McCarthy: Top flight a ‘million miles’ away
The 53-year-old and his former Wolves assistant Terry Connor have signed contracts until June 2015.
“Premier League? I’m talking about staying in the Championship for now,” he said. “I think that the first job is to get them out of the bottom three and staying up is going to be a task in itself.”
Despite chief executive Simon Clegg indicating he and Dublin-based owner Marcus Evans had a 34-man strong long list last week, McCarthy says he was head-hunted by the underachieving Suffolk club.
“I didn’t apply for it, so obviously yes. I thought ‘Oh shit’ actually to start with when I got the call. I saw where they were and saw they were being beaten. I’d have loved to have got a job at the top, in the Premier League, but that’s not going to happen. You weigh it up on a lot of things then.”
Clegg confirmed McCarthy was always the man they wanted: “Mick was top of the long list, top of the short list and top of the interviews as well. His track record, his experience and his CV speak for themselves. One of the really interesting things for us is that although he’s been in management for 20 years, he has only managed four teams. That shows a lot of consistency.”
He said Evans will provide McCarthy with resources: “He wouldn’t have taken this job unless he had some assurances from the owner in terms of the finances that will be made available to enhance the squad.”
McCarthy says he’s played a lot of golf since leaving Wolves, who he feels he could have kept up if given the chance, and confirmed there had been interest from one or two other parties, although dismissing claims that he had been in the frame to return to his old Republic of Ireland role.
“There were all sorts of stories that I’ve been tapped up and I’ve spoken to them, but it was barefaced lies. Nothing in it at all.”
While he similarly played down reports of his former Ireland midfielder and one-time Ipswich captain Matt Holland joining his staff, he confirmed Mark Kennedy, who played for him both for Ireland and Millwall, will be amongst those remaining at the club for the time being at least.
“That’s not high on my agenda at the moment,” he said. “Getting a result at Birmingham on Saturday is.”
Unsurprisingly, Roy Keane’s name got a mention.
“I’ve just seen my name on a board out there and that’s the closest we’ve been in a long time, to be quite honest. We’re only two inches apart. I’m glad somebody mentioned it because I thought I was going to go a day in my life without hearing his name – you didn’t let me down.”
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