QuoteWell done Mick Mac and all the lads at Sunderland. About time you enjoyed some success - you deserve this for your work over the years.
PP
Thursday morning, 8.45 sharp: McCarthy's weekly press conference at the club's training ground. If at times he appeared to relish dealing with the Irish media as much as his oft-mentioned backside might have savoured a brush with a bacon slicer, he seems more at ease in this company. Yes, say the 15 or so assembled local press, radio and television journalists, he's been tetchy at times and there's been the odd run-in, but they've no complaints. Not least because his team has been good to cover all season.
"You'd like to be closer, you like to be close to every manager, go out and have a beer, a bit of crack, and when we heard the former manager of Ireland was coming here we maybe thought that's what it would be like, but it hasn't quite turned out that way," says Laws. "But that's not a criticism of Mick. He's just very driven by his job in football and sees the media side as a secondary part. He's not looking for mates in the media. He'll survive or fall on his results on the pitch and he's happy with that.
"I wouldn't say he's got to be pally with many of the local press but again you can't criticise him for that - while we would love to be getting loads and loads of inside information and feel we're right in with the manager, while he's doing the job he's doing you've got to hand it to him. He's producing a team that's good for us to cover.
"He's definitely more Yorkshire than Irish, without making sweeping generalisations about Yorkshiremen or Irishmen. What does he call himself? A Yorkshirish man? Mind you, I've been to places in Ireland where they're just as suspicious and closed.
"But yeah, more Yorkshire than Irish. He's focused. Is stubborn a fair word? Possibly not. He's quite a fair guy. He disagreed with a couple of things I wrote and we just had it out. It wasn't a simmering feud; we talked about it and that was it finished. And I think he's dealt with his squad in the same way. People get a second chance with him. He's quite a fair guy - a decent man who's been very good for the club so far.
"There's respect for any manager when it's going well but it's when it's going badly that you learn just how much respect you've earned in the good times and I guess we don't know that yet. He has been relegated, there were those 11 defeats, but people didn't blame him because it wasn't his mess.
"Once he started cleaning it up he brought his personality into the place. There's a lot of talk about the togetherness of the squad; he's obviously picked people that will help create that sort of atmosphere, people who work hard, who are driven and, in some cases, have something to prove."
Injury updates, team news, and then one of the radio people asks: "How would you feel if Sunderland won promotion?"
"That's a ridiculous question really," McCarthy sighs. "It's like asking me how would I feel if I broke my leg - I wouldn't know until it happened."
A mass outbreak of giggling. The radio man grins, conceding he'd asked for it.
"Do you have any superstitions, just in case we need a bit of luck against Leicester?"
"No, touch wood."
Silence. Then more laughter.
"With all this pressure now, and these huge games to come, are there any people you ask for advice, ask how they coped with the pressure in similar circumstances?"
"No. It's not new to me, you know, coping with pressure. What if I rang someone and they said they dealt with it by getting rotten drunk? Or by going fishing? I don't fish. No, I don't talk to anyone, except Taff (Ian Evans, his assistant at Sunderland). There's no need to be going anywhere else."
"What do you do to relax?"
"Dinner with my wife. Ride my bike. Play a bit of golf."
"Do you have a handicap?"
"Nine. But it was a lot easier to maintain when I had 12 games a year as Irish manager, as opposed to 12 games a week here."
"Have you been getting a lot of support from the fans the last few weeks?"
"Yeah, they've been great. Six months ago everyone ignored me in Sunderland, but now, well, I didn't realise we had so many fans. They've been great, wherever I go it's the same - 'Are we going up?', all that. I met one lovely old guy, George, at a charity golf day yesterday, he told me he'll be getting his bones out and putting them in squares and circles and all sorts on Saturday, anything to bring us a bit of luck. He makes you realise what it means to supporters."
(Eh? "Voodoo," explained the radio man. Right.)
"What's the situation with your contract?"
"It started out as a six-month rolling contract, which suited me perfectly, and was changed to a 12-month rolling contract last summer. That's fine, that's how I like it."
"Would you be on a bigger contract if the club was promoted?"
"Absolutely. But that's the way. If - and it's a massive if - we're promoted the players will get a bonus. If we don't get promoted they'll get f*** all, excuse my French. But listen, this is all ifs, buts and maybes - if you've no questions about real things I'll go."
"Thanks, Mick." And he's off.
That was a good day?
"Oh aye, he was in good form today," says one of the radio men, tapping his tape, happy with his morning's work.
Across the city is the Stadium of Light, built on the site of the old Wearmouth Colliery, the last colliery to close in County Durham, back in 1994. A Premiership ground languishing a division below. It might never have the soul or romance of Roker Park, nor, the supporters will tell you, the atmosphere, but it's a wondrous sight.
In the club shop at the ground a life-size poster of Stephen Elliott, the young Dubliner, adorns the wall opposite where T-shirts sporting the images of Sunderland legends Raich Carter and Len Shackleton hang. You'd almost think Elliott, Carter and Shackleton were team-mates. In some ways they are, if you go by the timeless nature of the locals' devotion to their club.
