Next generation of Irish footballers begins with the Finnish

By Neil Silver

MICK McCARTHY arrived back in Dublin with his Republic of Ireland team last night and immediately started planning for the future.

The Ireland boss has lost three of his veterans, but has a dozen different players pushing for a place in the squad he will name for the friendly against Finland in Helsinki on August 17.

Captain Steve Staunton, Niall Quinn and Alan Kelly have all retired from international football following the World Cup, and will therefore take no part in the qualifying campaign for the 2004 European Championships in Portugal.

There may be a fourth retirement if former skipper Roy Keane keeps his promise to retire after the tournament too.

The Manchester United midfielder was sent home from the trip and will only return to the squad if he makes an apology to McCarthy.

On a brighter note, McCarthy has Tottenham pair Steve Carr and Gary Doherty coming back from injury, while Celtic’s Colin Healy and Rory Delap of Southampton will be able to stake their claims.

The goalkeeping vacancy created by Kelly’s departure will go to Hibernian’s Nicky Colgan.

There are four new faces who are likely to be part of the new era of Irish football. Man Utd defender John O’Shea is a possible long-term replacement for Staunton, while Millwall striker Richard Sadlier could take over from Niall Quinn.

Sunderland midfielder Thomas Butler and Millwall defender Robbie Ryan are two other young players who will figure in McCarthy’s plans at some stage.

Finally, Bolton’s Gareth Farrelly and Stephen McPhail of Leeds are two players who have been capped before and will hope to capture the attention of the manager again, while Wolves winger Mark Kennedy will be back after missing out on the World Cup through injury.

Apart from the new faces, McCarthy is grateful for the experience some of his younger players have gained from the World Cup campaign.

He said: ‘‘We have lost three players to retirement but we are gaining some of the younger players who are only 22, 23, but have got 30 caps between them.

‘‘Players like Ian Harte, Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Shay Given and Steve Finnan are youngsters with lots of caps, they have had huge experience with their caps and huge experience of the World Cup as well.’’

McCarthy’s former club Millwall is serving him well, as another player to emerge with great credit was winger Stephen Reid.

Having agreed a two-year extension to his contract which takes him up to Euro 2004, McCarthy knows he must secure qualification from a group which includes Russia and Switzerland.

‘‘We have played well in the World Cup and what we need to do now is qualify for the European Championships, back to back tournaments and continue to play as well as we have,’’ said McCarthy. ‘‘It will be a tough qualifying campaign and we’ll have to maintain those performances in qualifying games.’’

The Irish party were whisked away after arriving back in Dublin for a welcome celebration in Phoenix Park.

‘‘I think we’ve had a good World Cup and can go home with our heads held high and feel very proud about the way we’ve played,’’ added McCarthy.

‘‘If the people at home want to give us a welcome back we are be delighted to accept it.’’