More to Mick than rugged survival

So much was so different about English football when a 33-year-old Mick McCarthy agreed to step into the breach as player-manager in the wake of Bruce Rioch’s departure from Millwall back in March of 1992, writes Brendan O’Brien.

The dawn of the Premier League era was still five months away, Leeds United were soon to parade the old First Division trophy around Elland Road and a 10-year stay in the top tier was coming to an end for Luton Town who would eventually bottom out in the Conference, five rungs down the ladder, 17 years later.

Black boots were still the norm. Harry Kane wasn’t even born.