Martin O'Neill

[eamo]

I would be interested to know what everyone thinks of this, what with him turning down Ireland and accepting England. One thing is for sure - he would be a much better manager than Steve McClaren.


Martin O'Neill has revealed he would have accepted the England manager's job if the FA had offered it to him.
It had been thought that O'Neill's private life - his wife is battling cancer - had ruled him out of the running to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But he told Five Live Sport: "It is one of the great jobs in football. Had it been offered, then I would have been absolutely foolish to turn it down."

Steve McClaren eventually took the job after Luis Felipe Scolari rejected it.

The former Middlesbrough manager, who is assistant coach to Eriksson at this summer's World Cup, will take on the role full-time after the finals in Germany.

I'm not so sure whether I ever considered myself right in the frame

Ex-Celtic and Leicester boss O'Neill believes McClaren was always a front-runner due to him being on Eriksson's staff.

The 54-year-old Northern Irishman met with FA officials to discuss the job and said: "I think the interview went fine.

"But, overall, I didn't get the job. Whether people on the other side of the table were impressed, unimpressed, had their own particular agenda, eventually you can come up with all sorts of reasons, the fact is when the dust settled I wasn't the England manager."

Even when Scolari pulled out of the running, O'Neill had resigned himself to the fact that he would not get the job.

"I didn't think I was back in the frame. I'm not so sure whether I ever considered myself right in the frame.

"I did the interview and some time later another manager was appointed. Fine. I have no recriminations and it's over."

However, he remains open to the possibility of returning to football in the near future, despite apparently turning down the chance to succeed McClaren at Middlesbrough.

"I think my wife would want me to get back to football because I'm an absolute nuisance about the place at the moment," he said.

[therock67]

I'd be disappointed if he took the job because he's a good manager and, as you say, he is better than McLaren.

I don't think I'd have any problems with the guy personally if he took the job. I don't think he turned Ireland down completely - he said that he wasn't ready to return to football and that was evidently the case. It's no secret that he is now contemplating a return and he has made himself available for a few jobs - including Middlesboro and Sunderland it seems, jobs that most people would consider below his radar.

He obviously has very particular ideas about what terms he will take the next job on - and they seem to include bringing his own staff along. I'd say he is also looking for scope to take leave to care for his wife which is probably complicating matters as well because he doesn't seem 100% committed to the jobs he is interviewing for.

[bandage]

admin said:

I'd say he is also looking for scope to take leave to care for his wife which is probably complicating matters as well because he doesn't seem 100% committed to the jobs he is interviewing for.

That's the impression I got too. Reports a couple of weeks back were saying the Boro chairman Gibson had given him 48 hours to make up his mind as if to suggest either he wasn't fully committed himself or that Gibson had made him a final offer that perhaps didn't give him the sick leave option.

I wouldn't have compared his relative interest in the Ireland and England jobs due to the time scales and I wouldn't have been aghast had he taken the England job either. Maybe a little shocked and slightly annoyed though.

Before anyone has a go: Ed Joyce is a totally different proposition.

[therock67]

bandage said:

Before anyone has a go: Ed Joyce is a totally different proposition.

Agreed - it is common practice for management to work with countries other than their native lands in all sports really. It's another thing altogether when a player abandons his country as he nears his peak to go and represent a World Cup rival.

[eamo]

I think O'Neill is quite astute when it comes to going for jobs. He rarely rules himself in or out and usually seems to wait for the job to be offered to him. I think that this is so that he can get the best possible terms for him and, as you said Rock, allow him to bring in his backroom staff. This shows loyalty to his staff and also to his job as he obviously feels that he cannot do it right without them.

I was hugely surprised that Liverpool didn't go for him when they sacked Houllier. He had never ruled himself in or out of the running but I feel that he would have taken it had he been approached. I feel that he wanted to cut his teeth at the highest level in the Premiership and would have left. I think that this was evdenced by the rolling contract he had with Celtic. How long he would have stayed at Liverpool would be a different story with his wife getting sick.

All in all O'Neill has a smashing record. It will be a lucky team that gets him as their manager.