much good against Portugal did it?

[Bondvillain]

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.


Cant agree with that. Look at Robbie Recently : Money-on to score if Spurs got a spot kick , but recently, theres a quiver in his confidence. In a tournament situation, who's to say that your 5 dead eye, ice-in-the-veins penalty takers will all have the nerve & vigour on the day, whether they've been practicing or not?

What if your preferred first 5 shooters dont have the bottle to volunteer? Or have been Injured, rested or sent off?

The solution there is of course to make sure your entire squad practices penalties so there'll never be a shortfall. "Total Deadball" as it were, however, this is about as practical as having them practice to be tall.

You could practice penalty taking all you want. Each penalty is a different mathematical equasion producing vastly different results.

[eirebhoy]

Then you have Arsenal's set of unstoppable penalties to win the FA cup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWlOLJ-2JSs

[Torn-Ado]

It's not going to be foolproof 100% of the time. Portugal may well have practised that bit more. But the attitude was right. Why does Golfers always practise 4 ft putts in Golf? So when the time comes, they'll be ready no matter how easy it looks.

One thing is for sure. If Mick had actually practised penalties in the WC and left the 'Sort it out yourselves lads' attitude at home, we could have done a lot better. Some of the penalties that day were the worst I ever seen.

[Stuttgart88]

Some of the penalties that day were the worst I ever seen.Keane & Finnan's were good, Holland a bit unlucky but Connolly & Kilbane's weren't worthy of professional footballers. Shockingly inept.

[jbyrne]

This statement is a joke. Why is it that some players hardly ever miss a penalty. Or why in the WC final last year, all penalties were scored except for one that hit the underside of the bar.

It was a knockout phase of the biggest tournament in the world and the chance that it would end in a draw after 120 minutes was high. Therefore, practicing penalties is extremely important at that stage in a competition and not just a 'lottery'.

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

heard liam brady say once that the way to practise pens was to tell the keeper in training which side you were going to put it to and still try and score. seeing as we would be a far better team if we could only get our penalty taking right maybe brady is the man for the job!

[Drumcondra 69er]

Keane & Finnan's were good, Holland a bit unlucky but Connolly & Kilbane's weren't worthy of professional footballers. Shockingly inept.

Yep, not worng there. Thing is, had Holland scored (and like you I thought he was very unlucky) who's to say that the pressure wouldn't have been less on Connolly and Kilbane and they my have struck their penalties better? The fact Holland had hit the bar put us on the back foot and changed the dynamic. Every shoot out is different, you can't practice for the pressure involved or replicate how your legs are going to be after 120 minutes. Still think it was unforgiveable of Quinn to bottle taking one given that he'd been in the situation before in teh play offs with Sunderland and buried his peno that day.

Personally I had every man in the sqaud numbered from 1 to 23 in order of where they're going to take their penalties if they're on the pitch so at least that's sorted out in advance but you'll never recreate the situation and pressure meaningfully on a training ground.

As for the golfing analogy, I've always laughed at that, how many times have you seen golfers miss putts that they'd knock away in their sleeep on a practice round when the chips were down. Look at Garcia in the open for example....

[Wolfie]

Connolly & Kilbane's weren't worthy of professional footballers. Shockingly inept.

I didn't envy them their task but their demeanor even on the run up to the ball spoke volumes.

As we all know, we should have nicked that game in extra time before it got to peno's.

[Greenforever]

This statement is a joke. Why is it that some players hardly ever miss a penalty. Or why in the WC final last year, all penalties were scored except for one that hit the underside of the bar.

It was a knockout phase of the biggest tournament in the world and the chance that it would end in a draw after 120 minutes was high. Therefore, practicing penalties is extremely important at that stage in a competition and not just a 'lottery'.

One look at some of Irelands penalties against Spain in 2002 illustrates just why players should practise their penalties.

Your statement shows your complete lack of understanding of the game, while the highest level i ever played was amateur league, i was involved in two penalty shoot outs as a player on sucessive weeks, the first week we practised before hand and were well beaten, the following week same players took them no practice before, and all scored, as i said it is a lottery no matter if it's schoolboy or world cup

[Deckydee]

It takes a lot of Liathroidi to step up and take a penalty in the WC, whether you have practiced or not

[irishfan86]

All about your ability to stay calm.

Practice helps some people stay calm, and there are others who will always bottle it under pressure.

To say that it is pure luck though simply isn't true. There are techniques which can increase your success rate- I remember Doyle saying he had read a German book on penalty taking which helped him score a few in his first Premiership season.

[jmurphyc]

It takes a lot of Liathroidi to step up and take a penalty in the WC, whether you have practiced or not

Yes, but it also takes a lot to play in the World Cup. Whilst penalties are more of a lottery than open play, if you continually practice them you will get better at them and have a better chance of scoring. To say it doesn't matter whether you practice them or not is a complete joke IMO.

