McCarthy less than ecstatic as diary talk dominates

Mick McCarthy yesterday declined to comment on newspaper extracts from his forthcoming World Cup diary in which he reveals feeling "ecstatic" upon hearing last May that Roy Keane had issued a statement to the effect that he would not be returning to the World Cup squad.

In the extract of the book, carried by Ireland on Sunday yesterday, McCarthy gives the strongest indication yet of his feelings towards the Manchester United midfielder during the turbulent period that followed Keane's departure from the squad.

For the first time, the Republic of Ireland's manager suggested that even an apology from the Corkman may well not have been enough to facilitate his return and describes as "mutinous" the mood amongst some of the other players when it was reported that the 31-year-old was on his way back.

In his entry from Sunday, May 24th, McCarthy writes: "I never want to see him (Keane) again, never mind work with him."

His entry in relation to the 29th is even stronger. After eight days of what he describes as "torment and torture" caused by the player, he had been led to believe he would receive an apologetic phonecall from his former skipper. Instead, he got a note from Brendan Menton to inform him that Keane had confirmed he would not be returning. "I feared an apology," McCarthy writes, "instead he is finally out of the World Cup . . . I am ecstatic".

As he did last Tuesday, however, McCarthy declined to comment on the extracts published so far, even when it was put to him by a British television journalist that some of the extracts could benefit from clarification.

The reporter in question had the "ecstatic" quote in mind, and wished to know whether McCarthy was so happy that Keane was not returning, or that such a difficult period of uncertainty had been ended.

McCarthy, though, made it clear that he did not care to shed any light on the issue and again insisted that he would discuss the content of the book only once it has been published in the aftermath of this week's European Championship qualifier against Switzerland.

Shay Given, who pulled out of yesterday's training session after just five minutes having gone over on his ankle, later commented on the players' attitude to the impasse between the manager and the team's former star player. "It was Roy's decision at the time to leave the squad," said the Newcastle United goalkeeper. "I don't know what his views are now on what he would have to do to come back into the squad, but I think Roy's the only one who can put it right."

Given says that he expects to be fully fit for Wednesday's game despite yesterday's injury problem.

McCarthy, meanwhile, says that Rory Delap and Matt Holland will also be fine despite missing yesterday's session; the Southampton player had a minor calf strain and the Ipswich midfielder played a league game on Saturday.

The manager himself, meanwhile, needed a little help from this week's opponents yesterday in order to make the training session, with the 43-year-old having cadged a lift home from Saturday's game in Tirana on Switzerland's chartered flight.

Inevitably, he left the Albanian capital impressed with the Swiss and arrived in yesterday's press conference apparently convinced that they would be "difficult to beat".

The 1-1 draw had been, he added "a great result" and one that Kobi Kuhn's side had been a little fortunate to get. "They came away disappointed, as you always are when you've failed to win a game," he said, "but to be honest I think it was a point gained for them rather than one lost because, overall, I think it was a game they could very easily have lost."

Asked before he left about last week's reports linking him to the Sunderland job, McCrathy claimed he had dealt with the issue adequately at Tuesday's press conference where he had said he wanted to stay on until the end of the Euro 2004 campaign.

"I think," he remarked, "I said I was looking forward to the Swiss game. People wanted a definite yes or a definite no, but I dealt with it as I saw fit."

On suggestions that comments by his friend Cathal Dervan had fuelled the speculation, he said: "While I appreciate some people helping me, on no account do they speak on my behalf. One person speaks for Mick McCarthy and that is the man you're looking at."