by Trevor Keane
‘I had met Jack’s son John Charlton years ago up in Newcastle. He was a very good footballer himself and a great lad. The Irish lads loved him, and he was helping his dad out as an extra pair of hands and eyes in the Ireland squad. One night John invited me to the team hotel. They were having a few beers and a bit of team bonding. There were a few silly games that footballers often play and one that I hadn’t seen before. It involved someone sitting in the middle of the floor and a penny being pushed into his forehead. The natural suction of the slightly moistened penny keeps it on the forehead until the person whacks the back of his own head hard enough that it falls off.
‘Jack, who had sunk a few pints of the old Guinness himself, was watching a few players do this and saw that it took them about three whacks before the penny fell off their foreheads. As a competitive man, he just had to have a go himself. After all, how hard could it be?
‘Big Jack sat on the stool in the middle of the room. As the lads gathered round him you could hear a pin drop. Ronnie Whelan approached him, licked the coin and stuck it onto Jack’s forehead. Jack then began to whack the back of his own head. Once, twice, three times. He looked down to see if the penny had fallen. No, it hadn’t. He whacked again harder and harder. Six, seven, eight whacks. Nothing. Nine, ten. Even more feverish whacking followed. Eleven, twelve. He was whacking away as the crowd begged him to hit harder and harder.
‘The Big Englishman man got up to fifteen very hard whacks of his own head when he finally twigged that the coin was not there. The look on his face was priceless. He had been done like a kipper. Ronnie had pressed the coin very hard, so it felt like it was actually stuck there, but it wasn’t.
‘That little prank shows just how much the lads respected him. Jack was one of the boys, and the fact that he actually got involved says something about his management style. It is very hard to think of another manager who would do that. Jack’s personality was big enough that he was willing to put himself into the firing line and be laughed at, in the process endearing himself to the squad even more.’
PUT ’EM UNDER PRESSURE
The well-known Irish song ‘Put ’Em Under Pressure’ produced by Larry Mullen of U2 that topped the Irish charts during 1990 was based on the catchphrase that Jack had adopted during his reign with Ireland. As Jack himself puts it, ‘I suppose people talk about the long-ball football we played, but when you look at the players we had in the team it was long ball with quality. We pressurised teams in their own half, and they were not used to it. They were used to having time on the ball.’
Jack understood perfectly what he wanted to achieve from day one in the Ireland job: ‘It was around 1981, I think, and I was doing some TV work. Denmark were playing Italy, and they managed to beat them 3–1. They did it playing one man up front and hitting the ball up to him. The forward would then knock it back to the midfielder, and because Denmark had an extra man in midfield the Italians did not know whether to come, stay or drop back. This meant that Denmark were winning all the ball. The result surprised a lot of people, but I was not surprised.
‘Before the Euro ’88 qualifying campaign I went to Mexico to see the teams that Ireland had been drawn against, Belgium and Bulgaria, and I saw that they had real tidy passing games. Straight away I knew we had to adapt and change our game plan, as I felt we were not good enough to play at that level. So we set about introducing a new system.
‘I remember Belgium had a fella called Ceulemans. He was an attacking player and about six feet two inches in height, and their full-backs would try and get the ball up to him at every chance. He would more often than not win the ball, so I knew we had to look into that. The key was to cut out the supply to their full-backs. I said to the players, “Once the ball gets to their full-backs charge them down.” That meant they then had to move the ball, and it stopped them playing the way they wanted to.
‘I was a defender as a player, and I understood the relationship between defender and goalkeeper. When I first came in I moved Mark Lawrenson, who played as a defender for Liverpool, into centre midfield. I felt that by having a defender in there the link between centre-half and midfield would be enhanced. It worked, too, and then when Mark retired through injury I moved Paul McGrath in there. The reason for having a centre-back in midfield was because your centre-backs need to be the fittest men on the field. There is a lot of concentration involved in defending. For example, when a right-back or a left-back is caught out of position the centre-back has to cover them. When that happened we had Mark and Paul who knew how to defend and would be able to drop back into the centre of defence to cover them. All the players had a responsibility to cover positions when other players were caught out. If they could not do it and play the system, they were not in the team. They had to fit into the system.’
