Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy was less than impressed when Declan Rice revealed his declaration for England.
"I'd be waiting for the response from December when I met Declan," McCarthy told Paddy Power's the Horse's Mouth podcast. "I just knew - the longer this goes on, this is not happening."
"It was a blow. I kind of knew from meeting him he was not going to join us, I just got that feeling. It was no surprise when he rang me to tell me," said McCarthy.
"I’d been waiting for the response from December when I met Declan. I’d been in touch and I’d been in touch and I kept in touch. So when it finally did happen I had a bit of a snarl at him down the phone."
McCarthy was not able to hide his negatively charged reaction.
"It wasn't oh, thanks for letting me know good luck with that, I hope it goes well for you. It was - I don’t know exactly what it was but it was the opposite of that…"
McCarthy on the current Ireland setup
"I think the fans have got to put faith in him," McCarthy admitted of successor Stephen Kenny.
"When I was still manager, Stephen was cracking on with the 21s and doing well with the 21s to be fair. I’m not sure if that suffered because of the handover because neither of us ended up qualifying, which was sad."
Kenny's Republic of Ireland side are without a win in 2020, and McCarthy understands that it can bring added pressure.
"I think I didn't win for eight games."
"If it is absolutely results based and you've got to win games then I know Stephen will be worried about it."
He added, "Stephen's following me, I was following Jack. Let me tell you that was a tough old job. He'd just been to two World Cups and a European Championship."
You can listen to the full discussion with Mick McCarthy on Paddy Power's "The Horse's Mouth" podcast here.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