[paddywhack]

would really like mick back...he is a good manager who would have the respect of the senior players like keane, finnin and duff..also worked with a lot of Irish youth at wolves

[NeilMcD]

Your statement shows your complete lack of understanding of the game, while the highest level i ever played was amateur league, i was involved in two penalty shoot outs as a player on sucessive weeks, the first week we practised before hand and were well beaten, the following week same players took them no practice before, and all scored, as i said it is a lottery no matter if it's schoolboy or world cup

Sorry I think your example does not prove jack ****. Practice makes perfect. Just becaue you have anectotal evidence of it not work is hardly proof that your theory stands up. In all walks of live and esp high level sport it is proven that those who practice the most generally turn out to be the best. Add to this their god given talent and you get the likes of Tiger Woods. Of course if you practice practice practice there is still a chance at that moment in time you may miss but there is less chance that will happen. If practising was not worth it, why would players practice freek kicks, or set pieces or any act of defending or to be honest any part of training.

Finally I know this is anecdotal but it still pretty much stands up. The Germans, they practice and they study other peoples penalties and they have only lost 1 penalty shoot in their history and in addition they have only missed 1 penalty in World Cups.

[Jerry The Saint]

Interesting study - http://www.umcg.nl/azg/nl/english/nieuws/91006


If you believe that taking penalties is a lottery, then you are more likely to fail

23 juni 2006 Football players who believe that taking penalties is a lottery are not only mistaken, but are also more receptive to anxiety-induced stress...

[OwlsFan]

Anyone tell that to Dave O'Leary ;) ?

[Jerry The Saint]

Anyone tell that to Dave O'Leary ;) ?

We all know O'Leary doesn't exactly have low self-esteem - if he thought penos were a lottery then he was 100% confident he had the winning ticket (even if the rest of us weren't :))

[geysir]

I understood that O´Leary took a lot of penalties in practice.
When he stepped forward to take that penalty in Genoa I thought well he must be good so we are alright.

[Greenforever]

Sorry I think your example does not prove jack ****. Practice makes perfect. Just becaue you have anectotal evidence of it not work is hardly proof that your theory stands up. In all walks of live and esp high level sport it is proven that those who practice the most generally turn out to be the best. Add to this their god given talent and you get the likes of Tiger Woods. Of course if you practice practice practice there is still a chance at that moment in time you may miss but there is less chance that will happen. If practising was not worth it, why would players practice freek kicks, or set pieces or any act of defending or to be honest any part of training.

Finally I know this is anecdotal but it still pretty much stands up. The Germans, they practice and they study other peoples penalties and they have only lost 1 penalty shoot in their history and in addition they have only missed 1 penalty in World Cups.

WHile i accept what you are saying, I personally believe it's a lottery given that its 5 v 5 not a single player taking one, and given that the situation changes all the time depending on if your ahead or playing catch up etc, as regards studying other peoples penalties, id agree the keeper should have studied all potential opposing penalty takers.

Anyway we'll have to agree to disagree on this one :D

[shakermaker1982]

Practice makes perfect. If I was a professional footballer and I entered a competition which involved penalty shoot outs I'd want to practice. It's impossible to replicate the crowd and the pressure but you can make sure your striking the ball correctly and work on trying to feint the keeper.


The Germans, they practice and they study other peoples penalties and they have only lost 1 penalty shoot in their history and in addition they have only missed 1 penalty in World Cups. That is one impressive statistic. If penalties were a lottery then they'd surely have a higher miss rate?

[Bottle of Tonic]

I reckon its all about the bottle and the flow of penelties (ie whats happened previous to the one you're taking).

I think I read something after Celtic beat Spartak on penelties to enter this seasons Champions league about how the penelty takers were selected. Rather than say 'who fancies it then?' or 'sort it out among yourselves, it's a lottery' , Strachan picked the kickers himself and told them they were taking a penelty.

It's an interesting alternative approach to take than the scenarios mentioned above and I think would give the takers themselves a bit of confidence. Would Irelands takers against Spain have been different/ performed any differently???

[Torn-Ado]

I reckon its all about the bottle and the flow of penelties (ie whats happened previous to the one you're taking).

I think I read something after Celtic beat Spartak on penelties to enter this seasons Champions league about how the penelty takers were selected. Rather than say 'who fancies it then?' or 'sort it out among yourselves, it's a lottery' , Strachan picked the kickers himself and told them they were taking a penelty.

It's an interesting alternative approach to take than the scenarios mentioned above and I think would give the takers themselves a bit of confidence. Would Irelands takers against Spain have been different/ performed any differently???

Im pretty sure Kevin Kilbane would have been a long way down the list after his miss earlier in that game. No.11 after Shay Given.

[Noelys Guitar]

It looks all over for Mick at Wolves. He got serious abuse today from the Wolves fans.

[OwlsFan]

It looks all over for Mick at Wolves. He got serious abuse today from the Wolves fans.

Mick will get another job if he's sacked. It just won't be with us.

[Paddy Garcia]

It looks all over for Mick at Wolves. He got serious abuse today from the Wolves fans.

Jeez, where were they when he took over!

