Loyalty card must be discarded

SOCCER: Soccer correspondent Emmet Malone believes it is past time Mick McCarthy dispensed with his under-performers. If he doesn't now, then he should go

A hard  neck may indeed be enough to keep Mick McCarthy in his job for the next few months, but if the 43-year-old is really serious about leading this Irish team through the remainder of its European Championship campaign, then he can no longer avoid making some tough choices about the players he has at his disposal.

Time and again over the last six years, McCarthy has answered criticisms of his team selection by insisting that his loyalty has always been repaid on the football pitch. The line sounded tired before Wednesday's dismal performance against a fairly indifferent Swiss side. If it is uttered again, it would be laughable.

In the aftermath of the defeat in Moscow, McCarthy maintained his players were entitled to what he described as "a bad day at the office", but in truth the warning signs were evident even as this Irish side were, on the whole, performing credibly at the World Cup finals during the summer.

With Steve Staunton excelling in his last games for his country, and Gary Breen playing well beyond expectations, Ireland's central defence was one of the team's stronger departments through the tournament. In attack, though, Ireland's best spells always coincided with the abandonment late in games of the Damien Duff/Robbie Keane partnership and the Blackburn winger's return to his preferred role out wide.

And in every match it was obvious that the collective shortcomings of Ian Harte and Kevin Kilbane left the Republic terribly vulnerable down the left flank.

The Sunderland winger's push-and-run approach poses virtually no offensive threat to any right back of genuine international standard. Mind you he might just prosper if he ever came up against an opponent like Harte, who doesn't have the defensive guile to compensate for his lack of pace.

Almost anyone who saw Ireland's four games in Japan and Korea could have seen the signs, but after his side's exit on penalties to Spain, McCarthy belligerently dismissed the idea that there could be valid criticisms of performances that ultimately produced decent results.

In Russia, the chickens came home to roost, with virtually the entire team failing hopelessly to perform to the required standard. Last week, however, McCarthy stood by as many of that night's starting line-up as were available to him.

Admittedly, the manager's room for manoeuvre was limited by injuries, but where there were realistic options - John O'Shea in central defence, Clinton Morrison up front - he showed no interest in taking them. After Wednesday, McCarthy has no choice but to put such obstinacy behind him.

It took the former Millwall manager four, often difficult years with the Republic to settle on a team and tactics that worked. But throughout, the last World Cup campaign, his attacking approach, based on a simple system that was easy for his players to understand, worked well and he deserves credit for qualifying from a difficult group and progressing to the knockout stages of the finals.

A major rethink is now required if he is going to attempt to turn this campaign around, though. With two matches played and Switzerland - good as they might have been made to look this week - unlikely to avoid dropping points elsewhere in the year ahead, second place is still a realistic target, but only if McCarthy accepts that he can no longer indulge those who are not earning their keep.

Kilbane, for a start, simply has to go - unless, of course, he develops into a decent left back under Howard Wilkinson. Either way, assuming Steve Carr and Steve Finnan are back by March, then Harte must go too. The central defensive partnership of Kenny Cunningham and Breen has to be abandoned as well.

Ideally, a player of O'Shea's promise should be eased into international football, but in the circumstances the 21-year-old clearly needs to be brought on as quickly as possible with a view to starting in Georgia and Albania.

In the longer term, Andy O'Brien might well build a useful partnership with the new man, but if Cunningham is the one to retain the place alongside the youngster for the moment, then it should not be as the team's captain for he simply does not have the required attitude for the role.

Duff's redeployment to the wing, meanwhile, makes Morrison's inclusion up front something of a foregone conclusion during the coming months.

For all his problems, McCarthy's position could actually be much worse now. If there was another qualifier to be played next month, then it is hard to see how he might halt the downward spiral, but the game against Greece in Athens and February's visit to Scotland provide opportunities to reassess and shift direction.

Having grappled with the task of replacing the ageing team he inherited from Jack Charlton six years ago, McCarthy must now deal in a similar way with some of the players who he initially drafted in to fill the gaps. He will be helped if particularly talented prospects like Colin Healy and Thomas Butler can make real progress at club level. He could also do with Stephen McPhail retaining his place in the Leeds team.

Central midfield, inevitably, is a particular problem, with a dramatic improvement in what has been a problem area against both Russia and Switzerland a mere reconciliation or a new manager away. The latter scenario continues to look the more likely to pave the way for Roy Keane's return.

McCarthy must realise, though, that Keane's absence makes his other luxuries much less affordable.

If he is serious about sticking around, and he isn't simply biding his time in the hope that the next Premiership club to sack their manager will call, then he must set to work getting things right for two away games which an improved, reorganised and revitalised team could well win.

If not, and he wishes to avoid the positive relationship he has always enjoyed with the majority of Irish supporters turning sour, then he should go and as quickly as possible so as to let his successor make the changes required if the team he has assembled over the last six years is once again to start moving in the right direction.