Media sculpted public’s apathy for McCarthy

THE underlying ambivalence of the Irish football public towards Mick McCarthy as manager of the international team was rooted in the unfavourable publicity he received in sections of the media.

McCarthy, who succeeded the hugely popular Jack Charlton as manager in March 1996, was never accepted with the same warmth by the Irish press corps and the unease that constantly coursed through their mutual activities always coloured the resultant publicity.

McCarthy's press conferences tended to be tentative affairs. It was obviously difficult for him to sit in front of an army of 50 or 60 media representatives and deal in a rational way with genuine and legitimate questions knowing there were people in the audience who never asked a question but who were capable of putting their own distinctive spin on his answers.

It was not unusual to hear McCarthy say, after a brief pause for consideration, that he needed to deal carefully with the issue raised because his response might be thrown back in his face at a later date. Suspicion bred mistrust and it has long been obvious that McCarthy had reason to be suspicious of sections of the media.

In consequence he was never afforded the unquestioning support that Charlton received in the press and never received the credit his results deserved. On the contrary he was criticised from day one because results were mixed over the first two years.

This criticism took little account of the major transformation of the team, in the introduction of new personnel and the implementation of a new footballing philosophy.

The task he undertook with Ireland was enormous. He quickly had to legislate for the retirement of a host of major players: Kevin Moran, Paul McGrath, John Aldridge, Ray Houghton, Kevin Sheedy, Andy Townsend, Alan McLoughlin included.

Also he quickly had the team playing more attractive football than had been the norm in Charlton's era. While results were mixed initially, Ireland still succeeded in reaching play-offs for the 1998 World Cup finals and for the 2000 European finals.

He finally presided over a winning team when Ireland performed manfully to reach the finals of the World Cup in the Far East last summer.

On the way, Ireland eliminated the highly-rated Netherlands and came through a challenging qualifying tournament unbeaten with 24 points from 10 matches, the same total as the group winners, Portugal.

It is history now, of course, that what should have been McCarthy's finest hour turned out to be his downfall despite the admirable achievement of the team in coming through the first phase of the finals against Cameroon, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Roy Keane proved to be his nemesis; a series of clashes with the team captain culminated in an explosive meeting of players and management team in the pre-tournament camp in Saipan that degenerated into an ugly verbal confrontation and ended with the team captain leaving for home and missing the World Cup.

The following day Niall Quinn hosted a press conference to speak on behalf of the players but he chose to sidestep a question I posed when I asked whether he thought it likely that the departure of Keane would lead to McCarthy's career with Ireland being foreshortened.

"That's a dreadful question to try and answer," said Quinn, but time has proved that the Keane issue, and the press criticism of McCarthy's stewardship that followed, finally forced him out.

It is certain that the losses to Russia and Switzerland in the opening two matches of the current European Championship brought things to a head quicker than would have been the case had Ireland enjoyed success in those matches.

But it was inevitable that as soon as Ireland's results fitted the template for failure prepared by his critics and that was bound to happen, sooner or later that pressure on McCarthy would cause the barometer to explode.

McCarthy reached this decision without any influence from the FAI. It did not come as any surprise for he flagged this conclusion after the loss to Switzerland.

He said then that issues surrounding him personally were impacting upon the team. An honourable person could only reach one conclusion in this position and McCarthy is that; an honourable person.

Whether his handling of the Keane affair is evidence of a lack of man-management skills is something I will not attempt to pass judgement upon. But this comment is justified:

McCarthy indulged Keane's every whim, even to the point of allowing him to report later than everybody else for Ireland's matches.

Also, it is a fact that McCarthy paid Keane the ultimate tribute by making him his team captain. And he stood by that decision, even though Keane drew a red card upon himself in his first game as captain against Russia at Lansdowne Road.

Those with sympathy for McCarthy will point to the FAI and suggest they have been guilty of failing the manager when he most needed their support. They will recall that FAI officers spoke in South Korea of showing their gratitude to him, in the afterglow of qualifying for the second phase , by offering a six year contract.

Such a charge cannot be sustained. McCarthy, the FAI and Ireland's international team have been set on this course and this conclusion like a runaway toboggan on a downhill course.

The media had it mapped it out for them.