Coming through tough times will stand to Ireland, says McCarthy
Assistant coach Paddy McCarthy and Jack Taylor, left, during a Republic of Ireland training session at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Crystal Palace’s feat of disrupting the presumed order of English silverware should be a template for Ireland, according to the coach of both teams.
Paddy McCarthy was interim manager of Palace before Oliver Glasner was headhunted 18 months ago.
The Austrian retained McCarthy on his staff and shortly after the former Ireland U21 defender was enlisted by the FAI to join their backroom team.
Initially he was assistant to caretaker boss John O’Shea before both flanked permanent boss Heimir Hallgrímsson for the last 1-0 games.
Saturday’s World Cup qualification opener against Hungary is when the serious jeopardy begins, jostling with Portugal, the Magyars and Armenia for a top-two finish in a six-game campaign.
As third seeds and ranked 60th in Fifa’s standings, Ireland are outsiders to end their decade-long tournament drought but McCarthy sees parallels in how Palace confounded the odds to beat Manchester City and Liverpool to win the FA Cup and Community Shield trophies.
He’s certain the hurt of being effectively eliminated from the qualification equation early in the past four campaigns will motivate the current group to finally get their act together.
Of Hallgrímsson’s four wins, three have been earned by overturning leads, away to Finland and the both legs of the Nations League playoff against Bulgaria.
“I am seeing patterns and resilience,” noted McCarthy (42). “I think back to the two Bulgaria games when we went a goal behind in each.
“Maybe previously this young team might not have had the capabilities of getting back into the game but they’ve endured a lot of adversity.
“Some lads with 30-odd caps are now the more experienced players in the team. My belief is they have grown through that adversity.
“Sometimes success stories in sport will have that – a previous spell of adversity.
“This squad have been through tough times, receiving a lot of criticism which was maybe unjust, but we are on the cusp of something.”
Central to the team’s shortcomings was a trend of conceding goals from distance. It’s a facet the management team have been conscious to eradicate. They’re particularly mindful of cementing that given the shooting capabilities of Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai occupying the space between Ireland’s defence and midfield.
“The most dangerous area of the pitch will be in front of our back four and we have fallen victim to that in certain games before,” he stressed, referencing a blight alarmingly acute under the previous manager Stephen Kenny.
“We have done a lot of work on it. The roles and responsibilities of our two No 6s in midfield are very important.
“We want to get pressure on the ball in wide areas but then we cannot have both of those central midfielders out of the frame. There will be a real onus on those two to ensure no opponent drifts into that area to get a free hit.” There may be a role at some point in that department for Killian Phillips. He, along with fellow squad member Jake O’Brien, worked with McCarthy at Palace before they moved on to new pastures.
He has emerged from duels against seemingly superior teams victorious and that winning mentality is available to Ireland, in his eyes.
“There are great similarities to Crystal Palace as a football club and probably Ireland as a football nation at the moment,” he mused.
“The foundations are there. We must have, and are preparing to, be of a mindset to go and win the game.
“It gives confidence and a clear understanding that if you’re together as a team and you have an inner belief as a team, you can achieve anything.
“We have an opportunity now to inspire the next generation, I’ve got a 22-year-old and 15-year-old son who’ve never seen Ireland play in a World Cup. I did and know what it means. That’s the ambition and that’s the objective.”
