If Mick McCarthy got his way, he would be have signed a longer deal with the Republic of Ireland.
McCarthy was reinstated as Ireland manager in November after Martin O’Neill parted ways with the national team.
An interesting plan was made by the Football Association of Ireland as they decided to put McCarthy in place for the upcoming Euros campaign but former Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny, who has taken charge of the Irish U21 side, will take over from McCarthy in 2020.
McCarthy has admitted that he was hoping for a deal which would see him take charge of the Boys in Green for the 2022 World Cup as well as the 2020 Euros.
Speaking on Goals on Sunday, McCarthy said: “I was looking for two terms, of course I was. Bear in mind, I’ve got no friendlies to prepare for it so I thought it would be nice to have Euros and World Cup but it was in place that they wanted Stephen to be in it.
“Bear in mind, he’s done very well in the League of Ireland with Dundalk, he’s done well in the Europa League, and they (the FAI) want to see that progression. At the end of it, I said: ‘Look, I’m never, ever going to turn it down.’
“I get my shot at qualifying for the Euros and then we’ll see what happens. If we qualify, of course it’s going to make it harder for me to leave, but that’s agreed and I will leave. And if we do well in the Euros then I’m certain I’ll get another job elsewhere. If we don’t get to the Euros, if we don’t do well, they won’t want me there anyway.”
The former Sunderland, Wolves and Ipswich manager also revealed that he has set a March deadline for West Ham’s Declan Rice to decide whether he wants to represent Ireland or England at senior international level after a promising meeting with Rice and his father.
