McCarthy now seen in a whole new Light

SOCCER/ English FA Cup: Mick McCarthy was named the English First Division's manager of the month for March yesterday, which, as he immediately pointed out, is not a good omen. "It's looked upon as the kiss of death," McCarthy said. "It's always mentioned if you lose your next game."

Sunderland's, of course, is Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Millwall, the club that offered McCarthy his first job in management as a 33-year-old in 1992.

Sunderland played eight games in the space of 24 days in March and won six of them. The other two were drawn. As a consequence they rose from ninth on March 3rd to third last Saturday.

McCarthy's men also knocked Sheffield United out of the FA Cup to set up Sunday at Old Trafford. So McCarthy more than deserves his Football League award, though on Wearside they think much more highly of him: "St Michael" is the latest T-shirt.

"He's canny popular," said Martyn McFadden of the Sunderland fanzine, A Love Supreme, now in its 15th year. "But then he would be, considering what he's achieved this season."

For those outside Wearside, getting a club the size of Sunderland into third place in a weak division and into the semi-finals of the cup having beaten one Premiership team - Birmingham City - McCarthy's achievement may not seem worthy of sainthood. But seen in the context of Sunderland losing 23 players - including an entire first XI - after having the lowest points total in Premiership history last season, and following the dour regime of Howard Wilkinson, McCarthy, according to McFadden, "has given us our pride back, just by getting players to fight for the jersey".

He added: "I know it's a cliché about the north-east being a hotbed but in Sunderland football is the biggest thing in the city. The place is buzzing again - last season in here it was like a confessional. There were some fans who had doubts about Mick after the Roy Keane thing with Ireland, but he's come across as just a straight bloke who cares. I think he's mint."

Although McFadden said that failure on Sunday and in the promotion campaign would be a disappointment at this stage, he believed the general feeling was that at least the club with the third biggest capacity in England has bottomed out.

McCarthy is less prone to public analysis of where Sunderland are and remains focused on catching either Norwich or West Bromwich in the league, both of whom have yet to visit the Stadium of Light. Listening to him, you would not think Sunderland were 90 minutes from a first European foray since the Cup Winners' Cup of 1973-74.

"We haven't achieved anything yet," McCarthy said of the season. "It's nice to be involved (on Sunday) and I'm not trying to dismiss it but if we don't get any further nobody will be bothered. I couldn't tell you who lost in the semis last year."

When it was pointed out that Sheffield United were one of the semi-final losers and then went down again in the play-off final, to Wolves, McCarthy refused to see ominous precedence - or potential tiredness.

"I don't think we are lacking in fitness," he said. "I would like to be given the opportunity to play in every game possible between now and the end of the season - maybe the cup final, maybe the play-off final.

"Millwall or ourselves will qualify for Europe. We could be playing some place with 2,000 fans, all of them ours. Who knows? I think the reward for winning on Sunday is playing in a cup final. If Europe comes, fantastic. But playing in the final would be the reward."

Guardian Service