MICK McCARTHY was yesterday given just two years to refurbish the Republic of Ireland team when his appointment as Jack Charltons replacement was formally confirmed by the FAI.

A saga which didn't always conform to expectations held one final twist when it was revealed, almost as an aside, that McCarthy's contract would run only until the completion of the 1998 World Cup.

It contrasted sharply with the sentiments of one of the FAI's top officials, as recently as Friday last, when he expressed the opinion that it would be unrealistic to offer the new man anything other than an initial term of four years.

That would have been in line with most national managerial appointments, but obviously there was a major rethink before, the recommendation of the six man selection committee was put to the FAI's Executive Committee.

The effect of the changed thinking is that the pressure will now be on the new man from day one and, clearly, young players hoping to make the breakthrough within the next year will have been disadvantaged by the new time scale.

To that extent, McCarthy may have felt that he was being handed a poisoned chalice yesterday, but flanked by the FAI establishment at this mini, media circus, he was scarcely in prime position to take issue with his new employers.

"Yes, two years is a short time in football, but that's how it is and that's how I'll approach it. Obviously, qualification for the next World Cup finals in France is paramount. I know other things, like the under 18 and the under 21 teams and the overall structure of the game here come into it, but I believe I'll be judged on what the senior team does over the next two years.

"If the team is successful, you may well be asking me to stay on for the next two years. If they don't, I could be on the next ferry out of Dun Laoghaire with everybody's blessing.

"The level of expectation has been raised to such a point that people now expect us to qualify for every major championship. For example, when the draw for the 1998 World Cup was made, people said it was a cut and dried business for Ireland and I suspect it may have been responsible for one or two people getting interested in Jack Charlton's old job.

"I seem to remember that only 12 months ago they were predicting that we would qualify with ease for the European Championship finals and look what happened there. Expectation brings pressure, but I think we'll cope."

It was confirmed that the appointment will take immediate effect and McCarthy substantiated that point by stating that he travels to Malta tomorrow to watch Russia in action. Russia will provide the first test of thee new regime when they visit Lansdowne Road for a friendly game on March 27th.

The appointment of two assistants, to take charge at under 18 and under 21 levels, is occupying the attention of both the association and the new manager. McCarthy will nominate the fourth person in the new set up, his personal assistant, but since some of those in the running for this post are already in club jobs, he does not wish to cause embarrassment not to mention trouble by naming names at this point.

The association sees the number two post as one which will be operative on match days only. McCarthy's perception of the job envisages a much wider rem it and this is one of the points which remains to be clarified in the coming weeks.

For a man who suffered no inhibitions during his playing days when facing some of the most feared strikers in football, McCarthy looked curiously uncomfort able as he looked out at a battery of media personnel in one of the ante rooms at Lansdowne Road.

Somebody likened the size of his first audience to a "middling League of Ireland crowd", but the big man from Barnsley seemed just a little bit unnerved by it all.

The renowned one liners stayed under wraps as wary eyes scanned the room like laser beams, searching out potential pockets of trouble. One recalled a similar scenario when Charlton came to power 10 years ago, but this time the dissidents stayed silent.

There was just one moment of mild discord when somebody had the effrontery to mention David O'Leary. His name has a strange habit of triggering alarm bells in Irish football managers and Mick McCarthy we quickly discovered, is no exception.

Without waiting to hear the full question, he jumped in to say that he had no intention of getting involved in any controversy which belonged to the past. And before the supplementary could be moved, the line of questioning had gone off at a tangent.

In a cameo which wasn't wholly out of sync with much of what has happened over the last six, weeks, the FAI decided to move yesterday's conference from the Gresham Hotel to Lansdowne Road, presumably to facilitate a photo call.

McCarthy confirmed that when the offer of managing Ireland was first put to him, he was excited and just a little bit intimidated.

"To manage the national team is one of the greatest honours of all, but in this instance it is a daunting as well as an exciting prospect. Some great players are getting near the end of it and the challenge is to find new talent to replace them. We've got players of 32, 34, 37, but they just can't go on for ever.

Asked by one journalist to name the players involved, he said "You've got the ages, you can put the names to those ages if you like. But I have no intention of doing so, without first speaking, with the people involved.

On the growing problems of recruiting young players of the required skill and character under the much reviled granny rule, he said "I think the implications of the Bosman ruling should help us get some more English born players with the necessary qualifications and I'm also hopeful that we'll also find a loophole in the English FA's determination to prevent lads born in England declaring for other countries.

McCarthy, whose wife Fiona stayed at home in Kent with their three children while he was preparing to embark on the biggest challenge of his life, just two days before his 37th birthday, was quick to make the point that, whatever else, he'll be his own man.

"Nobody had more arguments with Jack Charlton than me and nobody admired the man more. What he's achieved for Irish football is astounding but this is a new era.

"I'm Mick McCarthy and I'm different. Hopefully, I can be just as successful as the man I've been happy to follow all these years. But one thing's for sure. Whatever happens, I'll be doing it my way.