After retiring from playing in 2013, McCarthy joined the coaching staff at Scottish Premiership side Hibernian before going on to manage Cape Town City and AmaZulu in his home country of South Africa.
He was also Manchester United’s first-team striker coach between 2022 and 2024 and has been with the Kenya national team since March 2025.
But McCarthy said there are a “few special places” in his heart, including Blackburn.
“Porto always has a special place because of my achievements as an individual, as a team,” the ex-South Africa international said.
“Ajax Amsterdam, a special place because it was my first club that took me from Africa and gave me the platform to be in Europe.
“But Blackburn Rovers is where I was at home. That is where my family is and there’s nothing greater than that. There’s not a single thing that I wouldn’t want to do to see that club succeed again.
“And if you have an opportunity one day to work there, I would lay my life on the line for that football club.”
McCarthy accepts he does not boast the managerial experience of other potential candidates but has urged senior figures at Blackburn to consider their strategy for next season.
“I understand I’m a young manager, very fresh, new in this game,” he said.
“But then I look at it [the same] as playing football. Sometimes when you have a young player that’s talented, that’s good enough, are you going to take a risk?
“Vincent Kompany, they’ve given him a chance and look what he’s done. He brought Burnley to the Premier League with an unbelievable [season], probably one of the best Championship seasons that I’ve seen a team have.
“Then he’s gone to Bayern Munich and you see how he’s doing. Very inexperienced coach but when people believe in young people, they can exceed their expectations.
“So I think sometimes going for the tried and tested doesn’t always work, the experience doesn’t [always] get you over the line.”
McCarthy said he understands from the Blackburn board’s point of view that if they “take a risk on a younger coach and it doesn’t pay off, then they get scrutinised by the fans”.
“They get scrutinised in the media for taking a risk on a coach who’s never really coached in the Championship,” he added.
“But sometimes the reward is far greater than the risk.”
