McCarthy stays with Wolves

Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has ruled himself out of the running for the South Korea job for which he was shortlisted.

The Wolves boss was listed along with ex-Liverpool manager Gerard Houlier but has confirmed he will stay with the English Championship club.

Houllier, who is currently France's technical director and also a potential candidate for the vacant Republic of Ireland job, has not yet indicated whether he has accepted the role.

However it is reported that the Frenchman has also turned down the job.

"I was very flattered to be contacted and considered a candidate alongside someone of the calibre of Gerard Houlier," said McCarthy.

"But I have always been committed to the job at Wolves.  I love it here, and having spoke to Steve (Morgan, the club's owner), I made it clear I am staying."

Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey said it would now be "business as usual" for the club and he paid tribute to the role McCarthy was playing at Molineaux.

"Mick is totally committed to the club, the players, staff, supporters and the task at hand," he said.

"When you have such a high quality manager there is always going to be a chance that someone else will be interested in signing them."

South Korea have been searching for a new coach following Pim Verbeek's decision to step down after leading the country to third-place at Asian Cup during the summer.

Chung Mong-joon, president of the South Korean football association, revealed this morning that both McCarthy and Houllier were his preferred candidates.

"We are about 80 per cent of the way to finishing the process," he said at the time. "The media reports that the two candidates are Houllier and McCarthy are correct. We have received the final answer from both candidates and now we have to agree on a contract."

Some media reports have linked McCarthy with a sensational return to the Ireland job.