Mick McCarthy

Mick McCarthy (born February 7, 1959) was a professional football player in Britain and Europe before moving into club management with Millwall F.C., the Republic of Ireland, and currently Sunderland A.F.C.

Born in Barnsley, he made his league debut for Barnsley F.C. in 1977. A strong central defender, after 272 appearences for Barnsley he went to Manchester City (1983-87), Glasgow Celtic (1987-1989), Olympique Lyonnais (1989-90) and Millwall. He made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1984, his father was Irish. 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 he was appointed successor to Jack Charlton as Ireland manager. Millwall went on to be relegated that season under Jimmy Nicholl.

Despite failure to qualify for the World Cup of 1998 or the European Championship of 2000 McCarthy held his job. Ireland qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan, but their tournament was overshadowed by a very public and bitter spat between McCarthy and the team's star player Roy Keane, who returned home without kicking a ball. The Irish media sided with Keane, and McCarthy was heavily criticised for his handling of the player; this in spite of a relatively successful campaign, reaching the Second Round to be eliminated by Spain on penalties. The media's vilification became increasingly intense and personal after a poor beginning to their qualifying campaign for the European Championship of 2004; eventually, on November 5, 2002, McCarthy resigned from the post. His record as national manager was uneven, of 68 games his team won 29, drew 19, and lost 20.

On March 12, 2003 he was appointed manager of struggling Sunderland, replacing Howard Wilkinson who was sacked after six successive Premiership defeats left the club facing near-certain relegation.