[osarusan]

Practice makes perfect. If I was a professional footballer and I entered a competition which involved penalty shoot outs I'd want to practice. It's impossible to replicate the crowd and the pressure but you can make sure your striking the ball correctly and work on trying to feint the keeper.


Agreed.

Practicing enough about the mechanics of penalty taking - placing your foot correctly, knowing how hard you can hit the ball while retaining accuracy, etc - these can be improved in practice, so there is one less concern when taking a penalty when it matters.

I'd say a player who has practiced these things is less likely to miss than a player who hasn't.

[Noelys Guitar]

Mick will get another job if he's sacked. It just won't be with us.

From todays Sunday Indo
If the opposition to Venables' candidacy resurfaces, or there are some unforeseen problems in contract negotiations, then Mick McCarthy is the most likely alternative, having also performed well at his interview. Gerard Houllier is understood to have been ruled out as the FAI were not prepared to pay substantial compensation to the French Football Federation.

[Paddy Garcia]

Gerard Houllier is understood to have been ruled out as the FAI were not prepared to pay substantial compensation to the French Football Federation.

Won't be a problem. At the speed the FAI move he will be out of contract anyway.

[Noelys Guitar]

Won't be a problem. At the speed the FAI move he will be out of contract anyway.

Are you suggesting that the FAi are about to start a new trend of appointing managers at the end of campaigns? A new "One Day Contract". A perpetual caretaker manager who is payed in grocery coupons. Then finally a big name brought in for one day. This has legs.

[aidz1]

Has anyone seen the sunday tribube today??
It has listed all perspective managers for the ireland job written by Miguel Delaney. On Mick McCarthy it stated on cases against "at the risk of opening pandora's box, he would be down one very signifigant world class player"
Anyone shed any light on this ??

[Paddy Garcia]

Has anyone seen the sunday tribube today??
It has listed all perspective managers for the ireland job written by Miguel Delaney. On Mick McCarthy it stated on cases against "at the risk of opening pandora's box, he would be down one very signifigant world class player"
Anyone shed any light on this ??

I did not read the article. It could mean that the success of his last WC campaign was down to a world class player (as opposed to himself). And given he is now managing Sunderland will not be available for active duty.

[tetsujin1979]

Is this the article: http://www.tribune.ie/article.tvt?_scope=Tribune/Sport/Soccer&id=82170&SUBCAT=Tribune/Sport&SUBCATNAME=Sport

[OwlsFan]

Bad night for Mick last night, dumped out of the FA Cup by a non-league side and to a late late goal - he seems to suffer more than most to these late goals. When he took over Ipswich, they were bottom of the Championship and with no money to spend he had them fighting near the top of the Championship the next season. This season has been more of a struggle but with the shoe string budget, he has still done a great job. I am sure many myopic Ipswich fans will call for his head but they should be careful what they wish for. Coventry City comes to mind.

[BonnieShels]

Don't downplay what the mighty Red Imps achieved last night!

I actually expected Mick to get the heave ho after the result. But then again, Marcus Evans really doesn't give a crap what the fans think.

[geysir]

Bad night for Mick last night, dumped out of the FA Cup by a non-league side and to a late late goal - he seems to suffer more than most to these late goals. When he took over Ipswich, they were bottom of the Championship and with no money to spend he had them fighting near the top of the Championship the next season. This season has been more of a struggle but with the shoe string budget, he has still done a great job. I am sure many myopic Ipswich fans will call for his head but they should be careful what they wish for. Coventry City comes to mind.
Usually these things (late goals) are a 50/50 affair, score/concede and Ipswich are no exception, that is until this season when it just so happens that Ipswich have pulled off a spree of late goal game changers including one against that team from Sheffield :)
The thing about Mick is, regardless of Ipswich's decision or the fans' myopia, he would pick up another job handy enough with a more ambitious club. I'd even be okay with him in charge of Ireland.

[seanfhear]

Usually these things (late goals) are a 50/50 affair, score/concede and Ipswich are no exception, that is until this season when it just so happens that Ipswich have pulled off a spree of late goal game changers including one against that team from Sheffield :)
The thing about Mick is, regardless of Ipswich's decision or the fans' myopia, he would pick up another job handy enough with a more ambitious club. I'd even be okay with him in charge of Ireland. Mick for Taoiseach...........

[OwlsFan]

Mick for Taoiseach...........

President maybe but I don't think he'd be diplomatic enough for that job.

His record is impressive at Ipswich

Mick McCarthy 02 Nov 2012 - Present Won: 83, Drawn: 63, Lost: 68

[DeLorean]

Yeah, he could go shooting his mouth off about what a great fella Fidel Castro was or something. :)

[OwlsFan]

Yeah, he could go shooting his mouth off about what a great fella Fidel Castro was or something. :)

Mick would probably think he was the left full for Mexico.

[Trequartista20]

Cardiff, unbeaten in 10 matches, have awarded Mick a two-year deal at Cardiff.

How near would Kenny get to the job? Would he be within the top-50 candidates? Top 100? Top 200?

All academic.We are we're we are, I guess...