Only a Euro victory would keep McCarthy in hot seat

MICK McCARTHY yesterday suggested that only outright victory for Ireland in the European Championship of 2004 would keep him in the job as manager of the national team beyond his current contract.

It was the first time for McCarthy to pinpoint a retirement date and it will mark the end of an eight year term of substantial achievement. Ireland could put a fitting seal on his contribution by qualifying for the finals in Portugal in 2004.

McCarthy, who succeeded Jack Charlton as Ireland's manager in 1996, suggested that his identification of a closure date in an interview with The Guardian yesterday should not come as a surprise, that it was "old news".