McCarthy hits back at Burley's critics

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy today revealed his sympathy for sacked Scotland chief George Burley and challenged his critics to do a better job with the current squad.

Burley was dismissed on Monday night after failing to reach the World Cup finals, the weekend 3-0 friendly defeat to Wales sealing his fate after just three wins in 14 competitive games.

But McCarthy, who led the Republic of Ireland to the World Cup finals as captain in 1990 and manager in 2002, reckons the criticism of the former Ipswich boss is harsh.

"I've got sympathy for him – I texted George on Monday night to give him my support," said McCarthy.

"It's not an easy job to be a success if you've got real demands and expectations on you.

"You've got to have good, top players. It's alright all these people telling George how it should be done – I'd like to see one of them step up to the plate and see if they could do it with the squad of players they've got."

McCarthy believes Burley, who once led Ipswich to fifth place in the Premier League just a year after getting them promoted, has already proved his credentials as a top manager.

"George has proved himself to be a very good manager," said the Molineux chief.

"I can remember being at the dinner where he was named Manager of the Year at Ipswich.

"I've been there – it's such a high profile job being an international manager and you never want to lose your job.

"But when you can't seem to be able to turn it around, it's almost a relief when you get away from it.

"He's the one who keeps turning up and having to speak to the press, having to defend himself and his players.

"So I'm really disappointed he went, as I really like George."

* Homegrown Wolves left-back Scott Malone was part of the England Under-19s side that came from behind to beat Turkey 3-1 in a friendly at Scunthorpe that included goals from Villa pair Gary Gardner and Nathan Delfouneso.