Although Ireland failed to reach Euro ’92, despite going through qualification unbeaten, they qualified again for the 1994 World Cup in America. By that time Tommy Coyne had joined the squad and, due to an unfortunate injury suffered by Niall Quinn, he boarded the plane to America: ‘The opportunity to play for Ireland came about through Packie Bonner and Chris Morris. They were at Celtic with me, and they asked me if I had any relations of Irish descent. My grandmother from my mother’s side was from Ballina, County Mayo, and as she had died at a young age it was a wonderful honour for me to represent Ireland in her memory.
‘The decision to play for Ireland was very easy to make, and I had no hesitation in accepting the offer. The fact that a manager of a national side was interested in me was a massive boost to me and my career, and I think that I played the best football of my career during those years.
‘Despite being a latecomer to the squad [Coyne was twenty-nine when he made his Ireland debut], and being on the periphery of the team, I managed to play three out of the four games at USA ’94. It was a wonderful experience – one of the best of my career. I was very fortunate to be there, as Quinny had withdrawn due to a cruciate-ligament injury. Playing in the Giants’ Stadium was amazing and very emotional.
‘The spirit in the squad was fantastic. Everybody got on so well. Being in the Ireland squad, surrounded by players such as John Aldridge, Ronnie Whelan and Paul McGrath, really helped raise my game and take it to another level.
‘I found Jack Charlton to be very down to earth and likeable, but I was in awe of him. He was a World Cup winner and had played at a very high level. He was unlike any manager I had played under. One time, we were in Dundalk before a game, and Jack showed me how to fly fish during a break in training. He had such a good manner, but it did not detract from his skills as a manager. In the years he was in charge he transformed Irish football.’
The first match in the Giants’ Stadium saw one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history when Ireland beat Italy 1–0. Jack says, ‘That was the highlight for me, that match against Italy in USA in 1994. You see, the rules had changed after Italia ’90. Keepers could no longer pick up the ball from a pass-back, so we had to adapt our game. Our game was built on a pressing game, and our full-backs would play the ball over the head of their full-backs, which meant that they had to turn. This allowed us to get into good positions and attack. If the opposing full-back got to the ball before we did, he could play it back to his goalkeeper. That three, four or five seconds meant that we could regroup the players and get into shape again. However, with the introduction of the new rule, the keeper had to kick the ball, so there was less time to get our shape back and we had to adapt our plan. The players, as always, were very responsive, and we got the result that day.’
After the euphoria of the win over Italy, Ireland were brought back down to earth with a bang when they lost the next game to Mexico 2–1. The game is best remembered for two things, the first being Jack’s pitch-side argument with the sideline official who was delaying a substitution. Jack was sent to the stands and later fined for his involvement as well as being suspended for the final group match in New York, where he was forced to watch from the stands. Th
e second memorable event was John Aldridge’s header that later ensured Ireland’s qualification from the group on goal difference.
Ireland finished the group with a 0–0 draw with Norway, securing a second round match against Holland, where a poor display from Ireland saw them bow out 2–0. For the second World Cup in a row Ireland returned home as heroes and Jack’s achievements saw him awarded the freedom of Dublin. However, following this things did not go so well and Ireland failed to qualify for Euro ’96. Despite a strong start they finished as runners-up in their group and had to qualify via the playoffs. But against a strong Holland side they again lost 2–0 and the Charlton era drew to a close: ‘Before the game I had already told the FAI I was going. At that stage I had been in charge for ten years, and I thought it was time for a change. Players get too used to you and the systems and ideas, and things need change. We had become predictable.’
