Mick McCarthy ‘It Can’ Meme: Origin, Fallout, and Current News

Born: 7 February 1959 (Wikipedia) ·
Republic of Ireland caps: 57 ·
Years as Ireland manager: 1996–2002 (The Irish Times) ·
Roy Keane’s Ireland caps: 67 (FourFourTwo)

Key facts at a glance

Seven rows, one pattern: McCarthy’s player and manager record is tightly documented, while the meme’s origin story keeps slipping.

The pattern: the man is documented; the moment is not. That gap is why “when did it happen?” became the most-searched question about the clip.

When Did Mick McCarthy Say “It Can”?

Here is the honest answer: nobody has pinned down the exact date, and the clip’s origin story is now part of the meme.

• One account of the meme’s history ties the line to 2011 and West Bromwich Albion.
• A separate account places it during a Blackpool-era interview in 2022.
• The two attributions are repeated loosely across secondary coverage, and they contradict each other (Ireland Insight).

Why the date is so hard to pin down

The safest reading comes from the content of the clip itself: McCarthy is answering a question about a team stuck in a poor run of results. One account says it happened at West Brom; another says it happened at Blackpool; the wider viral cycle treats it as a moment from his Blackpool-era press duties, around 2023.

What this means: the meme is real, but its timestamp is folklore. Any article claiming a single match date should be read with suspicion.

Can It Go on Like This, Can It? – The Story Behind the Meme

The line that launched a thousand reaction clips

It can’t go on like this, can it? It can!

— Mick McCarthy, post-match press conference

The phrasing is what broke the internet: McCarthy asked the question and then answered it himself, with a flat “It can.” The clip became shorthand for any situation that feels hopeless, whether it is a club in freefall, a project collapsing, or a deadline slipping.

In 2025, The Guardian described the clip as “shorthand for woeful underperformance.” The phrase stuck because it worked both as a joke and as a serious diagnosis.

How McCarthy responded to the joke

• McCarthy discussed the viral moment on the That Peter Crouch Podcast, where the episode is billed as a classic clip.
• He has said in interviews that he finds the attention funny and embarrassing.
• His reaction was resignation, not anger, which became a second, smaller story.

The implication: the meme was funny because it was true, and it stayed funny because McCarthy never pretended otherwise.

McCarthy’s acceptance of the joke turned a press conference flub into a lasting cultural artifact.

What Was the Problem Between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy?

The fight predates the meme by two decades, and it still defines how both men are discussed in Ireland.

The Saipan incident of 2002

• Ireland’s World Cup preparation camp in Saipan became the flashpoint.
• Roy Keane, the captain, confronted manager Mick McCarthy over the team’s training facilities and preparation, and was sent home before the tournament began (FourFourTwo).
• Keane later claimed he had lost respect for McCarthy and that the manager was “out of his depth.”

That sentence hardened into the official explanation of the rupture. The argument has been replayed in documentaries, memoirs, and punditry ever since.

Why it still matters now

The film is the clearest signal that the feud is now entertainment as much as history. Irish football culture has turned the argument into a recurring character.

The pattern: the 2002 rupture is the root, and every newer story – including the meme – grows out of it.

Do Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy Talk Now?

The short answer: not publicly, and apparently not privately either.

• Keane said in a 2020 podcast interview: “I don’t talk to Mick McCarthy.”
• McCarthy told a radio show in 2023 that he would be open to a conversation, but no contact followed.
• The public record shows no reconciliation since 2002.

What each man says publicly

Keane’s public posture has stayed critical. McCarthy’s has softened into something closer to resignation. Neither has asked the other to make the first move in public.

The trade-off: a public reconciliation would be one of the biggest moments in Irish football culture, and both men seem to know it – which may be why neither rushes toward it.

Is Mick McCarthy Still Managing?

No. McCarthy left Blackpool in 2024 after a poor run of results, and he has not taken another club since (Wikipedia career record).

Life after the dugout

• He has moved into football analysis, with recent coverage placing him in punditry roles for Sky Sports and ITV.
• He has said in interviews that he is open to a return to management, but only for the right offer.
• His public schedule now includes podcast appearances and media work, which is how the meme story keeps getting retold.

That combination – available but not desperate – is a rare place for a veteran manager to land. It also means the “It can” clip keeps resurfacing every time he is asked about it.

What this means: McCarthy’s next job may come from a straight offer rather than a collapse at his current club, and the meme guarantees he remains the most recognizable out-of-work manager in English football.

The Rift and the Meme: A Timeline

Six checkpoints, one pattern: a single month in 2002 did more to define McCarthy’s public image than three decades of coaching.

The telling detail is the October 2025 row: two decades after Saipan and one year after the meme, the clip is still being used as a reference point in serious football coverage. The rift gave the story its weight; the meme gave it its shelf life.

What’s Confirmed and What’s Not

Confirmed facts

• McCarthy’s playing and managerial record is documented in detail (Wikipedia).
• The Saipan dispute took place at Ireland’s 2002 World Cup camp and ended with Keane leaving the squad (FourFourTwo).
• The “It can” clip exists, and McCarthy has acknowledged it in public (That Peter Crouch Podcast).

Rumor list: still unclear

• The exact date, year, and club of the press conference.
• Whether McCarthy and Keane have privately communicated since 2002.
• Who first uploaded the clip to social media.
• Whether a full transcript of the original press conference will ever surface.

The distinction matters: confirmed facts are the skeleton of the story; the unclear items are where most online arguments begin.

Voices From the Feud

Shorthand for woeful underperformance.

— The Guardian, 2025

An Ireland apart: how Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy’s Saipan fallout went box office.

— FourFourTwo

The pattern: every voice in this story is talking about control – who had it, who lost it, and who gets to narrate the wreckage afterward.

Where It Stands

The “It can” meme gave McCarthy a second public identity, but it did not change his core story: a manager who took Ireland to a World Cup, lost his captain in Saipan, and spent the next two decades being asked about it. Keane treats the meme as a footnote; McCarthy wears it as the punchline to a feud he has never escaped. For Keane, the calculation is simple: a handshake in public would end two decades of questions in five seconds – or he can keep looking away, and the meme will keep asking the question for him.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Mick McCarthy “It can” meme origin (Ireland Insight)
• Mick McCarthy “It can” tech analysis (Ireland Insight)