Former Wolves, Cardiff, and Ipswich Town boss to be portrayed by Alan Partridge actor

Former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is to be portrayed by Steve Coogan in a film about his falling out with Roy Keane in 2002, according to a report.

Variety is reporting that a film called 'Saipan' is in the works, and it focuses on McCarthy's falling out with Keane, which saw the latter walk out on the Republic of Ireland on the eve of the 2002 World Cup. Keane was captain of Ireland at the time, and whilst out in Saipan, was said to have had a falling out with McCarthy.

The former Celtic and Man United star had a disagreement with McCarthy, apparently over the training conditions, strategy, travel arrangements, diet and other things. He wouldn't play for the national team again until 2004 when McCarthy stood down from his post.

Football fans will now get to see the incident played out on the silver screen with filming beginning this summer for a 2025 summer release. Steve Coogan, most known for playing Alan Partridge, is portraying Mick McCarthy, and Eanna Hardwicke (“The Sixth Commandment,” “Lakelands”) is set to play Keane.

“A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan,” said producers Macdara Kelleher and John Keville.

“Next year, audiences will finally get to experience first hand the feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy and why it was labelled ‘the worst preparation for a World Cup campaign ever."

Despite being without their captain at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Ireland reached the Round of 16. They finished second and held runners-up Germany to a 1-1 draw and then beat Saudi Arabia. Ireland would go out in the group stage where they would lose 3-1 on penalties to Spain

McCarthy would take on the Sunderland job after leaving Ireland, and would win promotion with the Black Cats, but would depart in a campaign which saw them have one of the lowest points totals in Premier League history.

Wolves and Ipswich Town is where he would spend the majority of his managerial career, spending six years each at Molineux and Portman Road. At Wolves, he won the Championship title in 2009, and helped them retain their top-flight status for two seasons.

With Ipswich, he helped them reach the Championship play-offs, but he would later depart, and the Tractor Boys would suffer relegation to League One. Since then, he returned to manage the Ireland national team for a second spell, and also took charge of APOEL, Cardiff City and Blackpool.