Republic of Ireland sunk to a sorry 1-0 defeat at home to an under-strength Wales on Tuesday, a rotten result which piled the pressure on beleaguered boss Martin O’Neill who has now only won one of his last nine games in the previous year, five of which have ended in defeat.
O’Neill is now priced at 7/4 to no longer be Ireland manager for the start of the Euro 2020 qualification campaign which starts on 21st March (2018), although he’ll be lucky to even see out the current calendar year should his side slump to a defeat at home to neighbours Northern Ireland next month.
In the aftermath of the latest woeful Wales defeat, many Ireland fans took to social media to put forward one man for the job:
Time to bring back Mick mcCarthy. #irlwal [@BobKavanagh]
I’d take Mick McCarthy back in the morning. #Ireland [@Braddish]
Best way for @FAIreland to get the fans back on side, and excited in the national team is to replace O'Neill with Mick McCarthy and John Delaney with Brian Kerr. [@MagnumPIG]
I'd honestly get Mick McCarthy back in charge. Yes we had better players . But he had them playing football not the muck that they are at now #Ireland [@_JMallen]
Shocking game to watch and the one Saturday night was worse Martin o NEILL is a fuckin clown Get Rid of him Bring back MICK McCarthy [@StevenMcCartn10]
Former Ireland manager McCarthy was the last man to lead The Green Army through to the World Cup, back in 2002, when his troops reached the last-16 of the tournament, despite the absence of Roy Keane.
McCarthy is currently free and available, having left Ipswich back in April after a staggering six years. He recently put his name forward for the Aston Villa vacancy, but in the end the Championship club opted for Brentford boss Dean Smith.
The 59-year-old is now the 7/2 favourite with Paddy Power to replace the under-fire O’Neill at the helm - should he be sacked - followed by Neil Lennon at 8/1, assistant Roy Keane at 10/1, while Harry Redknapp is a surprise addition at 14/1.
