McCarthy's reign set to continue

MICK McCARTHY'S stewardship of the Republic of Ireland team, is likely to be given the seal of approval by a meeting of the full FAI Council in Dublin this evening.

Although the matter does not appear on the agenda for the last Council meeting of the season, a senior FAI official thought it more than likely" that McCarthy's contract will be reviewed.

And the level of support he currently enjoys, suggests that an extension of his contract to take in the next European championship, is little more than a formality.

McCarthy, who was appointed to succeed Jack Charlton in January of last year, is officially in charge of the team until the end of Ireland's involvement in the current World Cup championship.

There are those who believe that prudence demands a deferral of the decision to renew his contract, until later in the qualifying series but according to one source in the FAI, it's not a view that is likely to command much support today.

The counter argument is that at a time when the manager is heavily committed to a rebuilding programme, he should not put in a position where he may be tempted to compromise it, to keep his job in the final phase of the qualifying schedule in the autumn.

McCarthy has already met the FAI hierarchy and made it clear that he needs more time to make the transition from a mature, ageing squad to one in which young players can compete on level terms for recognition.

The FAI's apparent eagerness to endorse that situation, amounts to tacit admission that they erred in the first instance in offering the new man only a two-year contract at a time when it ran counter to all informed opinion.

McCarthy, meanwhile, was grappling with another problem yesterday after Alan Kelly, the Sheffield United goalkeeper had become the third player in as many days, to withdraw from next Wednesday's World Cup meeting with Liechtenstein at Lansdowne Road.

He sustained a knee injury early on in the promotion play-off tie against Ipswich on Wednesday and thanks to Howard Kendall's gamble in going without a substitute goalkeeper on the bench, he was forced to hobble on for the remainder of the game.

It did nothing to improve his chances of a quick recovery and in addition to the World Cup game, he may also miss the final of the play-offs in which Sheffield United meet Crystal Palace for a place in the Premiership next season.

The effect of Kelly's withdrawal is to install Shay Given as favourite to reclaim his place after being dropped early on in the World Cup qualifying series because of his lack of first team football at Blackburn Rovers.

Coincidentally, it was Kelly's back injury which gave him his chance of making the breakthrough to the national team last season and he took it with sufficient self belief to suggest that he is capable of doing another big job next week

The problem of finding cover for Given proved more complex after it transpired that Keith Branagan, the Bolton goalkeeper who won his first cap against Wales at Cardiff in January, is currently recuperating from a hernia operation.

Eventually, it was solved with a call to Alan Kelly's older brother, Gary who was recently voted as Oldham Athletic's Player of the Season. Gary has yet to win a senior cap after representing Ireland at every level from schoolboy up but has been in the squad on a number of occasions.

Watford's David Connolly and Leeds' Ian Harte, two of those who could be in the starting line up against Liechtenstein, have been named by Brian Kerr to participate in a week long training session at the National Coaching and Training Centre in Limerick, as part of the preparations for the world youth championship finals in Malaysia.

Others with proven pedigrees who will take part include Richard Dunne (Everton), Kevin Kilbaine (Preston) and the Tranmere player, Alan Mahon who is rated highly by John Aldridge.