Terry Phelan, who played under Charlton and later Mick McCarthy, and is now a coach in New Zealand, recalls a man who was close to his players and loyal to them: ‘He was a happy-go-lucky chap, a World Cup winner and a legend of the game. Everyone respected him, but he was jolly and liked a laugh. He was terrible with names, though. He was always calling me Chris or Paul or number three; all in good fun, though.
‘The secret to Jack’s success was his loyalty to the players. This was a team that was literally built by Jack, with the likes of Andy Townsend, Mick McCarthy, Ray Houghton and John Aldridge brought in by him. Once you were in the squad and performed, it became like a family. The older players really took you in. I remember in particular Gerry Peyton being a great help to the younger players in the squad.’
Gerry Peyton himself adds, ‘Jack was very loyal to the players he had in the squad, but you had a job to do. Packie Bonner and I were very close, and we got on well together. Under Eoin we had been in and out of the squad, but under Jack it was very much Packie as first choice, with me as support. I was comfortable with that. As a player you need to be humble and accept decisions. Packie was playing in front of 50,000 people at Celtic, while I was playing to 12,000 in Bournemouth, so he was going to be first choice.
‘Some players rock the boat and demand to play, but I made a decision to help Packie become a better player and pass my experience on to him. It’s too easy to let your ego get in the way. Even today I preach that to the keepers at Arsenal. You need to help one another. As the saying goes, you’re only as strong as your back-up players. I remember Jack picked me to play against Northern Ireland one time, and he said to me, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s you or Packie, as I know that neither of you will ever let me down.” That kind of support is very important to a player.’
Terry Phelan says, ‘Jack was such a big personality. He loved a laugh and a joke, and even though he would be dressed in a suit and shoes he would still get involved in training, sliding about with the team. That said, he loved his fishing and clay-pigeon shooting and was not averse to skipping sessions for some shooting or fishing. One time he took the team clay-pigeon shooting as a bonding session, and we were having a great old time of it until Jack started to get upset, as some of the boys were doing better than him. He threw down his gun and went off in a huff. We thought it was very funny.
‘Training with Jack was very different, especially compared to nowadays. In his time there were no sports psychologists, no fitness coaches and no dietitians, but we were still successful. And Jack was in a league of his own tactically. While he is remembered for the brand of football that Ireland played during his era, his preparation for games could be just as interesting as some of the results he achieved. I can remember seeing Jack writing notes on cigarette packets, and another time when we were preparing for a big game against Austria, Jack put on a tape of the Australian Under-21 team. We all began to laugh, and Jack could not understand why. He was getting upset with us before Andy Townsend, I think it was, told him that we were watching a tape of the Australian side instead of the Austrian. Big Jack went into a huff and walked out of the room. It was a quirky approach, but it brought us success. He put us on the map. I mean you have to remember that Ireland was a small country, a small country that got decent results.’
Even though the game was changing, Jack would not. Towards the end of his time in charge, teams had cottoned on to Ireland’s approach, and the play-off match against Holland to qualify for Euro ’96 was, in Jack’s own words, ‘a last throw of the dice’. He knew the road was coming to an end, and that 2–0 defeat to a strong, skilful and aggressive Dutch side signalled the end of his career.
His popularity in Ireland remains strong, some fourteen years since he last sat in the dugout for a match. Such is his standing in the country that in 1996 both he and his wife were granted honorary Irish citizenship. Charlton has the last word on his Ireland career: ‘I loved my time with Ireland. We had a great time and some great players. During my time in charge we reached number six in the world rankings.
‘It’s rare that you leave a job and still have people respect you long after you leave. Even now when I meet people they still smile at me. The fans were very important to us, and we wanted them to be part of our success. After a big result we used to encourage the players to go out and have a drink in the places where the fans were. The public could almost have picked the team. They knew all the players. To this day I keep an eye out for Ireland’s results and always have a smile when they get a good one.’
