WELL, after toying with us for a couple of months the men in Merrion Square have hardly shocked anybody with theirs choice to replace Jack Charlton. There was never really any serious doubt that Mick McCarthy and Joe Kinnear were the two contenders for this job because they were the only two who combined some sort of proven ability with a declared ambition to take the task on at this stage and, I have to say, of the two I always felt that it would be the Millwall manager who would land it in the end.

From the outset the process has been a disaster for the FAI. Having badgered Charlton out of the manager's job, when he seemed likely to go in his own time on the basis that they needed to allow a new man to work out the fixtures for the forthcoming campaign they ended up doing that themselves. Then, between the time they started looking for a new manager and yesterday's announcement they completely undermined their own credibility within the game in England.

The manner in which the various interviews were conducted and the publicity which they were allowed to attract was an embarrassment which will not be quickly forgotten and the way that people who couldn't have been seriously considered for the job were rolled in to discuss it was just a sign that the people entrusted with making the decision were milking the situation for all it was worth.

The fact of the matter was that, for all the names that were bandied around, this was not a job that was ever going to seriously interest the likes of Alex Ferguson or Kenny Dalglish because they only have to glance at the amount of talent that would be available to them to decide that it would be far too much of a gamble to take on at this point in time.

Of the men who were interested it appeared that Kinnear simply sensed which way the wind was blowing and decided that, rather than openly lose the race for the job, he would get out with some dignity which, in the circumstances was probably the wisest thing for him to do.

A lot of people have been saying that this wasn't the time to land this job but that it is likely to be an attractive enough proposition the next time that it comes up for grabs. There might prove to be a certain amount of truth in that line of thinking although it is difficult to see what the FAI felt they had to gain by only granting McCarthy a two year contract for the job.

What they seem to be saying is "Okay here you go, we've taken a very long and considered look at the situation and you are definitely the man for the job but, by the way, you only have, two years to prove it.

It appears to be another example of how mean spirited the FAI can be at times and, if and when McCarthy starts to get to grips with, the job and begins to make some real progress with it, they shouldn't delay in extending, and improving, the terms of his deal.

Of course what they appear to be confirming is that if he wants to be considered a success then he must bring his team to the World Cup in France in 1998 and I would think that he is going to have his work cut out to achieve that as things stand at the moment.

Over the next couple of months he will have opportunities to look at what he has available to him but, while he cannot afford to simply say to anyone "thanks very much for the loyal service but you don't figure in my plans" there are certainly a few players like Paul McGrath and John Aldridge who can only realistically be short term solutions for the problems faced by the new man.

Of the two difficult positions, centre half is at least surmountable because it is easier to, teach someone to be destructive than constructive and if push comes to shove we could take someone like Roy Keane out of midfield and play him alongside Phil Babb and probably get by well enough.

Up front, though, the solutions are not nearly so easily solved and if I were McCarthy the first thing I would do is get on the phone to Chris Armstrong and Dean Holdsworth and invite them out to dinner because they would, add pace to his attack which in turn would give him new tactical options. His success over the next two years seems likely to depend in no small part on his being able to attract one or both of them into the Irish camp.

The draw has been kind to us and there is no reason that we shouldn't beat every one of the teams in our group at Lansdowne Road but without some new blood up front I doubt seriously whether we will be able to score at all away from home and improve on our recent performances in Liechtenstein, Austria, Portugal and Anfield. Then McCarthy could be in for a short and bumpy ride.

Of course much of our current plight is down to the terrible neglect of our underage structures in recent years and the fact that the FAI have said that they are finally going to spend some time and money on improving the situation at that level is to be welcomed.

We are shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted to a certain extent and it seems unlikely that the work done with the Under 21s or younger players will be of any great benefit to McCarthy during his time in charge. If anyone doubts how beneficial this sort of approach can be over time just look at the production line of talent at Manchester United and we are currently many years behind all of the other foot balling nations in this area of the game so the sooner we start attempting to catch up the better.

The decision to have the Under 21 manager based in England is, I feel, the correct one but McCarthy, rather than the FAI, should appoint the person in question because we have the opportunity here to establish a structure based on one philosophy and the crisis runs too deep to pass it up.

Basically, in the short term especially, this is going to be a tough job to come to grips with. He is a popular character which might give him a little extra time to get it right and, particularly when you look at the amount of talent he has brought through at Millwall before having to sell it on to bigger clubs, he has shown himself to be a capable manager who tries to play good, attractive football in his brief career to date.

This, though, is going to be a very different ball game and right now it is sink or swim time for McCarthy.