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Hughton adopts 'never say never' stance to Ireland job

SOCCER: IT WAS Wolves manager Mick McCarthy not ruling out a return to the Republic of Ireland job last week, and yesterday …

Fri Jul 15 2011 - 01:00

SOCCER:IT WAS Wolves manager Mick McCarthy not ruling out a return to the Republic of Ireland job last week, and yesterday in Cork, new Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton joined the queue.

Asked about the Ireland post and the long-term possibility of him taking it up one day, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur player, who was capped 53 times, thought for a moment and said: “I think you can never say that you will not do a job and the national job is the pinnacle of any manager or coach’s career.

“Jack Charlton, Mick McCarthy and Brian Kerr were fortunate to do it with the Republic of Ireland and they are aspirations that we all have but at the moment I have a very big job on my hands,” he told reporters at the team’s Fota Island base near Cobh, Co Cork.

Hughton makes his bow as Birmingham manager against Cork City at Turner’s Cross in a friendly tomorrow evening (7pm). The expectations in the English midlands are high for the former Ireland left back and Euro ’88 hero to see if he can repeat the miracle he worked at Newcastle United and bring Birmingham back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

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Hughton who has a one-year, roll-over contract at St Andrews, feels 18 of the 24 teams in the English Championship are capable of winning promotion.

“It’s hard to say but I think it is going to be the toughest Championship race in decades. Of the 24 teams in the division, there will be as many as 18 teams that have aspirations to at least make the play-offs.

“What we will see is some clubs spending big, like West Ham who have come down and Leicester City who have certainly shown their intentions of bouncing back up again. There are a lot of clubs that want to come up and it all makes for a fascinating season,” said Hughton, who has all his Irish stars – Stephen Carr, Keith Fahey, Colin Doyle and new signing from Inverness Caledonian Thistle Adam Rooney – in Cork.

“It’s big business now and all we have to look at is what the Premier League means to world football. When you look at the Championship, it’s the fourth highest attended league in the world behind Spain and Germany and that shows the money that’s now involved,” added Hughton who won the bulk of his international caps during the 10-year Charlton era.

Cork manager Tommy Dunne has centre half Gavin Kavanagh back after a three-match ban and will also play trialist Clark Keltie (ex-Lincoln City) tomorrow night.