Mick McCarthy has appealed to Republic of Ireland fans not to stage protests that overshadow the Euro 2020 qualifier against Georgia on Tuesday. Supporters have mooted a variety of demonstrations – ranging from hurling tennis balls at the pitch to boycotting the game – to demand change after a week of revelations about curious financial dealings at the Football Association of Ireland.

“I hope it’s not the case [that fans protest], it’s not going to help us play better, that’s for sure,” McCarthy said. “They are fabulous fans and I’d like them to support the team. They give us the best chance when they get behind us. If they have to demonstrate, then I’d like if they do it somewhere else at another time. But I can’t do anything about it, I’m not going to bring a tennis racket.”

The match is McCarthy’s first at home since he returned as the Ireland manager after an absence of nearly 17 years, and he could be forgiven for thinking little has changed because the buildup has been dominated by controversy at the FAI. The revelations centre around John Delaney, who had been the chief executive since 2004 until he was surprisingly reassigned on Saturday to a newly created role following media reports about a payment of €100,000 made by him to the association in 2017.

Jeff Hendrick gives Republic of Ireland narrow win over stubborn Gibraltar Read more

Delaney, who is also a member of Uefa’s executive committee, went to court to try to stop the Irish Sunday Times from making this payment public and later claimed he had given it to the FAI as a “bridging loan” to resolve a cashflow problem. An Irish parliamentary committee has called on him to appear next month to fully explain that and other matters relating to the FAI’s accounting practices.

Delaney said of the payment: “I acted in the best interests of the association at a time when immediate funding was needed” and also that he had “acted in good faith for the benefit of the FAI and will continue to do so”. Ireland’s taoiseach,

Leo Varadkar, described the payment as “unusual”.

Delaney’s new role at the FAI, for which he will be paid “substantially less” than the €360,000 he earned as CEO, is executive vice-president. “That’s a hell of a title for the door,” quipped McCarthy, doing well to hide any irritation at the furore hampering his attempt to create a bright new era for Irish football on the pitch.

That attempt got off to an unconvincing start when Ireland began their qualifying campaign with a laboured 1-0 win in Gibraltar on Saturday – Jeff Hendrick’s goal avoiding a draw the manager said “would have been up there as the worst result in Irish history”.

Gibraltar’s bobbly artificial pitch and the swirling wind offered mitigation and McCarthy hopes his team use the visit of Georgia to give a more encouraging sign of the progress he aims to inspire. “A fast, attacking, aggressive Irish performance that we’ll all appreciate. That’s my intention of how to play, let’s see if it bears fruit. Outside of that, I’ll take a win however it comes.”

This is the third campaign in a row in which Georgia and Ireland have been paired together. Although Ireland have won three and drawn one of the previous four encounters, Georgia had the lion’s share of possession in each game and caused serious problems to an Ireland side managed by Martin O’Neill. On Saturday Georgia gave Switzerland a scare before losing 2-0. “They’re physical and technically very good,” the Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randloph said.

Hendrick, who is expected to play in central midfield again, said: “Maybe the last time it was a bit too easy for them We need to make sure we change that.”