O'Neill May Not Be Shoo-In For Ireland Job - Ipswich Town News
Martin O’Neill might not be quite the “shoo-in” for the Republic of Ireland manager's job that Blues boss Mick McCarthy believes, according to reports in Ireland this morning.
The Irish Independent says the FAI have conducted background checks through intermediaries and question marks have been raised about O’Neill’s disappointing spell at Sunderland, the only period of his career where his former Nottingham Forest team-mate John Robertson wasn’t working with him as his assistant.
Robertson, 60, suffered a heart attack last month and although recovering is thought unlikely to join O’Neill should the Northern Irishman be appointed to the position vacated by Giovanni Trapattoni earlier in the month. Former Scotland international Robertson took charge of training at the clubs where the pair worked together, while O’Neill is viewed more as a motivator than a hands-on coach.
An FAI source is reported to have made no comment on O’Neill, but to have said that two of the alternative candidates — ex-Blues boss Roy Keane and current manager McCarthy — would not receive universal backing if O’Neill were to be overlooked: "Neither Mick nor Roy will carry unanimous board support, although that isn't crucial."
An immediate appointment seems unlikely — U21s boss Noel King has been tipped for a caretaker role — with suggestions that the FAI might convene a committee to choose the new manager as they have done in similar situations previously.
Speaking on Friday, McCarthy was still confident that O’Neill would be the man appointed. Asked when the matter would be put to bed he said: "It is in bed, as far as I’m concerned. Flog me if I’m wrong.
"It’s just making a nice, comfortable period of time so it all goes past and they’ve had their meetings and they’ve done it properly and it wasn’t absolutely shooed in.”
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