McCarthy's men abroad

Where do we start? If some of Mick McCarthy's foreign-based lads mean to go on as they started we'll have qualified for the 2002 World Cup by Christmas. Okay, maybe we're getting a little carried away but we couldn't help but be impressed by the performances of a few of the senior squad on Saturday, not least Steve Carr and Niall Quinn.

Carr scored one and made two of Spurs' goals in their 3-1 over Ipswich, having the proverbial blinder along the way, while Quinn, of course, celebrated his new contract at Sunderland by getting the winner against Arsenal.

Dominic Foley came off the bench to volley home an injury time winner from 25 yards, like you do, for Watford against Barnsley (cue dodgiest headline of the weekend: "Taylor Hails A Job Well Dom") in the first division while Gareth Farrelly sealed Bolton's win away to West Bromwich Albion with a late goal. Further down the divisions James O'Connor got a late winner for Stoke at Bristol City while Kevin Nugent got his second in as many games in Cardiff's 1-1 draw with Blackpool.

For our player of the week, though, we're opting for Charlton's Mark Kinsella, whose performance against Manchester City on Saturday had John Motson hyperventilating on Grandstand. Charlton thrashed City 4-0, Kinsella scoring one, but we saw it coming. Why? Because Kev Keegan tipped City to qualify for Europe.