Search icon

Sport

07th Feb 2014

In honour of Mick McCarthy’s birthday, here are some of the great man’s finest moments

We never get tired of the great man that is Mick McCarthy, and what with today being his birthday we decided to celebrate by delving into his back catalogue

Eric Lalor

We never get tired of the great man that is Mick McCarthy, and what with today being his birthday we decided to celebrate by delving into his back catalogue

Since his playing days, we’ve always appreciated the works of Mick McCarthy, but when he became a manager and started giving press conferences, his true genius as a wordsmith was revealed. We never tire of hearing his strange metaphors, his bizarre answers and the fact that he seems to live his life to the tune of George Michael’s 1984 smash hit ‘Careless Whisper’. So in celebration and as a way to mark the big day, we bring you some of the choicest cuts from the bacon slicer that is Mick McCarthy.

After a case of mistaken identity, Mick moves to clear up any confusion:

“At the moment we’ve got 16 first team players. My initials stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician.”

Ever wondered what his reaction would be if he saw a ghost? Look no further:

He didn’t seem too thrilled to be asked about the Ireland job shortly after he had been linked to the position before Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane were appointed:

Speaking after a 1-1 draw at Leeds United, the former Republic of Ireland player and manager dropped a delightful soundbite to reporters:

“Some people might be frustrated with that result? Some people can f*** off.”

Joey Barton loves a good tweet, even when it gets him in to trouble (as it usually does) so when he was being goaded by the faux-Frenchman himself, he responded in typical Mick style:

“Opinions are like backsides, we’ve all got them but it’s not wise to air them in public.”

Speaking of opinions, Mick likes to express his whenever he gets the chance, and he’s certainly pretty candid when he’s speaking to the media:

Reporter: “No yellow cards today…”
McCarthy: “No and I asked all the lads to go out there and knock seven bells out of everybody as well like I normally do. Shame that isn’t it? They went out there and played free-flowing football and were rampant for 45 minutes. What were they playing at?”

Like we said, he lives his life to the tune of ‘Careless Whisper’:

He’s definitely not comfortable with the favourites tag:

“I’d rather be favourites for Premiership relegation than favourites to win the play-offs.”

Of course, no catalogue of guff would be complete without the mixing of metaphors, although we feel that this one may have been deliberate:

“I was feeling as sick as the proverbial donkey.”

And there’s always more ‘Careless Whisper’, just in case you need it

Mick has been such an important influence on our lives and the lives of so many others, that he’s entered the dictionary. McCarthyism is defined as ‘the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence’. We believe that this particular term was coined after the shenanigans that went on out in Saipan, and definitely nothing to do with Joe McCarthy and all that Communism stuff.

Mick McCarthy, we salute you and all that you stand for. We are, and always will be, McCarthyists.