McGinn may have to cut short Korea stay to revitalise career
NORTHERN Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has suggested that Niall McGinn may have to leave South Korea to get his career back on track.
The former Aberdeen and Celtic ace has struggled to adapt to life in Asia since his surprise switch to K-League side Gwangju in the summer.
The 30-year-old winger spent five years at Aberdeen and made 223 appearances for the Dons, netting 68 goals, but he has been starved of first-team action in South Korea.
His manager Kim Hak-bum recently stated that the Dungannon man “has not yet adapted to the rough tactics and pace of the K-League”.
McGinn has been included in O’Neill’s squad for the play-off showdowns with Switzerland, but the Northern Ireland chief has admitted that his lack of game time is a concern with a World Cup finals appearance on the line.
The Northern Ireland boss feels the former Derry City man may need to consider an exit strategy to get his career up and running again.
“It’s not his location, he’s not playing, that’s the biggest thing,” said O’Neill when asked whether McGinn’s South Korean adventure was leaving him out in the cold a little on the international front.
“Niall has played three or four times since he went to South Korea. It has not been a particularly good move from a football point of view at all.
“The club is struggling and there has been a change of coach so there has been upheaval there. Niall is an experienced player and you know what you get when you bring him in and you hope he is ready to play. But it is very difficult to gauge how he is because he’s not playing and it’s been difficult to get footage.
“I think he has a decision to make in January. He knows himself that from a football point of view he needs to look at what lies ahead for him.”
While O’Neill has concerns regarding McGinn’s confidence and match sharpness, he does have plenty of options with 10 midfielders named in his squad.
Millwall’s George Saville (left), who is hoping to win his third cap, is one player who has caught O’Neill’s eye.
“Straight away you could see George was a quality player, you can see that off his upbringing at Chelsea and how he handles the ball, plus he is a good size as well,” added the former Shamrock Rovers supremo.
“I thought he played very well in Norway and was probably disappointed himself he didn’t score off a couple of opportunities. He is playing consistently in the Championship, basically every game for Millwall, which we cannot ignore.
“George has very quickly come in and bulked up the squad in that area, but he can also affect the team straight away.”
MICHAEL O’Neill and his players will never forget their remarkable Euro 2016 adventure — but there’s an even bigger prize within their grasp, and the manager admitted yesterday that making it to Russia would mean the world to him and his men.
Northern Ireland may be on the brink of tasting back-toback major tournament action for the first time, but the Green and White Army’s last World Cup adventure was back in 1986, and these opportunities don’t come around often.
With tension mounting ahead of two play-off battles with Switzerland, the players know they will need to produce one more heroic push to dine at the top table next summer.
But O’Neill, who yesterday named a 27-man squad for the Windsor Park showdown on Thursday, November 9 and the second leg in Basel three days later, talked about his men with a quiet confidence.
The former Shamrock Rovers boss is now starting to feel an adrenaline rush with an opportunity to join the cream of the international game in Russia a tantalising prospect.
“It would be everything,” said O’Neill when asked what a World Cup final appearance would mean to him as a manager.
“The Euros was a fabulous experience for everyone concerned, it was my first experience of a major tournament and for all our players it was their first experience.
“The World Cup is even a level above that and the players recognise that.
“When you have put so much into the past 13 or 14 months and dug out results when you needed to be difficult to beat, you want to get over the final hurdle, but the prize is massive.
“It’s the same for Switzerland, they will want to go to Russia every bit as much as we will. JAMIE Ward plans to be back with a bang in Northern Ireland colours and Michael O’Neill can’t wait to be reunited with the Nottingham Forest frontman.
Ward missed the final five group stage games with a calf injury but there’s still time to make a fairytale contribution to Northern Ireland’s qualification story.
The 31-year-old has returned to club duty, and his return to the international stage gives O’Neill more attacking options as he searches for the cutting edge to carve open Switzerland in the two-legged World Cup play-off.
Ward is one of several players in O’Neill’s squad who aren’t at their maximum fitness or sharpness, but the 30-times-capped ace will be hungry to add to his four international goals.
“He’s a nice option to have because we have been stretched in this campaign,” said the Northern Ireland boss. “We still look at the likes of (Liam) Boyce being out as a blow, (Craig) Cathcart as well, so it’s good when you start to get players back. We’ve missed Jamie, I think, since the Norway (home) game, that’s five games really which is a big loss.
“The Norway game (at home) is a perfect example of what Jamie brings — high energy, a bit of quality in the final third, and he has a goal in him as well.
“Jamie has been stop-start. The injuries that he gets tend