Mick McCarthy opens up on 'naive' mistake that led to Sunderland sacking
The ex-Sunderland boss has been speaking about his time at the Stadium of Light.
Former Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy has admitted that his recruitment strategy on Wearside was “naive” following the club’s promotion back to the Premier League in 2005.
The ex-Republic of Ireland boss guided the Black Cats to the top flight after a title-winning campaign in the Championship, and subsequently spent the summer bringing in a number of players who had impressed in the EFL.
Deals for the likes of Jon Stead, Kelvin Davis, and Andy Gray were completed, but in retrospect, McCarthy, who was sacked with Sunderland 16 points adrift of safety, is of the opinion that he approached the Black Cats’ survival bid in the wrong way.
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Speaking on the Undr the Cosh podcast, he said: “I didn't get a budget, no, I mean, even from walking in through the door I was always going to get shot of players. All these players were earning lots of money when I joined with those nine games in the Premier League, and even after that, we ended up signing loan players, you know, small fees for players, and that was all the way through. Even when we got promoted to the Premier League, and I got told I got six million quid to spend, I thought, me being me, ‘I'll do it, I'll prove everybody wrong’.
“What a naive d******* I am. I was sacked by... Well, I was sacked. To be fair, I went out and signed players who I thought were top Championship players, thinking they could do it, with no money to sign top Premier League players for wages or signings, and of course they didn't do it, and it just went wrong right from the very start. We never got going.
“But I said to my mate, I was giving drink up for Lent for about six weeks, and I got sacked two days before it started. My mate who was joining me, I rang him up, I said, ‘Where are you?’. He said, ‘I'm at home’. I said, ‘Well, I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news. He said, ‘Go on, give me the bad news first’. I said, ‘I've been sacked by Sunderland’. ‘Okay’, he said, ‘what's the good news?’. I said, ‘Lent's off. We’re going for a drink. Lent's been cancelled’.”