Fair play to Mick McSpanner

AFKABartram

I was told by a mutual friend at the time when Curbs left that Mick was absolutely desperate for the Charlton job and would have done anything for it.

Though he was still living in Bromley and it would have logistically been a perfect fit, unfortunately, this was just after the season that Sunderland finished bottom of the Prem with a record points low. We went for Dowie instead, and the rest is now history. But i always wondered at that stage if Mick (or anyone else) took over, what players would they have brought in, would things have been different, would we have stayed up etc

Since that Sunderland debacle, he got himself back in at Wolves, done a brilliant job there getting them up and successfully keeping them up for another two seasons, and has again done another decent job turning Ipswich around with little outlay, with them now 4th and beaten just once in their last ten.

I thought back in 1996 McCarthy was being shown as entrenched in the 'old school' when management was evolving into a new, modern era. A few long-timers on here will remember he was the butt of the joke of a couple of my early articles back in 1996.

But fair play to him, he's gone on to put down a very decent CV since.

RedArmySE7

He's a big lump the feller, loves a flip flop, sock combo too.

Brendan_O_Connell

Didn't like the way he kept Mark Kinsella out of the ROI side for so long. Plus I always thought he was a massive tosser.

Leroy Ambrose

Decent manager, decent man. Comes across very well in interviews - plays up his dour Yorkshireman image for grins - but always find him funny whenever he's on telly. Seems to me to be a 'players' manager' (though that c**t Keane might disagree) but is tactically more astute than people give him credit for.

PragueAddick

Good appraisal AFKA. However I wasn't ready to forgive him over the Shaun Newton - Pat van der Thug incident, when he said he hadn't seen it, was shown it privately, admitted it was terrible, then went in front of the press and again said he hadn't seen it. That's a flip flop too far

oohaahmortimer

He was Curbs' recommendation to take over after he left but the wise old football sage that is Ruchard Murray thought he knew better .......

MrLargo

Promotion specialist, and I'm fully expecting Ipswich to get back in the Premier League under his leadership. Not convinced about his Premier League credentials though - perhaps he's not been backed in the transfer market, but he's never looked capable of continuing to progress a club once he's got them up. Think Wolves was the longest he lasted in the Prem, and it always looked like they'd be heading back down at some point.

Nice bloke though, but where Dowie took us down by squandering our cash on expensive, overpaid, under-motivated foreigners, I think McCarthy would have taken us down by spending our money on workman-like British grafters who weren't quite good enough.

Henry Irving

Was a guest of Bromley Addicks while he was Ireland manager. Shot off early to have an Indian meal in the Papadom up the road.

Kap10

Like him, think he could have done a job, but would he ever have been accepted. Ex spanner manager at Charlton, i know ex spanner Bob has won us over, but his baggage is limited.

ShootersHillGuru

Think he would have done a good job for us. Honest manager and certainly knows the ropes. Could he have kept us up ? I think it's a maybe from me although the whole club was in a tailspin at that time.

tricky

killerandflash

A decent manager, the season he left to take over the ROI job was when Millwall collapsed to regelation as well!

I can never look at this enough...

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/lookalikes/60747/viral-football-mick-mccartree.html

Macronate

philcafc

So long as he's unhappy at about 2;15 on Saturday.

Paddy7

Interesting - I never knew that he was a contender back then. Always thought he was a decent manager who enjoys playing the dour man of few words character. I'd never have had any objection; his record speaks for itself.

The Red Robin

If Peeters left tomorrow McCarthy would be my first choice. I knew McCarthy had interviewed at the time and even then I didn't understand why we didn't go for him over Dowie. That said, I also wanted Aidy Boothroyd… McCarthy is probably the best manager outside the Premier league in terms of getting teams promoted.

The Red Robin

oohaahmortimer said:

He was Curbs' recommendation to take over after he left but the wise old football sage that is Ruchard Murray thought he knew better .......

I thought Curbs' recommendation was Dave Jones?

dizzee

Dowie just got the team winning and I think if we had stuck with him, he may well have just kept us up.

