Martin O’Neill has the job as the next manager of the Republic of Ireland’s international football team “nailed on,” according to the man who is seen as his biggest challenger for the job.
Martin O’Neill.
Former St Columb’s College student O’Neill is the hot favourite to succeed Giovanni Trapattoni who was sacked on Wednesday last following the previous night’s World Cup qualifier defeat by Austria.
O’Neill has said he has not been contacted by anyone at the FAI about succeeding the 74-year-old Italian but has not ruled out the possibility of taking the job if offered it by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
Two leading contenders, former Republic international Chris Houghton, now manager of English Premiership club Norwich City, and Leeds United boss Brian McDermott have distanced themselves from the position stating they are “happy” at their respective clubs.
With Roy Keane’s spat with the FAI during the World Cup finals in Saipai in 2002 almost certainly ruling him out, the only realistic contender left appears to be former boss, Mick McCarthy.
McCarthy, now manager of Championship side, Ipswich Town, succeeded Jack Charlton as manager and led the Republic to the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.
With O’Neill out of work the matter of a compensation payment does not come into play, unlike McCarthy who revealed yesterday a claus in his contract at Ipswich, which would have allowed to return to international management without a compensation payment, expired during the summer.
McCarthy said he was not surprised to be linked with the Republic job again.
He said: “I’m not surprised because I did such a good job the last time. But Martin O’Neill has the job as far as I am aware, absolutely nailed on, he is a ‘shoo-in.”
He added: “He (O’Neill) is a damn good manager and my understanding is that he has got the job. Good luck to him, I am delighted.”
Meanwhile, O’Neill has said he has yet to hear from the FAI but is intrigued by the challenge of international management.
He said: “You are not going to be able to do an awful lot with players but what you can do is get organisation in. You can work on set-pieces which is a big part of the game. Those are elements you could certainly work on at international level even if it is only for a couple of days before hand.”
FAI chief executive John Delaney is playing his cards close to his chest stating there was always the possibility of employing another continental manager.”
An indepth interview with O’Neill will be screened on the BBC One programme “Football Focus” from 12.15pm today.
Meanwhile, the bookies have O’Neill 1/6 clear favourite to get the job with nearest rival McCarthy quoted at 10/1 – they never get it that far wrong, do they? The next couple of days could tell.
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