McCarthy’s first campaign ends in frustration

IT had been a sharp learning curve for Mick McCarthy in his first campaign as Irish manager.

A 3-5-2 formation had been embraced lovingly before being abandoned. So too had his insistence that he would only pick players playing regular first-team football but, when the last shots had been fired in Group Eight, Ireland were in second spot.

Like now, that side seemed to prefer life on the road. Wins late in the day in Iceland and Lithuania rescued what was for a time a rapidly deteriorating situation and that trend continued in the play-offs. The first leg was set for Dublin and Ireland’s hopes of reaching the finals in France seemed reasonable enough against a Belgian side that was coming to terms with the loss of men like Enzo Scifo and Philippe Albert.