That sums up Jack Charlton. His time in charge was probably the closest the Irish public ever came to feeling part of the national team at any sport. The Ireland team under Jack embodied everything good about being Irish, especially punching above your weight.
JACK CHARLTON’S CLUB MANAGERIAL HONOURS RECORD:
One Division Two Championship 1974
One Anglo-Scottish Cup 1976
JACK CHARLTON’S IRELAND RECORD:
Total number of games in charge: 94
Total number of wins: 47 (ratio 50.00%)
Total number of draws: 30 (ratio 31.90%)
Total number of losses: 17 (ratio 18.09%)
Biggest win: 5–0 v . Israel and Turkey
Biggest defeat: 3–0 v . Portugal
Longest run without defeat: 12
11
MICK McCARTHY
If ever there was a hard act to follow, it was Jack Charlton. Having transformed Ireland’s fortunes during a ten-year spell, many people predicted that once he left the role Ireland would simply fall to pieces and return to the dark days of the 1960s and 1970s. However, the man given the task of replacing Jack could not have been more appropriate. Mick McCarthy’s direct approach to the game epitomised the Charlton era. It was no nonsense and full of heart. Even more importantly, McCarthy had played at the major tournaments of world football, and he could guide players through the years ahead. It was as if the role had been made for him, and it completed a glittering Ireland career as player, captain and then manager.
Unfortunately, the Ireland job was becoming increasingly difficult. Mick had inherited an ageing squad that included many of the players he had played with, and he had to make the transition from teammate and friend to manager. And at thirty-six years of age ‘Big Mick’ was a managerial novice, having not yet managed a club in a top league, which meant there would be a lot of focus on how he did the job. It was a big challenge, but not for a man who appeared to thrive on pressure, and one who has since gone on to manage at the top level of English football.
His management career for Ireland had its ups and downs, and there were moments when lady luck deserted him. But McCarthy succeeded where others before him had failed, and in doing so he cemented his place in Irish football folklore when he became only the second Ireland manager to lead the country to a World Cup finals.
THE EARLY YEARS
Mick McCarthy was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, in 1959, but qualified for the Irish team thanks to his father Charles, who was born in Ireland. Jim Iley was the manager who gave McCarthy his chance i
n the Barnsley team in 1977 at the age of eighteen, and he made his debut in a 4–0 win over Rochdale. But it was under the tutelage of former Leeds United striker Alan Clarke, who took the role of player-manager in 1978, and his successor Norman Hunter, another Leeds legend, that Mick and Barnsley flourished. Within three years, the club had moved up the divisions to Division 2 (now the Championship). Mick’s reputation as a tough-tackling and no-nonsense defender was taking shape and his performances in the Second Division were catching the eye of other clubs, and in December 1983 Mick made the move from his Yorkshire roots to Manchester, signing for City.
Any doubts that Mick might have felt about the move were soon removed as he helped City gain promotion to the First Division in his first full season. At the age of twenty-five ‘Big Mick’ was in the big time and able to show the footballing world that he was capable of playing at the highest level. In the following season he helped City avoid immediate relegation and they finished in a respectable mid table place. However, their luck did not hold and City ended the following season by being relegated. Mick did not get the chance to help City make an immediate return to the First Division as by this time his performances had caught the eye of Celtic and David Hay, who lured him to Parkhead in May 1987. Although he was signed by Hay, Mick never got to play under him, as the manager was replaced soon afterwards by Billy McNeill, an old acquaintance from McCarthy’s City days. Despite the shock of being signed by one manager and then playing under another, it did not appear to be too much of a setback, and it was at Celtic that people really began to take notice of the centre-half. His first season in Scotland saw McCarthy pick up his first major silverware, as Celtic won the double under the new manager. The following season saw McCarthy once again savour success as he helped Celtic win another Scottish Cup, although the Parkhead club had to settle for a disappointing third place in the League.
