I was never going to walk out on Ireland, insists defiant McCarthy

Mick McCarthy yesterday dismissed queries about his future by stressing that suggestions he was ready to walk out on his job as manager of Ireland to join Sunderland were unwarranted.

McCarthy responded to the fact that his associates had indicated he was in the market for a job in club management by saying: “I have already spoken to them (his associates) about that. On no account did they speak on my behalf. I’ve told the pair of them only one person speaks for Mick McCarthy and that’s the guy you’re looking at.”

McCarthy was speaking to the Irish press corps for the first time since the vacancy at Sunderland had been filled by Howard Wilkinson. He took the opportunity to stress his commitment to Ireland and their match against Switzerland and refused to be drawn on issues raised in the extract from his World Cup diaries that was printed in one of Dublin’s Sunday newspapers.