What more must I do to land a job in England?
MICHAEL O’NEILL ON BEING AN IRISH RANIERI
IF THINGS had worked out differently, Michael O’Neill could have been settling into life as Leicester City manager this week instead of shaping a sequel to the Northern Ireland fairytale.
The Premier League champions had O’Neill on their shortlist to replace Claudio Ranieri before giving the job to the Italian’s assistant Craig Shakespeare.
The interest was easy to understand. Like Ranieri, he has overachieved with players punching well above their weight. He steered Northern Ireland to their first European Championship last summer and they now are on course for a first World Cup in 32 years.
Relaxing at the team’s training base outside Dublin before tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Norway at Windsor Park, O’Neill admits to being a ‘little surprised’ by the Leicester links.
Taking Northern Ireland to Euro 2016 brought him widespread acclaim and an MBE.
But he knows that the fad among Premier League owners is to go for fancy foreign coaches. Sam Allardyce always thought he would have got further being called Sam Allardici, and O’Neill could probably appreciate why.
‘How much does a Chinese consortium understand what Northern Ireland achieved getting to France? Let’s be honest,’ he says.
‘I don’t blame them for that but it’s the nature of who is going to appoint you in these jobs. You never know how people perceive you.
‘I’m as fascinated by the dynamics of the whole thing as anyone. I always laugh. When I listen to interviews, I go, “He didn’t really say too much there”. It’s how it’s spoken.
‘You have to remember, Leicester are the champions of England in the sense that they were the surprise package.
‘In many ways their success was similar to our own. They probably saw characteristics in me that they thought would fit with the group of players they had.
‘Leicester’s success is built on simplicity. If you went into Leicester and said, “Listen, we’re aiming for a 65 per cent possession based game”, you’re going to get beaten because it’s not going to work with that group of players.
‘So possibly they wanted a manager who would come in and maximise what we got out of the group last year, and hopefully can do again. Maybe that’s where people will see my strength.
‘I’m realistic. I know you’re not going to walk into a big job in the Premier League. Maybe my best chance will be by taking a club there, which Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe have done (at Burnley and Bournemouth). If the opportunities are given to me, I believe they will come in those types of scenarios. That’s something as a British coach you have to come to terms with. You have to continue to work and hopefully get the opportunity.’ The Championship could end up being O’Neill’s best way in. Wolves are among the clubs believed to have shown an interest, but the move to England that many expected after the Euros did not materialise.
The 47-year-old believes the challenge of managing in international football with limited resources, or previously leading Shamrock Rovers to the Europa League, has left him well equipped to deal with anything English football can throw at him. He added: ‘I’ve had standard is something I enjoy. It’s given me the confidence to know how to prepare my team to deal with those kind of things.
‘The skills you learn at international level are very transferable if and when you go back into a club, whatever level that may be at.
‘People say, “We want someone with experience of the Championship” as if it’s so different. You play Saturday-Tuesday. In international football, you play Friday-Monday and you have to travel to the other side of the world.
‘The idea that preparing for Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday in the Championship is an amazing challenge, I don’t see it as that.
‘What I did here as a club manager (with Shamrock), I got players to play above the level they should. We took the club into the Europa League with players on 42-week contracts. They weren’t even paid 52 weeks a year.
‘That was my background coming into the job. So maybe my skill set is designed to get more out of people than they realise they’re capable of.
‘Whether it would be spending £5million, we don’t know. I might be rubbish at it.’
Last month marked the fifth anniversary of O’Neill’s first game in charge, a 3-0 defeat against tomorrow’s opponents Norway.
The former Newcastle player won only one of his first 18 games, culminating in a 3-2 World Cup qualifying loss to Luxembourg in September 2013 that left him seeking a heart-to-heart meeting with his captain Steven Davis in Southampton.
‘I sat down with him and said, “Am I wasting my time here?” I gave Steven an open chance to say, “Look, Michael, it’s not going to work”, and in fairness he didn’t say that. That was something of a pick-me-up for me.’
O’Neill had to contend with disillusioned players pulling out of games and a negative mindset.
He looked into the eligibility of hundreds of English-based players such as Troy Deeney and Connor Wickham with little success.
He spoke to inspirational coach Lars Lagerback, once of Iceland, now in charge of Norway, for advice to get the best out of the same small group of players.
Somehow he found a way to guide Northern Ireland to their first Euros last summer. But he believes even that would be surpassed if they qualify for a first World Cup since 1986 — both for the players and himself.
‘If it takes that to get the recognition that people are looking for in a manager then so be it,’ says O’Neill.
‘Hopefully people who want to evaluate me will look at where we started at and where we are now.’