Outside there's a bronze statue of a flat-capped Sunderland fan, who probably watched Shackleton from the Roker Park terraces. Generations bridged, a club indebted to the loyalty of its supporters through the years, regardless of highs and lows.
Back across the Wearmouth Bridge, in the city centre, the billboards are filled with General Election posters. Labour are pledging that Tony and Gordon are the best of mates; the Liberal Democrats are promising to shorten NHS waiting lists; the Conservatives are vowing to deal with what they view as the three major issues of the campaign: immigration, immigration and immigration. If any of the candidates could promise three points from today's game against Leicester City, while guaranteeing Ipswich would fail to win at Leeds, well, he or she would spend much of the next five years commuting between Sunderland and Westminster. A city with its priorities right.
Meanwhile, the presses of the Sunderland Echo are ready to roll, an 80-page promotion special all set to go - if and when promotion is clinched. How many pages devoted to McCarthy? A fair few, most probably.
"He's been here two years," says McFadden, "he's taken us to an FA Cup semi final and the promotion play-offs - if he takes us up this season he'll have done an amazing job. I, personally, couldn't speak highly enough of him, but the demands are always high here, so whatever he achieves this season he will be reassessed in a year's time - if we win promotion and come straight back down he'll be deemed a failure. That's the way it is. Like with Peter Reid.
"The thing is most Sunderland supporters believe we are a Premiership club, with one of the best stadiums in the country, so that's where we should be. So if we go up McCarthy will be bought a couple of drinks, but he won't get the keys to the city just yet."
But if they survive in the Premiership? And beat Newcastle at some point along the way?
"I hereby rename the Wearmouth Bridge the Mick McCarthy Bridge," the Lord Mayor may well declare. Both structures made of steel.
© The Irish Times
Well done Mick Mac and all the lads at Sunderland. About time you enjoyed some success - you deserve this for your work over the years.
Semper in faecibus sole profundum variat
Yea, agree. Mick ended up being badly treated by Ireland. He made an outstanding ocntribution to Irish football as a player and a manager and I am glad to see him getting the plaudits at sunderland where he has proved his managerial qualities.Originally Posted by Plastic Paddy
Well done Mick Mac ........About time you enjoyed some success - you deserve this for your work over the years.
Honest! I am not a secret Tim nor a closet Sham - I really am a Seagull.
Fair Play to Mick but did anyone see Alan Maybury's goal? What a beauty.
Not a comment from Laughing Bill on the Premiership. As someone who encouraged vitriolic attacks on Mick by the poison dwarf when Sunderland were relegated, I thought he might have the decency to compliment him. No doubt if they struggle next year it will all start up again.
I don't think he was badly treated by Ireland (without smashing open that can of worms...) but he always gave everything, as a player and as a manager. It's great to see him do well again.
Well done Mick and the lads. Looking forward to cheering himself and the rest of the Irish contingent on in next season's relegation battle.
Yeah fair play alright, though he must be grateful that neither Ipswich nor Wigan was able to really put the pressure on when Sunderland refused to take charge. Hopefully France & Switzerland will do the same for us!
In addition to the Irish already there I wonder will he be tempted to try and pick one or two others up on the cheap: Clinton, Miller, Steven Reid maybe. Partridge even.
Is there any chance Colin Healy will play again?
I meant to add that by the sound of things Lawrence has come into his own in the run-in. Has there been any definitive statement on his eligibility?
I'm delighted for Mick, he was on a hiding to nothing when he took over at Sunderland, between the mess Wilkinson left them in, and having to sell their best players, and then having to take a chance on bargain buys.
Next season will take care of itself in due course, for now just bask in the glory!
Did anyone else see Sean Thornton's rapping on Sky Sports??
Well done to Mick absolute excellent job inside two years its hard to believe what hes done since he took over all their prem players had to be let go and since then hes bought good players for knock down prices and moulded the team to come back again inside two years great job. Classic quote from him on saturday "To all the people who knocked me in the last two years they can stick it where the sun don't shine" fair play hes dead right. Wonder what the players thought of his and Ian Evans training methods!!!!! Will be interesting to see how certain people get on when they go into management!!!!! Lets see Bill O'H and Dunphy and co talk now to quote Dunphy two years ago "McCarthy will take them further down than they already are". A well he who laughs last.................
He has done a decent job with them and we will see how they get on in the premiership. To be fair they are the biggest club in their Division so they should be expecting to win it. I think his job has been a little over stated but fair play he has done a decent job with the players that he has got and he has made some shrewd signings. It seems like you are having a dig at Roy Keane in your post too which seems strange in a thread about Promotion and Relegation to the Premiership. Move on is what I say and its good for Ireland that so many Irish players are coming up to the Premiership
In Trap we trust
Yea i am having a digg and why not it was ok for him to say McCarthy was a crap manager and any chairman who gave him a job was mad. I am not overstating the job he did with Sunderland eg Peter Reid, Howard Wilkinson, it was a huge job he had to do and hes done it yeah we all know they will struggle but whats new there with a promoted team. Everyone knocked him two years ago so why shouldn't he be praised now.
