Mick McCarthy’s ‘It Can’ Meme: Origin, Feud, and Where He Is Now

Watch the clip once and you won’t forget it: Mick McCarthy, asked whether things “can’t go on like this,” answers with a deadpan “It can.” The moment became a meme in 2023, but the man behind it has spent 34 years in dugouts and earned 57 caps for the Republic of Ireland (Ireland Insight) — this is the story the viral clip doesn’t tell: the Saipan feud with Roy Keane, a managerial career that now reaches APOEL, and why two words became a football-culture touchstone.

Age (2025): 66 ·
Years as manager: 34 ·
Republic of Ireland caps (player): 57 ·
Republic of Ireland matches managed: 98 ·
Year ‘It can’ went viral: 2023

Six details that rarely make the cut in meme versions: the man behind the two-word punchline is a former Ireland international, a two-time national-team manager, and back in club football since October 2024.

What happened between Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane?

The rupture between McCarthy and Roy Keane is the defining split of modern Irish football, and it erupted at the worst possible moment: the Republic of Ireland’s base camp for the 2002 World Cup, on the Pacific island of Saipan (BBC Sport (UK public-service broadcaster)).

What was the Saipan incident?

• Keane gave an extensive interview to The Irish Times on 23 May 2002, criticising Ireland’s World Cup preparations and facilities (BBC Sport (UK public-service broadcaster)).
• McCarthy confronted Keane in front of the squad, and the meeting became a heated argument (The Irish Times (Ireland’s leading daily)).
• Keane left the camp and was sent home from the World Cup squad; McCarthy later published his own account in the Daily Mail (The Irish Times).

It was never purely personal. ESPN’s reconstruction of the week stresses that Keane’s complaints covered preparation, facilities, training standards and management — the interview was the spark, but the grievances were structural (ESPN (global sports network)).

Keane later pushed the roots of the feud back a decade, telling The Irish Post about a 1992 incident in which McCarthy criticised him for being late for a team bus — in front of the squad, and without ever having spoken to him directly before (The Irish Post (Irish-community publication)).

After Keane’s departure, Ireland reached the knockout stage and lost to Spain on penalties — and McCarthy later argued the team would not have got that far had Keane stayed in the state of mind he showed in Saipan (Extra.ie (Irish sports and entertainment outlet)).

Are Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy friends now?

McCarthy’s own description was blunt: in a later interview he called the relationship poor while noting he had managed Keane for around five years (Extra.ie (Irish sports and entertainment outlet)).

The pattern: one week in May 2002 hardened into a two-decade rift that both men still narrate differently — and every retelling adds another layer.

The implication is that the lack of reconciliation keeps the story open for future chapters.

Where is Mick McCarthy now?

McCarthy is back in work. He became manager of APOEL in October 2024 (Ireland Insight (related coverage)), adding a Cypriot chapter to a career that has already included the Republic of Ireland, Sunderland, Wolves, Ipswich and Cardiff.

What is Mick McCarthy’s current job?

APOEL appointed him in October 2024, and the move said something useful about McCarthy: he does not treat viral fame as a retirement plan. He treats it as noise and gets back to work.

Has Mick McCarthy retired from management?

• The short answer is no — the APOEL appointment came in October 2024 (Ireland Insight).
• His second Ireland tenure ran from 2018 to 2020.
• He spent time out of management before APOEL brought him back late in 2024.

The implication: McCarthy’s career has always been a sequence of responses to setbacks — and the meme was never a big enough setback to stop him.

When did Mick McCarthy say ‘It can’?

The phrase came from a 2023 TV interview (Ireland Insight (related coverage)). A reporter asked, “It can’t go on like this, can it?” and McCarthy replied, flatly: “It can.”

What was the exact quote?

• Reporter: “It can’t go on like this, can it?”
• McCarthy: “It can.”
• Broadcast: 2023 TV interview; exact date not publicly confirmed (Ireland Insight).

What context led to the ‘It can’ response?

What made it land was delivery. McCarthy answered without a pause and without the expected “no it can’t” — a moment of dry, almost absurdist honesty that fans recognised as pure football pessimism.

The catch: the meme is self-contained and self-reinforcing — nobody needs the original context, which is exactly why it outlived whatever the interview was actually about.

Who does Mick McCarthy support?

Mick McCarthy supports Barnsley. It is the club he grew up with, the club where his professional career began, and the allegiance he has carried through every move since (Ireland Insight (related coverage)).

Which football club is Mick McCarthy a fan of?

He is a lifelong Barnsley fan. He played for the club from 1977 to 1983, then moved to Manchester City, Celtic and Lyon — and, in parallel, became a Republic of Ireland international.

Did his playing career influence his allegiance?

• Barnsley gave him his professional start in 1977 (Ireland Insight).
• He later played for Manchester City, Celtic and Lyon.
• For Ireland he earned 57 caps and later managed the national team twice.

Why this matters: the Barnsley background explains the accent that makes “It can” land — and the blunt, small-club pragmatism behind his entire managerial career.

Is Mick McCarthy Irish?

In football terms, yes. McCarthy was born in England, but he represented the Republic of Ireland 57 times as a player and managed the national team across two spells (Ireland Insight (related coverage)).

Where was Mick McCarthy born?

McCarthy was born in Barnsley, England, on 7 February 1959. His Irish-born parents made him eligible for the Republic of Ireland, and he went on to earn 57 caps for the national team.

What is Mick McCarthy’s nationality?

• Place of birth: Barnsley, England (Ireland Insight).
• Playing career: 57 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
• Managerial record: two spells in charge of Ireland, 98 matches in total.

The trade-off: the more the meme simplifies him to two words, the more it erases the dual identity that made the career possible.

Timeline: from Barnsley to ‘It can’

Eight dates, one pattern: every time the public writes McCarthy off, he takes another job and proves the timeline isn’t finished (Ireland Insight (related coverage)).

The pattern: the viral moment happened while McCarthy was out of the dugout — and within 18 months of the clip’s spread, he was managing again.

What’s confirmed and what’s unclear

The split mirrors the whole story: the facts are solid, while the interpretations stay open.

Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane in their own words

“I had to leave, I couldn’t stay under those circumstances.”

— Roy Keane, on leaving Ireland’s 2002 World Cup camp (The Irish Times (Ireland’s leading daily))

“It can.”

— Mick McCarthy, in a 2023 TV interview (Ireland Insight)

“…an exceptionally severe personal attack.”

— Mick McCarthy, describing Roy Keane’s conduct in the Saipan confrontation (BBC Sport (UK public-service broadcaster))

The gap between the two accounts is the real story: what Keane calls principle, McCarthy calls an attack — and Irish football has lived inside that gap for two decades.

The bigger picture

The “It can” meme gave McCarthy a second, completely different kind of fame — a two-word deadpan that works without context. But the fuller record is the one this article assembled: 57 caps for Ireland, two spells as national-team manager, 98 matches in charge, and another job taken in October 2024 instead of a retirement into the clip (Ireland Insight). For APOEL supporters, the implication is clear: they hired a manager whose career has outlasted every punchline — either he stabilises the season, or the “It can” loop starts again and the meme gets a new verse.

Related reading

• Mick McCarthy ‘It Can’ Meme: Origin, Context & Impact
• Mick McCarthy ‘It Can’ Meme: Origin, Keane Feud, Life Now

These articles provide additional depth on the meme’s spread and the feud’s aftermath.

Frequently asked questions

The broader point: the meme is two words, but the career behind it is still being written.