I have never been a huge fan of Mick McCarthy. I could take him or leae him. When he was at Millwall he done nothing so I was surprised he got Ireland job. In the particular job, overall, I reckon he done reasonably well. Yes he made costly mistakes but seemed to learn from them, (3-5-2 and all that). Saipan was really the deathknell for McCarthy as Irish manager. So, after he left for Sunderland, I decided I'd keep an eye on him as see if he has improved since his early years at Millwall. A couple of things have really impressed me about the man.
Firstly, he stripped Michael Gray of the club captaincy. The reason was that on a day when Sunderland were letting go 60 club workers and players, Gray drove into the ground to show off his top-of-the-range car valued at £60,000. Gray was placed on the transfer list shortly after.
He turned down the use of similar type car for a modest family car on the same grounds as above.
He has being going into work at 8am each morning to put Sean Thornton through a rigorous workout in an effort to get the young lad back on the right tracks and revive he career.
Add these to the relative success he has had on a shoe-string budget. He took a gamble on Stephen Elliott and being rewarded handsomely. I hope he continues to grow as a manager and hopefully we will see him in the premiershop next year.
