“If you’re not playing for us then crack on, good luck.”
Mick McCarthy has provided details of his phone call with Declan Rice when the player informed him that he had decided to switch international allegiance to England.
Rice announced earlier this month that he was transferring his Fifa registration from the Republic of Ireland to the country of his birth.
The announcement ended months of speculation about the West Ham United midfielder. The Ireland manager wasn’t surprised by Rice’s decision.
"I didn't think for one minute he was going to join us"https://t.co/y9VNZIT4iB
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 27, 2019
McCarthy met with the 20-year-old and his father in December in a final attempt to try to convince him to remain with Ireland.
However, he left the meeting with a strong feeling that the player would not represent the country again, and he had already decided to try to play for England.
“I’ve known for two months,” the Ireland manager told reporters in Dublin on Wednesday as the FAI launched their new three, five and 10-year premium ticket plans.
“From that day onwards (the day of the meeting), I have pretty much known he wouldn’t be staying with us.
“And despite the fact that I’ve sat down with all the press guys said, ‘I’m still hopeful.’ I was, but I wasn’t going to say that openly as it would be like me driving him away.
“I didn’t think he would be staying with us. I thought he had made his mind up, and he was waiting until the appropriate moment to tell us, whenever that was.”
The Ireland manager gave details of the phone call when Rice called McCarthy to inform him of the decision.
“I told him, ‘Declan, I’ve known for two months you wouldn’t be playing for us. I just wanted you to confirm it,” McCarthy said.
“I was just pleased when he told me. Yes, he rang me. He said to me, ‘Mick, it was an honour…’
“And I said, ‘Hold on, I don’t want to hear that. If you’re not playing for us then crack on, good luck.”
However, McCarthy said that he later felt his response was slightly abrupt, so he contacted Rice to wish him well.
“That’s what I said and I thought I was a little bit curt at the time. So, I sent him a nice text to wish him good luck.”
Ireland begin their qualification campaign for Euro 2020 with an away fixture against Gibraltar on March 23. They then host Georgia in Dublin three days later.
