Ireland manager Mick McCarthy says he will walk away from the job after the 2004 European Championships, whether or not Ireland qualifies.
Ireland lost their opening qualifier 4-2 in Russia and face a home clash with Switzerland on Wednesday which they cannot afford to lose.
In an interview in today's Guardian, McCarthy said: "I'd like to qualify for the European Championships and then I will have done eight years in the job and I think that's more than enough.
"I will go away from it, whatever happens. Even if we qualify I will go and look for a job".
McCarthy was favourite to take over at Sunderland last week after the sacking of Peter Reid but that job was given to former Leeds United manager Howard Wilkinson.
McCarthy says the day-to-day involvement of club football is his preferred option. "I would still like to manage in the Premiership," he said. "I'll manage a football club but the kick is the team. That's what drives us all on, I imagine. It certainly drives me".
Although not blaming that defeat in Moscow on the Roy Keane saga, McCarthy says the fall-out from the pre-World Cup bust-up is still hanging around. "There's an underlying thing with Roy and whether he'll play that's still being churned up," he said.
"I'm not going to suggest that anything to do with the performance was down to that. But when you are preparing for a big game, you don't want to be answering questions about that".