Bookmakers may have stopped taking bets on Mick McCarthy succeeding Peter Reid, but there is still no firm indication that he is Sunderland's main target. Emmet Malone reports

Sunderland were apparently no closer last night to making any attempt to recruit Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy as a replacement for Peter Reid. Despite reports to the contrary, both McCarthy's agent and his current employers were adamant yesterday that no contact whatsoever has been made so far by the Stadium of Light club.

The Republic of Ireland manager's position was the subject of almost continuous speculation in both Ireland and Britain yesterday, after McCarthy's friend and ghost-writer, journalist Cathal Dervan, suggested to BBC Radio 5 Live that Sunderland had targeted the 43-year-old as a replacement for Reid, and that the former Millwall manager is interested in the job.

However, the fact that later yesterday the Sunderland Echo, a newspaper with very strong links to the club, reported that senior sources at the Premiership outfit had ruled McCarthy out of the running for the job was widely regarded as a strong indicator that he is not about to be lured away from the FAI.

While none of the association's officers would comment on their manager's position last night several sources close to the organisation maintained that there had been neither an approach from Sunderland requesting permission to talk with McCarthy nor any indication from him that he is interested in leaving.

Though McCarthy, who was in Galway visiting his daughter Fiona, was not available for comment himself yesterday, his agent, Liam Gaskin, also insisted that no approach had been received and that the Republic manager's priority remains next Wednesday's European Championship qualifier against Switzerland at Lansdowne Road.

"I can tell you absolutely and definitely that there has been no contact," said Gaskin. "His one huge focus is to beat Switzerland and then the intention is to go on to Portugal with this team.

"Sunderland have not made any contact, if they did Mick would probably not talk to them, but I would because that is my job, to listen to what is on offer and then go to him with the pros and cons of the situation.

"He would then have to weigh things up. The fans and the association would be considerations as, of course, would be his own best interests. He would have to consider what he could bring to the job and what sort of resources the club could offer him, a whole range of things, but the fact remains that all of that is irrelevant because there has been no contact of any description in this case."

Gaskin also confirmed that McCarthy's contract with the FAI contains no clause allowing him to leave in any particular circumstances. Again there had been media speculation that such a clause does exist, but the association's general secretary Brendan Menton had also denied it during the World Cup when there was briefly speculation linking McCarthy to the then vacant Leeds job.

Gaskin's comprehensive denial followed yesterday's story in the Sunderland Echo in which it was claimed that McCarthy was not being considered for the manager's position.

In a strongly-worded piece, the paper stated that "while McCarthy has worked wonders with Ireland and commands a great deal of respect at the Stadium of Light, the Echo understands he has not and will not be approached to be offered the job."

The previous day the paper had stated with equal confidence that David O'Leary would not be considered for the job.

Ironically, however, it is believed that after being told by the chairman of the club, Bob Murray, on Monday evening of the decision to dismiss him, Reid recommended McCarthy as his successor.

There has been speculation Murray has subsequently been interested in the possibility of taking the advice of his old friend, who he only fired after strong pressure from the board of the PLC that controls the club, but that the same board would prefer the club to hire a man with a track record in the Premiership.

Nevertheless McCarthy's candidature was widely talked up yesterday by Dervan, the journalist and friend of McCarthy who has written his soon-to-be-published World Cup diary.

"Mick has had so much stick over in Ireland since the World Cup and since the Roy Keane affair," Dervan told BBC Radio yesterday. "It has brought it all to a head.

"He would like to take Ireland to Portugal if the circumstances were different. But the fact remains that he has always said he wants to get back to what he calls the 'asylum', which is his pet word for club management. He misses the day-to-day involvement and there are very few jobs like Sunderland that come up on the horizon."

Gaskin, however, insisted yesterday: "Cathal is not Mick's spokesman. He has worked very closely with Mick on the book because having written his newspaper column for two years we felt that he would be a good person to give a voice to Mick's views but his opinions are not Mick's opinions."

The speculation that he was on the verge of moving, however, still prompted considerable support for McCarthy as the club's next manager with the bookmakers and by yesterday afternoon one English chain had stopped taking bets on his appointment.

Last night, however, another of the candidates, Howard Wilkinson, appeared to be gaining a similar sort of momentum, with the odds on the former Leeds manager succeeding Reid shortening dramatically with several of the leading firms.