Mick McCarthy

Mick McCarthy

Personal information
Full name	Michael Joseph McCarthy
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s)	Manager (formerly Centre back)
Team information
Current team	Wolverhampton Wanderers

Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy (b. February 7 1959, Barnsley, England) is an English-born Irish former professional footballer, who is currently the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He has previously managed Millwall, Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland and has also worked as a television football pundit.

Playing career

Club

Mick McCarthy made his league debut for then-Fourth Division Barnsley on August 20, 1977 in a 4-0 win over Rochdale. He spent two years in the basement league, before the club won promotion. Two years later, the team again went up to the (old) Division 2. A strong central defender, he was a virtual ever-present for his hometown club, but departed in December 1983 for fellow Division 2 club Manchester City.

The Maine Road club won promotion in McCarthy's first full season and he finally had the chance to play at the highest level. His first season in the top flight was steady enough as the club reached midtable, but relegation struck the following year. McCarthy himself would not face the drop though as he moved to Celtic in May 1987.

He picked up his first silverware at the Scottish club as they won the league and cup double in his first season. The following season McCarthy again won a Scottish FA Cup winners medal, although the club had to settle for third place in the league.

McCarthy again moved onto a new country, as he joined Lyon in July 1989. However, things didn't work out for the defender in France and, feeling his international chances were being harmed, he returned to England on loan with top flight Millwall in March 1990. Despite the London side suffering relegation during his loan period, McCarthy impressed enough to earn a move and he was signed permanently in May 1990 for £200,000. His appearances in the next two seasons were often limited by injuries and he effectively retired from playing when he took over as manager of the club in 1992.

International

Despite his birthplace, his father, Charles, was Irish, meaning he was eligible for selection for the Republic of Ireland. He made his international debut on May 23, 1984 in a goalless friendly with Poland. McCarthy became a first choice and played in all three of Ireland's games at Euro '88. He later became captain, leading to the nickname "Captain Fantastic".

The highlight of his international career was the second round penalty shootout win over Romania in the 1990 World Cup. This lead to a crunch tie with hosts Italy in the quarter-final, where Ireland's first ever World Cup came to an end, losing 0-1. McCarthy had committed the most fouls in the finals itself. In total, McCarthy won 57 caps, scoring twice vs Yugoslavia in April 1988 and against USA in June 1992.

Management career

Millwall

McCarthy became player-manager at Millwall in March 1992, succeeding Bruce Rioch. In his first full season (1992/93), he was still registered as a player, but made only one further appearance (in the Anglo-Italian Cup), before he became solely a manager.

He took the club to the playoffs in 1993/94 after a strong 3rd place finish, but they lost out to Derby County in the semi finals. During the 1995/96 season, McCarthy became the prime candidate for the vacant Republic of Ireland manager's job, after the resignation of Jack Charlton. After a protracted period of speculation, McCarthy was officially appointed on February 5, 1996, two days after his resignation at the club. Despite sitting a comfortable 14 points clear from the relegation zone at the time of his departure, Millwall would go onto to suffer the drop (by virtue of goals scored) after McCarthy's departure.

His disastrous loan signings of the grossly underachieving Russian internationals Sergei Yuran and Vassili Kulkov from Spartak Moscow, who each received a £150,000 signing on fee and were being paid five times the wage of the rest of the first team, would later be cited as one of the main reasons Millwall were eventually relegated under Jimmy Nicholl.

Republic of Ireland

After two narrow failures to qualify for the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, McCarthy took the nation to the 2002 World Cup held in Korea and Japan. However, their tournament was overshadowed by a very public and bitter spat between McCarthy and the team's star player Roy Keane, who was sent home by the manager without having kicked a ball on the eve of the tournament. The conflict occurred after Keane had angrily questioned the quality of the preparations and facilities the team were using, which escalated into a personal attack on McCarthy .

Despite this furore, McCarthy's team had a relatively successful campaign, reaching the second round to be eliminated by Spain in a penalty shootout (after having already missed a penalty in normal time). Indeed, the narrowness of the elimination meant Ireland were the 9th best performers at the World Cup, and the 5th best among European teams in the competition. Despite this, the Keane issue remained, with the proportion of blame undecided. Many in Ireland sided with Keane - particularly following a televised interview in which details of poor preparation were revealed - and demanded McCarthy's resignation both during and after the tournament. An independent inquiry into the organisation's handling of the squad's preparation later commissioned by the FAI created a damning report, leading to general secretary Brendan Menton tendering his resignation, seen by many as vindication of Keane's complaints.

Criticism of McCarthy in the media became increasingly intense after a poor start to Ireland's qualifying campaign for Euro 2004. In particular, his persistence with several players and tactics that some perceived to be inadequate did him damage, as did a 4-2 away defeat to Russia and a 2-1 home defeat to Switzerland. Under mounting pressure, McCarthy resigned from the post on November 5, 2002 . During his 68 games in charge, the Republic of Ireland won 29, drew 19, and lost 20.

Sunderland

On 12 March 2003, he was appointed manager of struggling Sunderland as an immediate replacement for Howard Wilkinson, who was sacked after six successive Premiership defeats left the club facing near-certain relegation . McCarthy could not stop Sunderland's slide, and the Black Cats were relegated at the end of the season.

However, he largely escaped blame for the relegation and was retained as manager. The following season, McCarthy took Sunderland to the First Division promotion playoffs, but lost in a penalty shootout to Crystal Palace after Palace had scored a stoppage-time equaliser.

McCarthy completed the turnaround of the club in the 2004-05 season. The Black Cats returned to the Premiership as champions, amassing 94 points.

Life in the Premiership was much tougher for McCarthy though, as he was unable to spend much to strengthen the team. After a poor season and with the club 16 points from safety with only 10 games remaining, he was dismissed on 6 March 2006. In an ironic postscript, Sunderland eventually appointed Roy Keane as their next permanent manager.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 21 July 2006, McCarthy was appointed manager at Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Glenn Hoddle who had departed a fortnight before. The Midlands club faced an uncertain future after having to sell the majority of their first-team players. From this awkward position, McCarthy managed to collect together a team from the club's youth ranks, and some lower league signings, and free transfers. Despite the lack of expectations, the team managed to make the promotion playoffs, but it was third time unlucky for McCarthy in them as the team lost out to rivals West Bromwich Albion. He has more recently been linked with the international positions of South Korea and his previous post as Republic of Ireland manager. However he has persistently confirmed he wants to stay at Wolves.

Managerial stats

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Millwall		March 18 1992	February 4 1996	203	74	59	70	36.45
Republic of Ireland		March 1 1996	November 5 2002	68	29	19	20	45.83
Sunderland		March 12 2003	March 6 2006	147	63	58	26	42.85
Wolverhampton Wanderers		July 21 2006	Present	75	32	22	21	42.66

External links

• Mick McCarthy management career statistics at Soccerbase