Mick McCarthy says he never expected Declan Rice to declare for Ireland

"I didn't think for one minute he was going to join us."

Mick McCarthy has said that he never expected Declan Rice to remain with the Republic of Ireland team. The new Ireland manager also stated that Rice told him he switched international allegiance to England, the country of his birth, because he "wants to win things." Rice announced earlier this month that he was in the early stages of transferring his registration from Ireland to the England national team. After representing Ireland at underage level and making three senior appearances in friendlies for the country in 2018, Rice was approached by Gareth Southgate about potentially playing for England. He then asked to be omitted from the Ireland squad for the Uefa Nations League game against Wales in Cardiff last September and spent months deliberating over his decision. In December, McCarthy and his coach Robbie Keane met with Rice and his father in a final attempt to convince him to remain with the team. However, the Ireland boss has said that he walked away from the meeting with a strong feeling that the West Ham United midfielder would not play again for Ireland. "When I met him, he could simply have said, 'I'm going with Ireland'. After all, he had won three Irish caps," McCarthy told reporters in Dublin on Monday, as the FAI launched a new Club Ireland ticket scheme.

"But he didn't, and I just felt the lad wanted to put off making the announcement for as long as he could."

When the player told McCarthy that he was switching international allegiance, the Ireland manager said that the only reason Rice offered for the switch was that he wants "to win things." McCarthy offered more thoughts on Rice's decision when speaking to the RTE at the event. The Ireland manager also said that he is keen to move on from the saga. "Now, I don’t have to talk about him anymore. Good luck to him, he’s got his own career to look after now and I’ve got mine." https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1100742108862771212 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.