Armstrong will not be easy to net

MICK McCARTHY has some persuasive talking to do if he hopes to convince Chris Armstrong of the merits of joining him in his plans for a new start for the Republic of Ireland team.

That much was clear after Armstrong had spoken yesterday of McCarthy's appointment ahead of the anticipated phone call from the Ireland manager.

Mick McCarthy has a big reputation as one of the best of the young managers in England, and with any kind of luck, he will do a good job for Ireland," the Tottenham striker said.

played for him at Millwall, and I think he has what it takes to be successful.

"But at this point, it's far from certain that I'll be involved with him. When my name was first linked with Ireland last year, I said I wasn't clear if, in fact, I was eligible, and it's still not clear.

"Two people from the FAI said they would look into the matter for me, but that was the last I heard from them. I suppose if they had g9od news they would have been back to me. I'm not aware of any Irish connections in my family, but if they can show that I have, I'll be interested to hear them.

"But even if I am qualified, I'll still have to give it a lot of thought. I'm having a good season with Tottenham, and it has probably pushed me a little bit higher in the England pecking order.

"There are so many good players available to Terry Venables that it's never going to be easy to get into the team. That makes Ireland an attractive option, but there are things, apart from football, which come into it. And that's what makes it difficult."

McCarthy, who watched all of Ireland's closing games in the European Championship, is more aware than most that Jack Charlton laboured under the handicap of a lack of real pace in attack last year.

Armstrong has the kind of speed which takes him away from defenders, but the new manager acknowledges that he will be doing well to get him for Ireland. "I think I've a good relationship with the lad and I plan to be in touch with him pretty soon.

"Fortunately or otherwise, he's having a big season at Tottenham and that, inevitably, will have pushed him into the thoughts of Terry Venables. It's hard to compete with that, but one thing's for sure I'll give it a go.

McCarthy is acutely aware of the growing age profile of his squad, but in spite of impressions to the contrary, he has no intention of ditching that kind of experience overnight.

Instead, he will take time to assess all his options and the likelihood is that players like Paul McGrath will still be very much in contention when the new World Cup campaign opens in Liechtenstein on August 31st.

Meanwhile, the new man heads off to Malta this morning to watch Russia in action in a quadrangular tournament in Valletta. The Russians will, of course, provide Ireland's opposition in the first game of the new reign and McCarthy is anxious to see how they measure up now.

Because of the late change of mind which resulted in a proposed four-year contract being reduced to two, he is going to have few opportunities to indulge his sense of enterprise once his World Cup programme is up and running.

That invests his schedule over the next couple of months with unusual significance. but it now emerges that the controversial journey to the United States at the end of the season may be off.a It follows an attempt to reschedule the programme which FAI officials agreed last month. The understanding then was that Ireland would play three games in the US Cup, one in Washington and two in the Boston area.

Subsequently, Norway, the second European country involved in the tournament, withdrew and with Bolivia coming in to join Ireland, Mexico and the host country, it produced a whole new fixtures list.

The organisers now propose that Ireland open against the US in Boston on June 9th, travel on to Los Angeles for a meeting with Mexico on June 12th and then return to the east coast to finish their schedule against Bolivia on June 16th. It is the imposition of the trip to Los Angeles which has caused FAI officials to look again at the project and one of their number admitted that it has put a whole new complexion on the tour.

"The merit of the original programme was that all our games were in the same region, but the suggestion that we should now travel to the West Coast to meet Mexico puts matters in a different perspective," he said.

"Players can do without unnecessary travel at that time of year and unless a more acceptable programme can be arranged, it may be that we will withdraw from the tournament."