Lets see how the other lad gets on when he goes into management is all i am saying.
Well to be honest peter Reid did a great job there, he got them promoted and they finished in the top ten for a few years. If Mc Carthy does that he will be a legend up there, but you can stay too long at a club and thats what Reid did. Football managment is a funny game and managers can seem crap but it can be brought on by circumstances and I think thats what has happened to Reid and he now looks past it as a manger. My point is that Let bygones be bygones. We as supporters should not go down to the level of the two men involved. We are dispassionate observers. If I have a fight with somebody its likely that I will come out with hurtful stuff that cant be backed up by fact. That is the nature of emotion etc. I dont think Keanes comments can stand up to any scrutiny in this matter but nor woudl I expect them to as they are they rant of someone who feels hurt. Mick is a decnet manager and we will see how far he can go with Sunderland but as I said before this shoudl all be about the playrs that got them up and many of them are Irish which is good for us. I think thats the point of the Thread too to talk about how good it will be getting all these players in the Premiership.
In Trap we trust
It doesn't work that way with the big club. Ask me as a Wednesday fan struggling for a play-off place in the 2nd Division! Also Sunderland wouldn't be any bigger than Derby, Wolves, West Ham etc.
I wouldn't have been Mick's greatest fan as an Irish manager. He had certain blind spots but from Day 1, he was verbally assaulted time and time again by Dumpy (because his man Kinnear didn't get the job) on TV aided by Giles and
laughing Bill. Some of the stuff was absolutely scurrilous and this even before the Keane debacle.
Mick managed his country with pride and passion but because of a personality clash with his star player, he left the job with booes ringing in his ears.
I'm delighted for him becuase he lost in the play-offs last year, suffered the hurt of the play-offs for us and the last minute goal in Macedonia and had, what should have been the highlight of his career, blighted by Saipan.
My only worry is that if Sunderland struggle,the poison Dwarf DUmpy will have his darts all ready again and open some very raw wounds.
[QUOTE=OwlsFan]It doesn't work that way with the big club. Ask me as a Wednesday fan struggling for a play-off place in the 2nd Division! Also Sunderland wouldn't be any bigger than Derby, Wolves, West Ham etc.
QWell I think only Wolves could probably come near them with supporters etc as Sunderland were gettting over 40,000 in the Premiership. However I agree that just cause you have a big fan base does not mean you will go up, but you should go up if its a well run club and the chairman there appears to knwo what he is doing. As I said I dont want to take away from what Mick has done and fair play to him, but I just think a bit of realism or context should be brought to it rather than sniping remarks and Roy keane or other people. Is it not enough just to say congratulations. If Roy Keane won the league this year it woudl not be oneup on Mick. We have moved on. I think their is a duty on us as supporters to move on and not bring it up time and time again. Fair play to Mick and lets hope he keeps sunderland in the premiership.
In Trap we trust
As you said if your chairman runs the club properly you should go up BUT what did Keane say two years ago before Mick got the Sunderland job "Any chairman who appoints McCarthy would be completely stupid" so yeah i think it is one up for him. As he said himself at the weekend "To all the people who knocked me over the last two years stick it were the sun don't shine" and fair play to him hes dead right. As you said Reid was great for them but did he take over a club in potential financial ruin???? Also Man U HUGE support, Loads of Cash, Loads of world class players should THEY not be challenging for the title??????? Why haven't they in the last two seasons???? Is it the managers fault, is it the chairmans fault or is it the facilities?????
I think I have already said that anything Keane and Mc Carthy say about each other should be taken with a pinch of sald as they are both the 2 main components of the fight in Saipan. If I have a fight with somebody it is pretty natural that I will come out and say stupid and nasty things about the other person, it is the way of the world. None of these comments that Keane said about Mc Carthy as a manager can really stand up to scrutiny. BUt we as supports should take a rather more dispassionate view of it and say that Mc Carthy has done a decent job at Sunderland and that he has got the best out of the team he has there and if he keeps them in the Premiership fair play to him. I dont think the issues regaring Keane and Mc Carthy have anything to do with Sunderland been promoted and probably should not be mentioned by the supporters. It is history and time to move on and both Mick and Roy are more than welcome to buy me a drink anytime, as both captained and played for the the team I support.
In relation to your final point. I think Man Utd have underachieved in the last 2 years, however only one team can win the Premier League and its going to be relative failure for Chelsea Arsenal or Man Utd. I think some of the blame should be taken by Ferguson, and the rest should be taken by the players. Ferguson is one of the greatest managers the game has ever seen but it may be that the players are tired of hearing the same old stuff from him and he has lost his influence.
In Trap we trust
Fair points agreed.
****e player, ****e manager, end of.
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