Mick McCarthy, stand-up comic, and newly-appointed head coach of struggling EFL Championship side, Blackpool, has told an audience at the League Managers’ Association Hall of Fame that growing up in Barnsley made him as miserable as a Blackpool seaside Donkey.

The miserable South Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley – a stop on the route between Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield, and London – is famous for its grim collieries, indecipherable accent, and its run-down, litter-strewn town centre. Mick McCarthy’s new choice of club is somewhat surprising, as Blackpool is not much better.

The blue comedian, and former manager of the Republic of Ireland football team, returned to his roots at the black tie event to acknowledge his induction into the hall of fame, and try out some old material from the 1970’s on the mildly interested audience.

Relegation in… 3-2-1

Wittering on about his poor record as a manager, his predilection for fighting with his players, and his being a handicapped amateur golfer, the sullen soccer flop – who learned his trade on the northern working men’s club circuit alongside other crap football managers, Bernard Manning, Les Dawson, and Jim Bowen – failed, despite his best efforts, to hold the audience’s attention beyond his opening couple of gags.

Mick McCarthy, new Blackpool head coach

Despite his long list of failures, droll Mick McCarthy – who doesn’t suffer fools gladly – believes his tenure in Blackpool will be a success. “We’ve got fourteen nights booked at the Winter Gardens for the stand-up show. I’m beginning to shift some tickets, but if we don’t sell more, and quickly, I’ll have to take my mother-in-law!”

Even more pressing, if ‘the Seasiders’ don’t win a match soon, they are likely to begin next season competing in League One, probably still led by flea-bitten ass, Mick McCarthy.