The Red Robin

dizzee said:

Dowie just got the team winning and I think if we had stuck with him, he may well have just kept us up.

I actually agree with this. Even if he hadn't I think it would have been a better long-term decision to keep him than endure the shambles we did over the years that followed.

PragueAddick

dizzee said:

Dowie just got the team winning and I think if we had stuck with him, he may well have just kept us up.

Hmm. Doesn't even get mentioned for vacancies now. But then again, Curbs "ruled himself out" of a further career….

masicat

Wasn't keen on him up to the Keane incident. Loved him as a result. Good honest manager.

tangoflash

Leroy Ambrose said:

plays up his dour Yorkshireman image for grins

What utter rubbish. Everyone knows he's Irish.............

EpsomAddick

I wanted McCarthy at the time. I can't believe he would have signed some of the dross that Dowie did.

RedChaser

Never really liked his persona, especially when he was connected to that lot up the road. His constant screeching from the dugout grates as well. I am sure he is an alright bloke when not in front of the cameras as Bromley Addicks can confirm but I won't be sorry that he will be out of my earshot on Saturday.

Lincsaddick

I've met Mick a few times, he's a down to earth and knowledgeable man, the type of bloke you'd like to meet on a quiet night in the bar for a good long chat on a variety of subjects

Valiantphil

I remember him coming to The Valley not long after our return. The Covered End were singing "big nose, he's got a XXXXXXX big nose", and he smiled an pointed to it.

I thought at the time that he probably has a GSOH, and I was 100% behind him over the spat with Roy Keane.

Since then, I know that he has given several talks to schools and community groups without any fee - .........so he is now on my "like list".

Athletico Charlton

No way he could have done worse than Dowie, Reed, Pardew or Parky. Would he have kept us up, no idea, would he have taken us back up on relegation; yes, I think so.

Trouble is, our expectations were high at that point, we wouldn't have accepted a bloke who had just got a record low PL points total and was ex-Millwall. Even if we had, on relegation we wouldn't have kept him on. Now we couldn't attract him! The cycle of football!

SheffieldRed

Realistically we would ultimately have been relegated from EPL irrespective of who was manager it was just a question of when. McCarthy may / or may not of kept us up for a few more seasons. His talents seem better suited to getting promoted into, rather than managing in the EPL.

Carter

He's always been a good manager in the sense that once he gets to grips with teams they are industrious, very well organised and hold their shape. I have a feeling that once he has introduced some guile (and normally an egotistical arsehole footballer that accompanies the guile) his management style upsets them and in turn they upset the rest of the squad.

Let's not kid ourselves though, if we had appointed him when we bought uglyarse in there would have been riots! I thought Billy Davies or Gordon Strachan were the best candidates. Not that Strachan was interviewed.

C_Jensens_Love_Child

Carter said:

He's always been a good manager in the sense that once he gets to grips with teams they are industrious, very well organised and hold their shape. I have a feeling that once he has introduced some guile (and normally an egotistical arsehole footballer that accompanies the guile) his management style upsets them and in turn they upset the rest of the squad.

Let's not kid ourselves though, if we had appointed him when we bought uglyarse in there would have been riots! I thought Billy Davies or Gordon Strachan were the best candidates. Not that Strachan was interviewed.

Yeah I agree with what you're saying, which is why character in people is also very important when buying players. Curb's done well in signing Claus Jensen who done job's he wasn't best at doing for the good of the team.

I actually wanted McCarthy in at the time.

Ormiston_Addick

As AFKA has pointed out McCarthy's stocks were at an all-time low that summer and he was not an attractive option - not only was he ex-Millwall but he'd been relegated from the PL with a record low points tally, so he'd have been a far from popular choice for a club that was looking to move to the "next level" - which we did very well in the end.

I like McCarthy, very decent man (VDH incident aside) and takes no bullshit from anyone, not even the likes of Keane - his best player and a 'superstar' of the game.

He could not have done worse that Iain 'Master of Disaster' Dowie anyway.