Former Celtic, Leicester and Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill looks increasingly likely to be named the new boss of the Republic of Ireland. A number of bookmakers have now stopped taking bets on the 61-year-old Northern Irishman, who along with Blues manager Mick McCarthy has always been one of two frontrunners to succeed Giovanni Trapattoni.
Headhunters Ray Houghton and Ruud Dokter are understood to be reporting back to the FAI next week having spoken to various interested parties, but not McCarthy, with Town join-managing director Ian Milne confirming that no approach had been received at Wednesday’s Supporters Club AGM.
One of this morning’s Irish papers claims O’Neill, whose odds plummeted yesterday, is due to tell the FAI whether he wants the job before the end of this week.
Confirmation of a friendly against Latvia in Dublin on November 15th is a good indication that an appointment is close to being made with the game likely to have little appeal to Irish fans if no new boss was in place.
Interim manager Noel King has been charged with naming a 40-man preliminary squad for that match — and another friendly away against Poland in Poznan four days later — with the new manager likely to reduce that number down once he is installed.