Mick McCarthy
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Mick McCarthy (born February 7, 1959) was a professional football player in Britain and Europe before moving into club management with Millwall, the Republic of Ireland, and currently Sunderland.
Playing career
Born in Barnsley, McCarthy made his league debut for Barnsley in 1977. A strong central defender, after 272 appearances for Barnsley he went to Manchester City (1983-87), Celtic (1987-1989), Olympique Lyonnais (1989-90) and Millwall. His father being Irish, he was eligible for selection for the Republic of Ireland's national team; he made his international debut for them in 1984. He won 57 caps up to June 1992 and was the well-respected captain for his side, "Captain Fantastic".
He joined Millwall in March 1990 and became player-manager in 1991, succeeding Bruce Rioch. After relative success at Millwall on February 5, 1996 McCarthy was appointed successor to Jack Charlton as Ireland manager. Millwall went on to be relegated that season under Jimmy Nicholl.
Manager of Ireland
Despite failure to qualify for the Template:Wc or Template:Ec2 McCarthy held his job. Ireland qualified for the Template:Wc in Korea and Japan, but their tournament was overshadowed by a very public and bitter spat between McCarthy and the team's star player Roy Keane, who was sent home by the manager without having kicked a ball. McCarthy was heavily criticised for his handling of the player; this, in spite of (considering the quality of players available to him) a successful campaign, reaching the Second Round to be eliminated by Spain in a penalty shootout. The media's vilification became increasingly intense and personal after a poor beginning to their qualifying campaign for Template:Ec2; eventually, on November 5, 2002, McCarthy resigned from the post.
While his record as the national manager was good - of 68 games his team won 29, drew 19, and lost 20 - it seems likely that his reputation as Ireland manager will always be overshadowed by the Keane affair.
Sunderland
On March 12, 2003 he was appointed manager of struggling Sunderland as an immediate replacement for Howard Wilkinson, who was sacked after six successive Premiership defeats left the club facing near-certain relegation. McCarthy's hiring did not stop Sunderland's slide, and the Black Cats were relegated at the end of the season. However, he largely escaped blame for the relegation, and was retained as manager. The following season, McCarthy brought Sunderland into the First Division promotion playoffs, but lost in a penalty shootout to Crystal Palace after Palace had scored a disputed stoppage-time equaliser. For most of the 2004-05 season, McCarthy helped keep Sunderland at or near the top of the rebranded Football League Championship. The Black Cats secured automatic promotion to the Premiership on April 23, 2005, and six days later clinched the Championship title.